My Corsair HX520W is my loudest component...

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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crispyfish
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My Corsair HX520W is my loudest component...

Post by crispyfish » Thu May 31, 2007 1:37 pm

How can I get it quieter? :P

jaldridge6
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Post by jaldridge6 » Thu May 31, 2007 2:26 pm

sex it.

LuckyNV
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Post by LuckyNV » Thu May 31, 2007 2:37 pm

being an owner of a Corsair HX620W, the only way its going to be the loudest component would be if you have no fans and a solid state hard drive.

if its truely making a racket you might have a faulty psu.

Joe Public
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Post by Joe Public » Thu May 31, 2007 2:47 pm

Yeah, I can't say my HX620 is noisy either. It's supposed to be one of the quietest PSUs out. Of course, my computer isn't powerful enough to load it even to half of its capacity at the moment, and I'm not super picky on noise levels, just beginning to dabble in the trade.

Would be nice to hear what noise it's making that's so annoying tho.

crispyfish
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Post by crispyfish » Thu May 31, 2007 3:05 pm

Didn't say it's annoying or that it's making a racket... just that it's the loudest component.

In my SOLO case, I also have a Nexus 120mm @ 5v, a Scythe (Ninja stock fan) @ 7v, and 2 x Nexus 92mm @ 5V. The video card is a passive Gigabyte 8600GTS. I can stop all of the fans at the same time without any discernible change in noise -- so by process of elimination, the main noise must be coming from my PSU.

Could the warmer weather here in California be causing the heat to build up in the case and cause the PSU to ramp up a little bit?

tehfire
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Post by tehfire » Thu May 31, 2007 3:14 pm

I think it's simply the fact that you have one quiet computer, congrats!

It could be the PSU fan, or maybe a hard drive...I'm in the exact same situation, my computer's basically at the noise floor. Have you tried stopping the PSU fan to see if there's a noise difference?

Just for reference, I have a Seasonic S12-500, and it is below ambient in my P180

kike_1974
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Post by kike_1974 » Thu May 31, 2007 4:43 pm

Yes, 3,5" hard disks are usually the noisier components in the most silent computers, especially at idle (at load the PSU may ramp up).

I would try to stop the psu fan (only a few seconds of course!) to confirm that it is really the source of noise.

crispyfish
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Post by crispyfish » Thu May 31, 2007 6:39 pm

Well, I'm an idiot. My 120mm Nexus was running at 12V. Things are much quieter now. I do remember stopping all the fans, but I must have done that before I switched the voltage...

:oops: :oops: :oops:

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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Thu May 31, 2007 10:50 pm

well, good to know though that it was not the 150+ dollar psu doing that!

That thing is a sick psu. super lightweight,small yet has all that wattage and quietness. I recommend it to anyone (well i have the 620 which was overkill)

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Post by nutball » Thu May 31, 2007 11:37 pm

Ummm... the HX520W is the loudest component in my PC too (and no, I don't have a Nexus running at 12V!).

Really not impressed. Seems to be a worrying trend going on.

crispyfish
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Post by crispyfish » Thu May 31, 2007 11:44 pm

nutball wrote:Really not impressed. Seems to be a worrying trend going on.
It's not a trend if you only have 2 data points and one of them turns out to be false. ;)

LuckyNV
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Post by LuckyNV » Fri Jun 01, 2007 10:46 am

crispyfish wrote:Well, I'm an idiot. My 120mm Nexus was running at 12V. Things are much quieter now. I do remember stopping all the fans, but I must have done that before I switched the voltage...

:oops: :oops: :oops:
damnit this place doesn't have a slap bottom emoticon, but good you found the culprit 8)

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Post by nutball » Sat Jun 02, 2007 2:32 am

crispyfish wrote:
nutball wrote:Really not impressed. Seems to be a worrying trend going on.
It's not a trend if you only have 2 data points and one of them turns out to be false. ;)
I wasn't referring to other reports of the HX520W being crappy, I was was referring to my personal experience buying stuff which is highly recommended here, but in reality isn't so good.

Alex
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Post by Alex » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:38 am

Well my HX620 is the noisiest component in my non completed rig.
When it is really silent at night (1 o'clock) you can clearly hear that my rig is on anywhere in the room. At the same time when lying on my bed I hear my own breathing as loud.
In a very silent environment you seem to be able to hear almost any moving parts.:(
How well you hear noise seems to be a question about how silent your environment can become. During daytime it is harder to notice if the rig is on (more distant traffic outside and other noises).

I barely made the HDD WD5000YS less noisy than my PSU with the help of a softmounted scythe quiet drive in the lower bay of my P180B. At seeks the HDD is possibly louder than the PSU.
I have written a post about my silencing experience here
viewtopic.php?p=335645#335645

The rig is not completed but I have 2 Scythe S-Flex D undervolted by my ASUS Commando board in it and they are less noisy than the PSU too.

