Review: ExoticPC SilenX 350W PSU.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 8:25 am

Ok all those of you recommending the SilentX unit, what actually makes it quieter?

What fan does it use?
Does the fan run at very low voltages and stays there even under heavy load?

There must be a reason why this unit causes less noise, because if there is no coil buzz/whine or other electrical noises the noise must come from the fan itself. So what is so special about this unit?

Post by **MikeC** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 9:39 am

ez2remember -- the "14 dBA" fan is pretty special. I've been playing with it for a week. At 12V it is no big deal, might even whine a bit more than a Panaflo 80L. But you know how every fan makes other noises as you reduce the speed? Or maybe you don't. Trust me that's what happens. Clicking, humming, buzzing, etc. After you've listened to as many fans as I have over the past 2 years you'll belong in a nuthouse too... oh, um... lost track here.

OK -- This fan simply gets quieter. It's almost uncanny, there is ONLY broadband noise & it just gets softer as the voltage is reduced. I have to wonder what happens over time as the bearings wear, but at the speed it's running at in the PSU, this could take quite a while. And as it uses 2 ball bearings, even the heat of the PSU is unlikley to affect it much. (Sleeve bearings are more affected by heat -- mainly because they rely on lubrication more, and that dries up quicker when subject to heat)

I too wish the best for the SilenX gang and hope for all of us that they recover from this setback & come back even stronger.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 9:50 am

I hope they sell these units in Europe and UK if possible. If it is as good as people are saying I would certainly buy a unit.

Good luck to the SilenX team.

Its nice to know we are not all nuts and noise is what drive people nuts!

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 1:36 pm

Hello ExoticPC:

As an aside, the current ExoticPC website works pretty horribly with my two favorite browsers: Konqueror (in Linux) and Opera 6.05 (in Windows). In Konqueror, I get the flanking frames, but the main window is *blank*! And in Opera, the main page is there but all jumbled and overlapping. Only IE displays it right, but I generally avoid it -- unless I *have* to use it.

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 6:05 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello ExoticPC:

As an aside, the current ExoticPC website works pretty horribly with my two favorite browsers: Konqueror (in Linux) and Opera 6.05 (in Windows). In Konqueror, I get the flanking frames, but the main window is *blank*! And in Opera, the main page is there but all jumbled and overlapping. Only IE displays it right, but I generally avoid it -- unless I *have* to use it.

Seems to work okay with Opera 7.02 for windows over here..

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 6:33 am

ExoticPC homepage and other pages render fine in Opera 6.05 for me. None of that occaisional overlapping stuff that you get with poorly written pages and Opera.

jamoore9 · Post by **jamoore9** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 7:40 am

Personally, I can't view the subframes at all, and I've tried it on IE 6.0, IE 5.5, and Netscape 4.7. I can link to specific pages, but if I go in through the homepage, I get blanks in the subframes.

dinde · Post by **dinde** » Wed Mar 12, 2003 3:37 pm

also, make sure to get some canadian retailers, cant forget us =\

Steerpike · Post by **Steerpike** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 6:39 pm

Mike - so you popped the lid on the PSU, obviously; what are the details on the fan???? Can we buy one anywhere?

I received my SilenX 350 W and love it, but didn't yet 'pop the hood'. Surely one can acquire the fan somewhere? I would buy about 10 of them sight unseen! I've found my panaflo's to be very sloppy when the voltage gets reduced; I bought 4 at once and they all sounded different when run at low voltage. The Fan in the Zalman PSU did better at low voltage.

I exchanged emails with ExoticPC before buying my PSU; they claimed the fans were 'custom made' for them, or something.

What do you think?

Maybe you can get your buddies over at SiliconAccoustics to stock it?

Thanks, Chris

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:13 pm

Those fans are NOT an off-the-shelf item AFAIK. SilenX mentioned making them available for sale some time soon. I guess we will have to wait.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:29 pm

Are these fans better than the 80mm panaflo L1A?

I presume they push much more air at 12v. Thanx

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 13, 2003 7:55 pm

ez2remember wrote:Are these fans better than the 80mm panaflo L1A?
I presume they push much more air at 12v. Thanx

Better in the sense that they are quieter at reduced voltage. Don't think they move more air, maybe less. Not sure. I should say "it" -- have only seen/heard 2: one in the PSU and one bare. Not much of a sampling for consistency.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 9:26 am

Guys, I just want to make sure I understand what SilenX is: it is a Fortron PSU that is modified with a unique fan? Or is there much more to it that I am missing?

I've been banging my head here lately in trying to determine if I want to buy a Nexus or a Zalman. Then, I have to decide 300w or 400w (not that I need 400 watts, but the new Nexus seems to be an improved model altogether, except that the specs seem to imply that it's not as quiet as the 300w in 'active' use). Up to this point I had really decided I would go with 300w Nexus, thinking it would be the quiet PSU that I am seeking.

Now, I find this thread expounding the greatness of the SilenX and I'm reconsidering my choices again. Someone has even specifically mentioned that this PSU is noticably more silent than the Nexus 300w.

