Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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bob2300nx
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Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:06 pm

So here is my build:

-Silverstone SG13
-Corsair CX550M
-Ryzen 1600
-GTX 1080 - reference PCB with EVGA hybrid water cool upgrade kit
-Corsair H60

Picture of the case to get an idea of the layout:
https://www.hardwareheaven.com/wp-conte ... stall1.jpg

I have two radiators on the front with a gentle typhoon sandwiched in the middle. Temps seem reasonable, performance is great but its too loud. Currently I have the PSU in the same orientation as that picture, using it as an exhaust fan. It gets INSANELY loud. I might flip the PSU and let the hot air just vent out. I think ultimately upgrading would be the best option.

What im looking for:
-Quiet, dont want to hear it over the two water cooler pumps
-140mm max, even at 140mm my CX550M barely fit, the top modular connectors run into my 3.5" HDD
-As cheap as possible fitting those two criteria while not being junk either.

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Oct 04, 2017 2:21 pm

Take a look at Corsair's two SFX supplies, the SF450 and SF600. Gold efficiency, semi-passive design...if you aren't overclocking, the SF450 is on the edge of being inaudible at game load...the SF600 certainly will be. Corsair sells an SFX to ATX mount adapter, if the case doesn't have SFX mounting holes.

Seasonic has the Focus Plus 140mm ATX supplies. Also semi passive. Looks like the 550W version's fan is off in your load range...

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:25 pm

CA_Steve wrote:Take a look at Corsair's two SFX supplies, the SF450 and SF600. Gold efficiency, semi-passive design...if you aren't overclocking, the SF450 is on the edge of being inaudible at game load...the SF600 certainly will be. Corsair sells an SFX to ATX mount adapter, if the case doesn't have SFX mounting holes.

Seasonic has the Focus Plus 140mm ATX supplies. Also semi passive. Looks like the 550W version's fan is off in your load range...
Would you recommend having the fan act as an exhaust or use for fresh air? Thinking about going with the SF600 if I can find a good deal

Olle P
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by Olle P » Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:22 am

You use the radiators to heat up the incoming air and then feed that warm air to the PSU. Off course the PSU gets relatively loud to compensate for the high temperature.
Just flip the PSU around and let the heated air vent out at the sides. Should do wonders to the noise.

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:50 am

Try flipping your exiosting PSU around and see if it helps...

Having a case intake fan for your radiators is a really bad idea, heatwise.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Thu Oct 05, 2017 7:47 am

I know its not ideal. Silverstone seems to have designed it this way though, theres a dust filter on the front (no where else) and in the instructions talks about radiators. Alot of people seem to have success with that airpath.

I will try taking dust filter out, flipping fan so front is exhaust and flipping the PSU (though I might change it for SF600 regardless).

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Oct 05, 2017 10:13 am

You might consider removing the front fan and filter and attaching fan(s) so they exhaust through the radiators and the front of the case. Or, trying to fit the radiators elsewhere on the case for normal airflow.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:51 am

CA_Steve wrote:Take a look at Corsair's two SFX supplies, the SF450 and SF600. Gold efficiency, semi-passive design...if you aren't overclocking, the SF450 is on the edge of being inaudible at game load...the SF600 certainly will be. Corsair sells an SFX to ATX mount adapter, if the case doesn't have SFX mounting holes.

Seasonic has the Focus Plus 140mm ATX supplies. Also semi passive. Looks like the 550W version's fan is off in your load range...
I wanted to report back that the SF600 does in fact spin while idling. By inaudible does that mean fan will spin but be quiet? If so I think thats in line with what im observing.

Also tracked down a major cause of my noise, the fan on the video card was throttling up, I thought it wasnt controlled by software but turns out it is. Odd design as the radiator fan on the evga hybrid kit runs at consistent RPM while the VRM fan is temp controlled. Alittle backwards, easy solution was to turn it all the way down since the fan is only cooling onboard components.

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:02 am

The SF600 should have fan off for idle and lower loads at normal temps.. One review on fan behavior.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:22 pm

CA_Steve wrote:The SF600 should have fan off for idle and lower loads at normal temps.. One review on fan behavior.
Yes I read that before buying this. I thought about heat and took the cover off, still the fan spins. With the cover on there are cutouts for the fan so it was pulling in room temp air. I had a 90mm fan on the side of the PSU, this had some effect but I still noticed it spinning for time to time on idle. Unfortunately, I had to take the 90mm fan out as it was way to noisy, waiting for a noctua fan to test out. If those conditions arent "normal temp" or lower then IDK what is.

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:50 pm

You could remove the PSU from the case but leave it connected in order to see what the behavior is...let the PC boot up and idle and see what the PSU does. If the fan spins in this mode, get an RMA and replacement.

Olle P
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by Olle P » Wed Oct 18, 2017 10:39 pm

CA_Steve wrote:The SF600 should have fan off for idle and lower loads at normal temps.. One review...
That's not how I read the behaviour from the review.
My interpretation: Even at an ambient temperature as low as 22.5C, which is very low for being inside a case, the fan will go on and off at low loads.

