Fanless PSU Torture Test Roundup

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MikeC
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Fanless PSU Torture Test Roundup

Post by MikeC » Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:47 am


sub
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Post by sub » Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:37 pm

Thanks mike, another great review !

During the load torture test, the seasonic was dead silent, no coil / pitch noise ?

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Post by MikeC » Fri Aug 20, 2010 1:49 pm

Like I wrote, the test was already described in the original X-400 review. No electronic noise at all would be just about impossible. I've never heard PSU w/o any buzz -- get close enough, there's always something audible. But in any normal operating situation (and distance), our X-400 sample was silent.

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:10 pm

That SilenX power supply is almost comical. I can't believe they can get away with charging so much for crap like that. :lol:

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Post by BillyBuerger » Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:52 pm

frostedflakes wrote:That SilenX power supply is almost comical. I can't believe they can get away with charging so much for crap like that. :lol:
I know I had a good laugh at it. Kudos to Mike for actually going out and picking up two of these things and letting us see for real what we all expected. Did you feel dirty when you bought them?

Monkeh16
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Post by Monkeh16 » Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:10 pm

1V ripple!?

I could probably do better than that turning a dynamo by hand.

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Post by OddSilence » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:00 pm

I think I found online a fanless PSU that is missing from your list (unless I missed it :oops: ): NorthQ NQ-4300GP-FL Pacific

About the SilenX-fanless-PSU
That SilenX-PSU seems like a harzard-on-wheels! wait, it doesn't have wheels?! :shock: But at least it has a fan... :P
Really, Is that thing safe? I mean, you stopped testing it, but it's unknown, and there wasn't any sign of it turning itself off to avoid disaster, was there?

Ok, it isn't that bad if we look at it like if we were in 2004, so I think the problem is that it is still sold today... :?

I found a review of that PSU (I think) which says:
Throughout the entire test, the PSU never made a single noise and operated at 0 dB as advertised
(Although I doubt that review has much reliability...)

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Post by MikeC » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:10 pm

OddSilence wrote:I think I found online a fanless PSU that is missing from your list (unless I missed it :oops: ): NorthQ NQ-4300GP-FL Pacific

About the SilenX-fanless-PSU
That SilenX-PSU seems like a harzard-on-wheels! wait, it doesn't have wheels?! :shock: But at least it has a fan... :P
Really, Is that thing safe? I mean, you stopped testing it, but it's unknown, and there wasn't any sign of it turning itself off to avoid disaster, was there?

Ok, it isn't that bad if we look at it like if we were in 2004, so I think the problem is that it is still sold today... :?

I found a review of that PSU (I think) which says:
Throughout the entire test, the PSU never made a single noise and operated at 0 dB as advertised
(Although I doubt that review has much reliability...)
You're right, I never found that NorthQ... probably because there's only one US reseller and they stock none of NQ's products. Does anyone know an actual reseller for this NQ PSU? ie -- can you buy one? Marketplace availability was one of the criteria. Also, from the description in this undated review, it's not fanless but a "hybrid" -- fan turns on when some internal temp point reaches 65C, which is not that high for a PSU.

As for the SilenX... if $$ hadn't been invested, the before power-up physical examination and fudgy documentation would have been enough to eliminate it from the roundup. I would not hook my computer to it.

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Post by OddSilence » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:22 pm

MikeC wrote:
Does anyone know an actual reseller for this NQ PSU? ie -- can you buy one?
I see it for sale here:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500W-Nor ... -0Db-Noise!!
(sorry but the url BBCode doesn't like the "!!" part, so i was forced to write the URL bare, please copy&paste with the "!!" part)
, and says "In Stock | Delivered to you on Tuesday 24th August 2010", although I don't know anything about that website.
As for the SilenX...
I didn't mean to say that you should have done more with it, I meant to say that that SilenX PSU looks very unreliable (and makes me wonder if a PSU like that should be allowed to be sold nowadays or not).

