Question Best Semi-Fanless SFX / SFX-L ?

[Regev]

I need a good power supply, 100% silent (fanless) at around 200W. It will run non-OCed 12600K, with the iGPU, so I dont think it'll ever top 200W. It needs to be as reliable as possible, since it's a production machine.

Which one is the absolute best for that use-case? If price wasn't a factor, which one would be the first you'd pick to trust this system with?

I was thinking:

Corsair SF450 Platinum (Silent at <180W)
Corsair SF600 Platinum (Silent at <240W)
Corsair SF750 Platinum (Silent at <300W)
Silverstone SX1000 Platinum (Silent at <200W)
Silverstone SX700-LPT Platinum (Silent at <210W)
SilverStone SST-NJ450-SXL (Silent at all times)
EVGA 650GM Gold (Silent at <195W)
EVGA 750GM Gold (Silent at <225W)
Seasonic SGX-650 Gold (Silent at <195W)

Of course, I'm not going to use the capacity these PSUs offer, but they're the only ones I found that will operate fanless at around 200W. All I care for is the component reliability and build quality.

Which would one you grab if they'd all cost the same?

Thanks,
Reg

 

[Lafong]

Which one is the absolute best for that use-case?.................................. If price wasn't a factor, which one would be the first you'd pick to trust this system with?............................All I care for is the component reliability and build quality.

I wouldn't "trust" any of them.

I'd buy one of them and hope for the best.

Price aside, I might pay some attention to whatever I could learn about return privileges with the vendor or customer service hassles of any type. Totallly unrelated to the PSU itself.

I'm sure you can dig deeply on the net and get hundreds of anecdotes about fanless PSUs and then feel good about doing X hours of research rather than half X.

If you have a bad experience with your choice, you can tell yourself "If only I had done 2X hours of research!!"

 

[Regev]

I wouldn't "trust" any of them.
I'd buy one of them and hope for the best.

I understand it's a matter of odds. Just which unit has the highest quality components and thus the best odds?

 

[--SID--]

Corsair SF is the best SFX available. SF450 is more than plenty for your needs.

Fanless at 200w load is BS with a iGPU system. With 200w the CPU is at 100% load. I don't believe the CPU is passively colled when @100% load. What's your CPU cooler?

 

[Regev]

Corsair SF is the best SFX available. SF450 is more than plenty for your needs.

How often will a 12600K system (on iGPU) surpass 180W, on heavy browser usage, and thus trigger the fans to spin ?

 

[--SID--]

How often will a 12600K system (on iGPU) surpass 180W, on heavy browser usage, and thus trigger the fans to spin ?

How often is the fan of the CPU cooling to spin when the CPU is at 100% load?

 

[Lafong]

I understand it's a matter of odds. Just which unit has the highest quality components and thus the best odds?

I would not assume that the highest quality of the one you end up buying is knowable, nor that it would have the "best odds" if knowable.

"Best odds" of course is open to your own definition....best odds of what?

Least chance of mild disappointment? Major disappointment?

Least likelihood of explosion and fire, with all hands lost?

Least chance of DOA?

How could any of that be known as opposed to speculated upon?

Who has the database of a meaningful number of purchasers who have used those PSUs in even a semi-controlled environment where you might be able to make a semi-informed guess?

You can of course spend all the hours you care to getting the brand name and model number of each component inside the PSU and then make whatever inferences you feel are warranted.

And then try to find out the history of quality control and customer service for each organization, along with warranty claims, DOA rates, design failures, etc.

 

[Regev]

Thanks guys!

I just found out about this list:

Article - [psucultists] PSU tier list rev. 14.8 (Final Update Jul '21)

PSU Tier List 4.0 rev. 14.8 (outdated) Last Update: 12-07-2021 Legend : Gray - EoL/obsolete and/or otherwise not recommended for purchase. Green - small form-factor (gold and blue colors are disregarded due to scarcity of SFX PSUs) Gold - best units in the tier (includes requirements for blue...

forums.tomshardware.com

So what's the value of these tiers, if, as you say, it's a random hit-and-miss?