When I put my ear against the S-Flex D motor I can clearly hear a "ticking" sound. I guess this is because of PWM switching on the mobo? Since I can not hear the ticking under any normal conditions I don't care much about it but still as a SPCR fan you get somewhat annoyed by this.:(

Aren't we picky bastards here. :D
I understand why some people buy fanless PSU. During daytime use in a suburb or town it might be less useful though.

Khrono Devil
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Post by Khrono Devil » Sun Jun 03, 2007 8:53 pm

Either you guys have a faulty PSU or a very quiet rig. In early morning I can hear it but certainly isn't loud. Compared to all the other PSUs I have used it is by far the quietest even when the load is on.

Erssa
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Post by Erssa » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:44 pm

Khrono Devil wrote:Either you guys have a faulty PSU or a very quiet rig.
If the computer fills "spcr standards" psu will most likely be the loudest component.

Every self-respecting spcr enthusiast has his fan(s) running at less then 1000rpm, most likely in the range of 600-800rpms. S12, Corsair etc have adda fans. Adda's are "ok", but not as good as Nexus, Scythe or Noctua, even if they were running at the same speeds, which they won't doing, since S12 and Corsair both have their fans running very close to 1000rpm even at the lowest speed.

It's very easy for the psu to be the loudest component, it doens't necessarily mean, that the computer itself is loud. I think I will try passive psu next time I'm building a computer.

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Post by nutball » Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:56 pm

Khrono Devil wrote:Either you guys have a faulty PSU or a very quiet rig. In early morning I can hear it but certainly isn't loud. Compared to all the other PSUs I have used it is by far the quietest even when the load is on.
My main grumble is that the fan growls at the lowest revs (ie. when the machine is idle). Once I stick some load on it and the fan speeds up the sound becomes much more ignorable... but I don't really want to have to run my PC loaded all the time to stop it being annoying!

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:53 pm

My main grumble is that the fan growls at the lowest revs
could swap the fan but for such an expensive PSU I can understand if you feel you shouldn't have to.

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Post by nutball » Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:21 am

jaganath wrote:
My main grumble is that the fan growls at the lowest revs
could swap the fan but for such an expensive PSU I can understand if you feel you shouldn't have to.
Fortunately I didn't have to pay for it so it's just the hassle, and the "here we go again" factor. But yeah if I had paid the £75 that Dabs are asking for it I'd be livid. Maybe I'm getting too fussy in my old age :)

Seems that even today if you want guaranteed quiet then it's best to buy a cheapo Seasonic and mod it with a Yate Loon or similar. Depressing.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Mon Jun 04, 2007 1:26 am

Fortunately I didn't have to pay for it
wow! free corsair psus! where can I get one?! :lol: :wink:
Seems that even today if you want guaranteed quiet then it's best to buy a cheapo Seasonic and mod it with a Yate Loon or similar. Depressing.
I can see why this is how it is; the quietest fans are sleeve-bearing, but manufacturers do not want to put these in PSUs because of very reduced fan lifetime compared to ball-bearing; so we have to make that trade-off, reduced lifetime vs quiet. Although the fact that SPCRers tend to run their fans at reduced RPMs should slightly offset the reduced lifetime from using a sleeve fan in a PSU.

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Post by SnooP » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:05 am

Also current trend is 120mm fans on the bottom - sleave bearings run noisier and at a much reduce life when mounted horizontally - ie like in a psu. Hence adda ball bearings being the popular quiet choice, though be interesting to see how 'hydrowave' or other more exotic bearings go.

Alex
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Post by Alex » Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:19 pm

When my Corsair guarantee goes out (in 4.5 years) i was thinking of removing the Adda fan and put a Scythe S-Flex D or something in the lower chamber of the P180 (=Vertical fan).
EDIT: Sorry, Before editing I accidentally wrote =Horizontal Fan. I meant vertical mounting (instead of the originally mounted Antec Tri Cool in the P180B lower chamber).:oops:
My misstake.:cry:

With taped holes around the PSU on the back of the P180B case this should be OK shouldn't it? I will connect the new fan to the PSU controller of course (=some modding and soldering needed because I have heard the controller is a 2-pin header?).

I guess the original Adda is a 1600 rpm fan but in the lower bay there is no mobo (CPU, GPU) heat to take care of so it should be OK to swap for a 1200 rpm fan (Such as S-Flex D) instead. Noise should be lowered considerably then right?

What do you think of this? Any links to similar projects?

My PSU is not loud at all but if there is no other noise around (well withing reasonable practical limits) there is no problem to hear if my computer is on if you listen for it.

My fans are probably running ~700 rpm so as Erssa says
If the computer fills "spcr standards" psu will most likely be the loudest component.

Every self-respecting spcr enthusiast has his fan(s) running at less then 1000rpm, most likely in the range of 600-800rpms. S12, Corsair etc have adda fans. Adda's are "ok", but not as good as Nexus, Scythe or Noctua, even if they were running at the same speeds, which they won't doing, since S12 and Corsair both have their fans running very close to 1000rpm even at the lowest speed.

