Seasonic Super Tornado 300W A3 Mod?

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 6:40 am

Hello,

I am fairly new to the forum, and have become EXTREMELY addicted to quietness in the last few weeks. This forum is dangerous. My wife thinks I'm going crazy because I'm complaining about noises coming from lightbulbs. I actually have my PC running quieter than the light in my office

I just purchased a Seasonic Super Tornado 300W (still in transit

) to replace the stock psu in my 3700BQE. My main heat generating components are an Athlon 64 2800+ w/ a Zalman 7000cu, and a 6800GT w/ an NV Silencer 5 (rev2...no clicking).

I have a single 120mm SilenX (purchased BEFORE I started reading the negative stuff about SilenX here) for exhaust running at 5v.

The stock Antec PSU ramped up too much for my likes, so I wired the fan to 5v. But it runs too hot now.

I'm concerned about the Super Tornado ramping up as well because of my CPU/GPU. Has anyone volt modded the fan on the Super Tornado? I think this PSU should run cooler than the Antec (more efficient). I'd like to run the fan at 7 or even 5 if possible. If anyone has done this, and their PSU hasn't crapped out on them, let me know!

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:36 am

I think that you'll find that the stock Super Tornado will be quiet enough without any fan voltage mod. The stock Antec is very loud in comparison. I made this same PSU switch almost a year ago and I am very pleased with the stock Seasonic. When my system is idle, the fan runs around 700 - 800 RPM (virtually inaudible). At load, I've never seen it go above 1100RPM which is still very quiet.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:50 am

Cool, that's good to hear. I guess I shouldn't worry until I get it and test it myself. Thanks for the info.

But just in case......if there's anyone that runs the fan at a fixed 5v without heat issues, let me know. "Very Quiet" still bugs me

Pauli: Just out of pre-psu-ups-delivery-curiousity, how much air does this PSU push out the back at low speed? Can you feel the airflow?

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:28 am

I think you will be fine with the Tornado. Mine stays in the
700-800rpm range during idle and load.

The Yate Loon in my sample isn't the best I have heard,
but I will buy 5 D12SM and pick the quietest as soon
as I can find a source in EU.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:37 am

What case do you have nbac?

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:03 am

It's a cheap but sturdy Aopen 45 miditower, modified to hold a 120mm
rear case fan, and with a 120mm hole in the bottom of the case. The case
is suspended under my desk. All sides in the case has been covered with
a vibration absorber for cars. Total weight: 25kg! All drive bays has been
removed. I am a bit reluctant to replace the case with a newer and fancier
model since I have spent so much time on this one.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:12 am

I think removing the drive cage in my 3700BQE will help my airflow a lot too. It's far too restrictive on the front intake. I really don't want to modify my case, but I might have to in order to get a decent airflow without turning my rear 120 up.

It's a shame that Antec designed the drive cage the way they did in the BQE

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:33 am

Depending on your setup, changing the fan to a fixed 5 volts may actually make the fan LOUDER than if you hadn't futzed with it.

Read the article. It's actually 4.4V for less than 100W.

Conclusion: Give it a try first, and if you STILL feel that it's too loud, THEN worry about modding it.

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:33 am

sarbz wrote:Cool, that's good to hear. I guess I shouldn't worry until I get it and test it myself. Thanks for the info.

But just in case......if there's anyone that runs the fan at a fixed 5v without heat issues, let me know. "Very Quiet" still bugs me

Pauli: Just out of pre-psu-ups-delivery-curiousity, how much air does this PSU push out the back at low speed? Can you feel the airflow?

It doesn't move much air at Idle - I can barely feel it. The good news is that PSU doesn't ever seem to get very warm, even at load. Much cooler than the stock Antec, which would often feel too warm for me to rest easy. The ST300 is indeed a very efficient PSU.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:44 am

That's what I'm planning on. Hopefully, it'll help lower my cpu and case temps.

Thanks for all the input. I'll post a follow-up when I get the PSU.

sarbz · Post by **sarbz** » Tue May 10, 2005 8:56 am

I installed it. The Super Tornado is AWESOME!!!! It never ramps up, and it's helping my airflow. I seriously can't hear it over the room's ambient noise. I've done a few other mods to my case to increase airflow as well. Pics and descriptions are here:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... highlight=

I'm going to be water cooling soon