need absolutely silent power supply

[Zap]

i have a 1000W PC Power and it just sounds horrible - very loud, and very unpleasant noise

That would be a Turbo Cool, made by WinTact. The 80mm Delta fan in it is a 5000RPM model. D:

 

[g1981c]

That would be a Turbo Cool, made by WinTact. The 80mm Delta fan in it is a 5000RPM model. D:

yeah it's called Turbo Cool Kilowatt ... and i think it was advertised as being quiet

in any case, unfortunately according to tracking info Amazon will be arriving today, while Newegg is still "packaging" but the "cancel" butter on newegg that was there yesterday is no longer there.

i was hoping to get Newegg first, test it, and then refuse Amazon. usually Newegg ships the same or next day, but for whatever reason ( winter storms or holidays maybe ? ) it's been 4 days already and it hasn't shipped yet. also, Amazon package is arriving faster than i expected - only yesterday it was saying something like "package ready for UPS" and already today it says it will be delivered today.

GRRR.

 

[g1981c]

Amazon $200 PSU is on vehicle for delivery. Newegg still "packaging". Called newegg, the hold time was "more than 1 hour" i opted to receive callback, waiting ...

More than 1 hour ? Are they on crack ? I never had to wait more than a minute with Amazon even if i called at 3AM in the morning.

UGH !

 

[g1981c]

the doorman has failed to refuse Amazon package, so now i have the Platinum 860 here. i decided not to fight the urge to unbox it.

it was well packaged by Seasonic ... Amazon packaging was disastrous.

the power supply itself is smaller than i expected - not even close to the size of my Enermax Galaxy 1000W and my PC Power & Cooling TurboCool Kilowatt. Nowhere close to the weight of Enermax either.

but even though it doesn't look nearly as expensive as the Enermax it still looks good, just without the bling.

anyway, here is the pic:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8495/8342504915_1ff68f9cd3_k.jpg

 

[philipma1957]

just remember amazon pays return shipping for items that do not work correctly. so you have 30 days to return it . just let them know it does not work correctly. they will give you a ups label for free you just need to print it.


i am a power buyer/seller i do 10 or 15 returns a year to amazon.
( i make 200 purchases ) they have the best return system of all online stores.

btw my newegg package (x750 psu) shipped a hour ago it will arrive on mon.

 

[g1981c]

i have the tracking for my X750 now, but it says "Initiated - Shipping Information sent to Fedex" so ...

on the upside it says it ships from Edison NJ, which according to Google Maps is only 35 miles from Brooklyn, NY where i am. this is why i expected Newegg to be first, but they screwed up. whatever.

by the way the cables on the 860 Platinum look sweet - kinda like on my old Enermax, except the Enermax adds extra bling with some gold pattern in the black mesh, while Seasonic is just all black. But that's OK - the Seasonic has a more "workstation" bussiness-like appearance, than Enermax which is more gamer looking. I don't mind it either way.

i want to see how bad the ribbon cables on the X750 look ...

i'm going to hold on to the 860 while i am waiting for the X750, but i won't install it. once i have tested the X750 and found that it works for me, then i will return the 860.

 

[g1981c]

well both power supplies are here ( X750 and 860 Platinum )

the difference in build quality between the two units is minimal - the weight is comparable, and the components inside look similar. the only visible difference is the fan grille - which on the platinum is an extra piece, while on X750 is simply stamped into the chassis. both units have a fan mode switch on the back.

the difference in included cables however is night and day - damn those ribbon cables look like a horrible hack. i have no idea how they could put the cables into such a nice bag, and then have the cables themselves be that ugly.

 

[Liquid_Static]

The ribbon cables are quite a bit easier to route though, especially in slimmer cases.

 

[g1981c]

OK, the X750 is installed.

the whine while quiet, is several times louder than the PSU fan itself. i can't hear the PSU fan over the CPU fan when i enable the PSU fan, but i can hear the whine.

