Noiseless PSU

[themaster1]

I'm trying to upgrade my htpc in order to have the minimum noise so i thought maybe a fanless PSU would be nice, the problem is i don't know what to expect with such a psu especially in terms of Heat.
If someone bought one, just let me know what i can expect. My budget is about 120€ max

I recently bought a new cpu rad/fan which is a Noctua c12p se14 so this is very quiet with a rpm of about 550 for the fan as i speak (can be higher if needed) with a big rad, and the graphic is a GT220 brand new, it doesn't make that much noise. I also have a big 250mm fan on the lateral side of the pc with a potentiometre; the big issue seems to be the PSU and i made a test without the fans & the graphic card to be sure.

Thanks for the help

[aedipuss]

this is not an endorsement but you can find fanless/noiseless psu's.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104035

[redwudz]

Although power supplies have become very efficient in recent years, I wouldn't recommend a fan-less PS. At best, it would have a very hard time responding to a transient heavy power load. I have several PS's that are dead quiet and have a large, slow turning fans. One of my Thermaltake PS's has a 140mm fan and I have yet to hear it running, no matter what the load. Some 'fan-less' PS's get away with it by running very hot. Not a good idea with a pivotal device like a PS that should have a very long lifespan. If one of those PS's dies, it can take the whole PC with it.

Devices like PS's have to dissipate heat. Without a device like a fan, only convection can move air through the device to cool the heat sinks. That works somewhat, sometimes, but it's not dependable. I'd settle for a large, slow moving fan that runs quiet. JMO.

[themaster1]

What do you think about this one redwudz.
Imo it's (maybe) the best of both worlds with a rad to exhaust the heat and a fan.Add to that it's modulable. My only grief is that it was first released around 2007 so that's 3 years of innovation missing but maybe there is not much inovation in the PSU world... i don't know really.

[D_Knife]

I use the Zalman 750w Heatpipe version - I use it with my i7 box - Love it!

[MJA]

the test when you fire up a power hungry game/program.

[redwudz]

themaster1, that looks good to me. Two items that are on the newer power supplies are eight pin CPU connections and six (Or eight?) pin connections for video cards. Check your motherboard choice for the former. Some PSs have a two piece connector for that, four or eight pin. For the video card, depends on the one you use. That's the only major changes I can recall for PSs. That PS appears to have those connectors.

Modular PSs are great. Gets rid of the extra wires that you end up having to stuff into some unused corner of the case.

[lordsmurf]

Get one with a 140mm fan.