Which company has the QUIETEST PSU?

[Vince604]

Zalman, Antec, ThermalTake, Vantec, and Enermax produce some of the best PSUs on the market today. However I'm sure each one has their positives and negatives.

I'm wondering which company should I look in to? I'm really looking for something that's as QUIET as possible thus still providing more than enough power. I'd rather go for a high watt PSU as I doubt I would have to upgrade it in the future if I add more components. Suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[upec]

My enermax PSU is very quiet.

 

[AndrewT]

Enermax 550, 80mm and 90mm fans in it and still no sound coming out of it.

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[AMD_Man]

Both Antec and Enermax are very quiet, but Antec Trupower PSUs can actually slow down your case fan speed too.

Intelligence is not merely the wealth of knowledge but the sum of perception, wisdom, and knowledge.

 

[Vince604]

There's an Enermax 550??
Yes see there's my point... They all have dual fans which is much better for cooling, however more fans = more noise?...
Is there anywhere I can find the specs on the fans inside the PSU?

 

[Vince604]

Okay let me attempt to rephrase this one..... Antec Truepower PSU's have thermally-controlled fans where the fan speeds are regulated automatically under the enviroment it is in; unlike Enermax where they are regular fans but can be controlled manually with that nob in the back of them?

 

[AndrewT]

my enermax doesn't have the knob, it goes by heat

and for the other dude, no, 2 fans would be louder than one if they would be running at full speed. but since they don't need to run at full speed they're damn quiet (never seen them running at full speed, I don't have much heat in the case. according to the system monitor they're running at 1600Rpm at the moment). my biggest beef is the maxtor 7200 drive, it whines too much and that's the only thing I can hear.

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[Vince604]

Oh that's right. The Enermax FM series..

When is it ever likely for your PSU to get really hot?
If I get a higher watt PSU would that put less stress on the parts inside the PSU thus causing less heat?

 

[AndrewT]

the older PS's used to get pretty warm, but those days are gone.

Higher always better, not just because it have to work less to keep everything running well, but when you upgrade you don't need to replace it with a higher powered one again. Like some people having problems with a not so old PS and the 9700PRO card, the PS was okay for the old setup but can't keep up with the new. I rather spend a little extra on my toys just to be sure it's going last longer or can handle higher demand in the near future.

Your system only takes the juice it need for running and no more, so you're not going to see higher power bills just because you get a higher power PS.

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[Vince604]

Alright thanks.

Well I have two PSUs in mind right now... It would be either the Antec TrueBlue480 PSU or the Enermax EG465AX-VE FMA...

Which one would you go for?
I believe the Enermax one has the Active PFC function but has a lower watt than the Antec one... and the Antec one has blue LED fans but no Active PFC function...

 

[AndrewT]

Voltage/Amp .................: +5V ... -5V ... +12V ... -12V ... +3.3V ... +5V SB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Antec TrueBlue480 .........: 38A ... 0.5A ... 22A ...... 1.0A ... 30A ..... 2.0A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enermax EG365AX-VE FMA: 32A ... 1.0A ... 26A ...... 1.0A ... 32A ..... 2.2A

I would buy the Enermax, led fans can be installed later, to me those are useless gadgets.

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[AndrewT]

what do you know, the Antec showed better performance than the Enermax. Guess after all you might be better off with the Antec.

Unless those PS's were sent by the makers and some made sure they will be above the rest. Moves like that by companies are common, making sure they send an under stickered higher performer which they test first to make sure it's not going to be DOA. Used to work for a company where the demo products were flawless, but the regular products were way below that (just not enough time and resources to check each product for perfection when you mass produce them).

But anyway, both are good brands (unless you have a place where one of the THG winners sell, most of us got limited choices in stores near by)

<font color=red>Got a silent setup, now I can hear myself thinking.... great silence</font color=red>

 

[selander]

line by PC Power & Cooling, a company that was not mentioned in the article. They have been selling high quality power supplies since 1985.

http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/ultra_quiet/index.htm

http://www.pcpowercooling.com

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Yes. Enermax produce a couple of 550W units.
My one is an older model. It has two temperature controlled fans, a rear 80mm and a bottom 92mm.
It also has a 3pin monitoring lead that ive plugged into the mobo. I believe this lead monitors the rear PSU fan.
By watching motherboard monitor the PSU fan speed ranges from 1500rpm up to 2500rpm.
As the PSU is so powerful it is rarely stressed and runs very cool, only getting above 2000rpm on excessivly hot days.
Even at full speed the PSU is virtually silent, despite NOT being a "whisper" unit. And the minimal noise it does make is easily drowned out by my 7200rpm hard drives.

The current 550W enermax uses manually adjustable fans.

<b>And if you gaze for long into Toms Hardware Forums, The Forum gazes also into you! </b>

 

[upec]

I use to build my computer with PC Power & Cooling PSU but now I use Enermax PSU for my computer. Enermax PSU is a lot cheaper and the quality is also very good.

 

[Vince604]

Eh exactly what I just saw...

Yes I think that can be very questionable. But really I just don't like the manual controlled thermal fans for Enermax as I think of it as a hassle to always changing it.

 

[Vince604]

Really is there any advantage with the manually adjustable fans? Wouldn't people find it a hassle always turning it when the weather is really hot or cold? What if it's really hot and you forgot that you turned the fan speed all the way down?
I think Antec will be more suitable for me......

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Yeah. I thought about that too.
My temp dependent fans are cool. Slow when its cool, fast when its warm. Dont have to think about it... just watch them slowly change in motherboard monitor
Even at full speed they are damn near silent.

<b>And if you gaze for long into Toms Hardware Forums, The Forum gazes also into you! </b>

 

[upec]

I also think the fan speed control is not very useful. My Enermax PSU does not have any fan speed control and I think the fan is running a full speed all the time. It is very quiet. Most of the noise my computer make is from CPU and GPU fans.

 

[Rubberbband]

I've got an Enermax Whisper quiet 350W with a thermal sensor that adjusts the speed of the fan. I'm not too sure how to set it up though. I've plugged the power lead onto my mobo but I think your motherboard has to support speed adjustments for the fan to be variable in speed. Right now it always runs at 2400 rpm.

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[Vince604]

Haha yeah thought so. Thats why I'm looking to Antec. Them and their Smart Case Fans...

 

[Vince604]

Oh I see. GPU fans? What kind of video card are you using?
Have you seen any of the Zalman heatpipe VGA Heatsinks?
Haven't seen any reviews on it so can't say it's worth in investing on.