Here are my choices for fanless PSU (they case will probably be an Antec 182 and there will be three harddrives, but only a 40 watt CPU and onboard video, so I don't expect enormous wattage needed:
1) $156: Antec 350W ATX12V PS2 SIZE PWS FANLESS NO NOISE UL FCCB NRA060706
2)$160 400W COOLMAX POWER SUPPLY FANLESS SILENT DESIGN (or 480 watt version for $182)
3) $80 FSP Fortron Zen FSP300-60GNF-R 300W ATX12V 20/24 Pin Power Supply Fanless Retail Box (or 400 watt for $122)
4) $137 Silverstone Nightjar ST30NF 300W ATX12V 20PIN Fanless Power Supply Active PFC
Help Me Choose
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar
It would help a lot if you elaborated on your setup.
I don't have any specific experience with more that one of the choices, so I really don't know which one is best in practice.
Assuming that we budget 10W for each of the HDDs, and the IGP, and 40 for the processor, you're looking at 100W routine usage (depending on what other components you have). You're cutting it a little close depending on what the startup power draws for the HDDs are, so clearly a 120W Pico isn't a good idea.
When faced with buying a new PSU, I'd first cut out any non-SPCR recommended or non-fanless PSUs. Next I'd drop anything that has consistently bad reviews. After that the answer is the cheapest option. In your case, $80 Fortron sounds the best. If it is a question of how much wattage you need, 300W is enough, otherwise I'm not sure anyone would have experience with all of the listed PSUs.
I don't have any specific experience with more that one of the choices, so I really don't know which one is best in practice.
Assuming that we budget 10W for each of the HDDs, and the IGP, and 40 for the processor, you're looking at 100W routine usage (depending on what other components you have). You're cutting it a little close depending on what the startup power draws for the HDDs are, so clearly a 120W Pico isn't a good idea.
When faced with buying a new PSU, I'd first cut out any non-SPCR recommended or non-fanless PSUs. Next I'd drop anything that has consistently bad reviews. After that the answer is the cheapest option. In your case, $80 Fortron sounds the best. If it is a question of how much wattage you need, 300W is enough, otherwise I'm not sure anyone would have experience with all of the listed PSUs.
The reason for going fanless is that I have not heard of a reliable PSU with fans as quiet as the Scythe fans and I do not want to alter anything inside of the PSU. If i by one with fans, I will not buy any that doesn't have a built in silent mode, especially since it doesn't look like I will be running anything that comes close to maxing the power.