Looking for quiet power supplies

[TechnoPro]

I am in need of 2 new power supplies, one for my HTPC and one for my simple file server. Both are made up of older parts so there are no real demands for power, only silence and stability.

A thought donned upon me: I might be better off buying a new PSU for my main PC in anticipation of an upgrade I will probably do in 12-18 months, as well as to maintain reliabiolity since the existing PSU is 3 years old. I could then recycle the existing Antec TruePower 350 into the HTPC or server.

So what brands/models are quiet and reliable? I was looking into Antec's Phantom line as well as PC Power & Cooling silencer series. Any thoughts?

 

[InlineFour]

what are the specs of your main rig?

seasonic psus are known to be very quiet.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
what are the specs of your main rig?

seasonic psus are known to be very quiet.

Abit IT7 Max2 V2
P4 2.66 w/ stock cooling
1 GB RAM (2 * 512)
ATI Radeon 9500
WD 80 GB HDD (PATA)
WD 320 GB HDD (SATA)
Sony DVD-ROM
Pelxtor DVD+-RW
Media card reader
Coolermaster Wavemaster case (lots of fans with this one)

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: InlineFour
what are the specs of your main rig?

seasonic psus are known to be very quiet.

Abit IT7 Max2 V2
P4 2.66 w/ stock cooling
1 GB RAM (2 * 512)
ATI Radeon 9500
WD 80 GB HDD (PATA)
WD 320 GB HDD (SATA)
Sony DVD-ROM
Pelxtor DVD+-RW
Media card reader
Coolermaster Wavemaster case (lots of fans with this one)

those specs don't require a lot of power.

Seasonic S12 3300W

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: InlineFour

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: InlineFour
what are the specs of your main rig?

seasonic psus are known to be very quiet.

Abit IT7 Max2 V2
P4 2.66 w/ stock cooling
1 GB RAM (2 * 512)
ATI Radeon 9500
WD 80 GB HDD (PATA)
WD 320 GB HDD (SATA)
Sony DVD-ROM
Pelxtor DVD+-RW
Media card reader
Coolermaster Wavemaster case (lots of fans with this one)

those specs don't require a lot of power.

Seasonic S12 3300W

Okay, but my premise is that I want to buy a PSU now tha will suffice for when I buy new components within a year or so. So while 500W might be overkill for my present setup, it will be adewuately suited for the next major upgrade.

 

[alimoalem]

then get the 500w version of the seasonic. that's your best route for silence, especially at that price

 

[essasin]

seasonic would be the best for your application

 

[Bobthelost]

If you want to get the 500W seasonic you won't be unhappy with it, but have you thought about getting a second hand seasonic 330W instead?

That way you'll still have a PSU for the older system (you can't really upgrade that system much, more a case of scrap it and start again) and you can buy a PSU based upon the options around then (seasonic is supposed to be releasing a new line soon i think).

 

[leegroves86]

not knocking on Seasonic b/c I'm sure there good but...

I have and Enermax Liberty 500W. 24 pin, split rails, modular cabling, sli certified (lol), etc. It has one 120mm fan and you can't even tell that it is turning. Last week a guy on the forums had the same PSU and thought it was broke because he couldn't hear the fan when it was on. Its the quitest component in my sytem. I highly reccomend it!

 

[vtohthree]

I give a vote for Enermax as well, Seasonic's great too though. The Enermax in my sig is very silent, I can barely hear it, plus you can control the fan speed in the back(I set it to midrange).

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
If you want to get the 500W seasonic you won't be unhappy with it, but have you thought about getting a second hand seasonic 330W instead?

That way you'll still have a PSU for the older system (you can't really upgrade that system much, more a case of scrap it and start again) and you can buy a PSU based upon the options around then (seasonic is supposed to be releasing a new line soon i think).

exactly. you can't really "upgrade" your current system anymore. you're better off starting from scratch.

 

[TechnoPro]

Thanks everyone, for chiming in. I should clarify that when I speak of upgrading, it will entail a new CPU, Motherbaord, RAM, and GPU - all of which warrants a bigger, better PSU than what I have now. That's why I want a 500W model, even if I don't need it at the moment.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: TechnoPro
Thanks everyone, for chiming in. I should clarify that when I speak of upgrading, it will entail a new CPU, Motherbaord, RAM, and GPU - all of which warrants a bigger, better PSU than what I have now. That's why I want a 500W model, even if I don't need it at the moment.

I would only consider the 500 watt S12 if you think you may someday run a SLI system. And even then the only reason would be for the dual PCI-E graphics card connectors, not its 500 watts out-put.

The 380 watt S12 would be enough to power just about any non-SLI single CPU system you could put together.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: TechnoPro
Thanks everyone, for chiming in. I should clarify that when I speak of upgrading, it will entail a new CPU, Motherbaord, RAM, and GPU - all of which warrants a bigger, better PSU than what I have now. That's why I want a 500W model, even if I don't need it at the moment.

I would only consider the 500 watt S12 if you think you may someday run a SLI system. And even then the only reason would be for the dual PCI-E graphics card connectors, not its 500 watts out-put.

The 380 watt S12 would be enough to power just about any non-SLI single CPU system you could put together.

Interesting. I have no intentions on an SLI system ever. My games are of the Chip's Challenge, Minesweeper, and Backgammon vareity.

 

[Azkarr]

What about an Aerocool Zerodba PSU? I heard that those are very quiet as well. And they only run about $120 for a 620W version.

 

[Howard]

I was going to suggest the fanless Fortron Zen 300W PSU, but since you're going to keep it for your upgraded system, I'm going to drop that idea.

 

[Childs]

Another vote for the Enermax Liberty.