Newbie needing help to mod 380S

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

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Yuh
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Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:27 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Newbie needing help to mod 380S

Post by Yuh » Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:41 am

Hi all,
just wanting some advise on replacing the fan inside the Antec 380S PSU that came with my sonata case.... i'm planning on replacing it and connecting it to the thermally controlled fan controller that's currently connected to the fan running now.

I've got severe continuous clicking in the PSU... probably from the fan cause when i stop the fan, it goes away... i contacted Antec and they said it was likely the fan controller that was making the clicking... and i'm from Australia so i can't RMA it... anyhow i reckon it's the fan cause when i stop it and let it spin up again, the clicking starts slowly and then increases just like the fan speed...

Anyhow like i said, i'm from Australia, so i got a very limited number of fans to make a choice from... i've currently ordered an Antec Tri-lite fan that's on the recommended list (cause it was cheaper and more convenient for me to get)... i wonder if that's going to be enough... i'm only running the 120mm stock sonata fan on the fan only connector and I will soon have a 7000AlCu on the cpu. those are the only fans in the system.... (P4 2.4Ghz, 512MB RAM, 80GB, 2 optical drives, GF2MX (might get a radeon later))

Anyways the only quiet fans i can find in Australia are Panaflow L and M (on this page http://www.pccasegear.com/category33_1.htm)

So my questions are: would either of these be much better than the Antec trilite i got (i don't really care about the lite)? Also how easy is it to install the new fan? I've replaced the fan in a PSU before, but not in an Antec PSU, but i suppose it'd be about the same difficulty.

Any opinions/comments would be much appreciated.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:04 am

So my questions are: would either of these be much better than the Antec trilite i got (i don't really care about the lite)? Also how easy is it to install the new fan? I've replaced the fan in a PSU before, but not in an Antec PSU, but i suppose it'd be about the same difficulty.
yes. They will both be MUCH quieter, the M a wee bit louder at default idle voltage in that PSU but more louder when the system is pushed really hard. It's the safer choice because its airflow (at 12v) is rated at 32 cfm, reasonably close to the 36~40cfm of stock psu fans, much closer than the 24 cfm of the L.

mormakil
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Post by mormakil » Mon Nov 17, 2003 12:41 pm

Yuh.
I'm planning to swap the fans too. I was thinking of panaflos too.
I don't know if i can get a M1A in europe, I'll have to ask Dorothy :).
Could you please comment here what your choice of fan is when you mod it? I need a push to mod it myself.

Yuh
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:27 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Yuh » Mon Nov 17, 2003 6:29 pm

I canceled my tri-lite order and ordered a panaflo M1A.... cost like $34AU after delivery is included which is like US$24.... so expensive... but if it's better it's worth it....fingers crossed.... hopefully i'll get it in about a week's time or so... will post my results then.

mormakil
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Post by mormakil » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:38 am

Ok, thanks. Here in Europe it will be difficult to get a M1A. I'm considering noiseblocker 80mm as DonP said in another thread. Good luck with your mod.

Yuh
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Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:27 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Yuh » Sat Nov 22, 2003 5:37 pm

Would it be okay for me to run a panaflo 80M at say 5V at full load instead of connecting it to the thermal regulated plugs? Currently the stock antec fan in the psu is at about 1550-1600rpm at full load (folding). I run my computer at full load most of the time for folding and video encoding and other stuff. I'd like to be able to leave it running all night but since it's in my room (1m from my bed) it's a too loud at the moment to leave on all night.

mormakil
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Post by mormakil » Sun Nov 23, 2003 1:34 am

Yuh, I run it at full load everytime too and at about the same rpms. If I were you I would plug the M1 to the thermal regulated plug. At 5Vs the M1A will throw about 14cfms, and the stock fan running at a bit more than half speed (asuming that the rpms shown by the psu are ok) is throwing ~22cfms. It's maybe too much diference and not enough to cool the psu, you could go to bed and wake up next morning with a cooked psu smell, who knows.

If you plug it to the thermal regulated plug, you'll asure an apropiate temperature for the psu (which is already a bit high in order to make the psu "quiet"). And maybe the fan will run at about 7-8Vs at full load. I haven't heard a M1, but I think it will be quieter than the stock fan at that speed.

Yuh
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Post by Yuh » Sun Nov 23, 2003 1:47 am

Thanks for the advice Mormakil.
Just wondering why there are a lot of people who swap in a L1A fan instead of an M1A... would they use the thermal regulated plugs or fixed voltage?

Yuh
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Post by Yuh » Sun Nov 23, 2003 1:52 am

Oh yeah, also I'm going to try to bend the intake vents so that it can increase airflow. Do you think taking away the exhaust grill would make much difference? I don't think it would be dangerous to do so cause i never poke my hand behind the case since it's under my desk but i wouldn't bother to if it wasn't much use at all.

mormakil
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Post by mormakil » Sun Nov 23, 2003 2:12 am

I wonder about people using L1As too. Maybe they just don't have high power requirements, and if you think about it even you and me could use a L1A but it will have to run at 10-12Vs at full load and that gives us no margin for placing a new GPU or even to manage the extra heat in summer (in my case that's a real problem, with max 40ºC in summer).

