Which silent PSU?

dt97583 · 11 Jan 2019 at 11:07

Looking for advice between either of these PSUs:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £114.95
1 x Corsair RMx 650w 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (CP-9020178-UK)= £109.99

Total: £236.04 (includes shipping: £11.10)

I picked the Corsair due to it's

semi-passive fan mode that facilitates silent operation under light and moderate loads. Additionally, a relaxed fan profile helps minimize noise output under more taxing scenarios. Corsair paid a lot of attention to acoustics in its RMx and RMi families, and the result is impressive indeed: they're both some of the quietest PSUs in their respective classes.

and

Load for fan to turn on (%) 40%

However it may be that it's nosier when it starts spinning up versus the be quiet! PSU.

Which do people think would be the quieter PSU?

BriT · 11 Jan 2019 at 13:33

Have to you considered this one? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-05q-ss.html

I have the 850w and can't hear it at all even when playing BF5

dt97583 · 11 Jan 2019 at 13:55

A couple of places have mentioned the ticking/rattling noise with the Seasonic Focus:

Here:

Ad_Augendae said:
I have the 650w Seasonic 80+ Gold Focus from OC
Gotta say it's solid so far, I wouldn't have a problem recommending it at all.
Just fyi, my PSU gives a very slight ticking noise and on reading about this around forums it seems part of the function of the hybrid fan if your fussy about silly noises I would avoid.

Parsley said:
I had the 750watt version of this until I got something else. On a water cooled (near silent) build, when just idling using the desktop, this ticking drove me insane. I have absolutely no idea what they were thinking putting that fan in, the motor makes that noise at low rpm. My solution was to turn the hybrid mode off! Can't hear the fan when it's spinning just that little bit faster.

and @6m59s:

BriT · 11 Jan 2019 at 14:09

had mine a month and haven't heard anything.

dt97583 · 11 Jan 2019 at 14:41

Thinking about it more I think I'll get the RMx 750w, increased power gives more headroom before the 40% load is reached. Can't get more silent than 0RPM

lee32uk · 11 Jan 2019 at 15:19

davidmt83 said:
Thinking about it more I think I'll get the RMx 750w, increased power gives more headroom before the 40% load is reached. Can't get more silent than 0RPM

The RMx units are supposedly quiet even at full load, so you would be fine with the 650W.

https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/corsair-rm650x-psu,review-33614-5.html

maklabouhlel · 12 Jan 2019 at 05:12

The problem with fan noise is that it's quite subjective.