FSP-Zen 300 vs Seasonic S12-430 vs Corsair HX520 vs fan swap

[StApostol]

Hello everyone and congratulations to MikeC for this wonderful site!

Accompanied by the knowledge found here, I've embarked on a journey towards computing silence After getting rid of the motherboard fan, underclocking, undervolting, suspending the hard drivers, throwing a Ninja in the mix etc etc, the system finally went from unbearable to almost ok noise-wise - and now I've come to the point where my PSU is the most noisy component. The PSU is a Forton Bluestorm with a semi-quiet fan working in the 1000-2000 rpm (AFAIK) range. Right now the system is almost quiet - but not silent enough (I think I'm another victim of the SPCR virus...)

What I would like to do is find a way to silence the PSU, either by swapping its fan, or by replacing it altogether (it will be used in a secondary - and much noisier - system, so it will not be needlessly wasted). The system components are like this:

• Albatron K8SLI motherboard (small factor, no fan control, bad layout for long PCI-E cards, but I got it secondhand for under 20 euros so it's ok).
• S939 Venice 3200+ working in the 1.0GHz - 2.5GHz range (stock 2.0 GHz), undervolted.
• MSI X1950 Pro PCI-E graphics card working in the 300/700MHz - 635/1500MHz range (stock 575/1450MHz).
• 2x WD-1600JS (160GB, Sata) hard disks non-RAID.
• Nec 3350 DVD-RW drive.

An efficient 300W power supply would probably be enough for these even at the overclocked settings, right? After some research, I am torn between the following choices:

A 300W FSP-Zen (115 euros)
Advantages:

• Silent
• Efficient

Disadvantages:

• Pricey for 300W
• It would have to lie outside the case (currently the only exhaust fan lies in the PSU)
• Short cables (I'd like to switch to a P182 when they become available)

Corsair HX520 (110 euros)
Advantages:

• More watts than I'd ever need
• Efficient
• Stays silent at higher load levels (up to 300W)
• Modular
• Very good reviews

Disadvantages:

• Still pricey (since I hardly need 520W)
• 22dBa is good, but not as good as Seasonic's 20dBa at low load

Seasonic S12-430 (67 euros)
Advantages:

• Enough wattage
• Very silent at lower loads
• Good value for money

Disadvantages:

• Several have reported buzzing problems with S12 models
• No PCI-E connector (or did they add one in the later models?)
• Non-sleeved cables (or are they?)

Last, but not least, I have contemplated doing a fan swap in my current PSU.
Advantages:

• Low cost solution

Disadvantages:

• Voided warranty
• I'll have to splice the cables (no easily reachable connectors)
• I'll have to find a suitable fan - it will have to work in the horizontal position, be low noise, work with the PSU controller, and be able to reach high enough rpm. It'll also have to be available somewhere...
• This PSU gets warm under use (considering it also exhausts hot air from the CPU), so maybe swapping a fan may not be a good idea. That said, I've only heard the PSU fan spin up under continuous heavy load, so maybe it is not that much of a problem?

Right now I lean towards the Corsair or the Seasonic. I think the Seasonic may be a step back from my current PSU in some regards (I don't know for sure if it has sleeved cables, PCI-E and SATA connectors). All in all I like the Corsair more, but is it silent enough? I wouldn't like to get a PSU only to perform a fan swap later on. Regarding the fan swap, do you think a 1600rpm S-Flex would be suitable? If not, which fan would you use?

All things considered what would you choose?

[wwenze]

Firstly, WELCOME T... wait, I'll save that for some other people.

Other than the Corsair (which is pricey and louder at your load level), the other 3 options are all good and which path to choose would really depend on you.

There was a time when I also got stuck between the S12 and a fan swap but got the S12 in the end, here's my reasoning:

(firstly, some change of facts from your post)
- Current version of S12 is sleeved, and fully black, and looks good
- with PCI-E (and EPS just in case you ask) connector
- Buzzing problem is really specific and IMHO case by case basis (as with other PSUs also)(ok, this isn't really a change of fact, but just to tell you that the buzzing issue may be blown up due to the sheer number of users and the sensitivity of their hearing ^.^;)

Fan swap advantages:
- Seemingly low-cost, especially if you have a PSU handy
- Can be even more silent than current S12

Disadvantages:
- Price of fan has to be taken into consideration, plus lack of warranty
- Higher temperatures + lack of warranty require a solid PSU, which isn't really cheap; the only really solid and cheap ones I know are CoolerMaster eXtreme by Hipro and of course FSP OEMs
- Even if you use the same fan (as S12), S12 has a better fan controller
- Combine the above factors and compare the price, effort and risk involved

And as for the Zen, if you really have the moolah, go for it, because betcha you'll want it later.