[sdheda]

I am looking for a quiet PSU, and have narrowed it down to the Seasonic S-12 and the Antec Phantom. The problem is that most of the bad reviews on newegg have been that either the PSU was DOA or that it stopped working after a few hours.

I would just like to hear the experiences that others have had this these PSU. Also if there are more reliable ones, please tell me.

 

[Computerpro3]

go with the s12. Trust me, power supplies are my area of expertise (author of power supply guides and stickies on hardforums and xtremesystems). The antec simply isn't anywhere near as beefy on the internals; it can't be because it's fanless.

 

[t10]

I am using fanless Silverstone ST30NF for my always on fanless, watercooled workstation at home. Uptime of the ST30NF is over a year now, no complaints really, and pure silence.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article185-page1.html

For my HTPC I replaced my shuttle's PSU fans with 11dBa SilenX ones and I am just as impressed, impossible to hear it even at nite behind the closed glass, and runs quite a lot cooler than ST30NF of corse.

 

[Computerpro3]

To be honest instead of making blanket reccomendations I think it's time we find out what he's powering.

So, what are the componets in your rig?

 

[lini]

I don't really recommend those totally fanless power supplies for high performance systems - but they can work quite well for less power hungry configurations. Models like the aforementioned 300 W Silverstone get insanely hot, if the power consumption of the system comes close to the maximum of the power supply, but could be very well used for powering something like a Pentium M system with a middle class graphics card without getting to warm. It should also work for quite a few Athlon 64 systems.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[sdheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Computerpro3 To be honest instead of making blanket reccomendations I think it's time we find out what he's powering. So, what are the componets in your rig?

Here's my setup:
3.0GHz P4 Prescott on a Gigabyte motherboard (can't remember which one)
2 x 512MB Kingston HyperX memory
3 x 160GB hard drives
ATI x800 Pro
NEC DVD Burner

That should cover all the important things. I don't think a 300W power supply will be enough.

Please note that I want something that I can use when I upgrade, which I hope will be later this year.

Edit: I forgot to mention that my current PSU is a Thermaltake 480W Silent Purepower and that all my case fans including my CPU fan are Cooler Master fans rated at 13dB. (I did not hear about SilenX until after I bought these, but they are quiet.) I am using a Thermaltake CL-P0024 Copper Cooling Heatsink.

 

[Computerpro3]

for that I can reccomend a silenx 600w psu. It is significantly quiter and more high quality than the seasonic, but pricy.

http://www.silenxusa.com/productcart...=3&idproduct=9

36 real amps on the 12v rail will hold all your future upgrades taken care of.

The 520w would also work.

 

[fjf]

I have a seasonic, great silent PSU. More info: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article28-page1.html

 

[Bones13]

I chose the S12 based on recommendations from SilentPCReviews. The case that I use is one of the "upside down" cases, and the PS is on the bottom, and the hot case gasses are not run thru the PS. In my set up the PS is absolutely noiseless. I felt that one of the fanless PS would radiate all the heat up into my case. The 430 version runs my system with AMD X2 4400+, ATI X800XL, DVD, 2 hard disks, and the EMU without a sweat.

I am kinda leary of the fanless PSUs unless I were certain that the case would both allow adequate radiation of the heat out of the PSU and had adequate ventilation for the case (AKA good air movement and probably a good Nexus 120 case exit fan.) And I would probably overbuy the fanless PSU so as to not be operating at the upper reaches of the beast.

 

[sdheda]

Last night I decided to update my BIOS. So I run the program that automatically gets the BIOS update and installs it. As it was installing it my computer restarted and now it won't even go through memory check.

My motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-8KNXP, so if somebody has any suggestions on how I can fix it please tell me.

In the meantime I was looking at two options if I can't fix it:
1. New motherboard: ASUS P4P800-E DELUXE
2. Switch to SSF: Shuttle XPC SB61G2BV4

I mostly watch movies and listen to music on my computer so I don't think that upgrading to an Athlon X2 would be that wise.

I am currently leaning towards the Shuttle, so if anybody has other suggestions please let me know.

 

[lini]

sdheda: Sometimes it's just a hiccup - turn off the system completely, remove the power cord, open it, locate the clear cmos jumper on the board and short it for a couple of seconds - then reassemble the system and see if you can enter the BIOS setup and load the default settings.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini