SilverStone's NightJar 520W PSU is Fanless
Silverstone has revealed a new power supply – the NightJar 520W. Beyond its rather odd name, the PSU itself is also a bit odd, as it doesn't actually have a fan. Now, it's technically not an incorrect name, as jars are indeed quite silent throughout the night… just kidding; it's named after a nocturnal bird.
The unit, as its name indicates, is able to push up to 520 W of power. It is also 80-Plus Platinum certified, which is certainly what made it possible to run the unit without a fan – it simply doesn't generate a lot of heat. Do note though, the unit should be oriented with the grated side up, as otherwise the heat generated will get trapped.
Silverstone has also opted to make the unit fully modular, so you'll only have to connect the cables that you need, and no more. Since the 12 V supply is taken care of by a single powerful rail, you also won't have to worry about which modular ports you use in order to draw power.
No word on pricing just yet.
I still prefer a PSU with a fan.
For maximum efficiency, the configuration of these are laid out in a fan shape or fin shape depending on the manufacturer to basically 'wick' away heat. The way it's configured will usually determine the amount of heat that is displaced.
Lastly, more caution should be emphasized on the placement of the PSU because trapped heat will definitely affect it on a greater scale. For those who aren't strapped down by cash and/or sensitivity, then this might be a suitable alternative!
& How long do you think that this can function properly without a fan.
Only major difference: it was only 80plus bronze certified. But for an ultrasilent build in a big case, just perfect! No longevity issues as the components used are top shelf only (japanese 105° capacitors...) and of course there is always thermal protection (even with overclocked qx9650 in mid-summer, I never had a problem).
BTW, no, definitely not cheap, around 140 Euros (should be approximately 150 USD) at the time.
Seasonic's version sells for around $140 US and has a 7 Year Warranty. SilverStone usually doesn't offer any more than a 5 Year Warranty at most.
I have a PC Power & Cooling fanless 750w psu, it's 8+ years old and has no problems.
1. It will use case air flow + convection. Convection alone should work as long as the case has plenty of space for the hot air to rise.
2. Does your stereo die because of a lack of a fan?(I know some still have one) Old stereos lasted for years(and this was with VERY low efficiency linear power supplies.). On top of this, the amp was dumping its heat into the system as well.
These are certainly not to everyone, but I do not think they would design them to die.
I'd love to get one of these for my HTPC. The bad thing is I know that the previous generation of Nightjar was ridiculously overpriced. They went for something like $200 for the 500W model and $250 for the 600W model. I hope Silverstone prices these competitively.
Also, I think other companies have PSUs like this, Corsair just came to mind first.
They work fine and usually don't fail unless you're like me and put the adapter on the carpet while the laptop is number crunching on the GPU and CPU. The particular one I abused this way was at about 170 Fahrenheit on the plastic casing most of the time, lasted a few month though nearly 24/7. Nowdays I put it on a hardcover book.
The power supply I'm sure has temperature safe guards and passive air flow would help greatly.
I wasn't aware PCP&C made any fanless PSUs. Their Silencer series still have fans; they're just quiet.