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Post by MikeC » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:38 pm

OddSilence wrote:MikeC wrote:
Does anyone know an actual reseller for this NQ PSU? ie -- can you buy one?
I see it for sale here:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500W-Nor ... -0Db-Noise!!
(sorry but the url BBCode doesn't like the "!!" part, so i was forced to write the URL bare, please copy&paste with the "!!" part)
, and says "In Stock | Delivered to you on Tuesday 24th August 2010", although I don't know anything about that website.
Like I said, the problem is that this "fanless" PSU has a fan -- a built in fan. See -- http://www.hardware.no/artikler/northq_ ... less/48865 -- the title of the article says it all: "Fanless" Power Supply - with fan

EDIT -- from a THG forum post:
i have purchased a northq pacific 2 500w fanless power supply to try and quieten my system, however after about thirty mins the built in back up fan kicks in and refuses to go off again rather defeating the point of buying it in the first place.
i have no case fan fitted so would the extra air flow in my case be enough to reduce the temp and stop this back up fan kicking in, i cant help feeling i have wasted my money

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Post by OddSilence » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:49 pm

Like I said, the problem is that this "fanless" PSU has a fan
Ok, sorry, maybe I should have looked better before posting about it, but the info I saw first said "fanless" and that a fan would turn on only at extreme temperatures (didn't notice/know it was 65º).

Although, since it has some efficiency and seems to have some decent heatsinks and a very perforated housing, maybe the fan doens't turn on too frequently. I just read in that review you refered to about the 400w model: "The back-up fan first started when we were stressing the unit at 75% load, but even then it would remain inactive most of the time. At 100% load, it would occasionally start, cool the unit and then stop again for a few minutes."

I guessed that fan was a bit like the fans in your review.. And the SilenX had a fan too..(although not in it, I understand there is some difference, still I feel/see the SilenX's psu fan as a "clumsily-done-at-home" attempt to do the same)

Anyway, if it isn't considered fanless, I'm trully sorry for "making" you read and waste time with it, I meant well. :cry:
Last edited by OddSilence on Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

walle
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Post by walle » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:56 pm

SilenX...Overall failtastic!

Sorry, simply couln't resist.
Last edited by walle on Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:11 pm

So what's up with the religious silentmaxx logo? Am I the only one who sees a fish?

I'm impressed by MikeC's norwegian skills! Kjempebra artikel! :D

OddSilence
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Post by OddSilence » Fri Aug 20, 2010 5:24 pm

I'm impressed by MikeC's norwegian skills!
Me too! as a comparison i could only understand one word: "Konklusjon" (= conclusion ?) :roll:

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Post by Hypernova » Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:57 pm

SilenX:
"Didn't blow up"

Pretty sure it would have if you went for full power :P

Small miracle what a company can get away with these days.[/quote]

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Post by Darth Santa Fe » Fri Aug 20, 2010 10:31 pm

The SilenX PSU failed. What a surprise! :lol:

I notice you occasionally pulled out a Gentle Typhoon in the review. I think mine is great, but what did you guys think of it?

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Post by Parappaman » Sat Aug 21, 2010 2:33 am

Best review EVAH. And that means a lot as I always considered SPCR ones to be the best EVAH.

Though you lost an occasion to bash a little more on the Thermaltake badge. Did you forget this one? http://www.silentpcreview.com/article240-page1.html :P

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Post by edh » Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:28 am

"Didn't blow up" is listed as a GOOD point of the SilenX?!? Surely a typo Mike :wink:

It should be listed as a bad point as the best thing this sodding awful component could do is put itself out of it's misery. What's more as it has not blown up you still have a SilenX PSU. That can only be a bad thing.

This really does show that the X-400 is a step change in passive PSU design. PSU efficiency is now at a high enough level that enables this so hopefully we will see more and more of this. Any chance of a Modu 87+ passive design of say 400W, Enermax?

In terms of other passive PSUs, it just shows how much of a niche market it has been when most of the designs predate 80+. I really can't think of any ATX form factor fanless units that could also be included.

It would however be nice to see PicoPSU and similar designs tested with the same methodology to see how they respond to stress, something there has not been much analysis of.

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Post by NeilBlanchard » Sat Aug 21, 2010 3:49 am

The Silverstone and the SilentMaxx look almost virtually physically identical. The heatsink has all the same holes in the same places, and the rest of the chassis looks the same.

