Help - Mod my Enermax or buy new?

NewSc2 · Post by **NewSc2** » Sat Jan 24, 2004 3:02 pm

I have an Enermax 430 watt psu. It's easily the loudest component in my system right now. My specs:

P4 2.0A o/ced to 2.67ghz (I turn it down to 2.4 often)
Enermax 430 watt psu (sorry I don't remember the exact model number, next time I open it up I'll check)
MSI GeForce 3 (doesn't make much noise AFAIK)
1 case exhaust fan - Panaflo L1A 80mm
Alpha PAL 8942 heatsink + Panaflo L1A 80mm fan for P4
Coolermaster ATC-210 aluminum case

Anyways, I have a Vantec Stealth 92mm fan lying around, as well as a few other panaflos. I briefly read the Enermax modding article here, but I don't want to do anything to hurt the stability or mess up my psu. I also tried opening up my psu before to mod the 2 fans I had in, and the pin connectors weren't the same if I recall (that was at least a year ago). I was set on buying the Forton 300FP from Newegg, but read up on a few comments saying it wasn't *that* quiet. My system (other than my PSU) is very quiet, so I'd like the quietest affordable PSU solution there is.

For any of you who have modded an Enermax w/ Panaflo's, how did you mod the 92mm fan? The article written just left it out, I'm not sure if that'd be 100% necessary. My computer generally runs pretty cool. Mobo/CPU temps don't go past 50C really.

NewSc2 · Post by **NewSc2** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 4:45 pm

Well, taking the bait and i'm in the middle of modding my enermax right now (on my laptop)

Let's hope all goes well! *knocks on wood*

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 7:15 pm

Hey, NewSC2, missed you the first time around. Have you actually tried stopping the GF3's fan? My (Visiontek) GF3 was loud as hell when stock.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Sun Feb 01, 2004 6:43 am

My recommendation is to pull out the 92mm bottom fan and tape over the hole. Then, swap out the 80mm back fan for a Panaflo L1A, plugged into the fan header in the PSU. This will make the PSU really quiet. I've modded several twin-fan Enermax PSU's, this way.

Alternatively, you could get a Fortron FSP-300 and mod it for low noise (really easy). Check the link in my sig.

NewSc2 · Post by **NewSc2** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 2:05 pm

Well, all I did was take the 80mm fan out and replace it with the Panaflo.

Sorry I'm not very technical at this stuff *yet* (6 posts so far here), but the Panaflo is moving very little air, compared to my other panaflo case fans. My Panaflo on my Alpha 8942 connected to the motherboard also doesn't move as much air as my case fans it seems, but there's a lot of air flow around there so it's harder to feel the air.

I have an intake case fan that blows air directly behind my PSU, so the air circulation is pretty good. Overall my CPU temps are on the colder side, it idles at 29C-33C and max load at about 50C.

Would just taking out the 92mm fan be better than leaving it in? I understand the air flow theory about the Enermax, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me still. I'd rather take out the 80mm fan (since it doesn't feel like it's doing much) but it's extremely quiet and it pushes *some* air, so I felt that that would be fine still.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:11 pm

My recommendation stands. Remove the bottom fan, tape over the hole, and replace the stock exhaust fan. If you plug the L1A into the fan header inside the PSU, then the PSU will speed up the fan, when needed, but let it run slow and quiet, when the PSU is not too hot. This is probably what it is doing, right now.

I've probably modded over a dozen PSU's this way. All of them are still running, and significantly quieter, than before.

blackstar · Post by **blackstar** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:28 am

why do you recommend that, rather then fitting a quieter 92mm fan?
surely replacing the 92mm will give more airflow for less noise.

the 120mm fortrons and nexus psu dont use a rear fan at all..

i can see you saying "its a good idea" but i dont see why.

Gxcad · Post by **Gxcad** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 1:10 am

cmcquistion wrote:My recommendation stands. Remove the bottom fan, tape over the hole, and replace the stock exhaust fan. If you plug the L1A into the fan header inside the PSU, then the PSU will speed up the fan, when needed, but let it run slow and quiet, when the PSU is not too hot. This is probably what it is doing, right now.

I've probably modded over a dozen PSU's this way. All of them are still running, and significantly quieter, than before.

I also recommend taping up the top row of vents where the 92mm fan used to be, your psu will be better cooled this way because more of that air will be forced through the heatsinks instead of the empty space where the 92mm fans used to be.

FYI my 430W enermax died after 2 years and the majority of these 2 years it was run with the exact mod described - only the 80mm panaflo exhaust and the hole was taped up about a year into the mod (but not the top row of the rear vents...I thought about that later). I think it was inquiry about this very mod that MikeC replied to way back before SPCR, one of the first exchanged I've ever had with him;). ah, the memories!

-Ken

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 4:33 am

Why not put in a 92mm fan so the air gets forced through the HS, cover up the grates opposite the 80mm fan, and just leave the 80mm fan hole open?
That way your fan is further away from an opening, you get airflow through the PS's heatsink, and with the other grates taped up, you don't get warm air back into your case.

cmcquistion · Post by **cmcquistion** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 6:04 am

Viperoni wrote:Why not put in a 92mm fan so the air gets forced through the HS, cover up the grates opposite the 80mm fan, and just leave the 80mm fan hole open?
That way your fan is further away from an opening, you get airflow through the PS's heatsink, and with the other grates taped up, you don't get warm air back into your case.

That is a good option, also, although the 92mm fan might not blow air across some of the compononents in the rear of the PSU, next to those intake slots and if you cover up their holes, then some components might overheat a bit. This would depend on the layout of the PSU. It is definitely worth looking at, though. The important part is that you run a single fan and run it quieter than the stock layout.

blackstar wrote:why do you recommend that, rather then fitting a quieter 92mm fan?
surely replacing the 92mm will give more airflow for less noise.

the 120mm fortrons and nexus psu dont use a rear fan at all..

i can see you saying "its a good idea" but i dont see why.

The point is that it is better to run a single fan setup, then a dual fan setup (from a noise perspective.) If the single fan you run is the exhaust fan, then you should cover that gaping hole in the bottom of the PSU, or the exhaust fan will be sucking air through that gaping hole and exhaust it, but that air won't actually have a chance to cool any components. You want the air to come into the PSU and cool down components, before being exhausted. This is why you tape over the bottom hole and force air to be sucked in through the various intake vents.