I recently built a new machine and I used a few parts from my old rig. I really like my new computer and it seems to be very stable but it is fairly loud. I just replaced all of the case fans with vantec stealth 80mm fans and my cpu fan with a k8 silent boost HSF and it is still pretty loud. I think most of the noise I am hearing is coming from my power supply. My machine consists of: AMD Athlon 64 939 3000+ (Venice) Chaintech VNF4 Ultra 2 x 1GB PC3200 DDR400 Corsair Memory Seagate 7200.8 300GB PATA HDD Chaintech Geforce 6200 256MB DDR PCI-Express x16 Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 5.1 soundcard Mitsumi USB2.0 & FDD Digital Card Reader/Writer NEC ND3520 DVDRW Toshiba DVD-ROM Lian Li PC-61 Antec SL450 I've had the antec power supply for a few years and it was very quiet when I first got it but it has gradually gotten louder over time. I'm debating about whether or not I should buy a different power supply. I don't even know what specs to look for and what is needed to run my system. I do know that it is very stable with my current PSU. Any recommendations would be appreciated. JR
I don't know the wattage and specs of your current psu but if you say that it's gradually getting louder than it sounds like it's on it's last leg. Don't risk letting it take you're system with it, besides it is a couple years old so you can just replace it with a beefier one and give the old one a decent funeral.Here's a good one to concider. Any thing with similar specs will probably perform pretty well, look for a high efficiency rating too.
Well, the Amperage is the big thing. If that PSU doesn't have at least 20A on the 12V rail (this will be listed on the sticker on the PSU), I'd suggest you look into replacing it. If it weren't for the thing getting progressively louder, I'd probably say to just stick with it unless you run into stability issues.
Well I pulled the PSU out and it specs exactly 20A on the 12V rail. I think I mistated it getting progessively louder. It is louder than when I first started using it. I would guess it's putting out around 40dB of fan noise and it usually runs around 2000 rpms. I think a wire might have stopped the bottom fan once when it was in the old computer. It looks like the one Exfoliate linked to only puts out 18A on the 12V rail. What would you guys recommend for less than $100 that would be the lowest noise and the most stable? I would really like one with the 24 pin motherboard connector too since these adapters get in the way of the CPU HSF. Should I get another Antec or is there another company that has better power supplies?
18?!, sorry, screw that, I just say the rating, brand, and price and assumed it was good. Thermaltake does make some good stuff though, and yes Antec is nice too, CoolMax might be okay as well.
The Venice/San Diego cores are less demanding on power. Unless you would upgrade to SLI in the future I think your fine. However for a suggestion I would purchase a PC Power and cooling 510W SLI PSU. it is one of 4 nVIDIA certified PSU's..
Don't know about anyone else but could it just be that your PSU fan is getting clogged with dust? Extra dust might make it overheat causing the fan to increase speeds and make more noise.
I know the Enermax EG565P-VE is under the $100 mark. I got mine over @ ZipZoomFly for about $94, and I'm sure you can find it a little lower if you look around. This PSU is pretty quiet, even at high fan speeds. However, if you really want to get the best PSU, the PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI is probably it.
if you are planning to do sli, then thermaltake has a 500W certified sli psu for 130 dollars its on xoxide.com
I have tested both the 510 and 850 PC P&cooling along with the silverstone 650 Zeus. all three had the best noise rejection ratio out of anyother PSU. but for the money and peformance the 510 makes the most sense.
This might be correct. I can see dust on the fans. I guess I could try to take it apart and clean it. Also, I have no plans to run SLI. My last computer lasted my almost 4 years and all I ever upgraded was the optical and hard drives. The processor/memory/video card combo should last me quite awhile since I'm not a gamer.
Be careful when doing that. Theres a chance thats theres still some parts in there which are live and still holding a charge. Just try using pressurised air to blast some dust off the fans first.
i have an Eneramx 480 noisetaker, this has the fans run for a couple of minutes after you shutdown to draw warm out of the case, its pricey but well worht the peace of mind this site has a useful wattage calulator just to make life easier, apologies if it seems like a plug but i have used it quite often http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
Not bad amperages, but you're paying a little extra for the external fan controller and the fact that it's a modular PSU. The thing to keep in mind is that it's not an nVidia-certified SLI PSU. Same with my Enermax 530W. It does have the connectors for SLI and no doubt could very well handle it in a pinch (part of the reaso I bought it), but it's not officially SLI certified, just to be clear on the issue.
