Loud Corsair HX 450W

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:15 pm

Disappointment!

I finaly got HX 450W (very nice and quality looking PSU), and I tried it's noise at my full load. With prime95 (blend) and furmark my psu's fan ramps up significantly. It became VERY loud (for my ears), louder than Slipstream 1200rpm, not sound of air moving but sound of non quality bearings (like old 5GB HDD's

)plus vibrating sound. At idle is very quiet but still most audiable component in my pc. When I run prime95, PSU immediately starts being more and more audiable, like it's getting hot very hot. My ambient temperature is 19 degrees C and psu is not even worm to touch after 30min of full load.

Here are my specs:

Pentium D 830 (3.675 MHz @ 1.312V), HR-01+, Slipstream 800rpm
Mushkin Redline kit 4GB
Asus P5Q Pro
WD6400AAKS (Quiet Drive)
WD10EACS
WD10EADS
2x Slipstream 800rpm
Antec P182

I know that VX 450W, HX 520W ecc ramps fan on about 300W load, is it possible that my computer hits 300W on full load?? I will replace fan with S-Flex 1600rpm, but if my pc really reaches 300W on load, I will go with S-Flex 1200rpm, because I'm affraid even S-Flex 1600rpm will be to loud at full load.

Please help me, is it possible that my pc is so power houngry??

In future i'm buying Q9550 and 2x HD4670, i can't even emagine sound of PSU with Quad and new GPU's

Thank you for any advice!

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:29 pm

I'm getting feeling that fan isn't controlled by temperature (exhaust air isn't hot at all, psu isn't hot at all), but by wattage...

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:50 pm

It will be controlled by temperature, it's just poorly controlled and too sensitive, and the fan isn't great when it ramps up.

I've been singularly unimpressed by the HX450. Bad, avoid.

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 3:52 pm

Update:

I was so pissed off that I decided to void the varanty and change noisy ADDA fan. I replaced old ADDA ad1212mb-a71gl (ball bearing, 2050rpm, 80,5 CFM, 38dB/a, Link) with only fan that I have right now: Antec Tri Cool from P182, on low setting. After 20 minutes on full load, PSU is lukewarm, maybe few degrees over ambient temperatre to touch and same with exhaust, really impressive.

So my next goal is to find appropriate fan, that will always run on same speed (I don't trust my PSU anymore). Antec Tricool moves 21CFM on low setting, so I need fan, which is quiet as possible (I don't want to hear it over my Slipstrams at 720rpm), moves at least 20CFM of air and it's good in horizontal position. Other option is to let PSU control the new fan (S-FLEX 1200 or 1600 RPM), but since it's not calibrated correctly, that option doesn't sounds good to me.

I have fan controller, so i can set every fan to 5V, if it's necessary.

My options are:

Slipstreams and Noctuas NF-S12 are bad for static pressure.

Scythe S-Flex (don't know which model to choose)
Noiseblocker Multiframe M12-S1 (750rpm, don't know if they are any good, but look at this test)
Scythe GentleTyphoon 800rpm
Noctua NF-P12-1300 (@ 5V ??)
And Noctuas NF-S12B aren't available in my country yet.

Thanks for all advices!
Bye

Nil Einne · Post by **Nil Einne** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:36 pm

7 years warranty down the drain?

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:16 pm

I'm happy with the fan swap I did with my Zalman PSU and S-Flex 1600rpm.

The S-Flex is wired to my PSU header and I can't hear it over the noise of other parts of my system. I recommend this fan if you're hooking it up to your PSU header.

You don't mention what GPU you're currently using in your system, so I am not sure what your power usage at load would be.

Do a bit of googling/forum searching to see how your full power load might be, then look at the SPCR review for the VX450 and HX520 and see what approx fan voltage the fans in those PSUs spin at when that load is applied. (E.g. at up to 300W load, the HX520's equivalent fan voltage is approx 4V.) Then pick a fan that is quiet at that voltage. Just be aware that the fan you pick may need a low starting voltage, so that it starts up and stays spinning when your system is idle.

If you want to just hook a fan up to your fan controller, S-Flex 1200rpm at 5V to 7V would be good. If you want to use the PSU fan header, try the S-Flex 1600rpm.

Or you can try it both ways - when you cut the PSU fan wires, instead of cutting off the connector from the fan you buy for a PSU fan swap, cut a 3-pin fan connector wire in half instead and wire this to your PSU fan header's wires. This way you don't mutilate a fan's own wiring and you can later wire it to your fan controller directly if you decide you still don't like the HX450's fan control.

Hope this helps!

Shamgar · Post by **Shamgar** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:34 am

Does the HX450 have the plastic baffle that the VX450 does? I have a VX450 that I consider quite audible (but livable for now), although my system is fairly low power. So the fan must be behaving strangely of its own accord.

You've already done the fan swap and voided the warranty, so you might as well take the next step and consider/take JamieG's advice.

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:47 am

Hi!

Thanks for answers! I have GF 7600GS.

I tried another thing: I removed clear plastic (designed to ensure that airflow from the fan doesn't simply silp out the back without travelling across the heatsinks), mounted on the fan ADDA fan.

And it helped! Fan doesn't ramp up anymore, but idle sound of fan remains (same RPM).

I am still deciding about S-FLEX replacement (1200RPM or 1600RPM).

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:53 am

I bought Q9550 and HD4670.

I tested loudness and temperature of the PSU on idle and load. Temperature was tested with my hand on top of the psu (temperature of the PSU case) and exhaust air.

Idle:

PSU is lukewarm. Exhaust air is too.
Sound level is equal to Slipstream 1200RPM on 9V.

Load (prime95+furmark):

PSU is cold to touch, so is exhaust air.
PSU is little louder, you can tell that fan is spinning faster.

This is proof that fan controller is not calibrated!

axee · Post by **axee** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:04 am

Update:

I switched ADDA fan with S-FLEX 1600RPM. Fan speed is monitored with motherboard (yellow wire

IDLE:

PSU is cold to touch, fan spins at 420 RPM. Silent!

FULL LOAD (Prime95 & Furmark for 30 minutes):

PSU is lukewarm, fan spins at 850 RPM. PSU is very quiet, not audiable over the rest of the fans (three 800RPM Slipstreams).

So for the conclusion:

PSU's ADDA fan ramps up too quickly with clear plastic mounted on the fan. When clear plastic is removed, sound profile improves, fan doesn't ramp up so aggressively. With S-FLEX 1600RPM PSU becomes totally inaudible, but stays at safe temperature, due to its high efficiency.