Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

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

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Morten74
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Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

Post by Morten74 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:24 am

Hi Guys

How hard is it to swap the fan in the NSK3480 PSU for e.g. a Noctua fan?

I know that I will void the warrenty, but if that's the price for silence...

Also, any ideas on additional fans in the case when using a thermalright Ultra on a i3 540 CPU and using the integrated graphics?

:-) Morten

KayDat
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Post by KayDat » Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:31 am

What's the PSU inside the NSK3480? I can't say for certain, but from my experience, most PSU's are pretty much the same in terms of fan swaps. Pop off the screws, take out the fan, it's a straight swap. The only issue you might have are fan headers, since the PSU might use a smaller, two pin header. You might need to chop, swap and solder the fan ends to get it to work.
Oh, and be careful. You don't want to fry yourself.

Edit: In any case, maybe you might be better investing in a better PSU. Again, speaking from experience, while a fan swap may result in lower sound levels, you might not be content, since you can't adjust fan speed/temperature curves. The PSU doesn't know you've changed the fan, after all, and might drive the fan faster than it needs to run, meaning more sound. Noctua fans aren't cheap after all, but if you have one on hand already, give it a shot I guess.

Morten74
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Post by Morten74 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:17 am

It's an Antec EarthWatts 380W which should be more than enough to power the system. I did consider buying a new PSU (like the Corsair VX400), but if I could get away with a 20 euro Noctua fan... 8)

:wink: Morten

quest_for_silence
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Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:08 pm


Morten74
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Post by Morten74 » Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:37 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:viewtopic.php?t=60197
Ciao Luca

Grazie mille!!!

I actually just ordered the exact Noctua fan for the swap 8)

:-) Morten

psyopper
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Post by psyopper » Wed Oct 06, 2010 5:41 am

It's an easy swap, and you don't need to run the cable to the outside either. The pins on the fan controller in the PSU are the normal size, but are 2 pins, not 3. Just plug the fan offset onto the 2 pins and leave the third one (the yellow RPM/sense) off.

quest_for_silence
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Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:05 am

psyopper wrote:you don't need to run the cable to the outside either.

But it's more probably that not safer to route it outside: as pointed out, with the EA/SU380 on board controller, the Noctua R8 (at least, mine samples) is likely to not start realiably, and so many other quiet (1500rpm or lower) fans also do.

Morten74
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Re: Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

Post by Morten74 » Sat Oct 16, 2010 9:25 am

BTW. any suggestions on whether the Noctua can be slowed down in the PSU? Planning on connecting the Noctua fan to the MB for power.

System is an i3 540, a 2.5" WD 5400rpm HDD, a DVD drive and 2 Yate Loon 120mm fans.
Thanks in advance

:wink: Morten

quest_for_silence
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Re: Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:34 am

Morten74 wrote:BTW. any suggestions on whether the Noctua can be slowed down in the PSU? Planning on connecting the Noctua fan to the MB for power.

I haven't understood you.

Whether? "Whether" to me means "if".

The R8 may be slowed down using the LNA/ULNA supplied adapters (even both at the same time), or using a controllable fan header on the mortherboard (either via BIOS or software), or using an external fan controller, or a combination of adapters and controllers.
IME, when R8 is connected to the PSU's fan header, you may (will) run into problem to start it (with or without the LNA/ULNA adapters) reliably.

Morten74
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Re: Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

Post by Morten74 » Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:16 am

quest_for_silence wrote:
Morten74 wrote:BTW. any suggestions on whether the Noctua can be slowed down in the PSU? Planning on connecting the Noctua fan to the MB for power.

I haven't understood you.

Whether? "Whether" to me means "if".

The R8 may be slowed down using the LNA/ULNA supplied adapters (even both at the same time), or using a controllable fan header on the mortherboard (either via BIOS or software), or using an external fan controller, or a combination of adapters and controllers.
IME, when R8 is connected to the PSU's fan header, you may (will) run into problem to start it (with or without the LNA/ULNA adapters) reliably.
Yes - my question was if it was possible to put the ULNA adaptor on the fan, or if that would make it too slow to sufficiently cool the PSU :) I have not plugged the fan into the PSU's fanheader, but followed your recommendation and connected the fan to the PSU using a molex->3pin adaptor. I have put the ULNA adaptor on the fan, and everything works fine even after 1½ hour of Prime95. The only "noise" from the PC is the sound of air whooshing through the case. Case exhaust fan and fan on Thermalright Ultra-120 are set to approx. 800rpm with a fanmate. There is no graphics card, and the WD Scorpio is silent in it's bungie cord suspension below the DVD drive.

I'm very satisfied with the build, and I am sure my will be as well (it's replacing his old PIII 850MHz 'jet engine')

Thanks for all your help!

:) Morten

quest_for_silence
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Re: Fan swapping in Antec 3480 PSU?

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Oct 21, 2010 2:04 am

Morten74 wrote:Yes - my question was if it was possible to put the ULNA adaptor on the fan, or if that would make it too slow to sufficiently cool the PSU :) I have not plugged the fan into the PSU's fanheader, but followed your recommendation and connected the fan to the PSU using a molex->3pin adaptor.

I've ran Prime+FurMark for >12hrs with my system, and everthing has gone fine with the R8 and its ULNA adaptor (even if my system should be cooler than yours, as its a modest dual core, even if overclocked). To be fair, my advise was to connect the R8 to a motherboard fan header, and so I did: so I can still control a bit the cooling power (in my case, via SpeedFan).

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