Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:26 pm

Hi,

I have just purchased a new Seasonic M12D PSU to go in my Lian Li PC-7F aluminium case. I have concluded that the noise is coming from the PSU fan after disconnecting the hard disk power and stopping the only other fan in the system.

There are two distinct noises coming from the fan, a whooshing noise and a high pitched whine - the latter is particularly irritating. From my observations, it seems that the fan is operating at full speed, I do not understand why that this is so.

The PSU is mounted with the fan facing upwards (the PC-7F is a bottom mounting PSU design). My graphics card is an nVidia 9600GT passively cooled with an accelero. I have the case open on both sides at the moment, but the PSU fan is still whizzing away.

Coincidently, I had to remove the PSU fan grill so that I could slide the PSU into the case from the rear (as per the case instructions). I reattached the grill afterwards.

Is there a problem with me mounting this PSU with the fan facing upwards, should I have it facing downwards? Or do I have a duff M12D?

This is my first Seasonic and they are supposed to be the best and it was not cheap! So I am somewhat disappointed.

Any advice greatly appreciated, thanks!

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:15 pm

zenzero-2001 wrote:Or do I have a duff M12D?

This is my first Seasonic and they are supposed to be the best and it was not cheap! So I am somewhat disappointed.

This PSU is known to not be the quietest one out there. The high price is for reliability and modular cabling, not silence.

If the fan is running at high speed all the time, you probably do have a defective unit. A working unit should definitely have temperature based fan control.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:33 pm

jessekopelman wrote:This PSU is known to not be the quietest one out there. The high price is for reliability and modular cabling, not silence.

If the fan is running at high speed all the time, you probably do have a defective unit. A working unit should definitely have temperature based fan control.

According to the SPCR recommended PSUs, this PSU is second only to the Nexus Value.

I am thinking that you are probably right and it is duff. That is a pain because the retailer I will have to RMA to isn't the most reliable

Damn, I should have used good old Scan.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:41 pm

jessekopelman wrote:
zenzero-2001 wrote:Or do I have a duff M12D?

This is my first Seasonic and they are supposed to be the best and it was not cheap! So I am somewhat disappointed.
This PSU is known to not be the quietest one out there. The high price is for reliability and modular cabling, not silence.

You must be thinking of the M12II not the M12D. The M12D is an 80Plus Silver rated PSU that has a quieter fan in it and is very high wattage compared to the M12II which is not 80Plus rated, has a noisier fan, and is a mid range PSU in terms of wattage. In addition the M12D is about two to three times as expensive depending on the wattage.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 12:25 pm

dhanson865 wrote: You must be thinking of the M12II not the M12D.

Yeah, you're right. i don't think I ever even read the M12D 850W review, since it was such a high Wattage model (no personal interest in such). I was thinking the Enermax were the only really high Wattage that that were universally well regarded from a noise standpoint.

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:48 pm

zenzero-2001 wrote:I am thinking that you are probably right and it is duff. That is a pain because the retailer I will have to RMA to isn't the most reliable Damn, I should have used good old Scan.

Good Luck on it. You really shouldn't have to deal with that kind of issue on that expensive of a PSU.

I'd just check to make sure your idle load isn't over 200 or 300 watts before I'd RMA it. Grab a kill-a-watt meter or equivalent and make sure your idle load is reasonable. If your idle is much over 200 watts you might have to expect the fan to ramp up if needed...

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:07 am

Unfortunately, I don't have a power meter to measure the load. My previous PSU was an Enermax Modu 82+ 425w and that was significantly quieter with the same components, except motherboard. I have changed from an Abit IP35 Pro to an Asus PQ5-E. I would expect them it consume about the same power, maybe the Asus board would actually consume less because it is a P45 chipset (a die shrink of the P35, I believe).

I think that the Seasonic PSU maybe somebody else's return. The box was not sealed when I received it and the little bag with the mounting screws and case badge was missing. I assume that these are supposed to come with the 750w version, which is the one I have.

