P180 PSU recommendation

[crusader]

The best buy out there is an antec smartpower 2.0 500w. In the p180 fan ramping will not be a problem and the inline fan configuration is ideal. It is frequently recommended at www.extremeoverclocking.com, the cables are long enough from what I've read - plus they are detachable.

SP 2.0 450W @ SPCR: Idle - 21, 150w - 27, 200w - 32
so its louder than Liberty (Idle - 21, 150w - 24, 200w - 30)
I check the sound samples, and indeed antec is louder.
Btw SPCR sample has 13" cables ... duh

Ahhh... you are referring to the 4 pin axiliary power connector. Phantom 500 has slightly longer power connector, but only by one inch and it's rather costly. I'm not sure about your other options. Is it possible to get a 4 pin extender, do they sell those at all?

Exactly, I worry about length of aux power, when SPCR was testing P180 they cover all PCI slots with ATX12v cable, I don't ready to give up all PCI slots yet.

Phantom 500 - good one, lengthy calbes (24" aux), silent @ 150w, very quiet @ 200w, but I worry about this fanless mode. There would be 3 or 4 hdds at the lower chamber of my P180, some of them are 74GB raptors and proper cooling of them is essential.

4 pin extenders - I wonder about that too, never heard about such things though.

The fan is not as good as the Adda ones used in any of the S12s, the sleeve bearing Yate Loons in the Nexus (and some FSP models), or the Adda 80mm fan in the NeoHE.

S12 - short cables
NeoHE - not compatible with A8N
Nexus 4090 - good one, but looking at dBA numbers, not better than Liberty.
Much thanks for advice, anyway.

[frankgehry]

The liberty is quieter? Then why isn't it on the recommended list. The smartpower 2.0 is.

The smartpower 2.0 500w has longer detachable cables. - FG


"Antec recommends choosing from our SP-500 power supply or Phantom, Neo/NeoHE or TruePower 2.0 series."

[JazzJackRabbit]

Ahhh... you are referring to the 4 pin axiliary power connector. Phantom 500 has slightly longer power connector, but only by one inch and it's rather costly. I'm not sure about your other options. Is it possible to get a 4 pin extender, do they sell those at all?

Exactly, I worry about length of aux power, when SPCR was testing P180 they cover all PCI slots with ATX12v cable, I don't ready to give up all PCI slots yet.

Phantom 500 - good one, lengthy calbes (24" aux), silent @ 150w, very quiet @ 200w, but I worry about this fanless mode. There would be 3 or 4 hdds at the lower chamber of my P180, some of them are 74GB raptors and proper cooling of them is essential.

4 pin extenders - I wonder about that too, never heard about such things though.

Well, putting a 120x25mm fan in the lower chamber will effectively cool all your hard drives and provide additional cooling for the PSU, especially in the fanless mode. I have four HDDs installed and 120mm fan in the lower chamber cools them pretty well. The only concern is that Phantom 500 is longer than other PSUs, but I remember someone posting here at SPCR that they've managed to put phantom 500 and a 25mm fan in the lower chamber. They might have had to take the plastic covert off, but they did it. Another, smaller concern is that some of the phantoms have some coil whine, especially under load, but I don't think that's universal. Don't quote me on this though.

The liberty is quieter? Then why isn't it on the recommended list. The smartpower 2.0 is.

Probably because liberty has been reviewed only recently and the recommended list hasn't been updated since then.

"Antec recommends choosing from our SP-500 power supply or Phantom, Neo/NeoHE or TruePower 2.0 series."

Of course they would recommend their own PSUs, more money for them...

[MikeC]

When spcr publishes sub 20db(a) spl measurements, many readers compare them to measurements from manufacturers made according to published standards, in anechoic chambers, under tightly controlled environmental conditions, and with up to date test equipment. I agree that it is silly to compare the accuracy of spcr readings made in a room with reflective surfaces, variable test conditions, and uncalibrated equipment to what are essential legally binding specifications and documents. As long as spcr floating test conditions are published, and readers are aware of the difficulties of obtaining accurate low spl readings when the ambient room db(a) level is often within a db(a) of the target source, readers can make any comparison they want. - FG

Now that's really going off the deep end...

floating test conditions

1) When did you become such a supporter of "manufacturers' published specs"? Isn't one of the reasons you're here because you can't really trust them or compare them with confidence? If you can & do, why bother reading SPCR? The truth is that different mfg's standards on published specs vary far more widely than SPCR test conditions, which we take great pains to keep consistent for each category of product. Which mfg, which spec, which product --- these are pertinent. Some seem to make up numbers, others go the whole hog in being as scientific as possible.

2) Legally binding? If that was true, 99% of all mfg would have faced legal challenges from opportunistic lawyers. A little conditional statement -- all specs subject to change w/onoitice -- covers just about everything.

3) There's no need for anyone to accept any SPCR review comments, measurements or recordings of component acoustics as the gospel. We never intend for them to be treated as such. The bottom line for any of our reviews is this: This is our assessment of this particular sample under these conditions. The numbers and measurements are there mostly to support our subjective impressions.

