Question Need help with choosing a decent, silent PSU ?

[Wicket Fot]

Initially I chose Straight Power 11 80 Plus Gold 650W BN282, because I am trying to make a silent build. I didn't want to get a quiet CPU cooler and a quiet case just to have the PSU ruin the silence. However, the review of be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W Platinum Power Supply makes me doubt my decision. It does say it is quiet, which I'm going for, but I also want the power supply to be of good quality.

So, what quality PSUs are out there that make less than 18 dB(A) at 100% load?

P.S. I will probably get i5-11600K. There will be no discrete graphics card. Lesser wattage would certainly be enough for my build, but I don't want to scrimp on this. Maybe I will add some parts later, who knows.

 

[siaan312]

What about the fanless designs from seasonic?

 

[Wicket Fot]

I've just tried to look it up. Found a 223$ price tag. I was thinking about something close to the price of the Straight Power Gold I mentioned

 

[DSzymborski]

If you're not using a GPU, you don't need 650W or more.; it's not about scrimping. The 450W SeaSonic fanless can be found at around $150.

 

[geofelt]

A psu fan should run only when the psu is drawing large power loads.
A Seasonic psu warns you to not be concerned if the fan does not run at all.
A reasonable alternative would be the seasonic focus GX-650 gold at $118.
It has a 10 year warranty.
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-plus-650-gold-ssr-650fx-650w/p/N82E16817151186
You could go stronger or weaker for $15 either way.

No build with any fans will be truly silent.
But, if you use large fans running at 900 rpm or less, they will be close to inaudible.
On your 11600K, what will be the cpu cooler?
I might suggest a noctua NH-D15s with a slow 140mm fan.
What is the prospective case?

 

[Juular]

However, the review makes me doubt my decision. It does say it is quiet, which I'm going for, but I also want the power supply to be of good quality.

What makes you doubt that it's a quality PSU exactly ? It is.

 

[Wicket Fot]

A psu fan should run only when the psu is drawing large power loads.
A Seasonic psu warns you to not be concerned if the fan does not run at all.
A reasonable alternative would be the seasonic focus GX-650 gold at $118.
It has a 10 year warranty.
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-focus-plus-650-gold-ssr-650fx-650w/p/N82E16817151186
You could go stronger or weaker for $15 either way.

No build with any fans will be truly silent.
But, if you use large fans running at 900 rpm or less, they will be close to inaudible.
On your 11600K, what will be the cpu cooler?
I might suggest a noctua NH-D15s with a slow 140mm fan.
What is the prospective case?

I'm seriously considering NH-D15. I gave up on Dark Rock Pro 4 because of the installation process and mounting.
Concerning the case, I will probably get Be Quiet! Pure Base 500DX, which leaves more than enough space for lifting the outer fan of the NH-D15. I hope to set the fan curve just so that the cooler is practically inaudible.
RAM will be HyperX Fury. There will be two SSDs. All on MSI Z590-A PRO. That's about it.

What makes you doubt that it's a quality PSU exactly ? It is.

This is a bit worrying:

AGAINST

• Expensive
• The protection features are not configured correctly (Wut?)
• Not so high overall performance

Although, this was said about the be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W Platinum, not Gold.

I would like a midrange PSU which I can leave working for a long time, can't hear, and don't have to worry about.

 

[DSzymborski]

The OCP is set a bit high. That's not really a problem with your equipment.

Good fanless PSUs aren't really midrange PSU.

Have you considered simply putting the PC in another room and wiring it to you? That's kind of the quietest PC. Several of my PCs are in my laundry room, on the other side of my office's wall and I have various active cables and extensions going through the wall nearly invisibly to my desk.

 

[Wicket Fot]

Unfortunately, I don't have that option.

The case and the cooler won't be inaudible anyway. I just need a PSU which is in the same ballpark noise-wise.

Maybe I'll just take the Be Quiet one.

Or try and be clever. According to these specs, the Seasonic's noise level correlates with the percentage of the load. So, in theory, if I get higher wattage than I actually need, I will get a quiet reliable PSU. Too clever?

 

[geofelt]

Anything fanless still needs some airflow to work.
On power supplies, overprovisioning your needs is not bad.
A fan will operate most efficiently in the middle third of it's range.
You would run ok with 450w.
Anything more, and I would not expect the fan to ever run.
And, if it did, it would be running so slow that you would never hear it.

Noctua mounting is as easy and secure as it gets.
The NH-D15 will use two fans compared with one for the NH-D15s.
Both are equally good at cooling.

PSU and cpu cooler fans are located deep inside the case where you will normally not hear them.
It is the front intake fan that you are most likely to hear.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Higher end power supplies have the ability to operate with the fan stopped at low loads, effectively being silent most of the time.

Different manufacturers call this different names.

 

[Wicket Fot]

Say I decide to apply my 200IQ strategy and get Seasonic Focus Plus 650 Gold SSR-650FX. This thread warns that not all Seasonic PSUs are actually made by Seasonic. How can I check if this Seasonic really is Seasonic made?

EDIT: Here I found that Seasonic is both the brand and the manufacturer. Can I take this to mean that all the PSUs of this specific type are Seasonic made? Is there some official confirmation of this?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The only model I know of that carrys the SeaSonic brand name not built by SeaSonic is the S12III.

