Hi all,

I've just purchased this Seasonic 500W PSU, and unfortunately the fan is making that annoying "clicking" noise.

The noise is very similar to this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaNz0-o0 ... re=related

Well, i've searched the forum and saw that many people decided to replace the original "Adda" fan with something else. (I really don't want to send the PSU back to RMA as it's going to take weeks and i don't have a spare one at the moment. Voiding the warranty is OK for me, too.) I have this Gelid fan, and planning to replace the original fan with it ;

http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/ ... id=5&id=30

I'd like to replace the fan and plug it to my Mobo as it's PWM and i'll be able to control it by using Speedfan. (Fan speed will increase to %90-100 while under load, and will decrease to %60 - which's about 900 rpm - when the system is idle.)

So my 1st question is, is this Gelid fan suitable for the job ? Obviously it's not powerful as the Adda, and it's also a sleeve bearing one. Please note that it's the only decent 120mm fan i got at the moment and it's a little difficult to find each brand/model in my country. Also i'm not expecting it to work for 3 years or so. If it dies (after a year maybe?) i could replace it with something better then.

And the 2nd question : Is it possible to fix the original Adda fan by doing some oiling etc ? If not, i'm gonna throw it out of the window, the noise is making me crazy.

Thanks in advance...

You should determine whether the noise that bothers you is coming from the fan or from the piece of plastic that is acting like a baffle -- referred to in the comments for that youtube video/sound you linked to.

Note -- the plastic is meant to prevent an airflow short-circuit. Because of the close proximity of the exhaust vent to that side of the fan, there is a tendency for air to flow straight in/out without cooling much of the components located to the part of the PSU opposite the exhaust. Many PSU makers are using the same "trick", and when the fan is spinning slowly enough, there is little audible effect.

So, since you are willing to give up the warranty, try first of all, removing the plastic piece, and listen to the PSU again. If the bothersome noise is gone, then you can decide whether to leave it as is, or replace that plastic piece with something that will vibrate less, like a stiffer, thicker piece of plastic, maybe. If the noise remains, then the problem is intrinsic to the fan, and probably needs to be replaced. Your Gelid fan plan seems reasonable enough, certainly worth a try.

Thank you for your reply MikeC,

Oops I forgot to mention that i've already removed that plastic piece, also removed the fan grill. But the same noise is still there, that's why i started to think that the fan itself needs to be replaced.

Also, there's another plastic piece (same material) on the side of the PSU, should i try to remove it too, or is it irrelevant ?

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_imag ... /in1-8.jpg

I'm not sure yet but it looks like i'm going to change the fan.

(Another noobish question, the fan is supposed to blow in or out of the PSU ? I don't want to mount it the wrong way.)

Thanks again for helping me out, cheers.

1. Probably.
2. Sucks in, blows out the back grill.

Thank you.

When I replace a PSU fan, as long as the PSU has fan speed control, I prefer to connect the new fan to the original header so the PSU retains control of its fan speed. That way you avoid potential catastrophic under-cooling as the PSU can speed the fan up itself when really needed. Usually you can remove the plastic surround from the original fan pins and then jam the new fan plug on to them and job done! Add glue/tape once tested if want to be sure.

If you want to do this you will need a "normal" 3pin fan, Gelid Silent 12 probably be fine but it's 1000rpm max speed probably too low if you're going to push the PSU really hard, which you probably aren't. Scythe 1200rpm fans are a favourite for PSU fan swaps, I like to route the 3rd "speed" wire out of the PSU and can then monitor the fan's speed. I did this with the Antec Neo HE430 I had with Noctua R8 fan and I've done it with my Antec Signature, although this has a 4 pin PWM fan, but is unusual in this.
I had a long post/thread on the NeoHE fan swap but most of it's gone! In fact I've noticed many of my longer older posts have lost some/most of the content Any idea MikeC?

Finished swap: Fan speed connection routed out with main ATX loom


New fans wires jammed in to original fan's plug and connected to original header:


PSU Fan speed (grey) varied according to load/conditions:



Regards, Seb
[edit for spelling ]

SebRad, thanks for your kind advice. And your work there is really great.

Unfortunately, i don't have a Scythe fan or any other 3-pin fan. A decent one cost like 20$ here, PSU itself was about 55$, and i really don't want to spend this amount on a fan. So i'll have to stick with that Gelid as the replacement as i already got it on hand...

Speedfan says the Gelid spins at 1445 rpm on %100, and it's kinda loud at that level. At %60, it's 950-1000 rpm and i can't hear a thing.

Do you think if there'll be a problem if i set the PSU fan speed to change depending on the CPU + GPU temps ? As they're the two main components which are going to increase PSU's workload, it seemed pretty logical to me... (Also the fan speed won't go below %60, even the system is idle, just in case.)

And if i connect the fan to the original header, will the PSU set the fan speed properly ? I thought the fan control of the PSU was adjusted for it's original Adda fan, and it wouldn't work so good with a different/weaker fan ?

Thanks in advance.

This seems odd... but we did have a major glitch in one of the forum moves/upgrades a few years ago where a bunch of old posts were lost. A lot of it was then later recovered, but not fully. Yours may be victims of that incident. I'll try and find out.

Thanks Mike, it's not a big deal if it's lots of effort to investigate etc.
If it helps much of my write up in VF-900 thread is also missing.

monk, yes your plan for PSU fan should work out ok, as you say the PSU will see higher temp/load when the CPU and GPU are loaded.
The PWM fan may work connected to the PSUs fan header, some PWM fans are ok with voltage control and others are less so. Usually dropping rapidly in speed in the 11-7v range and then holding on to a certain minimum. You'd need to test it on a fan controller or 3 pin motherboard header to see.

I think when you use a slower fan on the PSU's header all that happens is the temp/fan speed curve is moved, for example with new slower fan the internal temp for 200w would be the same as with original fan at 300w. Same temp = same fan voltage but if you swapped 2000rpm fan for 1300rpm fan you would have a lower fan speed, you're swapping cooling for noise and as long as not pushing the PSU limits it'll be fine.

$20 seems like a lot for a fan, where are you located? I like Arctic Cooling F fans as cheap and quite good, F12 is <£5 here. Also Xilence Redwing is good cheap fan and Nexus is only £6.25, about the same for Gelid Silent 12 from QuietPC, who I think ship internationally.

Good luck, Seb