Hello, I have been observing and listening to my computer, after reading some threads in this interesting forum, and I have realized that (probably: it is difficult to say things for sure) most noise in my PC comes from my PSU (a 380W one).
My MB and processor are more or less old (a 754 with AMD 64 at 2.8GhZ), so at some time I will have to change them.
I am bothered a lot with the noise, so I would like to solve the problem. I have seen some reviews here for good PSUs, and I would like to buy one. My question is: with processors, every 1 year you have completely new, better and cheaper processors, so you feel screwed. Does something similar happens with PSUs? Or if I buy a good one now, it will continue being good in 2/3 years time?
I have a Chieftec box. Which PSU would you recommend me? Thank you.
Is it worth to invest in a good PSU?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
It's always worth buying the best PSU you can. By best I don't mean a 1kw monster, or even a 0.5kW semimonster. I mean that if your rig draws app. 200W under load (a lot!) and you can safely run it on an honestly rated 330-350W PSU, then you should buy the best PSU in that range - not a PSU that will have 60% of headroom (this from a guy who only once saw +280W on his power meter 
). Quietness aside, good PSU's guarantee safety (lots of protections, newest standards), stable voltages and high efficiency (lower electricity bills).
A good PSU with some (up to 1/3 capacity) headroom will last a loooong time. Especially that both hardware producers and consumers are now beginning to recognize the problem with components drawing a lot of power. My guess would be that in 2 or 3 years we won't even need such strong PSU's as today. Vide Pentium D and C2D. Same thing will happen to gfx cards - I don't think power consumption of +200W will be a standard. Smaller technological process, better architecture, smarter solutions, more cores instead of more MHZ... Prices of energy will go up and consumers (us) will not want to pay big money. Green thinking is also doing better and better.
If you specify your current ring and your upgrade plans it'll be easier to choose something decent for you.
). Quietness aside, good PSU's guarantee safety (lots of protections, newest standards), stable voltages and high efficiency (lower electricity bills).A good PSU with some (up to 1/3 capacity) headroom will last a loooong time. Especially that both hardware producers and consumers are now beginning to recognize the problem with components drawing a lot of power. My guess would be that in 2 or 3 years we won't even need such strong PSU's as today. Vide Pentium D and C2D. Same thing will happen to gfx cards - I don't think power consumption of +200W will be a standard. Smaller technological process, better architecture, smarter solutions, more cores instead of more MHZ... Prices of energy will go up and consumers (us) will not want to pay big money. Green thinking is also doing better and better.
If you specify your current ring and your upgrade plans it'll be easier to choose something decent for you.
kater, thank you for your reply. Currently I have a 754 with an AMD Athlon 64 at 2.8GhZ. I have 2 HDs. Possibly in the short future I will change the MB and the processor, and add a 3rd HD. I have one DVD and a card reader.
My main need is to have a silent PC, so I would like a PSU that makes no noise. I have checked in the Recommended list, and I have seen the Seasonic S12-430HB and the S12-550. The first one is cheaper, but the second one is considered better. Which one would you recommend? Or maybe another one?
My main need is to have a silent PC, so I would like a PSU that makes no noise. I have checked in the Recommended list, and I have seen the Seasonic S12-430HB and the S12-550. The first one is cheaper, but the second one is considered better. Which one would you recommend? Or maybe another one?
How about your gfx card? If you're into gaming and want to buy a card like 8800XXX than 430W would be a good choice. If your upgrade plans include a card like 7900GS/GT or 8600GT/GTS, than you can safely go for S12 380W. S12 550 E+ is a great, beautiful, awesome PSU, but will be a huge overkill for you - it'll be OK for a rig like C2D + 8800GTX SLI. No need to have it unless you really want to spend you money.
A single HDD needs <10W so don't worry about it. You also don't have to consider RAM as a factor. Only the PSU and GPU really matter.
A single HDD needs <10W so don't worry about it. You also don't have to consider RAM as a factor. Only the PSU and GPU really matter.
Then it will be easy, because I do not game, and I will never game. I do not need a good graphic card. So, is the S12 380W ok for me? Noise is critical for me: is the S12 380W noisier than the two PSUs named before?