 

[--SID--]

The only model I know of that carrys the SeaSonic brand name not built by SeaSonic is the S12III.

B12 BC and G12 GC are made by Helly.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

interesting.

 

[Wicket Fot]

In the end, I went with Corsair RM750x (2018). At least that's what I ordered, because I couldn't find the year on the package.

I found out about this PSU by coincidence. I was reading PSU reviews on Tom's Hardware and found a review on a Seasonic, IIRC, which contained a noise level comparison graph and this Corsair was at the top.

Now, I don't have a graphics card, and this was certainly overkill. But it seems to be quiet. I say seems because I can hear a slight hum from the PC. However, I think it's from the case fans, because it's constant.

 

[hyperreal]

In the end, I went with Corsair RM750x (2018). At least that's what I ordered, because I couldn't find the year on the package.

I found out about this PSU by coincidence. I was reading PSU reviews on Tom's Hardware and found a review on a Seasonic, IIRC, which contained a noise level comparison graph and this Corsair was at the top.

In my quest to optimize my aging PC to be both thermally capable and quiet on demand, I stumbled across the RM range of products and the 2018 versions really seems to be the best combination of quality, low noise and price. So I was considering getting a 2018 RM850x (a bit overkill for my system but also futureproof). The only issue I might have with it are the in-cable capacitors. It's my understanding that they could be troublesome when routing the cables from behind the motherboard. How's your cable management with them?

 

[Wicket Fot]

The only issue I might have with it are the in-cable capacitors. It's my understanding that they could be troublesome when routing the cables from behind the motherboard. How's your cable management with them?

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't know. I had the shop assemble my PC. They didn't do it very well the first time, but it had to do with the position of the motherboard (the ports were off center).
My case is Pure Base 500DX, which is a pretty roomy case in my book.
Mobo: MSI Z590-A PRO
All the components are very recent models, AFAIK.

Noise-wise, I was able to get better results by enabling Smart Fan for my case fans. So the noise was definitely coming from the fans and not the PSU, which is no wonder, because 750 W is overkill for my PC, not to mention the good noise ratings of the RM750x. I set the MOSFETs as the temp source; as I understand it, they are in the VRM.

I've been using this PC for a month now without any hardware problems, other than the way the shop assembled the PC initially.

 

[hyperreal]

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't know. I had the shop assemble my PC. They didn't do it very well the first time, but it had to do with the position of the motherboard (the ports were off center).
My case is Pure Base 500DX, which is a pretty roomy case in my book.
Mobo: MSI Z590-A PRO
All the components are very recent models, AFAIK.

Noise-wise, I was able to get better results by enabling Smart Fan for my case fans. So the noise was definitely coming from the fans and not the PSU, which is no wonder, because 750 W is overkill for my PC, not to mention the good noise ratings of the RM750x. I set the MOSFETs as the temp source; as I understand it, they are in the VRM.

I've been using this PC for a month now without any hardware problems, other than the way the shop assembled the PC initially.

Thanks. My case is a Silent Base 802 which is considerably bigger, I think. I don't believe space would be an issue but the cables might not be as flexible because of the capacitors so they might end up sticking out more from behind the motherboard, unnecessarily blocking air. Although it probably is more about my own perfectionism rather than an actual airflow issue.
I'm now torn between a Seasonic Prime PX-750 and the be quiet! Dark Power 12 750W. The Seasonic is on sale right now for 170 euros and pricewise it's a very tempting offer. But I've read many unpleasant things about the fans Seasonic uses so I might be willing to pay extra for the Dark Power just to be sure. With the 750W model I'd be futureproofed and also have very low PSU noise even with my current setup's highest loads. With more power-hungry components it will go up to 20 dB, allegedly.

 

[Wicket Fot]

No problem. I must add that I haven't conducted a temp torture test yet, although some kind people here advised me to. I think I was put off by there not being a torture test guide specifically for Linux, which is my OS. Maybe those cables are a bit of a problem after all. I wouldn't know. My idle temps seem fine, but they say idle temps are irrelevant.

Core 0:        +30.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1:        +28.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2:        +29.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3:        +29.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 4:        +29.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 5:        +29.0°C  (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

Adapter: ACPI interface
temp1:        +27.8°C  (crit = +105.0°C)

Adapter: PCI adapter
Composite:    +33.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +81.8°C)
                       (crit = +84.8°C)
Sensor 1:     +33.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
Sensor 2:     +40.9°C  (low  = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)

EDIT Also, I don't overclock my CPU, and I don't have a GPU. I did enable the XMP profile on my HyperX RAM.

 

[hyperreal]

I think your temps will be just fine, especially since you don't have a GPU. You can of course run the test if you want to be absolutely sure about temperatures (and noise!) in sustained high loads and if you can find the instructions. But with the NH-D15 as your cooler I don't think that you will run into any problems.

 

[Wicket Fot]

I think your temps will be just fine, especially since you don't have a GPU. You can of course run the test if you want to be absolutely sure about temperatures (and noise!) in sustained high loads and if you can find the instructions. But with the NH-D15 as your cooler I don't think that you will run into any problems.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the NH-D15, it wasn't available. I got a Dark Rock Pro 4 instead. Its noise levels and performance are very satisfactory.
I think I could have managed with a smaller cooler, but I didn't want to scrimp on this and then possibly worry about temps later.