Is it bad if my power supply fan is loud?

NotioalGaming

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When I play higher intensity games (such as Battlefield 4, Tomb Raider, Metro Last Light) my PSU fan gets very noisy, it is the loudest fan in my system. My power supply is a Cooler Master 500w extreme power plus (http://m.newegg.com/Product/indexitemnumber=N82E16817171031). Is this a bad thing, does this mean that I need a higher wattage power supply or my current power supply is about to go out?

Here's my build:
Intel core i5 3470s
Msi R9 380 (I have it overclocked pretty significantly)
16gb EVGA ddr3 1600mhz

Thank you!
 
That would indicate either the PSU is starving for airflow (when was the last time you cleaned the filter if mounted fan down?) or the PSU is working too hard. I think I would start by cleaning any filter(s) and also cleaning out the PSU itself. When the PSU is unplugged, it is safe to stick the plastic wand of a can of compressed air into the PSU to clean it good - get the corners until no dust comes out. See if the fan doesn't calm down some
 
Here's the non-mobile link for your PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031 but in checking out legitimate reviews for your PSU I would instead suggest replacing it. Here are two legitimate reviews (conclusion pages)
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/02/16/entry_level_power_supply_roundup/4#.VoydkVcmx8E
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/cooler-master-extreme-power-plus-500-w-power-supply-review/10/
This thread may help decide on your next PSU http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html
 

NotioalGaming

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The filters are clean, psu has no dust in it, i just took it out yesterday to try to clean it really good because I thought that was the problem, but it turns out that the psu was extremely clean...
 

NotioalGaming

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I was thinking about getting a Corsair cx600m (one of the tier 4 power supplies on that list), do you think this would be enough to power my components?
 

Karadjgne

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Recommended wattage for a r9 380 is 550w. That's for a decent psu. A very good psu could be 500w, or a crappy one 600w. You are pushing an over-overclocked power hungry gpu on a crappy, underpowered psu. What's happening is you are maxing out the limits of that psu and it's getting hot from being under a high load, no different than your cpu fan spinning faster when the cpu is under load and gets hot.

With that psu, 1 of 2 things is going to happen. 1) you'll be knee deep in a heavy gaming session, you'll hear a rather loud pop, smoke will fly out if the pc exhaust and stink to high hell and your screen will go black. 2) same scenario, except no pop, but you just fried a rather expensive gpu instead of the psu.

You have 2 choices. 1) keep doing what you are doing and hope the above doesn't happen, or 2) throw that pos in the garbage and invest in a good quality 550w or better psu.

A tier4 unit like the CX600 is barely better than what you currently own. I'd suggest the XFX 550w or XFX TS 550w. Can often be found on sale at newegg, I've seen prices as low as $25 after rebate, but make no assumptions based on price, its still a tier2 excellent unit.
 

NotioalGaming

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All of the XFX 550w that I could find on Newegg are out of stock... would this be a good option, it's pretty new, so its not ranked yet, but is made by a great brand http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095
 

Karadjgne

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Very good psu. Easily the equivalent of the XFX, which is also built by Seasonic. I own a 520w version of that psu and it's powering an i5-3570K at 4.2GHz with a 660ti heavily OC and is still super quiet. The M12-II is probably the best series of psus I've ever dealt with. Very nice choice.