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Thread: Cheapest and quietest PSU?

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    Cheapest and quietest PSU?

    Hey guys, looking for a cheap and quiet psu! What do you think to this one?

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=136445

    My budget is really capped at £30 max. Anyone got anything to sell 2nd hand at all?

    Kev

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Anything that claims to be 500w and is less than £20 is simply asking for trouble. I don't know what rig you are planning to run it on, but the worst thing you can skimp on is a PSU - getting a bad one can lead to a whole host of problems.

    I'd recommend looking seriously at what your power requirements are - in all honesty - if you get a good psu - you wont need a 500w one. Brands to look out for are Tagan/Seasonic or alternatively Hiper - though they did have quality control issues at one point.

    Therefore on your budget you would be best off looking in the FS forum, and see if anyone is selling their old powersupply, as you would need to increase your budget to get anything of quality, above say 330w - if your computer needs that.

    Otherwise something like this may be more suitable

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    Avoid the one you've linked to - I wouldn't trust it - I'm seconding dave87's comments.

    Add Fortron/FSP to your list in addition to the ones dave87's mentioned. Fortron make solid psu's and one should fall in the price bracket you're looking at.

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    alrite guys, well i only really need 300-400w tbh. Can you comment on how quiet these so called silent psu's are?

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Something with a 80mm fan in it will be louder pushing the same amount of air as something with a 120mm fan - but in all honesty unless you have all your case fans 7v modded (yate loons and the like) then you really won't notice a difference in noise levels (unless you had something like a fanless psu before - or something that sounded like a tornado )

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    Quote Originally Posted by dave87
    Something with a 80mm fan in it will be louder pushing the same amount of air as something with a 120mm fan - but in all honesty unless you have all your case fans 7v modded (yate loons and the like) then you really won't notice a difference in noise levels (unless you had something like a fanless psu before - or something that sounded like a tornado )
    yeh, thanks dave- i'm under the impression my cpu fan is louder than my psu

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    Senior Member Dark Horse's Avatar
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    Generally they will be inaudible rather than silent. It does depend on how much you push them though as the more work a psu does, the hotter it gets.

    Have a look at this 350w fsp supply:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=271183

    £32 so decently priced.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Horse
    Generally they will be inaudible rather than silent. It does depend on how much you push them though as the more work a psu does, the hotter it gets.

    Have a look at this 350w fsp supply:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=271183

    £32 so decently priced.
    thnks for the reco dark horse

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    Seasonic S12 are supposed to be very quiet. Basically, if you're into silence like silentpcreview.com people then the Seasonic should be ok. I don't have experience of Tagan psu's.

    If you want real quietness then you may have to do a fan swap - I would only do this on a second hand psu, not a new one as the warranty is void.

    I have an older Tornado 400 and did a fan swap, broke the fan connector in the psu and then ran the fan off a fanmate. The existing fan was a sleeve bearing Yate Loon which was just a teeny weeny bit louder than what I wanted.

    I've done fan swaps on the Fortrons I've owned as the standard fans were too loud.

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    • amjedm's system
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      • Graphics card(s):
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      • PSU:
      • Enermax Noisetaker 485 (fanless) - lower chamber P180 fan doing the PSU cooling
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      • P180 (modded - easier cable routing, front and rear grills cut)
      • Operating System:
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    Quote Originally Posted by themaidenmaniac
    thnks for the reco dark horse
    If you're thinking of going for the one Dark Horse has recommended then ask what the cable lengths are in the FSP forum.

    I installed the 300 watt Blue Storm in a case and the main ATX cable was very very short. The only way it reached the motherboard was with the 24pin to 20pin adaptor - the psu was 24 pin and the motherboard 20pin so the adaptor was quite handy.

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by amjedm
    Seasonic S12 are supposed to be very quiet. Basically, if you're into silence like silentpcreview.com people then the Seasonic should be ok. I don't have experience of Tagan psu's.

    If you want real quietness then you may have to do a fan swap - I would only do this on a second hand psu, not a new one as the warranty is void.
    Yup, definately true, I've got a 500w S12 in my rig and it has been perfect, though it is slightly outside your budget. The fan swap is a good idea, as long as you know what you are doing and are careful, otherwise it can be dangerous *voltages inside PSUs can KILL*

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    Cheap and quiet don't go together when buying a PSU.

    Seasonic is ace at being very quiet.

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    hmmm i would avoid fan swaps and just get a psu that has been designed to be quiet

    you dont really have any way of knowing how much stress youre putting on it and there are usually lots of expensive bits attached to a psu that you dont want it to take down with it

    you can read the stuff theyve put up on silentpc but every computer, case and room is different so you cant guarantee yours will work as well as theirs

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Well there's one cheapish one I'd recommend, the XClio hi-end 480W (or 550W) super-silent.

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=156689

    It's actually an Antec unit (just the 480/550W ones) so pretty good. Wait for it to come on today only as there are big discounts to be had.

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    Tastes like chicken leeglf's Avatar
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    i use one of these to power my system never ever had a problem with it and i would consider my system to be almost high spec!
    and for £24.55 you cant go wrong.

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=256346


    PSN ID = leeglf

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