PSU and Cooler - noise focused!

Tropicocity · 4 Feb 2015 at 02:37

Hi all

I currently have a 5 year old Zalman CNPS10X Extreme cooler, and an OCZ ZT 750w PSU. The cooler isn't too bad, an update would be nice, but the PSU is pretty noisy and with the recent crop of fanless-at-low-load PSUs out there I'd like to upgrade both my PSU and my CPU cooler.

Current specs:
4670k @ 4.0
16gb ram @1600
GTX 670 -> going for either a 970 or a 980, both leaving the option to SLI later
NZXT H440 Case.

My question to you knowledgeable folk is what PSU should I get, and what cooler? Noise is the key focus here, I'm trying to eliminate as much of it as possible. Been looking at an RM850/HX850i from Corsair as I know both have the fanless mode - as for coolers I did intend ages ago to get an H110 and run it on low fan speed, is this still cream of the crop?

Thanks in advance!

MrMD · 4 Feb 2015 at 03:35

When it coems to PSU's corsairs high end PSUs arnt as good as they used to be,and certainly dont offer great value for money

YOUR BASKET
1 x SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 750W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £99.95
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
Total : £204.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Either of these would be fine for futrue sli 970/980's.Both extremely high quality PSU's with fanless operation.

They are pretty much near identical units,main difference is the 10 year warrenty on the EVGA unit compared to the Superflower model.

Heres a review of each one
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=370
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=380
Apparently the SF model will be on special offer this week aswell.

Edit: When it comes to coolers it really depends how much you want to spend,and if Performance or quiet operation is more important to you.Somethign like a Noctua D-15 might be what you are after,
YOUR BASKET
1 x Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler with two NH-A15 Fans £77.99
Total : £87.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Very quiet,and offers room for substantal overclocks at the same time

Doomedspeed · 4 Feb 2015 at 06:34

As MrMD has pointed out, those PSU's are fantasic. Personally i hover towards the EVGA because of the 10 Year (yes, 1 whole decade) warranty. Internally they are both exactly the same, as Superflower is the OEM for the G2 series. Corsair can't compete with this bunch.

Coolers are a different story, yes the D15 will be quiet but its a lot of money and it is big.

I had a D14 and loved it to bits and from the reviews i've read the D15 adds very little to the game. The D14 would still be my choice of air cooler, the fans are super silent and temps are suberb (kept my 2500k @ 4.7ghz under 65C full load).

That all being said, if you wanted a watercooler for [a) Aesthetics b) Cooling performance] you can't go wrong with the H110 or the H!05, personally id go with the 105. The thicker radiator would get the best out of running low fans speeds.

Tropicocity · 4 Feb 2015 at 14:49

Thanks for the replies you guys! I wasn't aware that there were other fanless operation PSUs out there, glad I asked here

I'll take a look at the johnnyguru reviews shortly, are the fanless modes on those two linked to load or to temperature? And would getting a higher rated (e.g 850-1000w) version mean the fan would stay off for longer? That's definitely a focal point for me, if I can manage to play a majority of games (obviously not including crysis 3 and the like) with the fan not coming on that would be amazing

Tropicocity · 4 Feb 2015 at 14:50

Will also do a bit more research on noctua high end air coolers vs the AIOs, low temps are nice but low noise even more so

cheers again you two

MrMD · 4 Feb 2015 at 15:00

Tropicocity said:
And would getting a higher rated (e.g 850-1000w) version mean the fan would stay off for longer? That's definitely a focal point for me, if I can manage to play a majority of games (obviously not including crysis 3 and the like) with the fan not coming on that would be amazing

Well i have the 750w Superflower in my rig,and the fan never turns on when gaming.

Before hand i had a 280x in this rig which required more watts than the 970,i heard the PSU turn fan on once with that card,it was the middle of summer and i had been playing DR3 maxxed out for about 3hours lol.

With a single GPU setup the odds of you ever hearing the PSU fan are almost zero.

