I want to buy a quiet PSU, because the one that came with the case is quite noisy. So far I am aware of the following products: ZALMAN ST300BLP, ZALMAN ZM300A-APF, Enermax 350W Whisper, Fortron 300 and Seasonic SS-300FS. In which order would you have these products (or any other that you would have in mind) according to the noise they produce? <BR>I want the quietest possible product I can buy, but I do not have money to spare, because I know these products are not cheap at all. I intend on buying one and keeping it for long. <BR> <BR>I have already bought the CNPS3100-Plus cooler from Zalman and I am 100% happy with the product, I can not hear it at all. Will I get the same results with the above PSUs? <BR> <BR>I would very much appreciate a recommendation from you, although that may not be such a straight forward question.
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It's a tossup between the ZALMAN ZM300A-APF and the Seasonic. Other than 5V Panaflo modded PSUs, they're the quietest I've encountered. The rest are noisier; don't know anything about the Fortron 300. None will be as quiet as your 3100 HSF, because that fan is "sealed" inside the case while any PSU fan is at least half expose to the outside. <br> <br>If price is a big issue, replace the fan in yours with one rated at 20 dBA or lower. (note - dangers of high voltages & void your warranty...) Also Seasonic have a passive PFC version of their 300W, which is sold by Silicon Acoustics for $44 -- same noise characteristics. Re fan swapping -- I have not heard the (expensive) Papst. The Mechatronics A8025S12D is slightly quieter than the Panaflo with similar airflow, and one member feels NMB 3610 KL-04W-B10 is on par with Papst 8412NGL.
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Thanks for the fast responce. <br> <br>I have already opened my 300W PSU and I guess it must be quite easy to replace the fan with a more quiet one. The only bit I haven't understood is where do I connect the new fan to get power. The fan that is already in my PSU has a two pin connector and if I'm not mistaken, the other more quiet fans have a different connector. For example on <!-- BBCode auto-link start --><a href="http://www.PCSilent.de" target="_blank">http://www.PCSilent.de</a><!-- BBCode auto-link end --> it says that the Papst 8412NGL has a 5.25" Y-power-connector. Does the new fan take power from where the previous fan was connected or do I have to power it from outside? <br> <br>What would you say is the minimum recommended air flow that the fan needs to have to avoid trubble, or overheating? Is the Papst 8412NGL adequate, that has 33 m3/h at 1500rpm (12dBA), or another model from papst, the 8412 NGHLV that has 27-45 m3/h at 1200-2500rpm (10-19dBA). Sorry for being so long, but I have found quite a few products so far, but not all here in the UK and I have got a bit confused about which one is the best. <br> <br>Just found out that 8412NGL has CFM 19.4 and 8412NGMLV has CFM 26.5 <br> <br>The fan on my PSU is: GLOBE Fan, model: s011388 12M, 12DC, 0.17A, 2500rpm, <br>CFM 32.37 and 27.4 dBA (Specs taken from their internet site). By the way, my PSU feels quite loud. <br> <br>Out of curiosity, how can Q-technology PSU have such good reviews on other sites about how quiet they are, since the fan they use is a Adda fan, model AD0812MX-A70GL, 0.15A, 31.4 CFM, 28.3 dBA (which is more than mine)? They say the Q-tech PSU is as quiet as ZALMAN if not more quiet. <br> <br>

>> the Papst 8412NGL has a 5.25" Y-power-connector. Does the new fan take power from where the previous fan was connected or do I have to power it from outside? <br> <br>Sounds like a 4-pin molex connector for HDDs with a pass-through so you don't lose a power connector from the PSU. You could just feed the fan cable out and connect it to a lead outside the PSU. A tidier way is to clip the connector from your old fan and transplanted to the new one (with its' connector clipped off, too). Solder & insulate would be best. <br> <br>>>What would you say is the minimum recommended air flow that the fan needs to have to avoid trubble, or overheating? Is the Papst 8412NGL adequate, that has 33 m3/h at 1500rpm (12dBA), or another model from papst, the 8412 NGHLV that has 27-45 m3/h at 1200-2500rpm (10-19dBA). <br> <br>No way to answer the min. airflow question: it is utterly specific to each setup. The 33 m3/h at 1500rpm (12dBA) might be too little airflow in some seups/environs. <br> <br>One reason I like using the ~20 dBA, ~20-25cfm fans (Panaflo, Mechatronics, the 19 dBA Papst) is that at 12V, they move enough air to keep most PSUs in most system perfectly cool -- at least in ambient under 30C. At 5V, they still do fine under most conditions, and virtually silent. They're perfect for a 12/5V switch or Zalman fanmate type of voltage controller. Inaudible at min speed; high airflow when needed but still pretty quiet. <br> <br>The 2nd fan you mention has a thermistor which controls the fan speed, you know, which is why it has those ranges of airflow/rpm/noise figures. Pros & cons to this.