[crusader]

The liberty is quieter? Then why isn't it on the recommended list. The smartpower 2.0 is.

List desperately need updates.

Well, putting a 120x25mm fan in the lower chamber will effectively cool all your hard drives and provide additional cooling for the PSU, especially in the fanless mode. I have four HDDs installed and 120mm fan in the lower chamber cools them pretty well.

Thats great, thank you for valuable info. Phantom 500 is an option then.
Surprisingly there is indeed complains about coil whine at newegg comments about Phantom.

There's no need for anyone to accept any SPCR review comments, measurements or recordings of component acoustics as the gospel. We never intend for them to be treated as such.

Just want to say that I trust SPCR billion times more than any specs from any manufacturers. They have too much reasons to lie.

[spiffy102]

Thats great, thank you for valuable info. Phantom 500 is an option then.
Surprisingly there is indeed complains about coil whine at newegg comments about Phantom.

I was seriously considering the Phantom 500 for my upcoming P180 build - with a fan in the lower chamber of course... Then I saw how it had no active power factor control. And that's just not very elegant to me.

So - I guess Seasonic - leaning towards the 600, just because it likely will be more stable in terms of power. Spinning up 4 HD's will be no problem for that power supply.

[Aleksi]

I wasn't going to comment in this thread, but here it goes.

I read the SPCR reviews and find them very useful. They are still one of the few reviews on the internet that actually focus on quiet PCs.

But, I still think SPCR can improve on it's testing, both methods and equipment. Equipment needs money, methods don't necessarily. It would be nice to be able to provide all reviewed products with "equal" testing, something I tried to say in the Asetek review regarding the FBL airflow.

I can understand what frankgehry and MikeC are both trying to say, but I also doubt the accuracy of the SPL measurements under 25dB(A), maybe even higher. Now, like MikeC said, you cannot compare SPCR with professional testing, but there should be some criteria, even roughly, on how accurate the data is.

To measure below 25dB(A) you need integrating noise meters and no environment can measure below 20dB(A) accurately, you need anechoic chamber for that. (Although, A-weighting does not represent human perception below 26dB(A) as it was developed for 40-110dB(A) re cumulative noise exposure.)

I want to give an example (and I guess this somewhat overlaps with the conversation in the SPCR mic calibration thread):

Actually, the best reference I know is measuring the first thing I ever measured -- a Panaflo 80L -- which was 23~24 dBA @1m (?? I think). The couple fans I have left from that batch still measure the same.

taken from http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=26771

What I find odd, is that Panaflo & NMB-MAT technical specification (which IS legally binding) is 21dB(A). Now, a single sample of a Panaflo fan may vary 0.5dB(A) up or down over its service life (which is defined as 30,000hrs at 70C or 60,000hrs at 40C).

The actual dB(A) data has been between a bit over and under 20dB(A) during the years 2000 - 20005 for these fans. The tests were performed in anechoic chamber (12dB(A) or 14dB(A) or 16dB(A) background) according to ANSI testing methods, distance was 1m axially to the fan.

Legal responsibility is the reason why they state dB(A) a bit higher than it is and airflow a bit lower than it is.

[MikeC]

1) To measure below 25dB(A) you need integrating noise meters and no environment can measure below 20dB(A) accurately, you need anechoic chamber for that.

2)

Actually, the best reference I know is measuring the first thing I ever measured -- a Panaflo 80L -- which was 23~24 dBA @1m (?? I think). The couple fans I have left from that batch still measure the same.

taken from http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=26771

What I find odd, is that Panaflo & NMB-MAT technical specification (which IS legally binding) is 21dB(A). Now, a single sample of a Panaflo fan may vary 0.5dB(A) up or down over its service life (which is defined as 30,000hrs at 70C or 60,000hrs at 40C).

1) If this is true, there's no point for us to report anything that measures below 20 dBA. The fact remains that we can and do measure below 20 dBA, and the SPL measurements usually jibe with what we hear.

2) Not only this particular SLM but two other B&K 22XX UBC samples gave the same 23~24 dBA @1m reading for all the Panaflo 80L fans I measured. In a graduate mech eng student project, a comprehensive test of Panaflo 80Ls (4 samples) in the UBC anechoic chamber using more recent, sophisticated automated lab gear gave much higher readings, 30~31 dBA... the "official" 21 dBA rating notwithstanding. (This project was supervised by UBC's acoustics pro, Murray Hodgson. The results were checked many times. I can make the report downloadable if anyone is interested.)

Having said all that, if any/all of you are interested in bringing professional lab-grade acoustic measurement and analysis to SPCR, feel free to start a fund raising drive to build a dedicated anechoic chamber and equip it with the latest gear, as well as to retain the services of a prof. acoustic consultant -- someone like Dr. Hodgson. About US$200,000 should give us a start. Oh, you might have to consider land and building purchase. Call it $1 million to be on the safe side.