When you compare this PSU vs the recently reviewed PSUs it fares well on handling the heat and noise. The efficiency is close to that of an 80 Plus unit but the best thing about it is you don't have to void the warranty to replace the fan.

here are the comparison numbers



I'd be curious to hear Mike's thoughts on how the VX450W sounds in light of newer developments. I can't remember if he sold that unit or still has it for retesting.

Of course I'm looking forward to the spring/summer PSU releases. There should be some solid contenders to add to the tables.

Its kinda hush-hush. -being SPCR and all.

Whats the top allowable dBA for a SPCR party anyways?


_____________


Nice Review Mike. If I needed a PSU, this would be it.

The VX450W is louder than any of the others you list there -- as usual you do a very nice job of extracting core info from our reviews.

What's the airflow like at 370rpm? Would it be enough to cool a couple of hard drives in the bottom section of a P18X? (with the vents at the back of the case sealed of course..)

Certainly a good and honest product but, in a 'fairly powerfull system' it will ramp up under load, a bit sooner than a Enermax Pro82+ 425W unit for example.

Here in Holland the Nexus is available from 58 euro and the Enermax from 63 euro. When your system pulls 200W, the Enermax fan will run at about 500rpm in pracitse (not 450 as they specify) and the Nexus will be in a steep rampup slope at 670rpm. At 250W it would be some 550 vs 740 rpm.

The Enermax will be less noisy, perhaps one or 2 % more efficient and only 5 euro more expensive.

Just to say this Nexus while pretty good, isn't that spectacular! (for systems that need more than 150W).

Maybe true, but prices are very much dependable on country. In here difference is like 30 or 40€'s between Enermax Modu82+ and Nexus Value 430. That is a lot money...

Excellent review. It's been a while since exciting product was reviewed.

And again, if your system needs 350-400w at load, Nexus will be better then Enermax.

The Nexus is really a bargain in terms of price. Here it's cheaper then all of it's competition. Enermax Pro82+ 425W is almost 40% more expensive here in Finland. Even Seasonic S12II-330 is more expensive. It's not because Nexus is so cheap, it's priced similar to Holland. The rest are just overpriced.

Hi Mike,

It's great to have a super quiet PSU -- I hope that it is for sale in the USA? I only checked NewEgg, and they don't have it, yet. $80 is a decent price.

[Edit: End PC Noise has it: http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std/sku=quiet_power_supply.html I didn't check all the places listed on the Nexus USA site: http://www.nexustek.nl/contact_us.htm, but The Cooler Guys do not have this model...]

For the truly budget PSU, I suggest the Fortron Source Green 350watt for $40 (plus shipping). They list it as >85% efficient, and the air flow is good because the internal components leave plenty of room!

Louder for sure. But loud enough that I'd regret saving $30?

comparing old review numbers to new we have



So if the old review number is 22 or below I can subtract 6 from it to compare to the new review?



Does that reasonably represent the new comparison and if it did how loud in the anechoic chamber is too loud for me? Yes that varies from person to person. Maybe you already wrote something you can point me to or you could make a quick comment on how loud a value PSU has to get before you wouldn't recommend it.

Hey that's the ticket. How about the recommended PSU list. Someday when you have time it'd be nice to see the comments in the recommended PSU list updated to address these sorts of questions.

I think all us poor chumps in the UK can do is wait until the pound comes back up, or spend some of those left over Euros/Dollars from last year's holiday Actually, there are lots of top rated quiet PSUs available for a lot less here due to stock being bought last year and carried over.

Looks like an excellent product. I've always been happy with my Nexus PSUs (which, incidentally, all cost less than this one at current exchange rates).

Mike, I know it could be hard to organise but I'd love to see some super cheap but quiet PSUs reviewed. For example, you can get a Packard Bell PSU for next to nothing in fleaBay and it's actually pretty good:

e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/fsp-packard-bell- ... upplies_EH

(Since when did they made their URLs so stupid?)

There are lots of other OEM PSUs made by FSP that are good too. In the current economic climate those of us unlucky enough not to be part of a major stable currency have little choice...

dhanson, only you can answer that one.

What the VX450 sounds like in comparison to the Value 430 and what it measures in the anechoic chamber...

I can't answer the 2nd question right now as we don't have a sample on hand any more. I can answer the first:

The Corsair at idle sounded like many of the other Seasonic-made PSUs with Adda 120mm fans -- very quiet, with a bit of growl. It was maybe a bit quieter than the norm, and it ramped up in speed at a lower power level than some of the higher power models. Most Seasonics had an idle fan speed of 650~850rpm.

The Value 430 is obviously quieter than any of the pre-M12D 850 Seasonic-mades. Its fan spins at only 370rpm. Try running any 120mm sleeve bearing fan at that speed and you'll know how quiet that is. You can hear the difference between the Nexus and the MD12D in the recordings linked in the review; previous Seasonics would be at least 2-3 dBA louder at idle. As a point of comparison, the Enermax Modu82+ we reviewed had an idle fan speed of ~500rpm.

The Value 430 thermal controller seems ridiculously reluctant to speed the fan up. I expressed my concern about possible overheating in the review -- which the thing did not do beyond 760rpm even after extended 1~2 hrs at full load during repeated tests to try and get the fan to ramp up. Maybe that's its max speed at 12V? I still have reservations about its longevity, but I also know that in actual use, nobody stresses PSUs like we do in our hot test box.

So getting to dhanson865's question about how the Corsair V450 compares, it's not in the same class noise-wise. Whether you can hear that difference in a real system will depend as usual on your other components and your ambient.

