Quietest PSU under hours of heavy load?

[StupidComputers]

I'm looking for what the title says, but trying not to break the bank. I game AAA titles (BFx, soon PUBG) for hours at a time.
At idle etc, I don't care about this semi-fanless/passive jazz as they produce a lot of heat and tend to cost more. If it's not noticeable against my HAF 932, R9 390 and technically NH-D15 (not noticeable lol) then it's quiet enough for me - AT IDLE.

The thing is everywhere I look everyone cares about how silent a PSU is, and the reviews add as and after thought if at all; for example with the EVGA 850 G3, after singing it's praises, "it’s that at really high load the fan supposedly gets a little louder than some competiting models." -ign. Supposedly? They didn't check, no one I've found does.
The reason I'm looking for a power supply? My trusty Antec ea750 is 8-10 years old, not a complaint in the world, until I'm gaming for about 15 minutes.. Even when it was new it gamed kinda loud, but now, oh man, I'm waiting for my ears to start bleeding,they already hurt. It drowns out the leaf blower 390. It pierces the surrounding walls..

So ya, I care mostly about prolonged heavy load usage noise. I can hit mute on the game sounds, or turn them down. I don't like having yelling conversations over my PSU roar. So I'm looking for as quiet as I can afford, basically not trying to help the roar of the 390 as I'm trying to toss that too, so let's ballpark $130+/- and.. 750W? I know I don't need it right now, but I might and it's better not to be pushing a PSU at it's limits, especially for hours at a time! Lol.. how is the antec still alive..

I hope some of you lovely people have first hand knowledge

i7 4790K w/ NH-D15
Asus max vii hero
XFX R9 390
HAF 932 (3x230mm fans+)
SSD+3HDD
PSU: ea750...for now

Oh on a side note, do PSUs normally drop much on black friday? I could wait.. maybe

Thanks !

 

[bjornl]

This will get you what you want:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html
Look for: LAMBDA-A++
under the NOISE category.

I'm very impressed with this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-Flagship-TITANIUM-SSR-850TD-Titanium/dp/B01HXYRMME
It is a model above the one I own.

This one is also super nice:
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-Titanium-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-650TD/dp/B01HXYRJYK

Good powersupplies rarely go on sale and rarer still would be a holiday sale on them. They are the sort of thing that is rarely an impulse buy and so sale prices do not do much to steer sales.

 

[mrmez]

Pretty much any PSU will be loud if pushed hard.
I'd suggest something along the lines of a Seasonic/EVGA/Tier 1 850w+.
It will never be pushed that hard, so the fans won't ramp up. Your 390 will definitely be the loudest.

 

[geofelt]

The quietest psu will be one where the fan does not turn.
Two ways to get this.

1. Look for more efficient units, gold/platinum/titanium
2. Overprovision the psu so it loafs.
It will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
A psu will usually be most efficient operating in the middle third of its range.
If you severely overprovision, the price is inefficiency.

I currently use a Seasonic X750. In the documentation, they warn not to be concerned if the fan does not run.
I do not know if it ever has to date.

In your case, the graphics card will likely be the main offender.
R9 cards are power hungry and will need their fans to spin up under load.

Black Friday sales seem to be good for obsolete/old stock.
I have noticed that Seasonic seems to have good sales around this time of the year.

 

[StupidComputers]

The quietest psu will be one where the fan does not turn.
Two ways to get this.

1. Look for more efficient units, gold/platinum/titanium
2. Overprovision the psu so it loafs.
It will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
A psu will usually be most efficient operating in the middle third of its range.
If you severely overprovision, the price is inefficiency.

I currently use a Seasonic X750. In the documentation, they warn not to be concerned if the fan does not run.
I do not know if it ever has to date.

In your case, the graphics card will likely be the main offender.
R9 cards are power hungry and will need their fans to spin up under load.

Black Friday sales seem to be good for obsolete/old stock.
I have noticed that Seasonic seems to have good sales around this time of the year.

Overprovisioning was my thinking but beyond 850 is too expensive. What is third range, 50-75%?

I can't find the X750, just the G https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&cm_re=Seasonic_X750-_-17-151-132-_-Product (altho seeing the url it says x750 but partpicker says KM3 not this RM) and the best reviews say quiet until near full load, others say failed soon and one says exploded . I know it's seasonic, but there's another of their 750s with a 1 year warranty $10 cheaper that looks just horrible. In the reviews of the G/X? 750 it talks about the "FOCUS" with a 10 year warranty.. can't find that either.. EDIT: found it 5 seconds after on newegg but thru partpicker, didn't come up in the search.. oh well looks good so far - reading..

You're right about the older tech, I don't need this year's model. But between the random sales, I think once I have a couple of choices I'll jump on the first decent discount I see. I almost bought the EVGA G3 a few days back at like $40 off $130 or something, before I read that it was louder at load - phew!

 

[cryoburner]

To add to that first reply, the LAMBDA rating is done by a company called Cybenetics, who test PSUs for both efficiency and noise. You can find their database here, and can switch between a chart covering efficiency levels (ETA), and another covering noise levels (LAMBDA).

Note that if you click through to a set of power supplies in the database, you can bring up a PDF report for each one that lists more information, including graphs detailing of how loud and how efficient the PSU is at any load level throughout its range. For example, here's a report for the 550 watt Seasonic SSR-550FX, which has been rated ETA-B for efficiency, and LAMBDA-A+ for noise levels.

The only thing is that this certification program is newer and not anywhere near as widespread as the 80 Plus program, so many PSUs won't have a rating from them.

 

[StupidComputers]

To add to that first reply, the LAMBDA rating is done by a company called Cybenetics, who test PSUs for both efficiency and noise. You can find their database here, and can switch between a chart covering efficiency levels (ETA), and another covering noise levels (LAMBDA).

Note that if you click through to a set of power supplies in the database, you can bring up a PDF report for each one that lists more information, including graphs detailing of how loud and how efficient the PSU is at any load level throughout its range. For example, here's a report for the 550 watt Seasonic SSR-550FX, which has been rated ETA-B for efficiency, and LAMBDA-A+ for noise levels.

The only thing is that this certification program is newer and not anywhere near as widespread as the 80 Plus program, so many PSUs won't have a rating from them.

Thanks, I saw that the other day, it's good though missing many PSUs. There are also varying results between them and others, including Tom's

 

[Darkbreeze]

Probably it's also worth mentioning that if it's a unit with a good LAMBDA rating, much as with 80plus certification ratings, that is not on anybody's radar as far as having reviewed well and being an already exceptional unit, you probably shouldn't allow much weight for what their ratings do or do not say.

Plenty of piss poor power supplies out there with very good 80plus ratings, all the way up to titanium rated units, that I wouldn't trust to keep an LED bulb lit. I'm sure there are similar discrepancies in regard to the LAMBDA ratings as well.

It doesn't matter how quiet a unit is, or how efficiently they run, if they don't also offer high quality that lasts. Titanium efficiency in a unit that only lasts six days probably isn't a good purchase.

 

[StupidComputers]

Probably it's also worth mentioning that if it's a unit with a good LAMBDA rating, much as with 80plus certification ratings, that is not on anybody's radar as far as having reviewed well and being an already exceptional unit, you probably shouldn't allow much weight for what their ratings do or do not say.

Plenty of piss poor power supplies out there with very good 80plus ratings, all the way up to titanium rated units, that I wouldn't trust to keep an LED bulb lit. I'm sure there are similar discrepancies in regard to the LAMBDA ratings as well.

It doesn't matter how quiet a unit is, or how efficiently they run, if they don't also offer high quality that lasts. Titanium efficiency in a unit that only lasts six days probably isn't a good purchase.

All very true I find that many units with great press have too many verified customers who's reviews reviews say the unit failed, often taking a more expensive component with it. One Corsair like that which I had my eye on I believe also had feedback that said it exploded lol. On it's own, a freak accident MAYBE, but it was just the worst of the experiences.

 

[jankerson]

The quietest psu will be one where the fan does not turn.
Two ways to get this.

1. Look for more efficient units, gold/platinum/titanium
2. Overprovision the psu so it loafs.
It will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
A psu will usually be most efficient operating in the middle third of its range.
If you severely overprovision, the price is inefficiency.

I currently use a Seasonic X750. In the documentation, they warn not to be concerned if the fan does not run.
I do not know if it ever has to date.

In your case, the graphics card will likely be the main offender.
R9 cards are power hungry and will need their fans to spin up under load.

Black Friday sales seem to be good for obsolete/old stock.
I have noticed that Seasonic seems to have good sales around this time of the year.

Overprovisioning was my thinking but beyond 850 is too expensive. What is third range, 50-75%?

I can't find the X750, just the G https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&cm_re=Seasonic_X750-_-17-151-132-_-Product (altho seeing the url it says x750 but partpicker says KM3 not this RM) and the best reviews say quiet until near full load, others say failed soon and one says exploded . I know it's seasonic, but there's another of their 750s with a 1 year warranty $10 cheaper that looks just horrible. In the reviews of the G/X? 750 it talks about the "FOCUS" with a 10 year warranty.. can't find that either.. EDIT: found it 5 seconds after on newegg but thru partpicker, didn't come up in the search.. oh well looks good so far - reading..

You're right about the older tech, I don't need this year's model. But between the random sales, I think once I have a couple of choices I'll jump on the first decent discount I see. I almost bought the EVGA G3 a few days back at like $40 off $130 or something, before I read that it was louder at load - phew!

The Seasonic X-Series is getting harder to find these days, I am running an X-650W and never heard the fan yet.

I would say the Prime Series would be the best bet, either a 650W or 750W Seasonic Prime Gold (Comes in GD, P, and Ti).

Also I just got a Seasonic G-550W but it's too early to tell, but it is very quiet from what I have seen so far. Ran Valley for an hour and a few other tests to load the system.

Just transferred my old I7 870 machine with an RX 480 into a new case (Old one was 12 YO) and replaced the Seasonic M12II 620W (7+ YO) with the Seasonic G-550W.

 

[StupidComputers]

The quietest psu will be one where the fan does not turn.
Two ways to get this.

1. Look for more efficient units, gold/platinum/titanium
2. Overprovision the psu so it loafs.
It will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
A psu will usually be most efficient operating in the middle third of its range.
If you severely overprovision, the price is inefficiency.

I currently use a Seasonic X750. In the documentation, they warn not to be concerned if the fan does not run.
I do not know if it ever has to date.

In your case, the graphics card will likely be the main offender.
R9 cards are power hungry and will need their fans to spin up under load.

Black Friday sales seem to be good for obsolete/old stock.
I have noticed that Seasonic seems to have good sales around this time of the year.

Overprovisioning was my thinking but beyond 850 is too expensive. What is third range, 50-75%?

I can't find the X750, just the G https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&cm_re=Seasonic_X750-_-17-151-132-_-Product (altho seeing the url it says x750 but partpicker says KM3 not this RM) and the best reviews say quiet until near full load, others say failed soon and one says exploded . I know it's seasonic, but there's another of their 750s with a 1 year warranty $10 cheaper that looks just horrible. In the reviews of the G/X? 750 it talks about the "FOCUS" with a 10 year warranty.. can't find that either.. EDIT: found it 5 seconds after on newegg but thru partpicker, didn't come up in the search.. oh well looks good so far - reading..

You're right about the older tech, I don't need this year's model. But between the random sales, I think once I have a couple of choices I'll jump on the first decent discount I see. I almost bought the EVGA G3 a few days back at like $40 off $130 or something, before I read that it was louder at load - phew!

The Seasonic X-Series is getting harder to find these days, I am running an X-650W and never heard the fan yet.

I would say the Prime Series would be the best bet, either a 650W or 750W Seasonic Prime Gold (Comes in GD, P, and Ti).

Also I just got a Seasonic G-550W but it's too early to tell, but it is very quiet from what I have seen so far. Ran Valley for an hour and a few other tests to load the system.

Just transferred my old I7 870 machine with an RX 480 into a new case (Old one was 12 YO) and replaced the Seasonic M12II 620W (7+ YO) with the Seasonic G-550W.

I've read good things about Seasonic but also that at high load they are quite loud. Altho the GW i haven't read about or been able to find for sale.

The rx480 won't push it like the 390 wil - too bad, for me 😉 I do so like first hand experience

 

[jankerson]

The quietest psu will be one where the fan does not turn.
Two ways to get this.

1. Look for more efficient units, gold/platinum/titanium
2. Overprovision the psu so it loafs.
It will only consume the wattage demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.
A psu will usually be most efficient operating in the middle third of its range.
If you severely overprovision, the price is inefficiency.

I currently use a Seasonic X750. In the documentation, they warn not to be concerned if the fan does not run.
I do not know if it ever has to date.

In your case, the graphics card will likely be the main offender.
R9 cards are power hungry and will need their fans to spin up under load.

Black Friday sales seem to be good for obsolete/old stock.
I have noticed that Seasonic seems to have good sales around this time of the year.

Overprovisioning was my thinking but beyond 850 is too expensive. What is third range, 50-75%?

I can't find the X750, just the G https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151132&cm_re=Seasonic_X750-_-17-151-132-_-Product (altho seeing the url it says x750 but partpicker says KM3 not this RM) and the best reviews say quiet until near full load, others say failed soon and one says exploded . I know it's seasonic, but there's another of their 750s with a 1 year warranty $10 cheaper that looks just horrible. In the reviews of the G/X? 750 it talks about the "FOCUS" with a 10 year warranty.. can't find that either.. EDIT: found it 5 seconds after on newegg but thru partpicker, didn't come up in the search.. oh well looks good so far - reading..

You're right about the older tech, I don't need this year's model. But between the random sales, I think once I have a couple of choices I'll jump on the first decent discount I see. I almost bought the EVGA G3 a few days back at like $40 off $130 or something, before I read that it was louder at load - phew!

The Seasonic X-Series is getting harder to find these days, I am running an X-650W and never heard the fan yet.

I would say the Prime Series would be the best bet, either a 650W or 750W Seasonic Prime Gold (Comes in GD, P, and Ti).

Also I just got a Seasonic G-550W but it's too early to tell, but it is very quiet from what I have seen so far. Ran Valley for an hour and a few other tests to load the system.

Just transferred my old I7 870 machine with an RX 480 into a new case (Old one was 12 YO) and replaced the Seasonic M12II 620W (7+ YO) with the Seasonic G-550W.

I've read good things about Seasonic but also that at high load they are quite loud. Altho the GW i haven't read about or been able to find for sale.

The rx480 won't push it like the 390 wil - too bad, for me 😉 I do so like first hand experience

I know the X-Series is quiet, and the Prime Series also.

I recommend the Prime series, the Prime Gold 650W is very reasonable price wise.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $94.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-28 10:51 EDT-0400

The Prime Gold 750W is more, not on sale etc.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($121.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $121.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-28 10:53 EDT-0400

 

[Karadjgne]

You have an R9 390. If pushed hard under gaming loads it'll be almost impossible to tell or even hear a decent psu over the racket that card makes, so psu fan volume is almost pointless unless you shortchanged the wattage and are driving the psu close to maximum output.

As is, the R9 390 recommends a decent 650w psu, so something decent in the 750w range, such as an Evga G2/3, Seasonic Focus series, Corsair RMx etc will be more than enough to be almost dead silent under gaming loads.

 

[Darkbreeze]

^^^^This.

 

[StupidComputers]

You have an R9 390. If pushed hard under gaming loads it'll be almost impossible to tell or even hear a decent psu over the racket that card makes, so psu fan volume is almost pointless unless you shortchanged the wattage and are driving the psu close to maximum output.

As is, the R9 390 recommends a decent 650w psu, so something decent in the 750w range, such as an Evga G2/3, Seasonic Focus series, Corsair RMx etc will be more than enough to be almost dead silent under gaming loads.

That has crossed my mind, but it's hard to imagine given the current noise levels. I also plan on replacing this card soon, so it won't be there to cover for the PSU. Probably end up with a pair as most things run a bit over half the power req of a 390.

The problem I'm noticing is that at the high end of load, where the majority never get, power supplies get loud, but to varying degrees no one seems to compare. Cybenetics doesn't have a lot of power supplies tested. What they do shows large increases in noise the higher up you go.. Like seasonic had my eye but high load noise is higher than most, same with evga, At the moment is seems like corsair is the only option - which apparently they know as it's reflected in the price.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

You have an R9 390. If pushed hard under gaming loads it'll be almost impossible to tell or even hear a decent psu over the racket that card makes, so psu fan volume is almost pointless unless you shortchanged the wattage and are driving the psu close to maximum output.

As is, the R9 390 recommends a decent 650w psu, so something decent in the 750w range, such as an Evga G2/3, Seasonic Focus series, Corsair RMx etc will be more than enough to be almost dead silent under gaming loads.

Yup, this ^^

While the fans will probably start spinning on those under load, you won't hear them because your R9 card will be a lot more noisy.

 

[Karadjgne]

I have an Evga G2 550w pushing a i7-3770k at 4.6GHz and a very quiet Asus gtx970 at 124%OC. If I actually do push the pc to high limits, between my case fans, gpu fans, aio fans, I'm saying with absolute certainty I cannot hear the psu. At all.

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

I have an Evga G2 550w pushing a i7-3770k at 4.6GHz and a very quiet Asus gtx970 at 124%OC. If I actually do push the pc to high limits, between my case fans, gpu fans, aio fans, I'm saying with absolute certainty I cannot hear the psu. At all.

Yeah, with my system as seen in my signature, the most noisy fans are those on the Corsair cooler. Even in idle with the fans running 900RPM they are more noisy than my GPU if i ramp GPU fans up to 100%. My Corsair RMx fans, I wont hear under load.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Plus, if you go with a power supply that is approximately 20-30% above what your system actually requires, you will tend to not often reach that point where the power supply has a need to be running the fan at full speed.

For me, I like to go with about 25% larger capacity than what the actual recommendation is. This is one issue with people who like to make recommendations based STRICTLY on only what the system will actually pull from the socket. Yes, you can do that. Yes, it will probably sound like the PSU is trying to escape the runway when it's under a long duration taxing load. Go big, with as high of an efficiency (On a unit that aside from efficiency is a proven very good platform) as you can afford and you'll have far less chance of sound from the PSU being an issue of any kind so long as there are fans located elsewhere in the system.

Similar to what Karadjgne said, in my system, when there is a long, big load, there is no possible way I could hear the PSU fan over the sound of my four case fans, my CPU cooler fan and my GPU card fans. And all my fans except my GPU card fans are Noctua's, so they are pretty quiet in comparison to the majority of fans out there.

Even so, with four of them running full bore, plus the CPU and GPU fans, no chance, at all, of hearing my PSU which is a G2 750w.

 

[StupidComputers]

Plus, if you go with a power supply that is approximately 20-30% above what your system actually requires, you will tend to not often reach that point where the power supply has a need to be running the fan at full speed.

For me, I like to go with about 25% larger capacity than what the actual recommendation is. This is one issue with people who like to make recommendations based STRICTLY on only what the system will actually pull from the socket. Yes, you can do that. Yes, it will probably sound like the PSU is trying to escape the runway when it's under a long duration taxing load. Go big, with as high of an efficiency (On a unit that aside from efficiency is a proven very good platform) as you can afford and you'll have far less chance of sound from the PSU being an issue of any kind so long as there are fans located elsewhere in the system.

Similar to what Karadjgne said, in my system, when there is a long, big load, there is no possible way I could hear the PSU fan over the sound of my four case fans, my CPU cooler fan and my GPU card fans. And all my fans except my GPU card fans are Noctua's, so they are pretty quiet in comparison to the majority of fans out there.

Even so, with four of them running full bore, plus the CPU and GPU fans, no chance, at all, of hearing my PSU which is a G2 750w.

Ya I realized I was jaded by an abnormally loud old PSU and by the memory of it being kinda loud new. I was going to go with the Corsair rm550x which is wildly silent but decided on the hx750, which is little louder, even at the same draw, but still with my case fans and leafblower GPU (at present anyway) I doubt I'll hear it, and it won't get up to high envelope load til there's another GPU and then.. well that's alot of GPU fans.

 

[leigh76]

Id just go for something like a Corsair RM 1000

I've had one for about 3 years and the fan has only ever spun once, when I was REALLY benchmarking

The reason why reviewers don't mention PSU noise as much as previously is because these days Smart/Silent PSU's are the norm.

Any day to day noise from a PSU is drowned out by GPU's usually

You should not settle for less than a 80+,modular, silent & overpowered PSU.


PS: as mentioned above by someone.....
I'm 99% certain its your GPU or CPU fans you are hearing NOT the PSU.
If your PSU fan was running all the time on that unit....there would be a major power problem.

PPS: My system is watercooled and I only ever hear my case fans...which are on min.....unless I am not gaming...then I turn them off

#MR PASSIVE COOLED PC lol

 

[Darkbreeze]

Being over by enough to avoid unnecessary noise is one thing, having double the amount of power you really need is maybe a bit more than necessary.

This unit is plenty, over by enough to not allow it to tend to go full fan often without other factors being involved, and has all the other features you generally want to see as well. Probably the best unit you can actually get for under a hundred bucks after you factor in any tax and shipping costs and most especially, without any kind of rebates. This price is WITH shipping already included.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($86.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $86.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-29 13:28 EDT-0400

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

^^ Agree on that. Very good PSU for the money.

 

[leigh76]

Seasonic are a very well respected brand

 

[Karadjgne]

And other choices...
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.89 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: BitFenix - Whisper M 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.89 @ OutletPC)