SPCR

Which one is more silent in low load? It's important for me because my PC has only one fan at 500rpm and 1 ssd. The room is death silent, so the PSU can make a difference of day and night.

Have you considering a fanless or semi-fanless supply?

Nexus is clearly superior of those two. While Be Quiet L7 is pretty quiet it's far from the most quiet series but Nexus 430 value still is, especially at low load. Although a fanless would be more quiet, maybe you can fit a Pico-Psu to the system if it's load is really low.

PlanetOfTheApes wrote:Have you considering a fanless or semi-fanless supply?

If fanless means a PicoPSU or WinMate, I second that. Fanless ATX supplies -OTOH- are hard to come by, expensive and inefficient.

bozar wrote:Nexus is clearly superior of those two.

Have you used both?

I could also use the ST40NF Silverstone Nightjar 400watt. It has a better efficiency then the Nexus Value 430. Fits also perfectly in my case (NSK3480 with vents on the top). It's 70 euro more expensive then the Nexus, but if it's worth the silence i'l get it.

PicoPSU and the most AC-DC adapters are not really good quality I think. My PC goes alot times standby/on within a day so I need a PSU that can handle this for some years without getting unstable or defective after some period.

Alexander01 wrote:... Fits also perfectly in my case (NSK3480 with vents on the top)...

An X-650 is another option, but may not fit your case.

Seasonic x-650 is 16.0cm + LG DVD burner is 16.5cm = 32.5cm
NSK3480 = 35.56cm

I've already written this some time ago in this forum, but I think I need to restate this: based on my experience I recommend against buying a BeQuiet! PSU.
I used to have one, B5 450W. It was indeed very quiet, quieter than its successor - Corsair HX520. But just one day it simply gave a puff of foul smoke and turned the computer off. It was so hot, I couldn't touch the computer case (mind you - there was a 10mm gap of air between the PSU and case, and still!). When it cooled down I tried to fire it up. The computer started, but there was a sound of sizzling electricity coming from the PSU (think of welding) so I turned it off - and it was beginning to get very hot too.
All this happened when the PSU was just about 1 year old. I won't trust this company again - a blown PSU can take many other components with it :/

There have been THREE subsequent PSU series by BeQuiet! after that one, maybe it was a single series with such a problem, but all I can do basing my judgement on the MANY units I purchased (owned or sold), I never had a SINGLE problem, unlike an Enermax Liberty and a Corsair CX400, both blown with a low-end pc for unknown reasons.

J. Sparrow wrote:

PlanetOfTheApes wrote:Have you considering a fanless or semi-fanless supply?

If fanless means a PicoPSU or WinMate, I second that. Fanless ATX supplies -OTOH- are hard to come by, expensive and inefficient.

bozar wrote:Nexus is clearly superior of those two.

Have you used both?

The L7 have been reviewed by a forum-member and Be Quiet have specified louder acoustics themselves compared to their other PSU series.
The Value 430 is still among the most quiet PSUs SPCR have reviewed.

Is there any reason to believe that a Nexus won't be quiet enough?
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article922-page6.html

The noise level during the pre-test warmup with 65W load was so low as to require a double-take. Was the PSU really on? Was the fan spinning? Up very close, a tiny bit of ticking and hum could be heard. The fan was indeed spinning, and a check with the calibrated strobe light showed it to be at 370RPM. This is the slowest of any fan in a PSU we've yet reviewed.

The sound level was measured to be about 11 dBA@1m, or a single decibel above the ~10 dBA noise floor of the anechoic chamber. The microphone picked it up from a meter away, but I could not hear it from a meter. I had to get within about a foot. Ditto Larry, who was also in the lab at the time of testing. This incredibly low noise level prevailed from 20W to above 150W load.

Also look here.

Mats wrote:Is there any reason to believe that a Nexus won't be quiet enough?

Is there any reason to pay double the price for what might be an insignificant or negligible difference?

bozar wrote:The Value 430 is still among the most quiet PSUs SPCR have reviewed.

Just because it's the quietest, it doesn't mean all the other PSUs have stopped being inaudible! 11 or 14 dBA make no difference...unless you live in an anechoic chamber!

Plus, the Nexus is a 430W whereas the L7 comes in a 300W rating which will have better efficiency in the power ranges where most PCs operate.

To hit 80% efficiency you only need a load of 45W with the L7 vs 90W with the Nexus. At 45W the latter has 72% efficiency, and will pull 7-8W more at the plug.

On top of that it's harder to find and twice as expensive.

KadazanPL wrote:It was so hot, I couldn't touch the computer case (mind you - there was a 10mm gap of air between the PSU and case, and still!).

The fan gave up its ghost. Under normal circumstances the overheat protection should kick in before the electrolytic capacitors blow up.

Last time something like that happened to me, it was the late 90s: it's almost certain your unit was defective - but with the mandated warranty in Europe being 2 years, you could have had the PSU replaced for free.

BTW should it happen to you again, just don't try to turn on the computer - you've been lucky enough already!

rpsgc wrote:

Mats wrote:Is there any reason to believe that a Nexus won't be quiet enough?

Is there any reason to pay double the price for what might be an insignificant or negligible difference?

Unless you know for sure, yes.
Besides, that's not the point. I agree that the Nexus is overpriced, but the OP made it clear that he's prepared to pay for a passive PSU if needed.

Mats wrote:the OP made it clear that he's prepared to pay for a passive PSU if needed.

And that's great, but that PC will have a single case fan which will provide the baseline noise: even the best 120 mm fan @500 rpm is not dead silent.

As long as the PSU is as quiet or quieter than that (easy), it will still make no difference IMO.

Do you think the Be quiet L7 300 produce less noise then a 500rpm fan?

Alexander01 wrote:Do you think the Be quiet L7 300 produce less noise then a 500rpm fan?

Less than a S-Flex @500 rpm used as a system fan (in free air or for a different application the same fan will sound quieter).

J. Sparrow wrote:

Alexander01 wrote:Do you think the Be quiet L7 300 produce less noise then a 500rpm fan?

Less than a S-Flex @500 rpm used as a system fan (in free air or for a different application the same fan will sound quieter).

Ah, great. Probably not a lot different then with a Noctua S12B ULN @ 500rpm.

PlanetOfTheApes wrote:

Alexander01 wrote:... Fits also perfectly in my case (NSK3480 with vents on the top)...

An X-650 is another option, but may not fit your case.

Seasonic x-650 is 16.0cm + LG DVD burner is 16.5cm = 32.5cm
NSK3480 = 35.56cm

WOW, i'm very happy you mentioned this. I just checked it and my DVD burner is 17cm. Most new Burners are also 17cm. The Seasonic will not fit in my case because it will damage the molex and sata connector from the burner. Same story goes for the ST40NF (also 16cm). Nexus Value is 15cm but has a bad efficiency at low load.

I probably go with the Be Quiet or a PicoPSU if I can find a high quality/efficiency AC-DC brick.

Since you're planning to use a 3480, I should point out that at least 2 out of 3 users have reported a faint hissing noise coming from the L7 at times, which might be more noticeable than in other cases.