It's very easy for the psu to be the loudest component, it doens't necessarily mean, that the computer itself is loud. I think I will try passive psu next time I'm building a computer.
it is normal that my HX620 is the noisiest component of my computer. Glad to get it confirmed. :D
Thanks Erssa because I was beginning to wonder if my relatively quiet PSU was faulty after all. But now I am quite sure this is not the case. :)

And yes Khrono Devil I second your statement.
In early morning I can hear it but certainly isn't loud. Compared to all the other PSUs I have used it is by far the quietest even when the load is on.
Last edited by Alex on Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:41 am, edited 2 times in total.

SnooP
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Post by SnooP » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:33 pm

I guess the original Adda is a 1600 rpm fan but in the lower bay there is no mobo (CPU, GPU) heat to take care of so it should be OK to swap for a 1200 rpm fan (Such as S-Flex D) instead. Noise should be lowered considerably then right?
A s-flex may work well because its a fluid dynamic bearing fan. But not a sleave bearing like nexus as they aren't designed to do horizontal mounting and my guess will be louder than a good ball bearing mounted this way, though would be good if anyone has/knows of tests of this. See silentpcreview article:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page1.html

Erssa
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Post by Erssa » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:47 pm

SnooP wrote:But not a sleave bearing like nexus as they aren't designed to do horizontal mounting and my guess will be louder than a good ball bearing mounted this way, though would be good if anyone has/knows of tests of this.
I think this whole -sleeve bearing can't be mounted horizontally- has gotten out of hands. Maybe people don't remember, but early S12 psus had sleeve bearing fans and they were very quiet, even more quiet then new revs with Adda's.

I also think my Nexus NX-4090 is also very quiet at low loads. It was the only exhaust in my Breeze case, so all the hot air exhausted through it. The noise signature is still the same it was in mint condition, after 2,5 years of hot temps. YMMW, but I would have no problem using sleeve bearing fan in a psu.

SPCR tests have changed a bit since NX-4090 was reviewed, but it measured 21dba at low load compared to 22dba from Corsair. Early S12-430 models with Yate Loons measured 18dba at low load compared to 20dba with Adda. I think the biggest reason why they changed to ball bearing was reliability. It's worth while for the company, even if the ball bearing were only 0,5% more reliable. I'd gladly take my chances with sleeve bearing, if it meant less noise...

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Post by Khrono Devil » Tue Jun 05, 2007 1:52 am

A 1200rpm fan won't work if you plan on using loads over 500W. The adda fan spins up to around 2000rpm at 600W loads. As heat rises inside the PSU effiency and max output drop. This is why some generic PSUs have great specs but fail because of heat.

Corsiar did a great job. The adda fan is not the quietest at low loads but using the quietest fan wouldn't be enough to cool this PSU at full load. I think this is what alot of people are forgeting, it is a 620W PSU. You can always change the fan easily if you don't like the noise this one makes at low loads/rpm but be careful choosing another fan, it may not be good enough to cool the PSU at high loads.

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Post by Steve_Y » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:33 am

I can see why people recommend against using sleeve bearing fans in PSUs, especially when quiet fans are around using other bearings. Having a reliable PSU fan is probably more important than avoiding CPU fan failure. I doubt that a PSU would run for very long if the single 120mm fan failed while a power hungry system was under load.

Having said that, I used a horizontally mounted 92mm Nexus sleeve bearing fan for over three years in a hot running Enermax PSU. It worked perfectly until it was retired and fan noise never audibly increased. Back when I did the fan swap people weren't voicing the current concerns about sleeve bearing fans...

A176
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Post by A176 » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:02 am

I made another thread before I saw this one ... maybe I should've posted here.

but i'm assuming the general consensus now is that the PSU really is the last noisy component in computers.

does replacing the adda fans in most of these PSUs quiet them down?

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Post by nutball » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:58 am

A176 wrote:does replacing the adda fans in most of these PSUs quiet them down?
That's been my experience.



Just to complete my whinging about my free HX520W, it's exhibiting some very noticeable coil whine too when running RTHDRIBL.

Alex
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Post by Alex » Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:01 am

I take it my fanswap idea is feasable.:D
I used a horizontally mounted 92mm Nexus sleeve bearing fan for over three years in a hot running Enermax PSU. It worked perfectly until it was retired and fan noise never audibly increased.
This is interesting information about horizontal fan mounting you have there Steve_Y.:o
Although I will not use horizontal fan (I edited my post to vertical fan now).:oops:

There shouldn't be any high heat or "horizontal fan" issues for the fan if I mount the fan vertically in the middle of the lower chamber of the P180B.

I really love my P180B and my Corsair PSU (feels like a very high quality PSU). Only negative thing that can be said about this is that the P180B is a little too big and heavy.

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Post by Khrono Devil » Fri Jun 08, 2007 5:11 am

Alex wrote:I take it my fanswap idea is feasable.:D
I would have to say no, replacing a 1200rpm fan with a 2000rpm it just wouldn't cut it at the higher loads. The adda fan speeds up to 1200rpm at about a 60% load @ 22 ambient on a workbench ( aka not in a case ).

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