Edit:You also asked about how the fanless mode works.
On the back of these PSU's is a switch that alters between auto and eco mode.

Auto mode,the PSU fan is always on and increases as the PSU's temp increaces.On ECO it turns the fan off and turns it on only when the PSU's internal temp reaches a certain threshold.Obviously ambient temps ect play a role in this.But generally this wouldnt happen untill you start drawing 400-500 watts IIRC on the 750w units.

A 750w would be ideal for you i think,I wouldnt go anyhigher unless the idea of potentially getting AMD cards for Crossfire is summit you might be intrested in down the road.

Admetos · 4 Feb 2015 at 15:07

These would do it.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-041-AR

I run an i7 4770k at 4.2 and max core temps are still around 10c under Intels TCase, you can hear the fan when running full speed, but fan max rpm is under 2k and so sound very low. I did replace the Arctic paste with IC Diamond as I believe it to be better. In fact I have 3 of these coolers, some running on windows servers.

I own 4 Seasonic X Gold's - first in 2009, In over 5 years honestly never heard a fan on these once.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-SS

Rroff · 4 Feb 2015 at 15:54

Most of the Seasonic X series run passive upto ~250-300watt load depending on the model and have a Sanyo Denki fan that are generally highly regarded - never heard a thing out of mine unless I really torture test it. You need about 80% load before the fan is running high enough RPM to be audible IIRC and even then you'd need everything else in the case to be silent.

EDIT: I couldn't really recommend corsair PSUs any more their current OEMs for them are average at best and in the case of CwT based models I'd run a mile personally.

Admetos · 4 Feb 2015 at 16:06

Rroff said:
Most of the Seasonic X series run passive upto ~250-300watt load depending on the model and have a Sanyo Denki fan that are generally highly regarded - never heard a thing out of mine unless I really torture test it. You need about 80% load before the fan is running high enough RPM to be audible IIRC and even then you'd need everything else in the case to be silent.

This is totally correct, plus you said it better then me!

Tropicocity · 4 Feb 2015 at 16:29

Thanks again guys

One thing I should mention regarding the CPU cooler - my current CNPS10X, due to its shape actually covers the first DIMM slot on my MSI Z87 G45 motherboard, and although I can fit my 2x8GB sticks in just fine, the stick in slot 2 is mere millimetres away from the cooler and I believe is actually slightly impeding airflow even if only down at the bottom..should have mentioned it before really!

You guys have certianly pulled me away from having only the HXi and the RM/AXi series as choices for my PSUs!

Edit: My rig is inside an NZXT H440 case so I'd definitely be open to sticking a 240/280 rad AIO in the top of it, price isn't too much of an option if it leads to near silence and decent temps, though obviously I wouldn't want to spend a fortune

MrMD · 4 Feb 2015 at 16:50

Best aio for your needs is mosty likley this

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X61 280mm AIO Water Cooling Unit £119.99
Total : £128.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

Excellent performance, and has variable pump speed which is very helpful in reducing noise.Can even be controlled from the desktop using the NZXT cam software

The superflower PSU listed above is also on sale at the moment, £85 bargin!

Evil-I · 4 Feb 2015 at 17:15

I've got the 1000 watt Superflower leadex platinum and the fan only kicks in under heavy load on my system.

It is however then the noisiest component in my PC. But to be fair it is running in a fully watercooled system with noiseblocker PL2 fans which typically under gaming load are only running somewhere between 7.5 - 8,5 volts. So thats probably not bad.

E-I

Rroff · 4 Feb 2015 at 17:21

MrMD said:
Excellent performance, and has variable pump speed which is very helpful in reducing noise.Can even be controlled from the desktop using the NZXT cam software

Can't emphasise enough how useful having pump control can be... on my current system the PSU is generally silent, I can turn the case fans right down so they are inaudible, the GPU is rarely to be heard but the pump noise I can't do jack about.