Fortron Zen fanless 300W ATX PSU

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:44 am

Based on the two units I have, this PSU makes no noise of it's own.....none. You cannot get any quieter. Any airflow from your case fans is what you will hear......nothing from the Fortron itself.

cricket · Post by **cricket** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 1:04 pm

Im not really crazy about fanless PSU'S ive had some stability issue in the past with fanless units i prefer some thing really quiet after all whats the purpose of getting a fanless if you got to add a bigger case fan or mod the psu.

Ive been thinking of getting a QTechnology PSU does anyone have any experience with these units im thinking of getting the papst series one i really like papst fans and this unit has one.

http://www.acousticpc.com/qtechnology_p ... plies.html

I plan on buying a psu next week so i appriciate any feed backi can get befor then.

THANKS.

Zinj · Post by **Zinj** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 4:49 pm

I've got a Zen crammed in an SFF X-Qpack. Cooling comes from a 120mm Scythe S-Flex (1200rpm variety) mounted for positive pressure, a Zalman 7000 AlCu modified with a Papst fan. Video is a 7600GS passive GPU card, plus two Samsung HDD's mounted in the std position. Temps in normal usage seldom go over 40-45c, though I don't game. No whine from the Zen, and the whole things quiet if not quite SPCR insane kinds of quiet. Fans are still the biggest offenders. The only complaint I have is that you definitely need 1amp minimum draw on both rails for it to fire up. Other than that, only positive things to say.

Zinj

ghia · Post by **ghia** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:37 am

Wich of the fanless psu's (Silverstone Nightjar and FSP Zen are the only ones in Romania) would you pick for a low power sistem like this:

Intel E4300 (+/- undervolted) with a HR-01 heatsink ducted to a Noctua 800 at the back of a Solo; !!! on-board video (Gygabite DS4, G965) and a single notebook HDD, one dvd-rw !!!

I am addicted to silence and I'll try to put together a systemwith maximum 1 fan.

P.S. could I run it with no fan at all

I now have a S12 430W and it is eating me alive !

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:28 am

I would go with Silverstone Nightjar or swap the fan in S12-430 to something quieter.

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:48 am

ghia wrote:Wich of the fanless psu's (Silverstone Nightjar and FSP Zen are the only ones in Romania) would you pick for a low power sistem like this:

Intel E4300 (+/- undervolted) with a HR-01 heatsink ducted to a Noctua 800 at the back of a Solo; !!! on-board video (Gygabite DS4, G965) and a single notebook HDD, one dvd-rw !!!

I am addicted to silence and I'll try to put together a systemwith maximum 1 fan.

P.S. could I run it with no fan at all
I now have a S12 430W and it is eating me alive !

I seriously doubt that the FSP Zen would even start with that low-power system. It did not start with the system in my signature (minus one of the hard drives). I had to hook up two Antec TriCool 120mm fans on 'High' just to get it running.There is a possibillity that this is more of a problem with AMD mainboards and CPUs but if I were you, i would be careful in this case.

LonelyPixel · Post by **LonelyPixel** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:12 am

I have an Amacrox Calmer with 300 W (which is obviously the same as an FSP Zen 300 W, according to the look and its power specs) since February 2007 and I had the impression that it worked nicely. There was always a quiet high-pitch noise coming from the PSU but in my old system it was drowned out by the two fans. Only when I turned the fans slower, the noise from the PSU was audible at higher loads (~ 120 W AC).

But I have a problem with it I believe. The system works stable at idle and full load but not specifically when updating Windows XP Media Center's EPG over the internet. For some time now, in many cases the system just hangs when CPU load is about to rise. Maybe it has to do with cooling or my old mainboard. But this special problem still exists in my brand-new system:

Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 at normal frequency and voltage
RAM: 2x 1 GB MDT DDR-800
Graphics: Leadtek Winfast 7300GT fanless
TV: Hauppauge Nova S Plus, DVB-S (this is the only component the was not replaced)
A Samsung HDD (well, not replaced, too, but a hard drive is a hard drive...)
And a DVD-RW (also pretty common)

When I replaced the Calmer PSU by my previous Chill 400 W PSU, the problem would not appear anymore. I'm still watching this for another two weeks and send the Calmer back as defective.

The price was about 90 â‚¬ here in Germany.

Ben74 · Post by **Ben74** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 4:48 pm

question for those who have had to exchange faulty zen PSUs: did you have any difficulty getting replacements? some of the reviews of this PSU on newegg are scaring me.

fri2219 · Post by **fri2219** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 5:24 pm

Ben74 wrote:question for those who have had to exchange faulty zen PSUs: did you have any difficulty getting replacements? some of the reviews of this PSU on newegg are scaring me.

No kidding, I wound up buying a SeaSonic 330W based on the large number of failed unit reviews. I usually don't put too much stock in comments like that, but what, half of the 2 dozen reviews state that their unit died?

janmartinek · Post by **janmartinek** » Sat May 03, 2008 12:29 am

Hello,

I have the Fortron FSP300-60GNF Zens (Fanless) 300W and as many other users I also have a problem with powering up my system:

ASUS K8VX-SE
AMD Sempron 64, 3000+
Seagate 320 GB
NVidia 6200
TV Card
Network Card

The computer runs for only a second and then turns off and starts to periodically power up/ power down. As some people suggested, Fortron Zens needs some minimum current as 12V. So I added a resistance wire of 12 Ohms so the current was 1A (I measured it). It did not help, the computer did not even start at all. I also tried to draw 1A from the 5V, it did not help either.

Moreover, if I leave the hard disk disconnected, then it powers up and tries to boot. But with the hard disk it does not turn on.

If I test the PSU itself, it seems OK. Shorting the green wire with the GND (black) powers it up and through the resistance wire really goes 1A. Another (old) PSU has no problems with my setup.

Is there any other test I could try?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sat May 03, 2008 1:19 am

It seems to be the 12V rail that needs the extra current draw. My Pentium M setup would not boot either until I added some resistance. I hooked up an automotive bulb socket and experimented with bulbs of different current draw. The lowest watt bulb it will boot with is 8W if I remember correctly. I then modded a small desk lamp to use that socket. The light turns on with the computer.

rmask · Post by **rmask** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:48 am

update

I can confirm that the new 400W zen PSU will start perfectly in eficient/low powered system (works fine in my both mobile cpu systems)

minimul load I believe is 0.2A