Does anybody else have direct experience with both the Nexus 300w and the SilenX 300w (or 350w)? If, in fact, SilenX is worth waiting for then I'll wait.

Badashmods · Post by **Badashmods** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 9:55 pm

I just saw that http://www.silenx.com is up in beta taking orders april 7th

yav · Post by **yav** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 2:02 pm

Hi,

Here is a link from Tom's talking about the Fortron PSU (I think Silenx is a Fortron Psu with a quiet fan installed). Stacks up really well against the competition, but strangely enough, Nexus was not in the review.

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html

cheers

Bat · Post by **Bat** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 2:41 pm

I hope they'll be willing to ship them to the UK. The new web site doesn't mention overseas orders.

Will35 · Post by **Will35** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 1:59 pm

Those fans are NOT an off-the-shelf item AFAIK. SilenX mentioned making them available for sale some time soon. I guess we will have to wait.

After reading the thread and sitting here listening to the fan in my Sonata PS I gave these fine folks a call. They said that they would add the fan to their online store... sure enough, 24 hours later I got an email w/ the following link

http://www.colorcase.com/80mmfans.html

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 3:50 pm

Thank you for the link, but which fan is it?

Will35 · Post by **Will35** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 4:05 pm

Thank you for the link, but which fan is it?

It's the Ahanix SilenX Fan, 80mm at the lower right, the one without a picture.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 7:45 pm

Will35 wrote:
It's the Ahanix SilenX Fan, 80mm at the lower right, the one without a picture.

Thanks Will35

I have a talent for overlookig the obvious, lol.

Gekkani · Post by **Gekkani** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 10:00 pm

mmm.. noone got a pic of that fan?

I found a pic of the fan of ahanix iceberg watercooling system.

mmm... this fan is not the fan that SilenX sell , right? (thats a Yate Loon fan)

Zilla · Post by **Zilla** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 12:11 am

does anyone know if they ship overseas (specifically, australia)?

edwardhuggett · Post by **edwardhuggett** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 3:10 am

Okay at the moment I have a 2 year or so old Enermax 350w PSU, currently modded with a 12v L1A. The 92mm hole is taped up.
I have been warned about running at 7v, at which voltage it is quiet but has a lot of hot exhaust.

To me the heatsinks looked fairly large on my Enernmax. What I am just trying ot understand is how the SilenX PSUs can run the fan at low voltage but not be generating too much heat. Are the heatsinks huge in there? Is the curcitry better than my Enermax? Even reasonably idle my enermax pumps out a warm gust when the fan is at 7v.

(Another problem is my case temps are way to high - over 40*c idle for some reason. Thats using my motherboard diode)

I have a modded 250w or 200w PSU running at 7v and it is virtually silent as the only fan in the system - only ever a slight warm breeze (very low spec system).

Just trying to understand PSUs etc ....... any clarification guys?

Mournegrym · Post by **Mournegrym** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:16 am

edwardhuggett wrote: (Another problem is my case temps are way to high - over 40*c idle for some reason. Thats using my motherboard diode)

I wouldn't trust the sensor on the MB for case temp. At least mine is way off.

Gekkani · Post by **Gekkani** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:19 am

edwardhuggett wrote: To me the heatsinks looked fairly large on my Enernmax. What I am just trying ot understand is how the SilenX PSUs can run the fan at low voltage but not be generating too much heat. Are the heatsinks huge in there? Is the curcitry better than my Enermax? Even reasonably idle my enermax pumps out a warm gust when the fan is at 7v.

Your (and mine) Enermax Heatsinks looks like two small kittens compared with this:

viewtopic.php?t=3803&highlight=

(see the first pic)

edwardhuggett · Post by **edwardhuggett** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 8:01 am

Yeah i saw that ..... pretty heavy duty! Yes come to think of it the enermax IS pretty weedy in that respect.
I will try mounting the L1A outside the case this weekend, tho I would rather it was all inside.
One modification i nearly did was to:

1. Remove all fans from PSU
2. Attach 80mm - 120mm adapter to exhaust of PSU.
3. Fit 120mm fan to the adapter at 5v.

Would have worked - expect the 120mm evercool i ordered would not start at 5v or 7v. BUMMER! Least it was cheap. Maybe I will get a better quality one at some point.

At 12v its a bit .... errrr NOISY (about 50CFM i think)

Brumbar · Post by **Brumbar** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:07 am

Hello, ExoticPC.

Do you guys have a phone number for orders? Can't seem to be able to complete an order on one of your power supplies. Page just keeps loading. Contact info page also doesn't appear when clicked.

Thanks

*edit*

Sorry, was able to get the phone number and was directed to a secure order site.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:38 am

Hello SilenX,

Please can you answer this question, do you ship to the UK? I don't mind the cost of shipping.

Review: ExoticPC SilenX 350W PSU.

OT: exoticpc -- please fix "your" website!

Re: OT: exoticpc -- please fix "your" website!

Silenx

SilenX or Modded Enermax w. Panaflo

Re: SilenX or Modded Enermax w. Panaflo

Re: SilenX or Modded Enermax w. Panaflo