Silent PSU? What about SeaSonic S12-330?

[MarcusAurelius]

I am new to the Silent PC scene, but understand and respect the importance of it. I stumbled upon a website, www.silentpcreview.com and found it to be quite informing, but was curious as to what users on here were doing about PSU's for the their PC's. I am considering getting this SeaSonic PSU as it was rated as on of the quieter ones on the website. Please, any advice, input, suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Jdawg683]

im guessing by the model number that it's 330W? those silent PSUs are silent usually b/c theyre low watt. if youre running an HTPC then thats fine, but not for a powerful rig. Tbh, my 600W PSU is nearly silent.... the sound is dwarfed by my case fan(s). i can put my ear up to the back of the PSU and still barely hear fan going. it cant be pushing more than 10-20db.

 

[phreejak]

a 330? What computer are you running, a commodore 64? PSUs, generally, aren't as noisey as you would think. My Silverstone 750 is extremely good at this. We'd need to know what kind of setup you are going to have (or have) to be able to make any kind of judgement. Watercooling does more to silence a PC than a PSU changeover.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Seasonic S12 series is one of the best PSU out there. I probably did about 3 months worth of research before deciding on buying the Seasonic S12 500.

Just remember that it take more than just a single component to make a quiet PC. For example:

1. The Antec P150 is a good case for building a quiet PC because you can suspend two drives in the drive cage. This case and the P180 are both highly rated at SPCR.

2. As for hard drives, Samsung Spinpoint series are quietest hard drives you can buy. Seagate also makes hard drives that nearly rivals the Spinpoint series. The trade off is performance. Seagate HDD may be slightly louder, but they also perform better. Hardcore silent PC builders uses the more expensive notebook HDDs in thier computers.

3. Heatsink/Fan - The Scythe Ninja, nearly dominates the HSF recommendations at SPCR because they can effectively cool a X2 3800+ without the fan in a case that has good airflow. It should also cool the E6600, at stock speed, without the fan. I will be doing so once I get all my parts together. The Zalman 9500 is also recommended at SPCR but not nearly as much as the Ninja because of the fan. The Zalman 7700 and 9500 are both louder than the older Zalman 7000. Also it is very difficult to replace the fan.

Anyway, you can find more about silencing your PC over at SPCR.

im guessing by the model number that it's 330W? those silent PSUs are silent usually b/c theyre low watt.

Incorrect. The Seasonic S12 series is quiet because of design. First, they use a single quiet fan, I believe it's an ADA fan. I think I read a rumor that they switched over to Yate Loon fans, but that has yet to be confirmed. Second, and by far more important, those PSU are very efficient, typically between 77% and 82% depending on the load. Efficiency means less electricity from the AC outlet is wasted as heat. Since there is less heat, the fan can spin slower, thus reducing noise.

[quote"Phreejak"]
a 330? What computer are you running, a commodore 64?
[/quote]

As long as careful consideration is placed upon the components, the Seasonic S12 330 can be sufficient. It's not a PSU for the hardcore gamer who wants to drop in a 7900GX2 or X1900XTX. As long as low power components are used the system should be fine. For example, the S12 330 is more than capable of handling a Core 2 Duo E6600 (@ 2.4GHz) and a 7600GT with a couple of 250GB hard drives, and a DVD Burner without any problems.

 

[phreejak]

The amperage is bad on that 330 though. It's got a dual 12v rail system but at only 8/14. It may very well be able to handle those components wattage wise but add in a few fans and try and overclock anything and it'll drop the load. Granted, those various parts are not of high energy demand but with such low amperage, there can be cause for concern when the computer is under load. Those rails aren't evenly distributed and I didn't see any mention of any type of rail fusion on the 330. It wouldn't be too difficult to overwhelm a rail. One owner of that PSU commented in Newegg that he experienced 12v fluctuations as low as 11.36. I just think that the 330 is a gamble pretty much

 

[jaguarskx]

For a 330w PSU 8/14 amps is pretty good. While 11.6v is still within a 5% tolerance (pretty good) is does seem a bit low for a Seasonic S12 PSU. The typical 5% tolerance means that voltage can range between 11.4v and 12.6 volts. However, it was just one reviewer who stated that at Newegg.

While the amperage is low compared to a more powerful PSU, as long as the components are balanced properly between the two 12v rails the user should be fine. For example the CPU and GPU should definitely run off seperate rails.

As an example:

12v1 Rail - 8 amps
CPU - Conroe E6600 = 52w = 4.333 amps
1 80mm CPU fan = 4w = 0.333 amp

Total Amps on 12v1 = 4.666

12v2 Rail - 14 amps
Overclocked 7900GT = 58w = 4.833 amps
300GB Hard Drive #1 = 25w = 2.083 amps
300GB Hard Drive #2 = 25w = 2.083 amps
1 DVD Burner = 12w = 1 amp
2 120mm Case Fans = 12w = 1 amp

Total Amps on 12v2 = 11

That leaves 3.334 amps to spare on the 12v1 rail and 3 amps to spare on the 12v2 rail.

-RAM draws power from the 3.3v rail.
-PCI cards, like soundcards, draws power from the 3.3v or 5v rail.
-Most of the power drawn by the motherboard is from the 3.3v or 5v rail. I estimate 1 amp is drawn from the 12v rail for the mobo.

Note: The X6800 draws 66w of power, therefore, if the E6600 was to be overclocked to the speed of the X6800 then the amps consumed will be 5.5. That leaves an estimated 2.167 amp left on the 12v1 rail.

What computer are you running, a commodore 64?

I could be wrong, but I think this system is just slightly more powerful than the good 'ol C-64.

 

[phreejak]

It might be more powerful but it's still awsome to charge the ol' 64 up and play Wizards Quest....

 

[Frank_M]

I've heard some good things about the FSP Zen, too - and it has no fans.

 

[cheekykid]

Tagan Easycon 580W here and its silent. I would recommend it