PSU, SFX or Pico?

Bezzaboy1234

Bezzaboy1234

Bezzaboy1234

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Hi guys,

So managed to pick myself up a new case, Couldn't wait long enough to get the Prodigy and it wont fit anyway as its too big =(.

I have a terrible Trust 420W ATX PSU that is pretty noisey powering, probably not noticeable to the ordinary person but im looking for pure silence. The Case only fits SFX/M-ATX psu's so it has to go anyway.

My question is, would a 160w Pico PSU suffice? the specs are:

AMD Athlon X3 (unlocked to X4) 3GHZ, looking to underclock it atm.
4GB DDR3 1600mhz G.skill ram.
1x120GB SSD
1x1TB SATA Drive
on an Asus M4N68T-M

I have no idea of the current power draw but have looked at getting one of those cheap £10 mains power meter things, Do you guys think that might be a good idea to asses how much power it is actually drawing?

The sort of tasks it will be performing are just light movie streaming to my TV/Phone and some conversion of films.

I was also planning on adding a radeon HD 5570 1GB I had lying around to possibly play some games?

Thanks
:)
 
160w? are you serious?
If you want COMPLETE silence, get a AX650 or seasonic equivalent.
The fan won't even spin.
You pay a premium though.
 
He said hes looking for pure silence, the AX model is the only one which will deliver due to the fan off under certain load.
 
MatsyLR said:
160w? are you serious?
If you want COMPLETE silence, get a AX650 or seasonic equivalent.
The fan won't even spin.
You pay a premium though.
Click to expand...

As I said the power supply must be SFX/M-ATX Form factor. So this would not fit, it is also very unncessary at that wattage.

Silence is an important factor, but first I need a power supply that will fit.

Also yes 160 watt Pico PSU is silent, It has no fan, just the small PCB that fits into the Motherboard 24 pin socket, It would be quieter than the AX or any other PSU for that matter
 
They do, but it is hard to find one's going a reasonable price, I do accept that the market is small for SFX PSU's but at the same time £60/70 just for a slightly smaller PSU pumping out such a small wattage is a fairly large rip off in my opinion. I can pickup a 700 watt modular at that price.
 
To the OP, I don't really understand why you made this thread as from what you just said...

Also yes 160 watt Pico PSU is silent, It has no fan, just the small PCB that fits into the Motherboard 24 pin socket, It would be quieter than the AX or any other PSU for that matter
Click to expand...

...it seems to me you know a lot about it already.
 
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Kahnum said:
To the OP, I don't really understand why you made this thread as from what you just said...



...it seems to me you know a lot about it already.
Click to expand...

I have read the details on the pico website but I don't have any idea as to how much power any of my components are drawing and was wondering if anyone who has more insight/someone who owns one could shed some light as to if it could power my components or if I would have to get an SFX PSU. As it says in the original post..
 
I have been in a similar situation trying to find a reasonably priced mATX/SFX psu and I ended up buying the Silverstone 450w for 65 quid. The other alternative is a 400w BeQuiet which costs a bit less but very difficult to find UK seller. OcUK should stock them.
 
I requested this but I don't think they are looking to stock them anytime soon apparently =/, 65 quid! ouch, I have the same case as you now PC monkey, just that 300W they give you with it is terrible and fairly noisy. Is there no way to test how much power your PC is ACTUALLY drawing without having to go out and buy a power meter etc?
 
Bezzaboy1234 said:
I requested this but I don't think they are looking to stock them anytime soon apparently =/, 65 quid! ouch, I have the same case as you now PC monkey, just that 300W they give you with it is terrible and fairly noisy. Is there no way to test how much power your PC is ACTUALLY drawing without having to go out and buy a power meter etc?
Click to expand...

Yes but it would require you to have a mains current capable multimeter handy.

Those picoPSU can be expensive when you factor in the cost of the 12v power supply the pico would need.
 
Bezzaboy1234 said:
I requested this but I don't think they are looking to stock them anytime soon apparently =/, 65 quid! ouch, I have the same case as you now PC monkey, just that 300W they give you with it is terrible and fairly noisy. Is there no way to test how much power your PC is ACTUALLY drawing without having to go out and buy a power meter etc?
Click to expand...

That's one reason why I replaced it, If I knew SFX psu's were that expensive and hard to find, I would have opted for a micro atx case instead of the SFF case. Have you tried the online psu calculator?
 
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Yes but I need a bit more of an accurate result,

Tealc Brilliant! completely forgot about using a multimeter, will give that a shot later!
Also I know they cost about 20/40 pounds + 20/30 for a power brick =/,

Managed to find a 300W SFX BeQuiet so might just have to go with that
 
The only issue I'd have with measuring current draw from a mains socket is how to get the multimeter in the correct position in the circuit. What I'd might do is use an extension cable, pull off the neutral wire (or live) and bridge the gap with the multimeter. I'd also consider soldering the cable to the probe if I didn't have a clamping multimeter probe. I'd not like to have to hold the meter in place by hand.
 
found a good write up on using a clamp-on multimeter which I have, I'll have a crack at it in a while once i've finished copying some files over to it :)
 
As I expected it's drawing about 150 on idle, and about 285 on max load =/

Just gonna have to bite the bullet and pickup either the BeQuiet or the Silverstone, If not I might look into cutting up an ATX PSU possibly :)
 
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