SPCR

Hallo everybody! I'm working hard to get the most silent enthusiast build my wallet can buy. Will you help me find the solution to my psu doubts?

Here is the build, I plan to add a second GPU in SLI in one year or two, but not sooner

CASE - Fractal Design Define R5 (no windowed panel)
MOBO - Asus PRIME X370-PRO
CPU - Ryzen 7 1700
RAM - (2x) 16GBD4 3000 Corsair C15 Vengeance
GPU - Zotac GTX 1070 Amp! Edition
SSD - Crucial MX300 275Gb
HDD - 7200rpm 2Tb (I'll buy it in the closest future)
external usb Audio Card


so.... what PSU should I choose? I'm oriented to the Be Quiet! Power Zone 650W for the direct 3 case fan plug and for the 3 minutes of cooling after sistem shut down, these features seems to come only with this PSU. But... Is it really quiet?
Sombody says it's a tedious on - off of the fan every 10 minutes, somebody else says it's junk.
Somebody else suggested me to search in the group of PSUs with the semi-fanless switch

I really have no idea what to do, even I'm not sure if the 650w power is enough to support the second GPU (many 650w PSU, such as the Power Zone, are SLI certified) and if it should be better to eventually change it in the future or directly buy a most powerfull one now



last but not least... sorry for my bad English, I sincerly hope you can understand what I wrote ^^'



PS I'd really like to spend less then 100€ for the PSU, is it too few?


pps are 650 watts enough? maybe I need more if I want to stay in the "low - medium"s of the PSU so not using the fan...?

Welcome to SPCR!!!

Seems you have access to BeQuiet, what other brands do you have acess where you live?

if you were to up a little your budget you can look into the BeQuiet Dark pro 11, should be a pretty quiet PSU. Else try to search for Corsar RM650X, it should be a very good PSU noise wise.

I really have no idea what to do, even I'm not sure if the 650w power is enough to support the second GPU (many 650w PSU, such as the Power Zone, are SLI certified) and if it should be better to eventually change it in the future or directly buy a most powerfull one now

Im going to recommend agasint SLI, it works great, but introduces a lot of heat, and the zotac amps are 2.5 slots, so its going to get really tight on the case, and noise will be high. The GTX1070 moves everything up to 1440p fine, but if you need more GPU, sell it and get a newer card, it will consume less power and perform better overall, specially on the noise wise.

Fugol wrote:so.... what PSU should I choose? I'm oriented to the Be Quiet! Power Zone 650W for the direct 3 case fan plug and for the 3 minutes of cooling after sistem shut down, these features seems to come only with this PSU. But... Is it really quiet?

Which PSU? Definitely NOT the Power Zone: it *IS* rather noisy.

Take also note that: a) nowadays SLI is dying, particularly for DX12 titles; b) SLI on air *CANNOT* be quiet.

Corsair RM550x / 650 Gold - semi-fanless mode, you most likely won't ever hear the unit as it can work without fan up to around 300W; the 650W has more PCI-E connections if you really want SLI and more headroom (I have a 550W running a 2500K + 970 - never heard it myself, even with a heavily OCed system)

EVGA B3 - a new series, starting at 450W (easily enough for one CPU + one VGA), also semi-fanless, Bronze, should be cheaper than Corsairs

Bitfenix Whisper - also great PSUs, the fan is always on BUT spins @ 400 RPM (super slow for a PSU) up to around 350W (depending on the model and case etc.) - so effectively silent, no way to hear it; comparable to RMX and B3 series in other aspects

Seasonic Prime - they have a new Gold series, excellent PSUs with a price to match (they started with Platinum and Titanium - gotta sell a kidney to buy one, but sooo worth it)

BQ - yeah, their top series are good, but v expensive; and if you go for their cheaper units - cheaper, but not so great, really - with so many other great (and cheaper) PSUs - not a good call

EDIT - if you don't go SLI/CF, you only really need 550W tops - even for a 1080 Ti or a top AMD card. Below is power consumption with a 6700K @ 4.7 GHz. This is during gaming so Furmark / OCCT PSU Test might make those number a little higher (around 5%). Also, bear in mind that this is measured at the wall, so your PSU will actually be loaded 10-15% lower, depending on whether it's a Bronze or a Gold (just deduct 10-15% from these numbers). So, 430W tops for a gaming system with a current top-of-the-tops VGA.



EDIT - wurdz

so I'm going with the Corsair RMx series.