Speaking for myself, my main computer under my desk measures somewhere between 15 and 20 dBA at 1m -- yet I can't hear it because the sound is effectively blocked by heavy curtains on the wall/window behind the PC, the wall-to-wall carpet, and the desktop. There would be no point in swapping in this Nexus -- I wouldn't hear the benefit.

Why do you say that? The Nexus tops out at 19 dBA at 430 W output, show me one PSU with a fan that does better than that.
For instance, the Modu82+ 625 gives 26 dBA at 400 W. Very good, but still worse than the Nexus.

I just don't see your point.

PCCG are your only hope I suspect and even then...

There does not appear to be any Nexus PSUs on staticICE or Shopbot. I suppose PCCG might consider it if there was sufficient interest (how many card-carrying SPCR party members are there in Australia?).

Otherwise, I'm not sure whether this product would warrant ordering via an international e-tailer, particularly given present exchange rates.

Don't know if I qualify as card carrying yet, but I have spent a goodly chunk of cash at PCCG on quiet PC products. Maybe some sort of concerted lobbying effort?

At low and high loads the Nexus is the quietter one, but exactly in the midrange 200 .. 300 Watts, the Nexus is slightly behind the Enermax Pro / Modu 425 PSU. And perhaps in Holland only, the Pro82 is barely more costly than the Nexus.

An overclocked Core 2 Duo and fairly high spec graphics card, while all still possibly very quiet (Accelero S1, Ninja etc) will just be in that range where the Nexus is NOT the better one.

If that is combined with only a 5 euro premium, you'd be better off with a Pro82 Enermax.

niels: Now I realize I was looking at test results from the old sound lab. I guess it doesn't matter which one of them I'd buy.
But the thing is that the Nexus model is easier to find in Sweden, and it costs less. The Enermax have good prices in Germany for instance.

The most important for me is low idle noise, and 11 dBA up to at least 150 W is exactly what I need, especially since I use <100 W in idle.
The noise at 200 - 300 W is less important, because if I use that much I'd definitely be gaming, and then I don't care if it's 13 or 18 dBA.

I could probably go for something that does 22 dBA at 100 W and still be perfectly fine, but I prefer this one because the lower noise makes it a bit more future proof.
Like if I get a different use for the PSU and it suddently ends on my desk in a SFF, then I'd be hearing more from it then if it's in a case on the floor or in a HTPC.

Great review! Amazing results, finally Nexus managed to build a really quiet psu.

Yes, thanks for the very useful review!

I think heat generation / inefficiency is one of the most important values in the context of this site. More important then AC input, maybe even more important than the efficiency value itself (which is derived from this).

Also, the difference between 80% and 90% efficiency probably doesn't look as big as between 10% and 20% inefficiency, which is a 2x difference.

BTW, maybe it's a good idea to update the Power Supply Fundamentals / REAL SYSTEM POWER REQUIREMENTS too. There isn't a single Core 2 system in the list and the P4 is really legacy by now...

I have to agree that this indeed looks quite desirable PSU. However, looking at the specs I still think there is one big minus: how come a modern PSU comes with just two SATA-connectors?!? Sure, you can buy Molex->SATA-converters, but less cable clutter would be preferred. In fact, I would love this PSU with modular cables. Although I guess the result of that change would end up something similar to NX-8040, which I currently have in this main rig. And at least from my unscientific observations I gather that NX-8040's noise characteristics are quite ok (although it is bit hard to seperate PSU "noise" from the sound pattern coming also from the other components).

The low number of sata connectors really is a minus for the Nexus Value 430. What about the Nexus cable lengths? To set it up to Antec P18X with cable management at least the 4 pin CPU connector cable should be long enough. And of course the big ATX connector cable as well. Anyone has any idea about this?

If this Nexus doesn't fit my P182, any other recommendations anyone?

HEtzu, Nexus' pages say there's four sata conenctors also as you can see from bottom most picture, there is no two, but four sata connectors. Still pretty meager amount for current PSU's though.

http://www.dreamwarecomputers.com/revie ... index3.htm

If you really want the ultimate cabling, you can make your own to the exact length required. It's a bit harder to do now SATA is common because crimpable SATA connectors are not that easy to get, but you can of course just modify an existing one.

As an added bonus, you can use much smaller gauge wire than is normally used on PSUs because you know that the connectors will only be used for HDDs which are maximum 20W mostly. That means easier bending and routing.

The problem then becomes how to attach them to the PSU. With cheap PSUs I normally just cut the existing cables down to be very short and stick a connector on the end (not a Molex because they are rubbish).

Hi,

I can't think that more than 1 in 50 people has more than four SATA devices in their system?

[Edit: This unit has something that no other fanned unit has -- the title of quietest actively cooled PSU!]

The whole power supply conventional wisdom is so useless. You can't really both complain about needing to use adapters and also want a modular power supply! I prefer power supplies with fewer and shorter cables. One nice thing about custom barebone systems is they can have just the wires they need all the right length. Even my cheap ATX power supplies have way too many connectors, but 4 SATA power connectors should be standard now. They are at least much safer than having bare unused Molex connectors.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article922-page2.html

2 - 29" cable w/ 2x SATA connectors

That line means 2 cables with 2 connectors per cable for a total of 4 SATA connectors.

It is a little cheap on connectors when you compare it vs

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article751-page2.html

2 x 28" cable with three SATA drive connectors for a total of 6 SATA connectors.

But I think Neil is right the average user doesn't use more than a couple of hard drives and a couple of optical drives. And like Hezu said you could buy molex to SATA power converters since this PSU has 6 molex connectors it should be workable even if it isn't convenient.

I've done this, it's a damned good idea. However, you don't want crimp ones.
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/SATA.html

Yeah, the crimp ones don't work too well with smaller gauge wire. By my calculations you should be able to safely go down to 20 gauge for multiple connectors and 22 gauge for individual ones.