Annoyed by S12-II Whine - Recommendations?

LiquidRain · Post by **LiquidRain** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:21 am

My 2 year old Seasonic S12-II 500W is driving me absolutely nuts with coil whine and buzzing. It wasn't so bad before, but I recently upgraded to a Phenom II X4 940 after holding on to my Socket 939 Athlon64 for 4 years, and the coil whine is not only constant - it's louder than everything in the case! (including a Scythe Slipstream SL12M that I've yet to undervolt because my ASUS M3N78 is not co-operating, and my GTX 260!)

I have some pretty high power components in the system. (as much as I love silent and low-power PCs, I play plenty of games) Here's what this PSU needs to power:

- Phenom II X4 940 (not overclocking)
- ASUS M3N78-VM GeForce 8200
- GeForce GTX 260 (vanilla 65nm)
- 4GB DDR2-1066 @ 2.1v
- 1x WD 640GB
- ASUS Xonar D2X

What power supply would get me the least whine while powering these components? I've got to stick all this in a Mini P180, so bonus points for modular cables and cables that have a little extra length on them. (the S12-II cables barely reach the extra 12v+ on the top of the motherboard when routed through the back)

While we're on the subject, a bit off topic, how should I arrange the fans in my Mini P180? I have no intention of using the 200mm fan provided by Antec, and somewhat accidentally, I bought a Thermalright HR-01 that points up to the top of the case, which in the Mini P180 will act as an exhaust. With a card as big as the GTX 260, the HDD has to stay in the top drive bay. I currently have the Mini setup to pull air in from the back and then exhaust using the HR-01, with the GTX 260 and the PSU relying on whatever air they can get.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:56 pm

Enermax Modu / pro 82+ are good choice as are Corsair HX series. My HX 620W did not whined, when powered OC'ed 89W AMD X2 5600+ Windsor with OC'ed HD 2900 PRO ( that takes a lot juices ). I heard no whine from the PSU.

The Antec 200mm is not that bad fan. It produces almost 0 vibrations and is quiet, has only slight ticking when hearing up and close...

Eyedolon · Post by **Eyedolon** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:18 pm

get the low-power version of the Modu82. You don't need 625, for sure.

My guess is that rig may crest 300W at load - my SLI260 pulls around 450W.

LiquidRain · Post by **LiquidRain** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:41 am

I had issues with my Seasonic S12-II 500W powering my Socket 939 Athlon X2 4400+ system. When under duress, the power supply would simply give up and power off the system entirely. Turning on vsync would always fix this issue. (it was usually when any game would carelessly run a .avi intro movie or something without vsync/frame rate limiting) It happened maybe only once or twice during actual playing, not often enough to shake my feeling of reliability, but if I'm going to break the bank by purchasing a new PSU I want it to be reliable no matter what.

(the Seasonic I have is rated at 24A on 3.3V and 5V, and 17A on each 12A rail)

I'm also in a Mini-P180, so I'm worried about cable lengths, but NCIX carries extension cables so I'll just get them from there if I gotta. (if anyone knows a local place in Toronto that carries them I'd be happy to go there instead - Canada Computers doesn't appear to)

The three power supplies I'm looking at, then, are:

- OCZ ModXStream 500W (which, judging by Anandtech reviews, has pretty good noise levels)
- Corsair HX520
- Enermax Modu82+

I honestly want to go with the OCZ - it's $40 cheaper, but then it makes me wonder why. There are some hits on Google for OCZ PSUs whining, but not enough to indicate an epidemic. The Corsair and Enermax are about the same price.

edit: searching the forums, it seems the Corsair HX used to have a bad case of the buzzes in comparison to the Enermax, and a good deal of the Enermax samples bought had fan noise issues at low RPMs. I'm leaning towards the Enermax but would appreciate some thoughts. (I can deal with replacing a fan if need be, but I can't replace caps and coils

) Then there's the issue one poster brought up of Enermax support. I know Corsair has excellent RAM customer service, so I imagine their PSU support is excellent as well, but what about Enermax?

LiquidRain · Post by **LiquidRain** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:47 pm

Rolled the dice on the Enermax.

Tom Brown · Post by **Tom Brown** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:59 pm

I hope not all of the S12-II PSUs whine as I just ordered one based on the glowing recommendation of this site.

If it's noticeable, I'll have to return it. The tested sample must not have whined or it would not have gotten the recommendation.

My biggest concern is the ATX 12v lead length in a P182 case. Is there any way this thing will reach? The connector is pretty much on the top of my motherboard.

LiquidRain · Post by **LiquidRain** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:58 pm

Tom Brown wrote:My biggest concern is the ATX 12v lead length in a P182 case. Is there any way this thing will reach? The connector is pretty much on the top of my motherboard.

I had a problem reaching around the back of my Mini P180 with the S12-II. It just barely made it and there was some fairly high tension on the cord (too high to worry) But that's around the back. You may have to pick up an extension cable - I got one for 7 bucks at a local shop, as the Enermax had a slightly longer cable, but not significantly longer.

The Enermax Modu82+ seems to have been a good roll of the die so far. The fan certainly isn't the most quiet (it's not comparable to my Slipstream or Nexus 120mm) but for being stuck at the bottom of the case, in its own chamber, behind a Mini P180 door, it's good enough.

Hopefully it stays this way.