Must choose between a 650 (where the fan will spin only under load but it's quiter then the fan on the 750) and a 750 where the fan should, in theory, never turn on....


what do you guys thing of it? price is about 10 euros difference so it's not about the money...



about SLI... I'm gonna try it in a year or two so it's not a metter of today, I know that with 2 gpus the system won't be silent, but still I want enough watts to safely plug in the second card. still both 650 and 750 should be fine if I'm not wrong.

the RAM cards will be also upgraded from two to four 16 gb units, and this within the year.

kater wrote:EVGA B3 - a new series, starting at 450W (easily enough for one CPU + one VGA), also semi-fanless, Bronze, should be cheaper than Corsairs

Basically untested, a Leadex-based design but with cut corners (cabling, for instance) over the B2, and with increased power density: I mean, it's not a safe bet.

kater wrote:Bitfenix Whisper - also great PSUs, the fan is always on BUT spins @ 400 RPM (super slow for a PSU) up to around 350W (depending on the model and case etc.) - so effectively silent, no way to hear it; comparable to RMX and B3 series in other aspects

Well, no, it's comparable to RMx, but they're both a bit better than B3s.
But please take note, the fan MIGHT be an unknown variable, despite the good-looking fan profile (it's something I am considering these days): just to say, Corsair rejected any Martech fan because they were unable to cope to requirements/quality controls (they said me those were pure shit).

kater wrote:Seasonic Prime - they have a new Gold series, excellent PSUs with a price to match (they started with Platinum and Titanium - gotta sell a kidney to buy one, but sooo worth it)

Basically untested ATM, and very expensive (I mean, I don't think you might buy them in EU for 100 euros).

kater wrote:BQ - yeah, their top series are good, but v expensive; and if you go for their cheaper units - cheaper, but not so great, really - with so many other great (and cheaper) PSUs - not a good call

OTOH they are quiet, even the lower grade ones.

kater wrote:EDIT - if you don't go SLI/CF, you only really need 550W tops

It mostly depends of CPU overclocking and intended use: a 550W good PSU (like the RMx) will fit the bill of a gaming rig (so that the Ryzen 1700, even at 3.9-4.0GHz, is not heavily taxed) with a pair of GTX 1070.

Fugol wrote:but still I want enough watts to safely plug in the second card. still both 650 and 750 should be fine if I'm not wrong.

With two 1070, 550W are enough, 650W more than enough. Check twice, the RM650x is not surely quieter than the 550W, its fan spins faster.

yeah that's true, still it's also true that the fan spins at 40% load, so if one could manage to stay under that % most of the time, this would be the quiter solution, would it not?

Fugol wrote:yeah that's true, still it's also true that the fan spins at 40% load, so if one could manage to stay under that % most of the time, this would be the quiter solution, would it not?

Well, all in all I guess it won't worth that much:

Do what you think best.

Fugol wrote:yeah that's true, still it's also true that the fan spins at 40% load, so if one could manage to stay under that % most of the time, this would be the quiter solution, would it not?

Well, tl;dr = yes.

But consider this:

In RMx series the fan starts spinning @ 600 RPM and won't really ramp up quickly. So, let's assume - safely - that it begins to spin when the PSU's load is 40% (practically it's not even so soon - depends on the platform, case, ambient temp...).

For the littlest 550W, 40% load equals 220W (that is DC). And when your system is drawing 220W (mainly GPU, then CPU), then its fan spinning @ leisurly 600 RPM, should be your last concern. Most likely the VGA's cooler will drown it out completely. The CPU cooler's fan will also, quite likely, be drowned out by the VGA.

If we're talking about 650W, I hear that it's fan profile is a little more relaxed - so even less likely to hear it at all.

Fugol wrote:
CASE - Fractal Design Define R5 (no windowed panel)

Pretty sure that Silverstone KL07 is better in every way.

Well, you are wrong. It's not better in every way, in fact, it's not better in most ways
I had the R5, now playing with the KL07, the R5 is better made, better materials, better air filters etc.
Don't get me wrong, the KL07 is a very good case, but simply is not better in EVERY way than the R5. Also, I don't REALLY like either of them

quest_for_silence wrote:

kater wrote:EVGA B3 - a new series, starting at 450W (easily enough for one CPU + one VGA), also semi-fanless, Bronze, should be cheaper than Corsairs

Basically untested, a Leadex-based design but with cut corners (cabling, for instance) over the B2, and with increased power density: I mean, it's not a safe bet.

Reviews are finally coming in on the B3:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?na ... y&reid=526 (750W)
http://bit.ly/2tXCI0V (450W)

the bit.ly link is a sometimes-amusing google translation of the review at tomshw.it