SuperSilencer 460W reviewed at Tweaktown

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:15 pm

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?d ... =604&57014

I wonder if its louder, quieter or the same at the noise from the 400W?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:27 pm

That's a basically worthless review (at least for us here at SPCR). He never mentioned the word "noise" or "fan" or "fan speed" or "quiet" once in the review other than in the list of features. Basically all he was interested in was the stability of the rails under the load of his OCed system.

Joe DeFuria · Post by **Joe DeFuria** » Thu Jan 15, 2004 1:31 pm

Yeah, would've been nice if they had even talked about noise level...

Anyway, I thought I read here before that the SS models should all be about the same noise level, with the following characteristic: The higher the wattage, the higher temps the power supply will tolerate before the fans start spinning up.

In other words, the 460W and 300W power supplies should have the same or similar noise level as you go from "light" through to "max load." It's just that the 460W power supply should stay in the "light" load area through higher temperatures.

At least...I hope that's the case...because that's the principle upon which I ordered my 460 W SS, which I should be getting on Monday.

Gxcad · Post by **Gxcad** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 9:27 pm

I wanted to ask about this as well, what are the official temps of each wattage model before they ramp up? I remember hearing the 400w was quieter for more load than the 300w because of this very reason, that the ramping cutoff is higher on the higher wattage models. I've wanted a super silencer for a long time but didn't want the 300w version because I am wary (despite that I know it would probably be enough!) about buying "only" a 300w version. The 400w version put me off with price, but recently I found seasonic makes a 350w (rare, but some stores have it) and priced exactly inbetween the two versions. I was wondering how the ramp up temperature cutoff differed though.

Anyone?

-Ken

Super Silencers: 300w $60shipped, 350w $75shipped, 400w $90shipped, 460w $110shipped.

snutten · Post by **snutten** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 7:05 am

I have no facts to back this up with, but common sense says the higher power models are exactly as noisy as the lower power. Neither more nor less.

Because they all have the same heatsinks inside and they all have the same efficiency. If the PSU produces, say 200W, then about 40W of heat (@80% efficiency) is what the fan has to cope with. No matter which model.

nap_loaf · Post by **nap_loaf** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 7:27 am

It's true that the heat generated is the same, but a higher rated PSU uses components that can safely run at higher temperatures. The cooling system only has to do enough to prevent a PSU being damaged from overheating, which doesn't occur at the same temperature for all PSUs.

See the second post by MikeC in this thread.

snutten · Post by **snutten** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 5:32 pm

Thanks nap_loaf, I didn´t know about that. Lucky I got the 400 version...