Widescreen Gaming Forum

Antec makes one of the few obtainable totally passive psus: the phantom 350.

It has a 500W version but that one has a fan, that runs 'supposedly' only when needed, I've seen reports of it being a bit loud when it does though.

Right now I'm using a corsair HX620 and it's large fan is very very quiest, certainly more so then any 80mm standard type ones.

I'd say looking for a 120mm+ good quality/brand is about all you need to look for. Typically cpu, case and video fans are a lot noisier.

-edit- Amraam might be worth getting it just in case. I use the 4pin non-modular cable with my p180spcr and it's a very tight run. My mobo has it at the top left corner though, so it couldn't be any further.

[quote]hey guys, i've heard of adaptive PSU that turn of the PSU when idle or under a minim load like browsing the net, and when under heavy load such as playing graphic intensive games it fires up the PSU fan....i think Antec has some of those PSUs? and i'd like to get a quiet PSU(when the fan is on), what brand should i be looking into for this kind of adaptive PSU? 650/700w is sufficient enough for me.

i'm running Core 2 EXtreme (QX6850), 8800GTX, 4GB RAM, 2 DVD writers, 750GB HDD.

No psu turns itself off, since it would turn off the machine at the same time. You are probably thinking of the fan?:)

If you want a silent PSU, best place to look for one that actually are silent are:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=6&sid=d94711b76c7ab7f1898b926525d52428
They value silence above all!

If you get a good PSU, you don't need so much W for your setup. Check out the Corsair PSU finder:

http://www.corsair.com/psufinder/default.aspx

oops, sorry i meant turn off the fan : ...i was half asleep when i posted that message.

oops, sorry i meant turn off the fan : ...i was half asleep when i posted that message.

I had a feeling thats what you ment. :lol:

I know how you feel. I've edited posts a couple of times when I was going to reply on them. Quote and edit is too close on the mod tools when tired. :lol:

Its been awhile since this was written and its probably time for some minor updates. I am open for any input anybody would like to share for the guide. Just PM me and I will read over and add if relevant and of course give credit to you for your contribution.

Please give links to articles or guides/specs ect to backup anything you want to add so I can make sure we only share and post facts.

Any negative thoughts about this PSU?
AXP Supernova 800W


http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/axp-supernova-1000w-and-800w/

Any negative thoughts about this PSU?
AXP Supernova 800W

[img]http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/images/AXP-Power/AXP-Power.jpg[img]
http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/axp-supernova-1000w-and-800w/

Not exactly a negative but I really dont see a reason to get that over a higher quality PSU. The only thing that it has going for it imo is the looks, the black mirror finish with the braided cables and alien-esk plugs but thats no reason to buy it over anything else.

depending what you want i think my preference of PSU atm...

PC PnC 860w

Corsair/ Seasonic 700w ish...

only because i havent had much experience with other brands other than OCZ (which was bad for the PSU, and slow for service) and thermaltake (which was bad for the PSU).

but the PC PnC doesnt come cheap, or quietly

Pumps a little bit of life into this old topic, this is the best PSU calculator I know of, extremely detailed and normally kept fairly up to date:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

As with all PSU calculators while the value may be fairly accurate its a baseline power for your system, any PSU you get should always proved more power then max your system can use, not lots more, but enough to account for component and PSU ageing (PSU ageing is actually accounted for in calculator, see note 4 at the bottom of the page) as well as having some wiggle room if you plan to upgrade later.

this calculator is nice however the 90% recommended system load seems a bit high to me
rarely will all your components draw power all at once

therefore I wouldn't recommend going much higher than what they suggest unless you're planning for big changes like adding a second GTX480 or something like that, but then you should account for possible upgrades in your initial build plan anyway...

Some PSUs i have personally tried running 3 x GTX 480 (all certified by Nvidia) :

Mtek MF1200 - I cant recommend it, after 4 minutes running furmark i.e. (multi GPU) it shuts down my PC. :nudgenudge

Thermaltake ThoughPower 1200 - Excellent PSU, silent. :)

PC Power & Cooling (OCZ) Turbo-Cool 1200 - Excellent PSU, a bit noisy. Anyway it looks to me an absolutely future-proof hardware.:)

Just wanted to update the PSU sticky based on the current hardware...

Corsair AX series and Seasonic X series (currently only 400 and 460w fanless, 650w and 750w with fan) are current top of the pile.

PSU's with the DC > DC conversion for the lesser 5v and 3.3v rails are the way to go in terms of voltage regulation and efficiency (read as heat and cost of running the PC), and the PSU's with 95% plus of the capacity available to 12v are generally much better than before.

What I have said doesn't mean you should all run out and buy new power supplies as the old ones are now rubbish, and of course it also doesn't mean that anything other than what I have said is good. Anything by Corsair, Seasonic should be good, but Seasonic actually makes a lot of PSU's for people, so with a little research you can save a lot of problems down the road!

I've been using my Corsair hx850w for about 5 months now, and it's been fantastic. The currents never deviate more than 3%. And oh so quiet.

Well most psu companies just sell rebrands, like Gilly said too.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/psu_manufacturers

This list is fairly up to date too on what is what and what is good.