Thanks mike, another great review !

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

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.

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

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?

1V ripple!?

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

I think I found online a fanless PSU that is missing from your list (unless I missed it ): 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?! But at least it has a fan...
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:

(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.

MikeC wrote:
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.


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).

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:

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.

SilenX...Overall failtastic!

Sorry, simply couln't resist.

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!

Me too! as a comparison i could only understand one word: "Konklusjon" (= conclusion ?)

SilenX:
"Didn't blow up"

Pretty sure it would have if you went for full power

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

The SilenX PSU failed. What a surprise!

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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... 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 !!

Wow, yeah, I did completely miss that one in my background overview. But it's no longer available.

You'd lose that one Neil. Etasis has been making all of Silverstone's fanless PSUs (just 3 models thus far).

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."

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?

from Monty Python

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.

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.

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

It would just lead to spankings. Bad, bad Zoot.