The company I bought it from are trying it on. They want to charge me a 25% restocking fee! I won't be using this company again.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:06 am

I have bought a second M12D from a different reseller and this one is even noisier. In addition to spinning at what looks like full speed, it sounds like a train

There was also a periodic helicopter - but that stopped after awhile. The little bag of screws was also missing from this PSU.

I have tried both PSUs outside of the case, connected only to the motherboard and it does not make any difference. Could something on the motherboard be making the fan spin at full speed all the time? The motherboard is an Asus P5Q-E, CPU is E8400 Core 2 Duo, graphics card is xpertvision 9600GT and 4 x 2Gb Corsair XMS 6400 RAM . I don't understand what could be wrong.

My previous PSU was an Enermax Modu82+ and that was definitely quieter than the M12D, but I was using an Abit IP35 Pro motherboard with that PSU. Perhaps, I should swap the PSU back to the Enermax (currently in my Mother's computer) and see if that also runs at full speed?

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:30 pm

Well, I tried the Enermax PSU with the Asus P5Q-E motherboard and it was quiet (well as quiet as it normally is). I tried the Seasonic M12D in my mother's computer, but it would not power up - I think because the load is too low (it is a mATX motherboard with Celeron E1400). I added my 9600GT and connected the auxiliary power cable, but it would still not power up. The fans would turn on for a second and then switch off.

So now I have two Seasonic M12D's that I have to return. The second one is definitely faulty because it makes quite a racket compared to the first one. I'm not sure if the first one is faulty or if it is just some incompatibility with the Asus P5Q-E motherboard. Both the M12D's appear to spin at full speed, the Enermax Modu 82+ does not spin at full speed when connected to the motherboard.

The problem is, if I send back the first M12D, they will charge me 25% restocking fee if they decide it is not faulty. I'm not sure what to do. I do not want to keep the M12D because it is too noisy at the speed the fan spins at and I do not wish to pay the restocking fee. Does anybody have any ideas? Would anybody like to buy it from me?

Thanks!

dhanson865 · Post by **dhanson865** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:31 pm

Sorry I've never used an M12D-850W or M12D-750W so I'm going by the SPCR review. I'm surprised to hear you say it is significantly louder than the Enermax 82+ models.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:39 pm

I think that the M12D is significantly louder because the fan is spinning faster and therefore pushing more air. If the fan of the M12D was spinning at the correct speed then I think that it would probably be quieter than the Enermax.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:09 pm

I bought a power meter to test the load on my computer and it is about 100 watts at idle.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:30 pm

I listened to the M12D recordings in the SPCR review and my unit sounds like the 400 watt loading, except that it is only at 100 watts! This is definitely not quiet.

Joe Public · Post by **Joe Public** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:49 am

Afaik, the fan in a PSU is regulated by the PSU, the motherboard doesn't have access to change it. Might be a bad batch or something else, it's strange though, since you have two units from different resellers.

zenzero-2001 · Post by **zenzero-2001** » Wed Jun 17, 2009 11:22 am

I have returned both my M12D's. The second one has already been tested by the reseller and they said there was no fault and it could only be heard from a couple of inches away. Yet, on my system I could clearly hear it from across the room (metres away).

I have just bought an Antec NeoPower 650w and it is *much* quieter than the Seasonic M12D. In fact, I would say it is quieter than the Enermax Modu82+ that I also own (but I think my particular example of the Enermax is not the best). I can barely here the Antec at all, in fact I think it is the HDD I can hear, I'm not sure!

I suspect the first reseller will also find the M12D non-faulty. I wonder if I can come to a compromise with them about the 25% restocking fee, which I consider to be somewhat steep. The restocking fee for the second reseller was only Â£15 + vat.

Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Re: Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Re: Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Re: Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Re: Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D

Re: Noisy Fan in new Seasonic M12D