Looking for new power supply unit

Dr.Rock

Prominent Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
737
Reaction score
51
Points
363
Age
55
Location
London, UK.
It seems the PSU running my Pentium-4 PC has gone faulty (need to be confirmed that is the actual problem source), so I could be replacing it. Can someone please advise on a good manufacturer? The PSU must be around 600W and the most important thing, it must be silent. The PC will be running in the living room, so family members will not appreciate something that sounds like an aircraft engine.

PC World sell the JeanTech PSU's. What is that manufacturer like? They also sell PSU's by Hiper, which are cheaper.

Thanks
 
I purchased some Antec ones recently - Neo something or others. The ones I had were less than 600W but...


1. were very quite (18db on the spec) - I couldn't hear them.
2. Had 'modular' connectors - so I only needed to plug in what power connectors i needed (eg, 2 SATA, 1 Molex) - help reduce cable clutter.


Edit: Found this 500W one as an example
 
butleri said:

be wary that they recommend Qtec psu's quite a bit - would aviod them like the plague. they might be quiet but they have a very poor rep.

i have a tagan 530w psu and it's only 18db and can hardly be heard. Not sure if you will get a 600W plus one that is completely silent.
 
Hiper 580w type R Ebuyer quickfind code 98562

Reliable, quiet, well made.
 
booyaka said:
be wary that they recommend Qtec psu's quite a bit - would aviod them like the plague. they might be quiet but they have a very poor rep.

i have a tagan 530w psu and it's only 18db and can hardly be heard. Not sure if you will get a 600W plus one that is completely silent.

I think your confusing Qtechnology with Qtec. The former is recommended by QuietPC and by all accounts are great PSUs; the latter are the super budget brand which have gained a shady reputation. