21 power supplys review at Tomshardware.com
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar
21 power supplys review at Tomshardware.com
Hey guys you should check this out tomshardware.com just posted up a review of 21 power supplys including specs on how loud each was at low load and full load. They have a zalman zm300a, enermax 365, Antec true 380 ect. And a bunch more that i have never heard of. The zalman didnt do bad but it didnt win either. Check it out
cool article gaminggod, u gotta love how they managed to blow up several PSUs in the course of the article, 
like pushing 500Ws! OUCH, I think one of the Antec Tru Power series looks like the best balance of price, accessablity, and quietness,
I wish they reviewed some more PSU's that were accessable in my neck of the woods though
there was a few PSU's there that'd I'd like to get my hands on as well.
like pushing 500Ws! OUCH, I think one of the Antec Tru Power series looks like the best balance of price, accessablity, and quietness,
I wish they reviewed some more PSU's that were accessable in my neck of the woods though
there was a few PSU's there that'd I'd like to get my hands on as well. -
MikeC
- Site Admin
- Posts: 12285
- Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Contact:
A couple cautions about THG's noise measurements:
1) The Antec has 2 fans, yet the the review says the difference in noise at 1/2 meter between a Seasonic or Zalman vs the Antec at min power is just 1~1.3 dB. That's so close as to be with the range of error for testing -- ie, might as well have same they're the same. I find that difficult to accept. Two fans, not particular quiet ones in the Antec, at 5V, compared to the quieter single fan in a Zalman at 5V: at the least the difference should be 3 dB just from the second fan, plus there will be more from impedance turbulence within the PSU. In nearfield measurements, I have recorded more like ~4-5 dB difference between them. To me, it is much greater than 1.2 dB even at 1/2 meter distance (which is their mic position).
What's more, they say the 2-fan Antec at full tilt is 5 dBA quieter than the 1-fan Seasonic. Now I haven't actually done this comparison, and will have to try it now, but this really seems like a stretch.
It would have been really nice to get full details on how they were doing the acoustic measurements -- ie, is the PSU in the open, in a case, where is the mic not only in distance but angle from the PSU, was it a reverberant room, etc. I suspect that their acoustic measurement setup allowed for a fair number of errors to compound.
2) The 355W total of THG's theoretical power desktop assumes all components at 100% power load, includes 4 drives, and the hottest CPU made by AMD. (AMD themselves say 80% of total component ratings is more realistic.) 4 drives are not exactly something most quiet PC enthusiasts would consider having within audible distance. A current high end CPU single drive machine is unlikely to pull much more than 250W from the PSU at full tilt. In normal usage even that machine won't pull 150W.
Many well designed PSUs will run with the fan at minimum to around 125-150W. The noise performance of the PSU at full till is not relevant in normal operation. The noise at minimum, however is much more important
Also, the review doesn't say what minimum power is: I suppose that means the PC is simply booted & sitting idle?
Too much missing info about the test procedures. I am impressed about many aspects of the review, but there are some obvious questions.
1) The Antec has 2 fans, yet the the review says the difference in noise at 1/2 meter between a Seasonic or Zalman vs the Antec at min power is just 1~1.3 dB. That's so close as to be with the range of error for testing -- ie, might as well have same they're the same. I find that difficult to accept. Two fans, not particular quiet ones in the Antec, at 5V, compared to the quieter single fan in a Zalman at 5V: at the least the difference should be 3 dB just from the second fan, plus there will be more from impedance turbulence within the PSU. In nearfield measurements, I have recorded more like ~4-5 dB difference between them. To me, it is much greater than 1.2 dB even at 1/2 meter distance (which is their mic position).
What's more, they say the 2-fan Antec at full tilt is 5 dBA quieter than the 1-fan Seasonic. Now I haven't actually done this comparison, and will have to try it now, but this really seems like a stretch.
It would have been really nice to get full details on how they were doing the acoustic measurements -- ie, is the PSU in the open, in a case, where is the mic not only in distance but angle from the PSU, was it a reverberant room, etc. I suspect that their acoustic measurement setup allowed for a fair number of errors to compound.
2) The 355W total of THG's theoretical power desktop assumes all components at 100% power load, includes 4 drives, and the hottest CPU made by AMD. (AMD themselves say 80% of total component ratings is more realistic.) 4 drives are not exactly something most quiet PC enthusiasts would consider having within audible distance. A current high end CPU single drive machine is unlikely to pull much more than 250W from the PSU at full tilt. In normal usage even that machine won't pull 150W.
Many well designed PSUs will run with the fan at minimum to around 125-150W. The noise performance of the PSU at full till is not relevant in normal operation. The noise at minimum, however is much more important
Also, the review doesn't say what minimum power is: I suppose that means the PC is simply booted & sitting idle?
Too much missing info about the test procedures. I am impressed about many aspects of the review, but there are some obvious questions.