There must be some forced airflow to keep the PSU temps down, and the alternatives are to either have the PSU fan running at low speed or to have some other fan moving air through the PSU to keep the PSU fan off.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:59 am

I have the PSU outside the case just with chrome open and the fan is spinning.

I wonder what to do. I kind of doubt this is defective but who knows.

EDIT: Most of the time while idle the fan is on. Once and awhile the fan is off. It seems pretty silent to me so I might just leave it.

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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Oct 20, 2017 7:29 am

It's up to you. If the fan being on bugs you, get an RMA. If it doesn't, don't.

Ollie: If you look at the product page tech specs, it says "Zero RPM Fan Mode Yes". If you read the press release info on tech websites, it says

Legit Reviews: "The result is a PSU optimised not just for efficiency, but low-noise too, with Corsair’s Zero RPM Fan Mode only switching the fan on when the PSU is under load, providing virtually silent operation at low and medium loads, another first for SFX PSUs."

Bit-Tech: "Corsair has included a zero RPM mode too, as it does in its premium full size PSUs such as the RMi series, which switches the fan off at low and medium loads to reduce noise levels."

If the fan is on while PC is idling and PSU is sitting on a desk, my guess is bad calibration of the thermal circuitry...eg: it thinks it's >30C rather than 20C.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Wed Nov 01, 2017 7:21 pm

CA_Steve wrote:It's up to you. If the fan being on bugs you, get an RMA. If it doesn't, don't.

Ollie: If you look at the product page tech specs, it says "Zero RPM Fan Mode Yes". If you read the press release info on tech websites, it says

Legit Reviews: "The result is a PSU optimised not just for efficiency, but low-noise too, with Corsair’s Zero RPM Fan Mode only switching the fan on when the PSU is under load, providing virtually silent operation at low and medium loads, another first for SFX PSUs."

Bit-Tech: "Corsair has included a zero RPM mode too, as it does in its premium full size PSUs such as the RMi series, which switches the fan off at low and medium loads to reduce noise levels."

If the fan is on while PC is idling and PSU is sitting on a desk, my guess is bad calibration of the thermal circuitry...eg: it thinks it's >30C rather than 20C.
After having both a SF450 and SF600 I can say that corsair and their graphs are BS. It still seems like the best SFX so I will stick with it. My first SF600 would come on during idle (alot of the time), granted it wasnt loud so im ok with it. I bought SF450 because the 600 developed a very bad coil whine. Same thing, its on sometimes during idle and while gaming is the loudest thing in my build. After I exit my game, it takes a few minutes to quiet down.

Interesting posts by JohnnyGuru (now corsair employee):
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthr ... 436&page=5

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Nov 02, 2017 7:25 am

Bummer that it turned out this way. I hadn't seen that thread on johnnyguru.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:05 am

Ill still say that I am happy with it so thank you for the recommendation. I just wanted to updated so there is more accurate information.

In actuality, shortly after starting this thread I learned that the VRM fan on the GPU hybrid cooler was causing the noise not the CX550M. It made no sense as the VRM fan is temp controlled but the connection for the radiator fan is not (I used mobo control). I am unsure how loud the CX550M was. Upon your recommendation I picked up the SF600. This was a great decision/recommendation as it opened up alot of space in the case and allowed me to add a 92mm noctua (big difference to temps). Also more room for the radiator tubes on my H60 (was alot of stress on the tubes). I turned the VRM fan down but for whatever reason the EVGA hybrid pump is loud while the H60 is quiet. Ended up picking up a MSI 1080 Gaming X and cutting the chassis to make it fit (cant tell with front grill on).

Lots of other bumps along the way.

Finally I have a powerful, very small (11.5L), AND QUIET system. I was starting to doubt if this was achievable (physics and all that nonsense lol). Loudest thing in my case is the PSU while gaming, down the road I hope there will be a passive SFX PSU or maybe EVGA offering will be quieter. Or maybe I will void warranty and swap fan to a thin noctua. I will improve it in the future but regardless I am very happy that I can finally enjoy this build

CA_Steve
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Nov 03, 2017 8:01 am

Don't know if this applies...but, you could try framerate limiting for games that aren't that demanding on the GPU, but still use a lot of resources for very high framerates..might have an option for this in the Nvidia or MSI control panel, or in the game settings. It could cut power use by a fair amount and lower the PSU fan speed.

bob2300nx
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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by bob2300nx » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:01 pm

I don't think it's temp related more a load and not best fan curve programming. The PSU has its own intake and a fan right next to it (pic below).

https://i.imgur.com/C0hWovN.jpg

What I did to fit the video card. Works well because there's a hard drive mounting plate that screws in at the top so it's still supported.

https://i.imgur.com/NyNTzRm.jpg

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Re: Build complete - My EARS HELP!!!!

Post by CA_Steve » Fri Nov 03, 2017 1:19 pm

psu has a thermal sensor for fan...so, higher load = higher PSU temp = higher fan speed. If you noticed the PSU fan ramping up with gaming, then lowering the temp by reducing the load is a potential win. If you didn't notice the PSU fan ramping up, then forget this :)

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