If not, definitely the S12 380W is the one for me.
Note: I have been checking in the webpage where I buy the PC stuff I need, and the S12-380HB costs 59 euros, and the S12-430HB costs 69 euros (I am in Spain, continental Europe). Are they just the same, but only the 430 having more power? are they equally noisy?
If not, definitely the S12 380W is the one for me.
Note: I have been checking in the webpage where I buy the PC stuff I need, and the S12-380HB costs 59 euros, and the S12-430HB costs 69 euros (I am in Spain, continental Europe). Are they just the same, but only the 430 having more power? are they equally noisy?
Hola amigo!
If gaming is not your cup of tea, then even S12 330W is overkill. But S12 330W is not usually recommended as it has smaller heatsinks than its bigger brothers. S12 380 and S12 430 are almost identical inside and will behave v v similarly in terms of noise. You're most likely going to take app. 40W when idling and maybe about 100W if you push your machine really far.
Bottom line & short story - S12 380W sounds like the optimal choice for you - plenty of power now and still lots of headroom later.
If gaming is not your cup of tea, then even S12 330W is overkill. But S12 330W is not usually recommended as it has smaller heatsinks than its bigger brothers. S12 380 and S12 430 are almost identical inside and will behave v v similarly in terms of noise. You're most likely going to take app. 40W when idling and maybe about 100W if you push your machine really far.
Bottom line & short story - S12 380W sounds like the optimal choice for you - plenty of power now and still lots of headroom later.
Thank you for your recommendation. It makes complete sense. My last question is: do you really think that the noisiest part of my PC is the PSU? I put my ear close to all the components, and I think it is the PSU, but I cannot be sure.
Since I have a 380W PSU already, I would not like to buy another 380W PSU to substitute the old one, only to find out that the noise was in fact coming from somewhere else.
Is there another, easy way to find out which are really the noisy parts of my PC?
Since I have a 380W PSU already, I would not like to buy another 380W PSU to substitute the old one, only to find out that the noise was in fact coming from somewhere else.
Is there another, easy way to find out which are really the noisy parts of my PC?
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NeilBlanchard
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Hello,
Don't forget about the Fortron Source "Green" 300watt PSU:
viewtopic.php?t=38885
Please read the threads at the top of the Newcomer's section for finding the noise sources!
viewtopic.php?t=4094
Don't forget about the Fortron Source "Green" 300watt PSU:
viewtopic.php?t=38885
Please read the threads at the top of the Newcomer's section for finding the noise sources!
viewtopic.php?t=4094
How should I know? I don't know what cooler you have on you CPU, what gfx card you have and what cooler it uses, what HDD you have, what & how many fans you have in your case...farstar wrote:My last question is: do you really think that the noisiest part of my PC is the PSU? I put my ear close to all the components, and I think it is the PSU, but I cannot be sure.
LINK - good place to start. (Neil was first...)farstar wrote:Is there another, easy way to find out which are really the noisy parts of my PC?
Oh - S12 380W might be waaay diferrent from your current PSU - I'd assume you have a generic PSU and it probably has a strong 5V rail. Today's PSU's for modern machines should have as much power on 12V rail as possible. 3.3V and 5V rails are used only by memory and some circuitry - minor stuff. So you can say a new, decent 350W PSU will be significantly better than an old, generic 500W unit.
The four best changes made to my PC for both quieting and cooling (in no particular order):farstar wrote:do you really think that the noisiest part of my PC is the PSU? I put my ear close to all the components, and I think it is the PSU, but I cannot be sure.
- Replaced the stock CPU HSF with, first a Zalman CNPS 7000 with quieter isolated fan. Then, much better, a Thermalright XP-120 with Papst fan (at 6-11V).
- Replaced small, noisy, failure-prone fan on northbridge with passive Zalman heatsink
- Replaced small ... etc. fan on graphics card with passive Aerocool VM-101 heatsink
- Replaced Antec TP380S power supply with Seasonic S12-430. The S12-380 would have been plenty if it had been available at the time.
Once those major noise sources were resolved I noticed lesser noises like the Seagate HDD (Samsungs have been much better) and case fans, and worked on more subtle cooling improvements.