The PSU has automatic solid state over current protection on each of its rails. All this can do is protect the PSU from damage in the event the total current flowing is higher than what it can handle safely & reliably. If something happens and a short occurs such as a faulty card being inserted ther...

The Sonata is a good case if you take the time to mod it slightly. Out of the box its got some good ideas let down by various design ommissions. My drives usually overheat if I keep the case open, but with the case closed, the dust filter removed, and the holes in the bezel enlarged hard drive tempe...

I've tried one 80mm NCB fan from GlobalWin. As you say, very difficult to get any info about them on the net, especially as the label on the one I got had no model number or any other specs on it. Side by side with a Panaflo it was a tiny bit louder, perhaps 22dB, but bearing noise varied wildly dep...

I notice the fan on the 300W version is now an NMB, compared to the Protechnic on the ZM300A. Previously only the 400A had an NMB fan but perhaps the photo is not indicative of the final product.

Let me get this straight, you made an electrical connection with the screwdriver between one of the heatsinks and ground? If so then not surprising it blew.

Most PSUs have a small glass fuse somewhere on the circuit board. If it has blown then you might need to desolder it and change it.

It turns out there is a 240W limit on the 3.3/5v circuit.

Whats with the big foam block in front of the PSU? Surely it restricts airflow a lot?

Amazing! What gave it away for me was the colour of the cables, they are too light

I've found the Acoustipack Deluxe to be surprisingly effective (And expensive!). I would give it a try, but keep in mind it will make your case heavy like a brick!.

If connectors are gold plated (and not nickel), then it's not useless. Less oxidized contacts offer less resistance. If both sides of the connector (i.e. molex plug from PSU and molex receptacle on drive) are not gold plated, it may actually make matters worse. When two different types of metal are...

If you twist be extra careful not to twist the entire chip off the board - I once did this to a then top of the line Asus P2B-DLS and snapped the i440BX chipset off! I had used thermal epoxy to glue a larger heatsink on and later decided to remove it.

You can get 1Gb PC2700 Crucial for £102 inc shipping at Crucial.com/uk using a coupon code, BBUKWEBPROMO.

Not bad for reliable memory with a lifetime warranty.

They are truly really quiet machines. I once had a celeron 1.2 based Terminator with a barracuda IV and the noisiest component was the retail Intel cooler. Unplugging it made for a very quiet system.

I wouldn't like to leave the PC outside at those temperatures although it would probably do the trick :) Try putting a credit card on the PCB near the chipset and use a wide-tipped screwdriver to prise it off (twist the screwdriver), the credit card should be placed in a way that it protects the mot...

German but has plenty of details about quiet fans with pics, specs and noise recordings (videos actually).

http://www.silenthardware.de/

I know what you mean, GamingGog. Its annoying but I just refer them to this thread and tell them to get a decent PSU rather than a 550W Q-tec which seems a favourite of overclockers the world over

Coil whine sounds like the high pitched squealing you get from a TV.

The truepower series isn't particularly quiet - its quieter than some others (eg. Enermax) but its not in the same league as the SilenX, or Nexus or even Zalman. It all depends on how quiet you want your system - if you arent using a quiet CPU fan, or have a fan on your motherboard or graphics card ...

And she doesn't sell 120mm Panaflo, which is what you need as I'm reading your post again. A 120mm Panaflo is 38mm thick and will not fit in the PSU. You will need a 25mm thick fan. The fan that comes with the PSU isn't very impressive, specs or quality wise. The problem with many fans especially P...

Many people swap the fan for a Panaflo L1A but as mentioned already, this PSU runs pretty toasty already. I personally wouldn't do it but many have done so without any problems.

The Nexus is a better (quieter) PSU than the Zalman but QuietPC.com's prices are shocking to say the least. Your best bet may be to pick up an FSP300-60PN (PF) from Ebuyer or Novatech, from experience it is quieter than the Zalman 300 and the Nexus when used in my system (I am a quiet reseller so ge...

Yes, FSP's "noisekiller" is usually a joke as it has a linear voltage/temperature curve. This causes the fan to speed up to full speed within a few minutes of use. Some FSP noisekiller circuits have three stage speed control which is much better.

hyperslug wrote:Ah. Just when I order the Antec True550, I find out about this. Ah well the True550's a bit cheaper, I might just stick with it.

Yes but nowhere near as quiet

Oh, Delta makes some good fans - not only those "screamers". They have an especially good 92mm fan which doesnt click or make bearing noise when undervolted - an old HP PC I had used one at 6v to cool the entire PC.

That fan is rated to over 48CFM so it should be good for approximately 20CFM at 5v which should be approximately 15dB(a).

A safer bet would be to run it at 7v - this gives 28CFM and 21dB(a) which should be sufficient cooling and quiet enough.

To the best of my knowlegde the entire assembly is a fluid bearing (which indeed is just a fancy sleeve bearing) but its design minimises metal to metal contact through a pressurised layer of oil so increased noise via ageing should be minimal.

Fans do get noisier with age but a fluid bearing fan shouldnt be noticeably so.

The Panaflo have no rubber cap - they are a sealed fluid bearing motor and shouldnt get noticeably noisier over time unless you have a defective one, especially as Panaflo are top quality. Silly question but maybe you've swapped some hardware after fitting the fan and maybe the new hardware is quiet...

dan23: Its not particularly hard but as it doesn't use a socket for the fan you will have to do some soldering work. Other than that straight forward. e_dawg, if you can get the FSP400-60PFN its the exact same PSU as the Zalman ZM400, with the same NMB fan (though they're known to use Nidec whose be...

The 92mm fan that comes with it will probaby be OK at 5v, but I dont know much about the design of the SmartPower PSU - if it has small heatsinks or runs hot it may not suffice. Could you post a pic of the PSUs internals? I would suggest you leave the 92mm fan in there as it moves more air per dB an...