Anyone have experience w/ a PC Power & Cooling Silencer

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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Phish
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Anyone have experience w/ a PC Power & Cooling Silencer

Post by Phish » Tue May 18, 2004 11:16 am

I'm contemplating purchasing a PCP&C PSU, and I'm finding a large number of reviews/comments for the uber-expensive Turbo-Cool PSU models, which aren't what I'm looking for due to both noise and cost. However, PCP&C sells a more economical 410W "Silencer" model that is supposed to have a rating of 20-32db. The problem is nobody appears to have reviewed a recent model of any PSU in this line.

What I'm looking for is feedback, good or bad, regarding this line of PSU, and whether or not it's a good choice, especially compared to a 475W Enermax Noisetaker, since the prices of both PSU's are within a couple of bucks of each other.

Thanks in advance!

dukla2000
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Post by dukla2000 » Tue May 18, 2004 12:24 pm

Have never owned a PCP&C but they fall somewhere in the 'Rolls-Royce' category for quality - they do what they say on the label arguably better than anyone else, and probably with more attention to (engineering) detail than anyone else.

Do a search in this forum - a couple of US based folks have mentioned them which is the next best thing to a review.

luminous
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Post by luminous » Tue May 18, 2004 12:26 pm

I've no direct experience with the PSU you mention. I've never even heard of it till now :)

If you are in doubt, go with the one that has been reviewed here. Most of us have had our fingers burned in the past so tend to stick to what is recommended here. I have heard some good things about the Tagan PSU 480W (I think). Have a look through this area to see what ppl think.

You may be lucky and get a reply from someone who has used one. I just decided to post because you are new and I did not want you to think we were all just ignoring you ;)

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Tue May 18, 2004 1:11 pm

I used to have a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 400, which was a couple years old. Compared to their normal PSUs, it WAS silent. However, it should be noted that I found the Antec SL350S to be quieter.

Maybe PCP&C has improved their silencing since I got mine, but I can honestly say that the older stuff is not silent.

Nowhere_man
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Post by Nowhere_man » Tue May 18, 2004 4:17 pm

I've talked directly to PC Power & Cooling, nice folks but if you want any custom options it's very expensive unless you're ordering 1000+ units. :shock:

I bought the Ford (Antec) instead of the Rolls (PC P&C) :)

DG
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Post by DG » Tue May 18, 2004 4:22 pm

Well, the specs for the Silencer 410 ATX fan are:
22-34 CFM ball
20-32dB(A)

So, i guess a Panaflo L1 80mm would fit nicely, without putting in danger the PSU, right?

But, my question is: where can you buy this model? I didn't find it anywhere!

mg1394
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Post by mg1394 » Tue May 18, 2004 6:46 pm

I have used a number of their 300 and 350w supplies (pre-SATA connectors) and found them to be wonderful.

I wouldn't consider them "silent" as far as what people here try to achieve, but one of the "quiet/quality" supplies for a good machine.

They are one of the highest quality and consistant quality supply I've seen.

You only purchase their products direct from PC Power & Cooling.

Sizzle
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Post by Sizzle » Tue May 18, 2004 7:18 pm

I've got the 510 Deluxe with a SilenX 80mm fan in it. Very schweet. The stock fan in that bad boy is loud. Don't know about the 400 watter though.

Iron_Dreamer
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Post by Iron_Dreamer » Wed May 26, 2004 9:58 am

Sizzle wrote:I've got the 510 Deluxe with a SilenX 80mm fan in it. Very schweet. The stock fan in that bad boy is loud. Don't know about the 400 watter though.
Don't you find that the PSU gets too hot like that? I also have a 510dlx, but when I put in a Panaflo L1A (looked up to the same controller as the stock fan) it would run it at 12V constantly, telling me that it was too hot inside. Now with a panaflo high, it usually runs between 8 and 9 volts. Not silent, but a lot quieter than the stock fan.
Last edited by Iron_Dreamer on Thu May 27, 2004 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ao
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Post by ao » Wed May 26, 2004 12:12 pm

I've used both the 400 watt silencer and a 300 watt, and have to concur. Both of them are excellent power supplies, but I felt like both of them fell far, far short of their claims of being quiet. I was pretty disappointed when the enlight power supply in my friend's case was almost inaudible, but my ridiculously expensive supply wasn't.

I replaced the fans in both of them with L1A's (or was it NMB's?), and they run warmer, but are quiet with no instabilities.

my $.02

greyghost
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Post by greyghost » Thu May 27, 2004 1:17 pm

I now use them exclusively when repairing/building white box units at work.
As a power supply IMO they are the best that you can buy. Period.

The "silent" model, well, isn't. Silent, that is. But it is pretty darn
quiet. Quieter than any other stock solution I've seen.

With the computer sitting next to you you can hear it. If it is
placed around the side of your desk you won't.

The non-silent models, though, sound like you are sitting in a server
room <g>.

BTW - they are one of the very few manufacturers that actually put
valid specs on their models. A 300W model is usually better than
the overseas "400W" - "500W" units.

All-in-all I would recommend it.

hmsrolst
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Post by hmsrolst » Sat May 29, 2004 1:02 pm

I have a 235W PCP&C PSU I bought many years ago. I modded it a few years ago with an L1A, and it's still runs without problems. As others have said, their PSU's are great quality but not quiet.

talz13
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Post by talz13 » Sun May 30, 2004 4:03 pm

i have the 400w model, been running it since.... hmmm, when did i get it? i think i got it for either my k6-2 450 or my duron 700. that's how long i've had it. last year or the year before, it failed, so i merely called them up, sent the psu in and they promptly replaced it. i think it was more of a problem with my system, not the psu. maybe it got some voltage spike from being plugged into my friend's outlet when they had a minor power surge.... but anyway...

it's a really high quality supply, but it's not exactly quiet (which was the reason i bought it, and have been in the closet loathing it ever since, but it just provides such damn good power :twisted: )

Sizzle
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Post by Sizzle » Mon May 31, 2004 4:33 pm

Iron_Dreamer wrote:
Sizzle wrote:I've got the 510 Deluxe with a SilenX 80mm fan in it. Very schweet. The stock fan in that bad boy is loud. Don't know about the 400 watter though.
Don't you find that the PSU gets too hot like that? I also have a 510dlx, but when I put in a Panaflo L1A (looked up to the same controller as the stock fan) it would run it at 12V constantly, telling me that it was too hot inside. Now with a panaflo high, it usually runs between 8 and 9 volts. Not silent, but a lot quieter than the stock fan.
Definetly it makes some heat with that low of a flowing fan inside of it. I just picked up one of these to try out on my cpu heatsink

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... ad67a23a92

If it is within tolerable levels of noise, I may replace my psu fan with one. The rest of my fans are SilenX and I don't really want to add more noise to the case, but you have to find a good noise to airflow balance.

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