Advice on silent (quiet) power supplies

Soldato
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Hey guys hoping for some advice :)

Currently I'm running an EVGA SuperNova NEX 650G (not sure which variant, the one with the handle) in a Fractal Define C. I'm working on making my build as quiet as possible and I've come to the conclusion that currently its the PSU and the HDD's that produce the majority of the noise at low - mid workload.

I've been trying to save money on the build for future upgrades but wondering if its worth getting a new one and attempting to sell the old.

I've eyed up this one in particular (as its one sale :D )
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...num-modular-power-supply-white-ca-056-ss.html

However is it worth it, and are there any other cheaper offerings. I've not been keeping up with what other companies like BeQuiet, Corsair, Antec etc are offering in terms of noise and effeciency.

Should note by the way the PSU has to be installed drawing air from the bottom of the case (through a filter)
 
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In my opinion, best way to eliminate noise from your PSU & HDD's is to buy a Fanless PSU & Bungee mod your HDD's.
Yeah bungee modding my hard drives years ago made a massive difference. Hard drives are a bit quieter by themselves now but it still cuts down on the vibration noise. You also want to get the largest hard drive you can or if you have money go all SSD which will eliminate the hard drive noise totally.

For PSU, there are a few now that don't spin when not under much load like some of the Corsair RM series.
 
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The noise from the drives is the actual drive spinning rather than any vibration, so unsure if bungee cording them inside would make much difference. Regarding fanless PSU's arent they restricted to systems with good airflow and a low power outage? Sounds like im after something like the Corsair RM series in that case, have Corsair improved on their OEM though? Last time I looked they still used CWT and I'd rather something with better quality components.
 
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2x 2TB ones, either WD or Seagate cant remember. Run at 7200RPM had them for a while now they're reasonably old. Plus a 1tb SSD. I do a lot of video production and stuff so need the space. Moving to only SSD isnt financially viable atm
 
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What you really need to do is to sell both 2TB drives and buy at least a single 4TB drive (I'd advice 6TB while you're at it). This will make a massive difference and you'll notice it straight away. I understand going all SSD is out of budget for the majority but I'd definitely go with the newer and quieter single drive.
 
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I'm looking at around £150 for a 4TB drive which is a lot (IMO), why would this drastically help vs just the 2 drives? The reason I currently run 2 drives as well is I use the 2nd in RAID to backup all the files on the first

Edit:
Also going back to the original part of a new power supply, these 3 are pretty similar priced (all on sale at the moment)

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...num-modular-power-supply-white-ca-056-ss.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/be-q...plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-128-bq.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/supe...us-platinum-power-supply-black-ca-041-sf.html

I'm looking through reviews at the moment but they all seem good, so it's hard to pick out anything not worthy.
 
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The noise from the drives is the actual drive spinning rather than any vibration, so unsure if bungee cording them inside would make much difference.
It's sheet metal of the case which amplifies any mechanical noises.
Especially if case isn't mass damped with bitumen or something similar.

2x 2TB ones, either WD or Seagate cant remember. Run at 7200RPM had them for a while now they're reasonably old. Plus a 1tb SSD. I do a lot of video production and stuff so need the space. Moving to only SSD isnt financially viable atm
If it's mostly just high capacity storage with sequential access, then getting 5400 rpm drive would lower lower noise, because faster spinning drive spins with higher energy producing more vibration.
(of course there's variation between individual drives with good 7200rpm one being better than bad 5400rpm drive)

With its discount price Antec HCG Gold is now the cheapest semi-passive cooling PSU.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/antec-hcg-gold-650w-80-plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-24w-an.html

BeQuiet is simply very skimpy with only basic level five year warranty even in the most super expensive models.
Makes me suspicious that they know something from accelerated aging tests.
 
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Hi ive one of these sat in it's box but plugged it in with tester and it's silent and thats next to me https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...-platinum-modular-power-supply-ca-05v-ss.html
I'm using this one but mines 850watt and it is dead silent don't even know running boot up hear fan boost then dies right back so think pc has died! https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...-titanium-modular-power-supply-ca-060-ss.html
They also have ECO mode where fan is off till needed

One way to make it quieter is get an SSD like a 1TB MX500 Around £100/£110 for most things and run the others for storage with a Drive bay SATA switcher so they only run when you require them to saves on wear also.
 
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Soldato
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It's sheet metal of the case which amplifies any mechanical noises.
Especially if case isn't mass damped with bitumen or something similar.

If it's mostly just high capacity storage with sequential access, then getting 5400 rpm drive would lower lower noise, because faster spinning drive spins with higher energy producing more vibration.
(of course there's variation between individual drives with good 7200rpm one being better than bad 5400rpm drive)

With its discount price Antec HCG Gold is now the cheapest semi-passive cooling PSU.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/antec-hcg-gold-650w-80-plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-24w-an.html

BeQuiet is simply very skimpy with only basic level five year warranty even in the most super expensive models.
Makes me suspicious that they know something from accelerated aging tests.

I might looking at getting a single 5400 RPM drive in that case, most of the data stored on there is basic documents, films, photos, music & lots of editing stuff. Nothing that should require fast read speed. All my programs are on the SSD including games

Hi ive one of these sat in it's box but plugged it in with tester and it's silent and thats next to me https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...-platinum-modular-power-supply-ca-05v-ss.html
I'm using this one but mines 850watt and it is dead silent don't even know running boot up hear fan boost then dies right back so think pc has died! https://www.overclockers.co.uk/seas...-titanium-modular-power-supply-ca-060-ss.html
They also have ECO mode where fan is off till needed

One way to make it quieter is get an SSD like a 1TB MX500 Around £100/£110 for most things and run the others for storage with a Drive bay SATA switcher so they only run when you require them to saves on wear also.

