~£50 PSU for i3 & Radeon 6850 build

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

sharingan_sasuk

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Hi guys, just finished building my mini ITX rig with an i3 2100K and ASUS Radeon 6850 1GB GDDR5 inside a Lian Li Q08B case. Space is no issue with a bit of cable management, so a modular PSU isn't a requirement.

I'm using a spare OCZ SilentXStream 500W PSU I had lying around to keep my budget down. But now I remember why it was left around as a spare lol; it sounds louder than when I first got it so I can't help but think it's going to develop a fault at some stage. So obviously I don't want it to fry the rest of my components if it does, and the noise is really annoying for night gaming.

So what would you guys recommend me for around £50? I was looking at the Corsair CX 430W or 500W. I previously had BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' for my i5 2500K & Radeon 6950 build and I absolutely loved it.

Inside the case I have a 5.25" DVD-RW SATA drive, 2.5" Crucial M4 128GB SSD, 4GB Kingston DDR3 RAM, a 140mm front fan, and a 120mm top fan.
 
Oh, and also a 140mm fan to replace the one at the front as mine currently has blue LEDs which I don't like at night lol. Maybe also a 120mm fan for the top but I don't know if they would be noticably quieter than most case stock fans these days.

I was looking at that OCZ, but is there something else? After this OCZ, I don't trust them so much. Maybe I've just had a dodgy one with sound issues.
 
Btw, how does warranty work for XFX power supplies? I actually asked OCZ if I could RMA this PSU I got because I was worried about its noise a year or so back, but they wanted me to ship to the Netherlands! So I never bothered after that because I may have as well bought another PSU, which I ended up doing.
 
Ok, before I go to sleep, I did some acoustic tests. I disconnected the two case fans and I noticed a difference in noise. So my OCZ power supply isn't as loud as I thought. However, when starting up Windows and it's loading, the PSU sounds like a hard drive under load. Even on idle, it still sounds the same. Surely this doesn't sound good and it means I need to replace it asap? I also notice when I shut down, just before the PSU fan comes to a complete halt, it wobbles a bit in the center.
 
The Halk said:
Sounds like it's the fan rather than the PSU. You can replace the fans - be careful inside the PSU though of components still holding a charge.

Or if it's fine once it's up and running then just see how long it lasts...?
Click to expand...

Sometimes tapping or pressing into the PSU makes it quieter for a few seconds yea. Also, I've left it overnight to download something, and its noise seems to have stabilised now.

Case does feel warmer though, and this is it left overnight with the side panel off! So I guess some quiet 140mm and especially 120mm fans are also in order.
 
Definitely no Crossfire involved in this mini-ITX build! :) Going to be ordering in the next hour or so as it's my day off work again tomorrow and I would like it delivered then.

So atm, XFX Pro 550W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.99 inc VAT it seems.

PSU
I am also looking at these but I'm not sure if they are any better?
Corsair Builder Series CX 500W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-500CXUKV2) [CMPSU-500CXV2UK][OCZ-ZS550W-UK] £44.99 inc VAT
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply [OCZ-ZS550W-UK] £46.98 inc VAT
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUKV2) [CMPSU-600CXV2UK] £52.99 inc VAT
PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 400W High Performance Modular Power Supply - White [PPCMK3S400-UK] £54.98 inc VAT although the pic shows a non-modular connection?

120mm fan
I also need a quieter 120mm fan as that seems like the loudest part of my PC atm, and I was looking at these 3:
Antec Tri-Cool 3-Speed 120mm Fan - Black £3.98 inc VAT
Akasa AK-191-SM Smoke Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin [AK-191-SM] £5.99
Zalman ZM-F3 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin [ZM-F3] £4.69

140mm fan
Finally I need a 140mm fan to replace the front LED one I got. Needs to have no LEDs as I don't like the flashy lights:
NZXT FN-140 Enthusiast Performance Case Fan - 140mm [FN-140RB] £9.98 inc VAT
BitFenix Spectre 140mm Fan - Black £9.98 inc VAT
Phobya Nano-G 14 PWM Black Silent Edition case Fan ( 140x140x25mm ) £10.99 inc VAT

Any idea which I should get? I just need enough to keep the airflow going but more important is the quietness.
 
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This is why I would prefer to pick the more reliable and quiet PSU than one with the best warranty as for a £40-50 PSU, I rather just buy a new one when it goes kaput than pay half the price to send it back. Not to mention I'm without a PSU for 2-4 weeks as well!

Going to have to go for a different 120mm fan to the Antec as I don't want to risk receivng a LED one!

And yep, my ASUS 6850 uses two 6-pin connectors for power.
 
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Right I've ordered the XFX PSU, an Akasa 120mm fan as I didn't want to risk getting an LED one and I read it comes with weird screw holes but no supplied screws, some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste and a Fractal Design 140mm fan. As usual I can't wait :)

Thanks all for helping me make up my mind. I love OcUK and you guys. That's why I continue to spend money here!
 
Simply WOW. This XFX PSU is so quiet! So is the Fractal 140mm fan. The loudest thing in my rig now has to be the 120mm fan lol. Can't imagine how I used to run 80mm fans now.

Gotta say the first time I switched it on, I was bricking it because it wouldn't switch on. Turns out I didn't stick the 24 pin ATX connector in properly lol. The PSU is definitely heavier than my OCZ and has WAY more cables but it still fits in fine. It just means I got less free space in the hard drive cage between the front fan and the back.
 
img0238gh.jpg


The amount of cables!

If the airflow is seriously impeded come summer, then I suppose I could swap it for the BeQuiet Pure Power 530W modular PSU in my brother's i5 & Radeon 6950 build.
 
They are pretty thick and won't bend so easily to cable tie together. Atm, I've just tucked it all into the hard drive cage, which is pretty much what I've left it in there for lol. And maybe to help strengthen the case with that heavy PSU as it sits on top of another adapter just behind the GFX card. I'll upload some pics later.
 
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