Silent/Fanless PSUs

stringsonfire · 21 Mar 2015 at 20:21

Has anyone got any experience with them? I haven't used one before - I'm somewhat sceptical - but the Seasonic 520FL would be perfect for an upcoming NAS/Server build. Any other (cheaper?) options would be great too!

ginjaninja · 21 Mar 2015 at 22:00

the case needs air flow, and the atx specification expects some airflow to come from the psu..So if you psu is producing heat but no airflow...you will need other fans to ensure some airflow....so im sceptical what your gaining, better to have the fan at the points of heat production..no reason a psu cant have a quiet fan unless your case supports bigger ones...

stringsonfire · 21 Mar 2015 at 22:08

I'll be using a large itx case (possibly the PC-Q26) with an 85w xeon and no graphics card, and two large, low RPM Noctua or Phantek fans on the front and rear/top to provide air flow. These PSUs are supposed to generate a very small amount of heat, and they're very efficient.

Quartz · 22 Mar 2015 at 00:10

I use a 460W fanless PSU and it works very well. I would not use one in a case that small - I would use a SFX PSU.

stringsonfire · 22 Mar 2015 at 08:49

But thr SFX PSUs are less efficient than fanless ones, so have more heat to shift, and won't the smaller fan make more noise than a larger one in doing so?

ginjaninja · 24 Mar 2015 at 10:45

stringsonfire said:
But thr SFX PSUs are less efficient than fanless ones, so have more heat to shift, and won't the smaller fan make more noise than a larger one in doing so?

smaller fans for same airflow are noisier.

your use case (itx) is probably specific enough that generic reviews are not going to provide much feedback...as you say in your op..you need someone with actual itx psu (fanless or otherwise) experience..

ZXSpectrum · 24 Mar 2015 at 13:11

I have used the 500w FSP Xilence series and they are great. The Silverstone Nightjar is another one but you will be paying about double the price for a actively cooled PSU. Looking at the spec of your system its probably better to look into a 5/600w psu that the fan doesn't run until its getting loaded. Even with that spec and 10 x HDD/SSD you will not be pushing more than 200w at full load.

Quartz · 25 Mar 2015 at 12:07

stringsonfire said:
But thr SFX PSUs are less efficient than fanless ones, so have more heat to shift, and won't the smaller fan make more noise than a larger one in doing so?

I don't know about the efficiency side but on a NAS you're not going to have a lot of heat in the first place. You're going to have a low-power CPU and 2-4 hard drives. You'll likely have 100W or less.

Steeps · 26 Mar 2015 at 15:00

I've had a 460W fanless in my dualcore 55W + 5450 + 4 hard drives for 18 months now, with a single 120mm fan running at 5v at the front pulling air in and it worked great, with 2 fans the air was always cool and still completely silent. In the Lian-Li case posted any fan config shouldn't be an issue as long as the vents (where the fan traditionally is on a normal PSU) face to the top of the case.