 

[g1981c]

wow my idle power draw from the wall went down from 55W on Enermax Galaxy 1000W to just 32W on Seasonic X750. assuming Seasonic is 80% efficient at this load, this means Enermax was only about 50% efficient at the same load. in other words my Enermax PSU was actually dissipating more heat than my CPU by a wide margin.

running with the fan off this thing doesn't even get warm. wow. my old PC Power & Cooling Turbo Cool Kilowatt was blowing hot air out the whole time like a hair dryer. when i switched to Enermax Galaxy 1000W i was impressed that it was blowing relatively cool air out, but this thing is not moving any air at all ... and stays cool - wow !

 

[Zap]

wow my idle power draw from the wall went down from 55W on Enermax Galaxy 1000W to just 32W on Seasonic X750. assuming Seasonic is 80% efficient at this load, this means Enermax was only about 50% efficient at the same load. in other words my Enermax PSU was actually dissipating more heat than my CPU by a wide margin.

That's one of the reasons why I (along with a handful of others) do NOT recommend buying a lot more wattage than your system actually needs. PSU efficiency drops at low output.

Have you tested load power draw with both PSUs?

 

[Engineer]

Do you still hear coil whine from the X750? If it is serious enough, Seasonic (or Newegg) will swap out the unit. Newegg would be the first to try and if you press them a tad, they will e-mail you a pre-printed label to ship it back!

 

[g1981c]

That's one of the reasons why I (along with a handful of others) do NOT recommend buying a lot more wattage than your system actually needs. PSU efficiency drops at low output.

Have you tested load power draw with both PSUs?

haven't tested load power draw, but when booting it pulls about 40 - 55 watts - less than the old PSU at idle.

i know a smaller PSU would have better efficiency at the same low load, but unfortunately due to my personality i had to get a lot more watts than i actually needed just to be able to have peace of mind.

 

[g1981c]

Do you still hear coil whine from the X750? If it is serious enough, Seasonic (or Newegg) will swap out the unit. Newegg would be the first to try and if you press them a tad, they will e-mail you a pre-printed label to ship it back!

its kinda tricky. such high frequency sound is very directional so for example i would hear it by turning one ear, but not the other. i decided not to specifically try to listen for it but simply live with the PSU for a few days and reflect on whether it is annoying me or i am noticing it or not.

it doesn't seem to have an amount of whine that could be considered excessive. it has some but so do many electronics. it's really a question of how much is too much. i can't answer that yet.

but i think if i can live with it for a week or so without it bothering me with the case open, then i should be able to live with it for a long time with the case closed.

 

[Engineer]

If you load it up a bit more, does the whine go away? I placed a 15 ohm power resistor into one of my Molex connectors on a 550W Seasonic (older one) to give it enough load to remove the whine. That was on a Q6600 PC. It went away on its own on a Core I5 750 build (starts with a whine when it turns on but quickly goes away) probably because of the 8800GTS installed.


I now have 2 - Seasonic Gold X650's and I hear no whine at all. Only hear CPU fans right now (maybe case fan too) and might replace them with quieter fans when I feel like it.

 

[Engineer]

That's one of the reasons why I (along with a handful of others) do NOT recommend buying a lot more wattage than your system actually needs. PSU efficiency drops at low output.

Have you tested load power draw with both PSUs?

Regardless, that new revision of the X750 is so damn efficient that it wold beat many lower wattage models, even at low levels. Like I said before, it's close to being a platinum model in efficiency.

 

[Zap]

unfortunately due to my personality i had to get a lot more watts than i actually needed just to be able to have peace of mind.

That seems a common affliction in enthusiast forums.

 

[g1981c]

here are some pics:

platinum 860 vs X750 cables:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8365846102_6bceb1e227_k.jpg

X750 vs Enermax Galaxy 1000W size:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8364776975_57a7836701_k.jpg

X750 installed:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8364778507_c6b34a56da_k.jpg

 

[Zap]

the difference in included cables however is night and day - damn those ribbon cables look like a horrible hack.

platinum 860 vs X750 cables:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8365846102_6bceb1e227_k.jpg

Is it because they look different? All I see is that one set looks like 99% of all modular cables out there, while the other ones do not.

