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| 5/24 |
| 2005/4/20-21 [Science/Disaster, Science/Electric] UID:37274 Activity:kinda low |
4/19 I went to Fry's today and got a new 300W PC power supply. It is 80%
PSU efficient (compared to the industry average of 68%), and 99% PFC
active power correction. Unlike my previous power supply, it is very
cool, and best of all, it is NEAR SILENT! At 22db, the only thing I
can hear is my faint pitched HD. If you ever want a near silent PC,
I highly recommend Seasonic, model Super Tornado (120mm fanpower).
It's a bit costly, at $45, but if you like silence, it is worth it.
\_ Wow, you bought something from Fry's that will actually shutup.
Too bad the same can't be said of their salespeople.
\_ Fry's used to be a cool place when I bought my first PC 15 years
ago.
\_ Thanks. Go to http://silentpcreview.com and click on Power Supplies
for a review of this. I blew > $100 for an Enermax on http://newegg.com
that's a few percent more efficient, 4 dB louder at idle (21dB),
is compliant with the 2.0 whatever, stays on for 2 minutes after
you shutdown (this is good actually), and tops out with more juice.
\_ http://silentpcreview.com/article107-page1.html
\_ Yeah, you happened to buy the quietest, non-passively cooled
power supply EVAR.
\_ 0Mg!!! this d00d r0x! d00d can play Quake without hearing
the annoying fan noise (like it matters). Lame.
\_ I second the Seasonic. I've gotten 3 of 'em (coupla Super Silencers
and a Super Tornado (which, contrary to its name, is actually
quieter than the Silencer)). I highly recommend them. Oh, and they
might be cheaper at Central Computer (Newark & San Jose) |
| 5/24 |
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| silentpcreview.com/article107-page1.html The Super Silencer 400 w as notable for its low noise and excellent efficiency, which measured 78 %, meeting Seasonic's claim. The Super Tornado is based on the same circuit topology. What is differen t is the use of a 120mm fan to increase airflow and cooling potential. T his does necessitate a host of mechanical changes, including reduced hei ght heatsinks and components to accommodate the 1" depth of the fan, a c ompletely different case and so on. This is not the first 120mm fan PSU to be reviewed at SPCR; Fortron-Source 120mm fan 350W Aurora rev iew published just a few days ago is the first. The name Tornado will probably raise the eyebrows of most silent PC enthu siasts. It does not inspire confidence about the noise level of this pow er supply. The idea Seasonic appear to have been trying to get across is t hat the 120mm fan has as much or more cooling power than the noisy multi ple-80mm fan PSUs which have become so common. There are at least 2 othe r models slated for release in the fall -- a 350W and a 400W model. As with the Super Silencer, the Super Tornado features a new box design t hat grabs your attention and sells you on its features. The main cover photo shows a stamped fan grill for the big120mm fan. This stamped grill is remarkable in that it really does not appear to pose a ny more airflow resistance than the wire grill preferred on better quali ty PSUs. and 8 f eature icons: 1) 120mm fan -- let's not beat this one into the ground... but one additi onal advantage claimed for this 120mm fan PSU is that in a tower case, t he stress on the bearing is more even, meaning that it should last longe r than axial fans mounted perpendicular to gravity (as with conventional 80mm fan PSUs).. and they're c laiming a noise level of 22 dBA, although no distance or power level is cited anywhere. In essence, it keeps a relatively powerful fan ru nning at extremely low speed until and unless a fairly high load and tem perature is reached. After that point, the rate of fan speed change foll ows an exponential curve so that the maximum RPM / airflow is saved for the highest load. In this way, the PSU runs very quietly under normal an d even fairly demanding loads, yet has the full cooling power of the fan when it is needed. The high AC/DC conversion efficiency is combined wit h Active Power Factor Correction for a PF of 099. This results in extre mely low energy waste, as explained in detail on the back of the box. In PSUs, this specification refers to how much power i s lost when converting AC voltage to DC voltage. Regardless, these are the highest efficiency numbers I have seen claimed for any PC PSU, except for the previously reviewed Su per Silencer 400. The most common number seen is 65%, with 70% being the "standard" number claimed for more high-end PSUs. This is a reference to more advanced circuitry that replaces the usual bridge rectifier circuit. I understand that it is wh at makes the high 78% / 80% efficiency possible. This refers to automatic AC input circuitry wh ich allows the unit to run without manual switching at any AC voltage fr om 100V to 240V. First seen in the Super Silencer 400, it's a cable manag ement kit consisting of a spiral cable cover made of translucent soft pl astic, a handful of zap-straps (locking cable ties) and a large cable mo unt. The image below from one of the box side panels tells the story. Th e parts themselves are commonplace in electronics parts stores, but its inclusion in the PSU package is unique. |
