Looking for experiences with passive PSUs

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

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Shadowknight
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:43 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Looking for experiences with passive PSUs

Post by Shadowknight » Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:15 am

Right now I have an Antec 350w, that I'm looking to replace.

I know what most of you are thinking: "It's dead!" or "It has loud coil whine!"

No.

I have extremely good hearing. In my living room, with the AC and Fridge powered down, I can hear the buzzing noise from the PSU. It's not bad per se, but I CAN hear it.

So I need people with experience with GOOD, efficent, rock solid passive PSUs.

Yes, I've read the main site (look at my post count), yes, I've been here for years; but the site hasn't covered EVERYTHING.

I'll even be intersted in feedback on (beat) Silenx, but I want reviews/experience with PSUs, NOT conjecture, but actual experience, for a 100% inaudible PSU. According to the review, the Silverstone is supposed to be like this, but I'm interested in having a bigger variety to choose from, if possible.

Thanks.

P.S. - I've noticed that Tom's hardware has a roundup of passive/semi-passive PSUs. I'm stil going to by referrals by members of this forum, but how trusty are the PSU revies on that site in general?

mikellpp
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:26 pm

Post by mikellpp » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:36 am

I am running two systems side by side with two different fanless psu's.

System One @ 2.5 Ghz

DFI nf3, skt 754 motherboard
AMD64 2800 Newcastle, o/c to 2.5 Ghz.
Thermalright xp90 with 92mm Evercool fan
Dragon steel case with no case fans
Thermaltake Heatpipe fanless psu

System Two @ 2.8 Ghz

DFI nf4, skt 939 m/b
AMD64 3200 Venice, o/c to 2.8 Ghz.
Thermaltake Typhoon with 120mm fan
Chieftec Dragon steel case with only a 120mm top fan
Antec Phantom fanless psu

At ambient 28C System One idles at 33C and System Two at 36C
At Load System One runs 43C and System Two 46C

The TT has been running every day for 6 weeks and the Phantom for only three weeks. With a temp sensor between the bottom fins of the Phantom it runs ~8C above ambient and feels only slightly warm. The heatpipe fins on the TT psu feel hot. With my ear against the psu, neither of these psu's has any noise that i can hear.

I was running Seasonic Tornado's but wanted to experiment with fanless. Only time will tell if these are reliable, but they certainly do the job and are completely quiet.

I have mounted each psu partially outside the back of the case and with top of the case ventilation, else they run too hot for my liking.
You can see my case mounting pix:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikepolni ... f9&.src=ph

Shadowknight
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:43 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Post by Shadowknight » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:51 am

Does the thermaltake exhibit any buzzing/electrical noise that the Phantom has?

mikellpp
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:26 pm

Post by mikellpp » Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:33 pm

So far neither the Phantom nor Thermaltake has _any_ noise that i can hear, even with my ear up against the psu at load or at idle.

It is possible that some psu's components will become noisey if operating with high temps over a longer time period than i have had these 2 psu's. That is part of the experiment when you are an early adopter of new technology. And that is why i have mounted these psu's with extra ventilation. I don't want premature failure or even noisey components due to high temps.

I tend to change my pc parts quite often to try new things and just sell off my old stuff on ebay. You just "pays your money and takes your chances".

eLekTRiK
Posts: 39
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 12:27 am

Post by eLekTRiK » Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:39 pm

When I first got my Phantom, it made too much buzz for my liking. It has been running w/o problems for roughly half a year now, and the buzzing subsided quite a bit in the first few weeks. The buzz may still be there, but I can't hear it anymore. If yours is new, I suggest giving it some time. Otherwise, you my want to try opening it up and silencing the offending coils (if you can reach 'em).

I don't trust Tom's PSU reviews. They may be loading the PSUs in a way that is inconsistent with modern PSU use, which might explain why they get some awfully strange results that aren't consistent with my experience.

Shadowknight
Posts: 1283
Joined: Thu Aug 07, 2003 2:43 pm
Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Post by Shadowknight » Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:27 pm

I've had my Phantom since February.

Mike's review mentioned that the Phantom has a buzz when you're close to the PSU. My problem is that I've gotten my Nexus fans to the point of almost being completely silent, and I have extremely good hearing, even with my tinnitus.

So, y'know, I'm looking for a model of PSU where buzz isn't a typical part of the design.

davidstone28
Posts: 556
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:14 am
Location: London, UK

Post by davidstone28 » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:26 pm

Silverstone.

No buzzing, whining, squeaking, or any other unusual noises.

Been solid as a rock running 24/7 for about 1 year now.

MikeC
Site Admin
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by MikeC » Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:33 pm

For what it is worth, neither of the two Silverstone fanless PSU samples that came through the lab (including one that's now been working for... 8 mos?) ever exhibited any audible hum. None I nor Devon have heard -- but I never placed my ear right on the PSU.

Einllel
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:50 pm
Location: Valencia, Spain

nothing wrong wuth the Phantom's (at least for me)

Post by Einllel » Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:38 pm

Hello, boys,

I've been reading those forums for some time now (and of course the great reviews you make guys, congratullations), and all I can say is that my Phantom 350 has been working 24x7 since the end of December 2004 with zero problems. The only thing i'd change in the phantom is the blue led, it makes too much light at night (I sleep at 2 meters from my computer, and finally I can say I can hardly hear it, only the writes and seeks from my Raptors are clearly audible but I can live with it). The temperature measured over one of the heatsinks inside the Phantom (measured with one of the two probes that comes with the Antec P160) never has reached past 56ºC even in this hot days in Spain (30ºC ambient temperature). The probe reports 45-48ºC with Cool & Quiet on and Max Batery and low fifties at full load (now at summer), this past winter with Cool & Quiet and max batery it reported below 40ºC and arround 45ºC at full load. What do you think about this temps MikeC? are they too hot for an internal heatsink of the PSU? I feel on the safe side because, the exterior of the Phantom is, in the worst case scenario, a little warm to the touch.

Going a little bit off topic, Some time ago I decided to buy an Energy Monitor (VoltCraft Plus Energy Monitor 3000) I'm not sure of the accuracy of the readings it gives, but with Cool & Quiet on and Energy properties set at max batery my whole system only draws 100-110W from the outlet and the maxium peak the monitor has recorded is about 190W at full load trying to use all my computer components at the same time (OC'ing my GForce 4 TI4200 300Core/600Mem + CPUBurn + Prime95 + Burning a CD + Burning DVD + Playing DVD Movie + Moving some movies on my RAID 0 + watching TV on my TVTunner + Listening to some MP3 ).

Next month I'm building a new system:

[New staff]
Atnec P180 EC
Antec Phantom 500 EC
AMD 64 X2 4400+
Asus A8N-SLI PREMIUM
1 (probably 2) Gigabyte NX66T128VF (GForce 6600 GT)
Plextor PX-716SA

[Old staff]
1 Zalman Reserator 1
2 x 512MByte Crucial Ballistix PC4000
2 x Western Digitall Raptor 740 GD
LiteON DVD 16x/48x
Liteon CD-RW 52246
WinFast TV 2000
SB Audigy

Note to MikeC:
What about adding some thermal probes to the P180 in the next revision, it was what I found most useful on my actual P160, and it's a shame I have to miss that essential feature in the P180.

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