Same efficiency, very similar performance.

I'll bet FSP makes both.

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Post by frenchie » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:08 am

GREAT review !!!! Thank you !

This Seasonic PSU is now on top of my list if I ever find 140$.

I wonder what would happen if you used those screw holes in the silenX... :twisted: On a more serious note, I really wonder how this thing passes the official safety tests. Is there not someone out there that tests PSUs to make sure they can be put in a computer, someone who checks that the voltages and currents delivered by the PSU stay within standards ? Actually you know what, the day I need a new system, I'm buying one of those things, running it at full blast until it blows up my stuff (watching it with a fire extinguisher) and make silenX pay for a new system. The warning on their cheapo photocopied warning sign should read "do not use to power a computer"... I wouldn't want that thing in my electric lawn mower !!

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Post by MikeC » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:24 am

Parappaman wrote:Best review EVAH. And that means a lot as I always considered SPCR ones to be the best EVAH.

Though you lost an occasion to bash a little more on the Thermaltake badge. Did you forget this one? http://www.silentpcreview.com/article240-page1.html :P
Wow, yeah, I did completely miss that one in my background overview. But it's no longer available.

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Post by MikeC » Sat Aug 21, 2010 6:40 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:The Silverstone and the SilentMaxx look almost virtually physically identical. The heatsink has all the same holes in the same places, and the rest of the chassis looks the same.

Same efficiency, very similar performance.

I'll bet FSP makes both.
You'd lose that one Neil. ;) Etasis has been making all of Silverstone's fanless PSUs (just 3 models thus far).

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Post by CA_Steve » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:28 am

Thanks for the great article and morning humor to go w/ my coffee. I didn't find Bigfoot, but I did spot a typo on page 2.

"As far as we know, there are no other fanless ATX12V power supplies available on the retain market."

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Post by MikeC » Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:42 am

btw, no one has commented yet on the holy grail image on the front page of this article. Knowing where it comes from will make you laugh. Any guesses?

sub
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Post by sub » Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:50 am

from Monty Python

:wink:

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Post by Titus » Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:59 am

MikeC wrote:btw, no one has commented yet on the holy grail image on the front page of this article. Knowing where it comes from will make you laugh. Any guesses?
God: "...This is the Holy Grail. Look well, Arthur, for it is your sacred task to seek this grail. That is your purpose, Arthur. The quest for the holy grail."

*clouds slide shut with the sound of a door closing*

Lancelot: "A blessing! A blessing from The Lord!"

Galahad: "God be praised!"
Thanks for another excellent review. You mentioned the X-460 (SS-460FL) in the individual review for the X-400. Is there any indication of when that will come out and what pricing will be?

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Post by MikeC » Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:08 am

Titus wrote:Thanks for another excellent review. You mentioned the X-460 (SS-460FL) in the individual review for the X-400. Is there any indication of when that will come out and what pricing will be?
Sept, I believe -- no idea about official pricing but $10-20 more would seem likely. I have an early non-production sample... and it can't do 460W on the 15hr torture test w/o shutdown in 24C room temp. Add 800rpm Nexus 120 and it does.

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Post by Titus » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:19 am

MikeC wrote:Sept, I believe -- no idea about official pricing but $10-20 more would seem likely. I have an early non-production sample... and it can't do 460W on the 15hr torture test w/o shutdown in 24C room temp. Add 800rpm Nexus 120 and it does.
I'd spring for $20 more if the production model is up to the standard set by its little brother.

I'm surprised that Antec doesn't have an offering in this segment anymore. They should reintroduce the fanless PSU to their lineup inside the massive form factor CP series. :D

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Post by chanman » Sat Aug 21, 2010 11:50 am

I'm hoping JonnyGURU does a similar fanless round-up. Complete with multiple DNF entries :D

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Post by CA_Steve » Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:03 pm

MikeC wrote:btw, no one has commented yet on the holy grail image on the front page of this article. Knowing where it comes from will make you laugh. Any guesses?
It would just lead to spankings. Bad, bad Zoot.

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