What is important is that the wires inside the cabling be of sufficient gauge for carrying the current that will be passing through them.

I would say, however, that if presented with both sets of cables and told that this were the only difference, I would take the ribbon cables. Sleeving adds too much unnecessary bulk and stiffness, plus you can still see the wire colors near the ends.

 

[g1981c]

so finally i did a real test - i turned off the fridge, closed the windows and listened and the loudest thing in my room is ... THE SURGE PROTECTOR ! BY FAR !

here is the audio record:

https://www.box.com/s/k5i52l0b91ky9zdyftsf

6 sec to 15 sec is the noctua cooler @ 530 rpm - blends right into background noise - you can't really hear it whether by ear or with a microphone - nice job Noctua !

24 sec to 29 sec is the seasonic X750 - it sounds like a very high pitch whine.

34 sec onward is the Tripp Lite Isobar Ultra surge protector ( has a lower pitch, but much louder noise than Seasonic and sounds like a bit of warbling )

naturally since all 3 sources are close to each other you can hear some overlap as i move the mic between them but you get the idea. i recorded each source from about 6 inches away.

by the way the surge protector is silenced when i unplug the computer from it. it powers my TV, and my big speakers quietly, but when you plug the Seasonic into it the surge protector begins to sing. so for the time being i plugged the seasonic right into the wall.

 

[Zap]

WTF, LOL. That was unexpected. Maybe the active PFC causes it to react? I know that some PSUs can cause strange behaviors in cheap power meters.

 

[g1981c]

WTF, LOL. That was unexpected. Maybe the active PFC causes it to react? I know that some PSUs can cause strange behaviors in cheap power meters.

it is actually a $50 or so surge protector, but it is also very old - i am guessing about 8 years or so.

this is what it looks like:

http://media.toolking.com/catalog/p...pp_Lite_ISOBAR825ULTRA_Isobar_Ultra_Surge.jpg

and i honestly don't know if the noise started with Seasonic or if it was there before and i didn't hear it because the computer was loud.

 

[g1981c]

I revisited Newgg reviews and decided to try out my 860 Platinum just in case it would be whine free ...

pic: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8371014777_1782b93b73_k.jpg

and WOW what a piece of junk !

1 - equally as whiny as X750

2 - the cables while sexy nearly broke my SSDs because the sata power connector was stiff as hell and would not snap into place - i sort of shoved it in there. i have two SSDs in raid and both connectors were equally dreadful.

3 - the fan would spin up by itself in hybrid mode at idle ! ! ! it was on most of the time in the 30 min or so this PSU was installed, even though it should have been off all the time ! by toggling the fan mode switch it was possible to make it stop but then a minute later it would come on again !

4 - AND NOW THIS IS THE SHOCKING PART - it pulled 39 - 40 watts at idle whereas X750 pulled 30 - 32 watts at idle ! ! !

pic: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8361/8371015325_6f7a3c8348_k.jpg

needless to say this piece of junk is going back to Amazon ! in fact, it's already packed up.

 

[GAO]

1. Maybe the whine problem doesn't lie in your PSU but some component that is causing the PSU to whine.
2. That is not shocking at all. Those are really low idle powers and are not in the range of that the 80+ rating specifies. 10W is nothing. Could even be attributable to the measuring device interacting with the PFC, especially if it is the old cheap UPS you are using.

 

[g1981c]

2. That is not shocking at all. Those are really low idle powers and are not in the range of that the 80+ rating specifies. 10W is nothing. Could even be attributable to the measuring device interacting with the PFC, especially if it is the old cheap UPS you are using.

i didn't say it was out of specification. rather i expected the 860 platinum to have approximately equal efficiency at such a low load as 750 gold, but the gold was on a completely different level.

the platinum dissipated 30% more ! ! ! we're not talking 1%, 2% or 5% but 30% ! ! !

but you are correct that below 90W load technically it could have 0% efficiency and still qualify as platinum.

both PSUs were plugged directly into the wall, bypassing the surge protector.