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I decided to do both. I bought the 300W Q-Technology PSU from <!-- BBCode auto-link start --><a href="http://www.quietpc.com" target="_blank">http://www.quietpc.com</a><!-- BBCode auto-link end --> as well as a quiet fan to replace the one on my old PSU. <br>As soon as I put the Q-Tech PSU on, I immediately noticed the difference. It is very quiet. I left it working for many hours and I didn't notice any increase on the noise level. It is not completely silent, but I believe it is silent enough for most people (A product definitely worth reviewing). You can just hear a hissing sound, which is not irritating rough. <br> <br>The fan I bought to replace my old fan, is one from Y-Tech, the FD8125 80mm, 27CFM, 1850 rpm, 20 dBA (a lot cheaper than papst). I connected it to a 5-Pin HDD connector that comes out of the PSU box. I didn't have to do any soldering or cutting at all. I just extented the fan cable to the back of the PSU, where all the cables come out. Just next to that, there was a small hole, so I put it through there, then closed the PSU cover and then connected the cable to a 5-Pin connector. <br>I must say, that I was not happy with the noise level. It was significantly noisier then the Q-Tech PSU. The strange thing is that the Q-tech PSU, uses a fan that is rated at 28.3 dBA (Adda AD0812MX-A70GL). <br> <br>I also bought a cable, that reduces the voltage of a 5-pin connector, from 12V to 10V. When I put it on, I noticed a small difference, but still is was noisier than the Q-Tech PSU. <br>I highly recommend the Q-Tech PSU. <br> <br>At that point, the noisiest part on my computer was my 40G IBM HDD. So, I also bought A SilentDrive enclosure. It made a significant difference, but still the noisiest part is my HDD. The SilentDrive didn't do much to reduce the vibration from the HDD, in fact the vibrations were even worse because I had to put the SilentDrive on a 5.25" bay and my case was all vibrating. I found a simple solution to Case vibration. <br> <br>I found that the noise was coming from the connection of the side panels to the case. So I just put two strips of musking tape at each corner of the panels, where they connect on the case. Now the panels fit perfectly on the case and there is no vibration at all. <br> <br>Sorry for being so long, but I hope I was helpful to some of you. <br> <br> <br> <br>

If it is a 7200 IBM HDD, esp the 75GXP model, I'd get it out of the silent drive. They have a reputation for overheating drives, and that IBM is particularly susceptible. <br> <br>Glad to hear the Q-tech worked out for you. I have a review sample coming. <br> <br>BTW, the fan in the Q-tech is not likely to be driven at 12V -- that's why the huge noise difference against your YSTech (which doesn't have a good rep for quiet fans). If you connect the red wire from the fan to the red of the 4-pin IDE and black to black, you'll get 5V. That will be competitive with the Q-tech. Might as well try it... <br> <br> <br> <br>
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I was thinking - Since the PSU-fan is half out in the open in the back (it is exposed to open air) , can't you somehow put the fan on the BACK of the psu pushing in the case-air through the PSU and out? (maybe cutting a 80mm hole in the back plate of the psu) <br>This would put the fan approx. 20cm inside the case, and would be inaudible with a low-noise fan. Any suggestions??? <br> <br>Let's hope zalmans new friend The Heatpipe will be used in a zalman PSU soon.. <IMG SRC="modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif"> <br> <br>Thanks! <br>
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Putting the fan on the opposite side would probably drop the noise a bit, but there's often not much room there with CD drives & cables (as well as PSU cables). Worth a try.
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Hiya - I'm totally new to all these mods, fans and voltages etc., so please bear with me! <br> <br>Like said above, I want to reduce the noise of my computer since it'll be in my room when I go back to uni next year. As for CPU HSF, the Zalman flower CNSP6000-Cu seems like a widely liked choice - would you guys recommend this? <br> <br>When it comes to PSUs - everyone seems to recommend different things! Some people say the Q-Tech PSUs (from quietpc.com) are virtually silent, some people swear by Enermax (and say they are very quiet, and probably quiter than Q-Tech, especially with their new Whisper series), and now, for the first time, I've seen the ones recommended by MikeC! Arghhh! What do I do? Any opinions/experiences would be greatly appreciated! <br> <br>On a general note, I have an AthlonXP 1800+, with 2 HDDs and the other usual suspects (GF2, sndcard, ethernet etc.). What would anyone recommend as to rated power of the PSU I buy? 300/350/400/431W? My fear is that I'll buy a PSU at a ridiculous price, and then have to buy a new one if I upgrade in a few months! <IMG SRC="modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif"> <br> <br>Thanks a lot! <br>Oz <IMG SRC="modules/phpBB_14/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">
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