What are you paying for in a fanless PSU?

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chico1st

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Is the added cost of a fanless PSU primarily in its ability to work properly while hot?
Fanless PSUs typically run quite hot so it makes sense that they need better high temp components.

Im trying to figure out what the difference is between a [fanless psu + some airflow from my case somewhere] and a fanned PSU.

 
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hell_storm2004
Well some people give a lot of hoopla about quite PC's, its for them. The price difference is for the extra good quality parts which have to be in there because the PSU does not have its own cooling. That's why, i say its a waste if you can get a better PSU for the same price as a fanless PSU. Something like 650W fanless PSU would cost around the same as a 750W PSU with fan. Then why would i get a 650W PSU? The 750W PSU could be an overkill but still does the job and gives me a lot of room.
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Rock_n_Rolla

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What are the people paying for a fanless PSU?.. They pay for it being a fanless. Ahe! joke!

Well, most obvious reason why some peeps choose to buy fanless ultra quiet PSU
rather than those with with 140mm fans installed, for the reason that, it helps
them work better and concentrate more on what they are doing while using their
computer or gaming rig. In addition, there are some people who lives in a very very
quiet place where the sound of the psu's whirling fan running can easily disturb
them, no matter how quiet the fan of the psu is.

Second, fanless PSU consumes less power as compared to other PSU with cooling
fans in it, though some would argue, the fan only consumes very very low
power that it wont even affect your electric bill. True, but for the point of consuming
more power compared to a fanless PSU with the same wattage. still, fanless PSU
consumes less power.

Third, some and including those high end fanless PSUs doesnt last long specially if
its installed in a high end gaming rig. Due to the tremendous power consumption
that the PSU must deliver all at the same time to all the components installed in a
gaming rig while playing a game for example, the capacitors of the PSU and other
internal components will generate more heat than normal usage thus, the more
heat it generates the faster the aging of its capacitors will result and this lessens
the power output of the PSU in the longrun and soon will lead to malfunctions.

If you would say, im not a gamer and i just want a quiet PSU that i can use for a
long time with no fans. No Problem!.. You can buy a fanless psu but just dont
expect it to last as long as those branded ones with fans in it specially those
designed for high end gaming.

Some high end gaming psu specially the popular ones with fans in it can last up to
7+ years of very heavy use. Honestly i've never seen a fanless psu last that long.
Expect a fanless psu to last 3 to 4 years depending on your usage.


Hope this helps :)

 
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jsc

jsc

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High end gaming is not a suitable application for a fanless power supply, simply because the noise of the CPU, GPU, and case fans will mask the sound of the PSU fan anyway.

The only real application of a fanless PSU is in an HTPC or perhaps an audio workstation where silence is critical.
 
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chico1st

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Even some PSU's with fans run very quite. I would rather get a PSU with a fan and have better efficiency than let the option of buying fanless become a priority objective and compromise on other goodies that a PSU has.
Click to expand...
my whole point here is that you can buy a fanless PSU for 1.4x the price of a fanned PSU of the same efficiency. I imagine the cost is for high temp components... I was wondering if anyone knew.

High end gaming is not a suitable application for a fanless power supply, simply because the noise of the CPU, GPU, and case fans will mask the sound of the PSU fan anyway.
Click to expand...
That doesnt have to be true, currently the 120mm fan in my PSU is the loudest thing in my X4 955 and ATI 5770 rig. The PSU isnt loud either I have to "try" to hear it. Its not really high end, but its overclocked decently IMO.

I'm not replacing my PSU but I was wondering about the cost of fanless PSUs.
 
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hell_storm2004

hell_storm2004

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Well some people give a lot of hoopla about quite PC's, its for them. The price difference is for the extra good quality parts which have to be in there because the PSU does not have its own cooling. That's why, i say its a waste if you can get a better PSU for the same price as a fanless PSU. Something like 650W fanless PSU would cost around the same as a 750W PSU with fan. Then why would i get a 650W PSU? The 750W PSU could be an overkill but still does the job and gives me a lot of room.
 
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