Best silent PSU?

Goose

Goose

Goose

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,744
Location
Kent
I just put together mu new system with a beQuiet 850W ATX 3.0 PSU and im quite disappointed by how not silent it is, especially compared to my ancient EVGA that had an eco mode.

I can see that MSI and Corsair both make models with 0rpm modes and im wondering if anyone has any opinions on what I should get?

Thanks.
 
I have a NZXT C850 80+ Gold ATX in my main matx rig, it has a zero rpm button, so far it's never come on, or when it has I literally cannot hear it, and my entire build is literally silent to the point you'd have to hold your breathe and be in complete silent to hear my 550rpm 140mm case fans barely spinning, my GPU's fan's are also silent IF they're even on... It's a decent Seasonic in a posh dress... 10 year warranty fully modular.

In my 2nd rig a MITX, I have a Corsair SF750 80+ Platinum, the fan doesn't come on for ages and when it does I can't hear it, IIRC even at 650w it's only 28DB, and upto 450 or 550w it's something crazy like 10-20db, either way it is silent and just turns on briefly then turns off soon after, none of the times using it, I've been able to hear it, my MITX build is also silent, 7 year warranty and fully modular :)

Neither build's PSU's have coil wine in any shape or form either :)
 
Last edited:
Seasonic in my experience is one of the best bets for quiet operation - they usually have a decent passive operational range where the fan doesn't even spin up at all and often use nice fans like the Sanyo Denki rather than some generic part.

I'm currently using a Be Quiet! Dark Power 13 850Watt on my 14700K build and it is very quiet if not silent (only time I've managed to make it audible so far is synthetically loading up both CPU and GPU in stress tests).
 
Last edited:
I'm someone who's fussy about noise and in the room I'm sat in have 2 builds, one with NZXT C850 and one with a Corsair RM850x and I can't hear either of them. They're usually on 0-rpm fan, not noticed any buzzing from either unit nor coil whine while under load.

What's your spec though? I see there is a review for the C850 saying it can be noisy under heavy load but with my mid-range build (5900X + 3060 Ti) I've never heard it
 
Last edited:
Noise under load wont bother me too much because I’ll likely have headphones on, its idle noise that bothers me when im working.
 
Thanks for all the replies, I've ordered a 850W Seasonic Focus GX-850 PCIE5.0 as it has a 0rpm fan mode and got a good review from Anandtech.
 
PaulM said:
I'm someone who's fussy about noise and in the room I'm sat in have 2 builds, one with NZXT C850 and one with a Corsair RM850x and I can't hear either of them. They're usually on 0-rpm fan, not noticed any buzzing from either unit nor coil whine while under load.

What's your spec though? I see there is a review for the C850 saying it can be noisy under heavy load but with my mid-range build (5900X + 3060 Ti) I've never heard it
Click to expand...
Yep, as I mentioned before your post, the NZXT C850 is silent. I've never heard mine, ever. And my entire build is silent. Hell of a PSU for £110-120 when on offer! Nice to know it's a high end Seasonic underneath.
Where did you read that? The reviews I saw before buying it never managed to get it to make a noise/wine what so ever. Sounds more like an odd faulty unit.
 
keef247 said:
Yep, as I mentioned before your post, the NZXT C850 is silent. I've never heard mine, ever. And my entire build is silent. Hell of a PSU for £110-120 when on offer! Nice to know it's a high end Seasonic underneath.
Where did you read that? The reviews I saw before buying it never managed to get it to make a noise/wine what so ever. Sounds more like an odd faulty unit.
Click to expand...
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nzxt-c-series-850w-power-supply-review/5 - apparently the fan curve is harsher than some other high ends PSUs (i.e. RMx series) under heavy load, they give it a con - "Can be noisy under tough conditions"

For my use though, same as you, I'm very happy with it. Even while gaming on a 5900x + 3060 Ti, which admittedly isn't that high end these days, I've never heard the fan and it doesn't make any annoying electrical noises / coil whine some of the other PSUs I've had do.
 
Last edited:
PaulM said:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nzxt-c-series-850w-power-supply-review/5 - apparently the fan curve is harsher than some other high ends PSUs (i.e. RMx series) under heavy load, they give it a con - "Can be noisy under tough conditions"

For my use though, same as you, I'm very happy with it. Even while gaming on a 5900x + 3060 Ti, which admittedly isn't that high end these days, I've never heard the fan and it doesn't make any annoying electrical noises / coil whine some of the other PSUs I've had do.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think saw that review, but then found a really OCD/OTT 8-12 page review by some PSU specific person along with another, and I was sold at that point, along with finding out it was a high end Seasonic in a sexy dress.

Yeah I've never managed to get it to make a peep, the other day I realized the fan was actually spinning after hours of gaming, and still couldn't hear it haha!
LOL did you use your 'wash bag' the cables came in, I thought that was hilarious! The overall presentation was very nice to unbox (that makes me cringe as 'unboxing' videos are mind numbing and with halfwits) but yeah, nice amount of thought went into it, and stupidly cheap with a 10 year warranty, cant loose can we!
 
Last edited:
One thing to double check with 0 RPM mode at low load PSUs is if that applies to both ways of mounting it, fan up and fan down.

Seasonic has a 0 RPM mode at low load but for the Prime TX-1000 and TX-1300 units which I had it states to use this only with fan up only which is the less common direction, and meant I didn't use the 0 RPM mode in those builds.

Sadly both those premium power supplies failed in different ways and certainly not related to mounting and fans as they were set to the always on mode (which was quiet though). So for my latest builds I am back to Corsair which also had no restriction on mounting direction and 0 RPM use for the models I've used. I also now over spec the PSU even more as that means the zero RPM mode covers a wider range of loads, albeit with a slight loss in efficiency compared to lower capacity PSUs.
 
mickyflinn said:
Corsair PSUs which have zero RPM mode:


  • AXi and AX series
  • HXi and HX series
  • RMx and RM series
  • SF series
  • Select TX and TXm series
Click to expand...

In 0 RPM mode is the fan meant to get any power ever? I made some changes to my case dampening recently and at a continuous 0 RPM I can hear a periodic ticking like the fan is trying to startup eventhough it's only <35 degrees.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom