SilverStone's NightJar 520W PSU is Fanless

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Quarkzquarkz

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Listen, for those who are dying to know just how 'fanless' works, it's nothing but a series of heat sinks consisting of very thin and flat plates of conductive metal such as copper and/or aluminum alloys.

For maximum efficiency, the configuration of these are laid out in a fan shape or fin shape depending on the manufacturer to basically 'wick' away heat. The way it's configured will usually determine the amount of heat that is displaced.

Lastly, more caution should be emphasized on the placement of the PSU because trapped heat will definitely affect it on a greater scale. For those who aren't strapped down by cash and/or sensitivity, then this might be a suitable alternative!
 

joraph

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This will definitely increases the temperature of the system..
& How long do you think that this can function properly without a fan.
 

Smallfilou

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Well Tom, that one was almost correct! The nightjar series is quite ancient actually. I have one in my current build (Core 2 Extreme, 2007) that is called SST-ST50NF: 500W, also passive cooling.

Only major difference: it was only 80plus bronze certified. But for an ultrasilent build in a big case, just perfect! No longevity issues as the components used are top shelf only (japanese 105° capacitors...) and of course there is always thermal protection (even with overclocked qx9650 in mid-summer, I never had a problem).

BTW, no, definitely not cheap, around 140 Euros (should be approximately 150 USD) at the time.
 
It's just a re-badged Seasonic Platinum-520 Fanless (SS-520FL2 Active PFC F3). The only difference is the color of the shell and the brand name slapped on it.

Seasonic's version sells for around $140 US and has a 7 Year Warranty. SilverStone usually doesn't offer any more than a 5 Year Warranty at most.
 

mortsmi7

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This will definitely increases the temperature of the system..
& How long do you think that this can function properly without a fan.
I have a PC Power & Cooling fanless 750w psu, it's 8+ years old and has no problems.
 
To all the people who think it will not last because it lacks a fan.

1. It will use case air flow + convection. Convection alone should work as long as the case has plenty of space for the hot air to rise.
2. Does your stereo die because of a lack of a fan?(I know some still have one) Old stereos lasted for years(and this was with VERY low efficiency linear power supplies.). On top of this, the amp was dumping its heat into the system as well.

These are certainly not to everyone, but I do not think they would design them to die.
 

g-unit1111

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Nice! HTPC enthusiasts will be happy.

I'd love to get one of these for my HTPC. The bad thing is I know that the previous generation of Nightjar was ridiculously overpriced. They went for something like $200 for the 500W model and $250 for the 600W model. I hope Silverstone prices these competitively.
 

BranFlake5

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I like Corsair power supplies like the Ax Series. They don't spin the fan at low loads, and at high loads they're still quiet. Considering this will cost upwards of $150, why not consider an AX power supply.

Also, I think other companies have PSUs like this, Corsair just came to mind first.
 

danwat1234

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Well, laptop AC adapters, even gaming/workstation laptop AC adapter that are 120, 180, 240 watts are all fanless. Nowdays they are rated 'V' which I believe means something like 87% efficiency on average and good Power Factor. Ones a few years ago were 'IV' so about 85% efficiency.

They work fine and usually don't fail unless you're like me and put the adapter on the carpet while the laptop is number crunching on the GPU and CPU. The particular one I abused this way was at about 170 Fahrenheit on the plastic casing most of the time, lasted a few month though nearly 24/7. Nowdays I put it on a hardcover book.
The power supply I'm sure has temperature safe guards and passive air flow would help greatly.
 

jaxwins

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I have tested few pieces from previous version, and those PSU`s are very lound even on low system load. On high load, buzzing is anoying, something like plasma tv buzz.
 

bill@micros0ft

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I've had 3 nightjars fail on me, of which 2 of them just outside warranty - so no, thank you - no more Silverstone nightjar for me. I'll take seasonic over them any day.
 
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