Quiet PSU

Greebo

Greebo

Greebo

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I have being out of touch in the psu world for several months so I am sure that things have moved on.

I used to have an OCZ eliteztrem 1000W psu which was great and silent. Unfortunately it went wrong and I got a pc power & cooling 860W psu as a replacement.

The PP&C psu is a suberbly built psu with rock solid rails and voltage ripple however with its 80mm fan, it is the noisiest thing in my pc. My gf has kicked up about how bloody noisy my pc is so time to swap my psu for a quiet one.

Requirements:

Rock solid voltage and ripple.
Quieter the better (thinking 120mm or 135mm fan really?)
Enough 6 and 8 pin leads for SLI/xfire
Not fussed whether modular or not.
700W minimum (the reason I suggest this is not from what my system demands but most psu's have their fans not spinning or hardly spinning up to 50% load so this will ensure my pc is as quiet as it can be)
Hopefully not too much more money than what I get for my current psu 2nd hand as I don't want to put much to it.

Any suggestions for my shortlist please?

Links to reviews would be a bonus as well.
 
Tricky. I haven't figured out how much my psu is worth 2nd hand yet as nobody has replied in the price check forum yet. :(

Let's say for now that I have up to £130 to spend. Of course, less is better ;)
 
The Zalman heatpipe psu's are very quiet and stable. I have had mine coming up to a year now and it has'nt missed a beat. UK RMA's too!!
 
Greebo said:
I The PP&C psu is a suberbly built psu with rock solid rails and voltage ripple however with its 80mm fan, it is the noisiest thing in my pc. My gf has kicked up about how bloody noisy my pc is so time to swap my psu for a quiet one.
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The BeQuiet has to be a contender with your noise requirements but it's right at the top end of your budget.

The Corsair 750W or even the 850W would keep you under the £100 mark (non-modular) - and the additional wattage on the 850W may keep things ticking over nice and quiet.

I buy a larger wattage PSU than is required for exactly the same reasons – and Corsair does the job very well. Of course PSU noise is relative and subjective - one man’s peace is another mans irritation - but I think you’ll be pretty pleased with either the BeQuiet or the Corsair.

EDIT: pastymuncher makes a good point about the Zalman and its UK RMA
 
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Plec said:
Of course PSU noise is relative and subjective - one man’s peace is another mans irritation - but I think you’ll be pretty pleased with either the BeQuiet or the Corsair.
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Very true however everything is watercooled in my rig and when surfing stays cool enough to have all the fans switched off so only noise is the water pump and the psu and it is indeed definitely loud!

So a psu which produces no audible noise when under low load is the ideal.

I'll have a look at at few reviews of the be quiet and corsair as they indeed do look good.

Zalman I had never considered before but that looks good as well and there is a 750W for sale in MM for the tasty price of only £65 which is too good to pass so will buy that and give it a try.

If that is still too noiser I can always sell it on and buy a corsair or be quiet instead with nothing much lost.

If the Zalman is a keeper then I really should get more than £65 for my pp&c psu since new price is £136 and it still has 6 and half years warranty left (or I hope I should)
 
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You can get passive PSUs, but only really worth it if you're build consists of entirely stationary parts... say no fans and either a VERY quiet HDD and no fans.
 
Superewza said:
You can get passive PSUs, but only really worth it if you're build consists of entirely stationary parts... say no fans and either a VERY quiet HDD and no fans.
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Last time I looked at passive psu's they weren't really up to the job. And when gaming I do switch on the watercooling fans so the psu fan is not an issue when the system is under load.

I just need silence when working/surfing as the hard drive is an ssd drive so that's quiet as well.;)
 
Greebo said:
everything is watercooled in my rig and when surfing stays cool enough to have all the fans switched off so only noise is the water pump!
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I can appreciate now why you notice the fan noise so much as your tolerances will be very small compared to average users – I envy your relative silence.

If the Zalman doesn’t work out for you then I would look at the BeQuiet as they’re about as quiet as you get without going the fanless route.

Greebo said:
If the Zalman is a keeper then I really should get more than £65 for my pp&c psu since new price is £136 and it still has 6 and half years warranty left (or I hope I should)
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I should think your pc power & cooling 860W will sell very quickly and at a reasonable price given its age. As you've already stated it's a quality PSU and forum members with 'traditional' fan cooled systems will probably not notice the 80mm fan over their other cooling requirements (especially as they're classed as a relatively quiet PSU.).

Good luck with it – I would be interested to know how you get on with the Zalman because if it passes your ‘quiet criteria’ it will mean it’s a very quiet PSU (relative or subjective when considering your surfing setup) – which would be handy information to have.
 
What about the enermax's 82+ 625w or signature 650/850w
And spcr is the place to go if you want quiet psu testing. (updated this month!)

In passive cooling builds like yours (at idle) and mine, psu noise is a real issue.
And something most member here will never experience first hand as their 'quiet' case fan hide all manor of noise.
Follow spcr 'editor's choice' as their Anechoic Chamber is the closest thing any reviewer has to a near silent system.

Passive psu are rocksolid and stable BUT have relatively low amps on their 12v rails so they are not suitable for your 260. My 550w yesico for example is 18A

Hope that helps Greebo

Edit: EsaT may also be able to help - know more about quiet computing that me
 
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Thanks for your help guys especially shadowscotland. I forgot about spcr. The zalman rates very highly and the signatures appear to be king.

I got that zalman coming for £65 so I will see how I go. I like the fact the fan stays on lowest voltage for up to 50% load which is exactly what I am after (along with a big fan)

I'll let you know how it performs Plec. If not up to the grade then a signature or be quiet will be next.

Very disappointed to see my psu is worth only £60 to £70 when it is one of the best manufacturers and has 6 and half years warranty left :(

I would have being better off taking their offer of a £140 credit note for ocuk and buying a corsair 1000W at the time.
 
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