Nexus RX-5300

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

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rhys j
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Nexus RX-5300

Post by rhys j » Fri Oct 23, 2009 6:54 pm

Just ordered one of these....

Image

http://www.nexustek.nl/Nexus_RX-5300_Mo ... y_530W.htm

Anyone else got one? Their acoustic measurements look very similar to the Value 430, but my graphics card needs 36A on the 12v rail so that would have been a bit touch-and go. Only £6 more expensive, 100W extra, modular, and a 135mm fan!

Can't find any reviews yet, but it seems it was only launched at the end of September.

bonestonne
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Post by bonestonne » Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:12 pm

:roll:

530W is for the birds. Unless you have a Tri-SLI or SLI setup with monster cards, you barely need 2/3 of that.

be as it may, i didn't know there was anything past the 430, i would like to know what the noise is like, although i don't have any reason to swap out my Corsair or PICO.

rhys j
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Post by rhys j » Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:28 am

Yeah I was going to get the Value 430, but it didn't make any sense buying that when it is so close in price to this one, which is actually rated to run a GTX260, and is modular with a higher efficiency rating.

EsaT
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Post by EsaT » Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:30 am

GTX 260 needs fair 8A.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/ ... html#sect0
Even FurMark wouldn't make it "critically" higher.

rhys j
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Post by rhys j » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:49 pm

Hmmm, well it came today, and I've fitted it. Unfortunately I'm not greatly impressed.

My old PSU was the loudest component, and this new PSU is quieter, but still the loudest component. Not sure if my sample is faulty or if this is just how they are, but it sounds rather like a car engine ticking over. It's certainly not inaudible a metre away, as was claimed of the Value 430 in the review on this site.

Also, after I'd fitted it there was a conspicuous low hum, which went away when I lifted this computer off the desk. Not sure if this is just a freakish resonance between the PSU, case (a P180) and my desk, but it would have annoyed me if I was going to keep the computer on my desk, rather than on the carpet underneath it.

So unless anyone can tell me how to stop it sounding like a diesel engine, I'll probably return it and spend a bit more on a semi-passive PSU.

Other things I'd mention:
There are 4 fixed cables: the standard two for the motherboard, then a 6-pin PCI express, and a 4+4 pin cable. I have no use for the 4+4 pin cable so it's a bit annoying that it should be fixed. The whole point of a modular system is that you only have the cables you need.

The cable sleeving is nice, but overall the cables are very stiff and it takes a fair amount of pressure to bend them so that the side casing fits on. No biggie.

Well packaged. No documentation whatsoever, except for what's on the outside of the box. No power cable included!

rhys j
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Post by rhys j » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:13 pm

It's weird because after using my computer for a few hours more, there are moments when I notice I can't hear the computer at all. Then a few minutes later it'll be whirring away audibly. No change in load. I don't think it's my ears/mind playing tricks on me, but unfortunately I don't have a sound meter or a decent microphone to make sure. Audible most of the time, and quiet just occasionally.

After I've sent this thing back I might try just replacing the fan in my old PSU with something quieter like a 500 rpm Gentle Typhoon. I have no idea if this will be powerful enough to cool a 500W PSU, but there's nothing much to lose.
Last edited by rhys j on Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

philje123
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Post by philje123 » Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:22 am

For a while now I have been trying to trace the source of a resonance in my case (P180) and it turned out to be the PSU or rather how the PSU sits in the case. There was a lot of vibration being passed from the PSU to the little platform that it sits on the lower chamber.

I think the only way you will get a truely quiet PSU is to modify it and it's fitment in the case.

I have removed the platform that the PSU sat on, turned the PSU upside down and mounted the fan outside the PSU case as it was so close the internals of the PSU and causing a lot of turbulant noise. It's noise super quiet and the noisiest thing in my case is now the HDD (Samsung 750GB F1, suspension mounted in lower chamber).

My PSU is a thermaltake toughpower 700w Modular btw.

Phil

rhys j
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Post by rhys j » Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:25 am

I took the Nexus PSU out of the computer case and connected it up to have a closer listen to the noise. It does have a bit of a throaty growl to it, which may be due to a dodgy bearing or something, but it's definitely quieter than my old PSU. Like another Nexus product I had, the fan spins faster than it needs to, making it noisier than it needs to be. There are some quite meaty heatsinks in there and the exhaust air is basically cold.

It turns out the low hum that I noticed when my PC was on the desk was due to my hard drive. Now I understand why people suspend them! But I found I could largely eliminate the hum simply by moving the drive into the nearest of the 4 lower bays rather than one of the middle ones.

I now notice other noises from the hard drive (a Spinpoint F3). I think I was probably attributing some of the noise from that to the power supply. There's a fairly high pitched noise of the disk spinning (reminds me of the sound inside a sea shell), and some white noise coming from the drive as well. I had been thinking this drive was almost silent, but it seems it isn't (or maybe it was to start with, but just got noisier). These don't seem like the kind of noises that would resonate or be reduced by suspending.

I can now also hear my graphics card at 600 rpm.

So I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this PSU. It won't make too much difference if I return it and get a semi-passive PSU because I'll still be able to hear the hard disk and graphics card, but maybe when SSDs come down a bit in price and I get a passive graphics card, it'll seem noisy again...

SebRad
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Post by SebRad » Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:13 am

Hi, regarding real power requirements for a GTX260. I have a GTX260 in a basic system with Intel E6600 CPU overclocked to 3GHz and it's been running happily off a Seasonic S12II 330w PSU!
The machine runs Folding@home so constant fairly high load, it will stand Furmark and other extreme benchmarking too.
Regards, Seb

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