Also you have to consider than different psus have differents requirements in terms of cooling. With the new high efficiency psus you need less cfms for the same power need. Also they might have better designed heatsinks, less restricted airflows,etc.

M1A is said to be only a bit noiser than L1A at same airflow (maybe m1a at 5volts and l1a at 7, but that's just a guess). So with an m1a you'll have roughly the same results noise-wise but feel at the same time more confident that the fan won't reach it limits while the psu is still getting hotter.

About bending the grills I think it all depends on you case configuration, if you depends on the 92mm fan for cooling the case, I think it won't be a good idea. Some people even covered that vents I believe, but I should make a search in the forums to know for sure.
You mean taking away the wire grill? If the fans are not pushing to much air it will make no big difference. But you can give it a try, I think the big part of the air turbulance noise is caused inside the psu, not because of the outtake.

I'm glad that you're about to mod the same psu I have. I will like to hear your impresions about how noisy is it compared to before and details about the process. I advice you to just change the fans at the beginning and if doesn't satisfy you, try bending intakes, removing wire grills, undervolting fans... etc.

Yuh
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Yuh » Sun Nov 23, 2003 4:31 am

My PSU is the single fan 380S that came with the Sonata case, so it doesn't have a 92mm fan on it. I don't need it to cool the case much... it seems to me that the PSU is making the most heat in the computer so it jsut needs to cool itself down. I've got a 120mm stock antec on 5V and will get a vga silencer (and a radeon 9800 or something like that) which will also help with case cooling - though i think the radeon will add more heat both by itself and by the psu :(

I also don't want to have to keep taking out the PSU cause it's quite inconvenient... got to remove the heatsink because there isn't enough room otherwise, and then clean it, reapply arctic silver....

Well hopefully i'll get my M1A on Tuesday or Wednesday.... i'm going to connect it to the thermal plugs and at the same time, bend the vents at the intake. Hopefully the panaflo will reduce noise by a bit... but i'm not expecting it to be really quiet since the fan is almost as fast as the stock one. I think it is quite a challenge to get a decently fast system silent whilst still keeping temperatues reasonable. I suppose a new near silent PSU would be nice, but they are a bit hard to get in Australia.

Yuh
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Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2003 3:27 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Yuh » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:01 am

mormakil, i did the swap for the panaflo 80M today and first impressions is that it's good. It got rid of the clicking noise i had which was probably due to a problem with the old fans bearing since i get the noise when i spin it by hand. Noise is lower - noticably lower but not silent. I think the 120mm @ 5V is slightly louder.

One thing to note during installation was the the panaflo was a bit thicker than the stock fan (less then 1mm more) and couldn't fit in. So i had a scrape away a bit of the fan's casing where it was touching the PCB of the PSU. I also bent the intake vents.

Now the loudest thing in my computer is this buzzing noise from my old 15" sony monitor... to be replaced soon. I'll be getting a hercules prophetview 920 pro as soon as a store in Australia gets one.

mormakil
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Post by mormakil » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:14 am

Yuh, thanks a lot for the information. I'm glad it works. About the thick problem, it's great that which a bit of hand working you could fix it.

I would like to mod my psu also with M1A (and a 92mm L1A) but Dorothy (which sells them for UK-Europe) doesn't have them and won't till April :(. I think I will wait or try to find M1As in another place. At least I will have and unvoided warranty till them :)

Yuh
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Post by Yuh » Wed Nov 26, 2003 5:47 am

After a bit more load testing (folding), it turns out that it does get noticably louder, though still not as loud as idle with the old fan. temps are also higher.... CPU/MB of 42/36 and before it was 41/33.... so nothing to worry about. Overall i'm happy and i don't think it can get much quieter without some seriously high temps.

jimbo7707
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Happy with the M1A?

Post by jimbo7707 » Sat Mar 13, 2004 8:04 pm

I have a Sonata which I put together last month. Overall, I am quite pleased with it and it is huge improvement over my previous box. The PSU fan could be a little quieter though. I was thinking of tiring the M1A fan mod before replacing the whole PSU.

To those that done this mod. Are you happy with it now that you have lived with it a while or would I be better off replacing the PSU with something quieter?

Thanks,

Jim

kie
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Post by kie » Sun Mar 14, 2004 2:21 am

Just to throw in my 2p, I did the mod with a L1A several months ago and have not looked back.
I often use my PC at full load for long periods when I an encoding video etc and haven't had any problems.I also have a lot of components in the case so I know that I use quite a lot of power.

The air coming out of the PSU is definitely warm but not hot.

Viperoni
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Post by Viperoni » Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:49 am

I think you guys worry too much ;)

I've run my rig with a 300w Enermax p4 compatible PS with a single 80mm Panaflo L @ 7v for a long while, it works great. I can see myself getting a 92mm fan and running it at 5v too.

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