| silentpcreview.com Contributor Jan Kivar reports on using CrystalCP UID, a user-configurable substitute for Cool 'n' Quiet, with his Athlon A64 system. Version 43 of this advanced utility can work not only with Athlon 64s, but also Intel 600 series and the Pentium M processor, as we ll as the K6 and K7. Cool'n'Quiet A64 Motherboards have both undergone major updati ng. If you are shopping now for new quiet system components or need to u pgrade your motherboard, don't miss these reference articles. Thanks aga in to Joachim Kluge for his careful work on these detailed databases. Power Supply Funda mentals & Recommendations is the most well read article at SPCR since it s was first posted 25 years ago. Many new visitors don't realize it, bu t PSUs are core noise makers in computers, and this article tackles ever y aspect of PSU. Even if you have contributed to the >280,000 reads , give it yet another -- there's more there than ever before. Shuttle's first real BTX SFF system in their fir st steel chassis continues the somewhat larger trend started with their other socket T models. PCIe VGA, a BTX 80mm fan PSU and an actual Intel BTX HSF rather than the right angle heatpipe HS preferred by Shuttle -- all these make for a ground breaking SFF. News within SPCR It's our third birthday anniversary today. I recall telling someone back then that SPCR would probably dwindle down in about three years because by then, average com puters would be quiet enough to make the site unnecessary. We've come a long way since then, and SPCR probably helped to shape the p erceptions and perspective of both the users and makers of PC gear. Acou stics is paid at least lip service by just about every computer gear bra nd today, and there are so many more real choices for noise-conscious en d users than could be fantasized three years ago. But there's a long way to go before mainstream computers and components a re built with benign acoustics as a primary design goal. And there is wo rk to be done in creating a sound specification and reporting convention that is accurately reflective of human perception and understandable fo r everyone. Anyway, wish us a happy birthday & raise a toast with us today. It's the first of Shuttle's socket T SFF systems , and it is loaded to the gills with convenience and performance feature s It borrows heavily from BTX layout without quite being BTX. Visibly b igger than its predecessors, with a huge (for SFF) 350W PSU, this Presco tt-only machine is unfortunately quite a lot noisier. News about silent computing The ASUS CT-479 Adapter Kit pre-release n ews was hot a couple of weeks ago; Legit Reviews and Anandtech just post ed complete reviews. It's compatible only with a few of Asus motherboard s right now. " the Asus solution effectively demolished all other deskt op Pentium M solutions," although they failed to adequately appreciate t he the P-M's performance in the context of its low noise and high energy efficiency in a desktop platform. It is slick and sleek, pretty and small, with an odd twist borne out of functional (cooling) need: The motherboard goes in upside down. Supplied with a small 240W PSU and two 80mm fans, the LC-11 is pretty quiet, too, especially if you take care, but it takes only Micro-ATX boards. Ralf Hutter tries a Pentium M syste m in this case -- with nice results. The US Environment Protection Agency is moving to tougher Energy Star specifications for computers. F or the first time, the spec will define efficiency in terms of power con sumed while a computer is on, rather than just on standby. Preliminary c onditions for desktop computers include the following: The PSU must be r ated for >80% efficiency, and not exceed 5060W AC power during idle. Ov er 60 stakeholders met to discuss the proposed changes for the first tim e on March 15. We managed to speak with a handful of attendees after the meeting. |
| newegg.com New at Which price comparison website do you use most frequently? |