I have researched and spent a lot of time on the subject of a truly silent pc. I have learnt that the word ‘silent’ is bandied about a little all too often and in most cases without good reason.
Having built and put a lot of effort into a ‘silent’ Home Theatre PC (HTPC) I had one thing remaining that was breaking that silence. The power supply!
The HTPC is a mini ITX based AMD kabani system with a passive CPU, passive GPU and a number of low voltage case fans which even when one holds their ear to the case are inaudible. My existing power supply however was letting me down with a whirring from the fan that whilst wasn’t annoying was clearly audible even sat at the other end of the room in which it was based. I tried a number of power supplies before trying the Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9. This is rated as a 'silver' PSU which is a rating applied to how efficient the power supply is from bronze through to platinum.
Before installing the Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9 I tried three other power supplies. I tried a fully passive power supply (no fans) but the unit wouldn’t quite fit in the case as the motherboard power connector ‘fouled’ the PSU power connector. Two different semi passive fan power supplies were also trialled and these were perfect whilst the fans were not in use yet made strange and loud chirping noises when the fans spun up at low rpm. Again not suitable for a silent HTPC.
So when my Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9 power supply arrived for review I was keen to see if this would solve my, by now, irrational fear of noise! Did it? Yes, maybe.... read on...!
Firstly onto the unit itself. It is solid, well made and does feel like a premium product. However this is not a leather coat so let’s get onto what’s important. It is a semi modular power supply. I have never used a semi modular power supply before and assumed it would just be the motherboard 24pin power connector that was hard wired in. So I was slightly disappointed that the CPU cables were also hard wired in, making cable management that little bit trickier. The remaining modular (plug in) cables were however nice flat black ribbon cables that would mould discreetly to any case. Whilst Be Quiet are being very inclusive providing molex cables and a floppy disc drive power connector, however the market this kind of product is aimed at are unlikely to need such ‘legacy’ connectors. Instead a two sata connection ‘shorter’ cable would suit my HTPC very well!
The unit is 160mm in length and whilst this may sound picky, most other units in this class are 150mm long and as a result a little case modification was required to make it fit.
Of course these minor foibles could be forgiven if it truly delivered on that ‘silent’ claim right?
So how to test this claim? Well if I told you I had access to the latest Bruel and Kjaer sound level meters I wouldn’t be lieing, but would you know what a db(a) number translated to in real world terms? How does 37db(a) differ to 25db(a)? Confused? I am!
So instead I used the most sensitive sound level meter in the world. The human ear. In this case mine.
My HTPC isn’t pulling a huge amount of watts about 225w all in. With background noise reduced as much as possible (UK Midnight) the sound from the PSU with my ear to the case (NB all case fans switched off), was ‘just’ audible as a constant hum, not an unpleasant sound but could be picked up by a keen ear. It’s worth noting that the electrical buzz was from the PC as a whole was the over riding sound here.
Moving my head one metre away the sounds from the pc both electrical and PSU fan were inaudible to the point I was driving myself mad wondering whether or not I could hear anything. At my regular ‘sitting’ distance of 3-5 metres the HTPC was 100% silent, making as much noise as the sofa itself (at least with nobody sat on it!)
Success? I think so!
NB please feel free to post/copy this elsewhere
Having built and put a lot of effort into a ‘silent’ Home Theatre PC (HTPC) I had one thing remaining that was breaking that silence. The power supply!
The HTPC is a mini ITX based AMD kabani system with a passive CPU, passive GPU and a number of low voltage case fans which even when one holds their ear to the case are inaudible. My existing power supply however was letting me down with a whirring from the fan that whilst wasn’t annoying was clearly audible even sat at the other end of the room in which it was based. I tried a number of power supplies before trying the Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9. This is rated as a 'silver' PSU which is a rating applied to how efficient the power supply is from bronze through to platinum.
Before installing the Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9 I tried three other power supplies. I tried a fully passive power supply (no fans) but the unit wouldn’t quite fit in the case as the motherboard power connector ‘fouled’ the PSU power connector. Two different semi passive fan power supplies were also trialled and these were perfect whilst the fans were not in use yet made strange and loud chirping noises when the fans spun up at low rpm. Again not suitable for a silent HTPC.
So when my Be Quiet 500w Pure Power 9 power supply arrived for review I was keen to see if this would solve my, by now, irrational fear of noise! Did it? Yes, maybe.... read on...!
Firstly onto the unit itself. It is solid, well made and does feel like a premium product. However this is not a leather coat so let’s get onto what’s important. It is a semi modular power supply. I have never used a semi modular power supply before and assumed it would just be the motherboard 24pin power connector that was hard wired in. So I was slightly disappointed that the CPU cables were also hard wired in, making cable management that little bit trickier. The remaining modular (plug in) cables were however nice flat black ribbon cables that would mould discreetly to any case. Whilst Be Quiet are being very inclusive providing molex cables and a floppy disc drive power connector, however the market this kind of product is aimed at are unlikely to need such ‘legacy’ connectors. Instead a two sata connection ‘shorter’ cable would suit my HTPC very well!
The unit is 160mm in length and whilst this may sound picky, most other units in this class are 150mm long and as a result a little case modification was required to make it fit.
Of course these minor foibles could be forgiven if it truly delivered on that ‘silent’ claim right?
So how to test this claim? Well if I told you I had access to the latest Bruel and Kjaer sound level meters I wouldn’t be lieing, but would you know what a db(a) number translated to in real world terms? How does 37db(a) differ to 25db(a)? Confused? I am!
So instead I used the most sensitive sound level meter in the world. The human ear. In this case mine.
My HTPC isn’t pulling a huge amount of watts about 225w all in. With background noise reduced as much as possible (UK Midnight) the sound from the PSU with my ear to the case (NB all case fans switched off), was ‘just’ audible as a constant hum, not an unpleasant sound but could be picked up by a keen ear. It’s worth noting that the electrical buzz was from the PC as a whole was the over riding sound here.
Moving my head one metre away the sounds from the pc both electrical and PSU fan were inaudible to the point I was driving myself mad wondering whether or not I could hear anything. At my regular ‘sitting’ distance of 3-5 metres the HTPC was 100% silent, making as much noise as the sofa itself (at least with nobody sat on it!)
Success? I think so!
NB please feel free to post/copy this elsewhere