So with those linked I actually looked at them already but after reading reviews between them and the Snow one, the Snow one has a more aggressive semi passive mode and a better 140mm fan
 
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I know it's since been superseded but my EVGA 850w G2 PSU has an eco mode that will stop the fan under certain load/temperature thresholds.

Even still, the fan is that quiet that I just leave the eco mode OFF and have the fan running all the time. The other fans/HDDs in the system easily overpower any noise from the PSU and typically I only have 1x 120mm and 1x 140mm fans running at slow speed. You might hear the PSU with your ear next to it but when installed in the case, no chance.
 
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I'm looking at around £150 for a 4TB drive which is a lot (IMO), why would this drastically help vs just the 2 drives? The reason I currently run 2 drives as well is I use the 2nd in RAID to backup all the files on the first
£150? You're looking in the wrong places. You can pick up a B grade one here for £80 and I've seen it brand new for £88
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/b-gr...-internal-hard-drive-hd-37t-se-bg-13v-se.html.
If you wanted to sell your old drives you'd get ~£25 each would mean ~£30 outlay for a much much quieter environment. Personally I'd use those 2 hard drives as external back up drives.

Those two drives according to you are old and the older drivers are louder than more modern drives, plus you have two running at 7200rpm which is even more noise. You didn't mention initially that you had them running RAID for back up but it seems a waste of resources to be doing that if your not in server/mission critical environment. This is a home/desktop computer so it's much better to run 1 single drive and back up the files you need regular to an external hard drive. Or if you're going to do it properly to have two backups and 1 off site.
 
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So with those linked I actually looked at them already but after reading reviews between them and the Snow one, the Snow one has a more aggressive semi passive mode and a better 140mm fan
If it's of any use to you:

I bought the Antec HCG Gold 850 as an impulse buy for a future Ryzen 2 build as the price is nuts. I usually buy larger units 135mm/140mm fans but have used the FOCUS in friend's builds, in the past, and always been impressed for the short time i've had them in my hands.

I obviously needed to test the Antec and even though it's the size of a 'duplo brick' it's basically a FOCUS within a slightly different styled case (apart from different labelled ties). I was initially concerned about the fan/grill covering (worried it would restrict airflow creating more noise with only a 120mm fan) but it's silent with or without the passive mode. It's been on 24 hrs a day for a few days now and i can say it's passed my ear test (subjective i know). But, for full disclosure, it's in a soundproof case - but I still couldn't hear it with panel off when testing - that and the GTX 1080 ensured i wasn't going to hear anything else when fully stressing the system :/
 
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@Plec guess I'm safe from your wrath then :p seeing as you like the antec haha
Ballz - that was a missed opportunity. I played my review card too early.

I don't know how much Antec make on these units - packaging dimensions are the same even the same packaging foam. As mentioned only the outer case enclosure, cloth bags and ties are different (same cables from looks). So all superficial changes...

When you look at the price of the 850 FOCUS at £100 in the sale it really puts the Antec HCG 850W at £85 in to perspective.

@Bacon?, if funds allow i would consider purchasing the 750W unit at only £10 more if you think your future upgrade may start to push the 650W - especially of you're a Radeon fan.
 
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Soldato
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@Plec I'm actually eyeing up the 850W since it's only £4 more than the 750W. My basket is looking like this:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £364.48 (includes shipping: £12.60)

Initially I was really liking the Snow Silent because of the better semi passive nature, platinum over gold and general looks. However I've just noticed the 750W doesnt come with a 140mm fan (the higher models do) only a 120mm. Whereas the Super Flower does come with a 140mm.

So I'm kinda torn between the Super Flower at £93 and the Antec 850W at £85, or the 650W at £74. I think 650W will easily be enough since I don't plan any multi GPU setups.
 
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@Plec
Initially I was really liking the Snow Silent because of the better semi passive nature, platinum over gold and general looks. However I've just noticed the 750W doesnt come with a 140mm fan (the higher models do) only a 120mm. Whereas the Super Flower does come with a 140mm.
Yes, that particular Seasonic Snow (7 year warranty) comes with 120mm fan and, as far as i can tell, uses the same fan used in the FOCUS from description so by default the same as the Antec (@EsaT will correct me if I'm mistaken). Plus, the HCG has semi passive mode too (plus 10 year warranty).

So I'm kinda torn between the Super Flower at £93 and the Antec 850W at £85, or the 650W at £74. I think 650W will easily be enough since I don't plan any multi GPU setups.
That Superflower - with the 135mm fan - would interest me too if on the quest for silence but the 5 year warranty sticks in the throat a bit.
 
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Yes, that particular Seasonic Snow comes with 120mm fan and, as far as i can tell, uses the same fan used in the FOCUS from description so by default the same as the Antec (@EsaT will correct me if I'm mistaken). Plus, the HCG has semi passive mode too.

It's the same innards as the Focus IIRC just. But more selectable options on the semi passive mode, and only starts up at 50% load, so should be completely silent unless I'm gaming.

That Superflower - with the 135mm fan - would interest me too if on the quest for silence but the 5 year warranty sticks in the throat a bit.

I'm not bothered by the warranty length I think 5 years should be fine. I've had my PC for (8?) years now and I've changed PSU's twice. Originally a CM 500W to the current EVGA 650W
 
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