Looking for a silent PSU

stueck9356

Commendable
Mar 1, 2016
7
0
1,510
I had to purchase a new PSU recently because my old antec TP750 was failing on me. I decided to bite the bullet and get what I thought was the best - Corsair AX860i. It is a pretty awesome PSU and does way more than I will ever need, however it has one thing that I hate - the fan. It is silent for the longest time, then decides to ramp up to 50% for 5 seconds, then turn off for 30 seconds, then repeat. It really irks me, I don't know why but it causes unreasonable rage in me. Like, I am looking for an ultra silent PC and I have achieved that in every department except for - WRRRRRRrrr - sorry, trying to type.. except for the PSU.

I have been looking at reviews and it seems that the EVGA SuperNova P2 650w is a nice quiet machine and is still more than enough to run my build. I am also looking at the Corsair RM650i. I do not mind an always-on fan as long as it is pretty silent, and my build consists of a i7-6700 (non-k) and a 970 so I only need ~550-650 watts (should hold me right for a 1080ti when those come out next year too)

Thanks for any suggestions!
 

Nuckles_56

Admirable
So long as you don't overclock, you could look into the seasonic platinum fanless 520W (SS-520FL) and that will be plenty of power for you. It probably will be enough for the 1080ti but we have to see what the 1080 power consumption is like first
 
Have you investigated why the PSU fan ramps up? Seems to me you're getting temperature spikes - which indicates power consumption spikes, which doesn't make sense, since your rig should never need to draw that much power.

So my best guess it could be heat build-up. That means a silent case fan which is much cheaper might resolve the issue.

Reason I ask is that I have the AX680I in a build with a i5-2500K and it never gets to where the fan kicks in.
 

stueck9356

Commendable
Mar 1, 2016
7
0
1,510


I think it was heat build up. I watched corsair link, and while it said I only pulled about 240w with prime 95 and furmark running, the internal temp reached 45c and the fan kicked on high until it hit 40c then turned off. Because the air was stagnant it only took a split second for the temp to drop below threshold and turn off. I purchased the evga supernova p2 650w and tried it out and the fan is much quieter even without economic mode enabled. I think I am going to return the corsair one.

On another note, the PSU also sometimes decides to power cycle when booting from cold. I just hear the relay kick on for 2 or 3 seconds then click off and repeat. Really unhappy with it and scares me a bit waiting on a pop.