fordprefect wrote:
any thoughts on the psu noise level? of course, they all say they're silent
Which PSU? And who are those "all"?
At anyway, these are PSU's acoustic performance tested by SPCR in the last years (hotbox values are the ones I would look at if your enclosure have a top mounting PSU, open-air values should be more similar to those ones you are likely to find when using a bottom mounting PSU case).
Code:
Testing in the hotbox
WATTS/DB Q4 2011 @
MODEL 90 150 200 250 300 400 500 6-700 850 NEWEGG PRICE
LZP-550 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 22 -- -- 160$
AX-850 <10 <10 12 15 18 25 35 38 39 190$
GX-700 15 15 18 20 25 32 35 36 -- 180$
TP-750 12 12 14 14 18 33 40 40 -- 140$
X-400FL <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10* -- -- 125$
MODU87+ 11 11 11 11 14 20 23 -- -- 140$ #
NX5000 11 11 12 14 22 24 25 -- -- 100$ #
CX-400 19 26 32 35 35 35 -- -- -- ---$
ECO80+ II <11 12 16 19 26 32 33 -- -- ---$
X-650 <10 11 12 14 16 31 31 32 -- 140$
CP-850 12 12 12 14 14 26 40 44 45 115$
RX-8500 14 14 18 23 28 32 32 33 33 145$ #
M700W 14 14 18 21 25 27 30 34 -- 130$
CP700M 15 15 15 15 17 30 34 34 -- ---$
VALUE430 11 11 16 18 18 19 -- -- -- 60$ #
M12D850 14 14 14 14 14 24 37 42 42 148$ #
SG650 15 15 15 16 18 28 36 47 -- 215$ #
DA700 18 18 18 28 23 32 35 41 -- 120$ #
MODU82+ 425 13 13 14 15 16 26 -- -- -- 125$ #
ECS7001 22 22 22 21 23 25 36 37 -- ---$
ZM1000HP 20 20 20 20 20 20 26 37 40 ± 250$
TX650W 21 21 21 21 23 38 43 44 -- ± ---$
MODU82+ 625 13 13 14 15 16 26 36 37 -- 130$
Testing out of the hotbox
WATTS/DB Q4 2011 @
MODEL 90 150 200 250 300 400 500 6-700 850 NEWEGG PRICE
STR-500 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <13 -- -- 160$
X-460FL <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <11 <13* -- -- 140$
ST50NF 11 11 11 11 15 15 16 -- -- 200$
LZP-550 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 16 -- -- 160$
AX-850 <10 <10 <10 11~13 12 13 17 24 35 190$
GX-700 15 15 15 17 21 25 35 35 -- 180$
TP-750 12 12 12 14 15 27 31 40 -- 140$
X-400FL <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 <11 <10* -- -- 125$
MODU87+ 11 11 11 11 11 11 18 -- -- 140$ #
NX5000 11 11 12 12 12.5 14 19 -- -- 100$ #
CX-400 19 19 24 30 35 35 -- -- -- ---$
ECO80+ II <11 <11 12 16 20 23 28 -- -- ---$
X-650 <10 <10 <10 <10 <10 16 27 32 -- 140$
CP-850 12 12 12 12 12 14 20 24 40 115$
* = overload
# = price not from NewEgg
@ = MIRs are not taken into account
± = not tested in the anechoic chamber
So you may cross check your presumed power draw figures (90-100W at most) with the above tables, in order to find out your own trade-off.
fordprefect wrote:
for the other fans I just bought a little 20w fan controller anticipating being able to tamp them down somewhat.
If your 3-pin fans don't work with your mobo, then more probably that not you would just need 4-pins PWM fans to let the BIOS control work. An Akasa PWM splitter also could help.
However, why didn't you buy the Scythe Kaze Server I've adviced you for? It's the best second thing quieting fans after SpeedFan (or a properly working BIOS), money-wise.
Another alternative may be to daisy chain both the voltage adapters (IIRC the Noctua fans come with two LNA/ULNA adapters).
Eventually, about the CPU heatsink, it's certain that you won't need both the fans with that modest 245e, and it's even possible that you can get rid of the exhaust fan (providing you would accept some increase in temps), as long as you're running off the IGP (personally I have a 785G with just an 80mm exhaust and this latter is pretty useless).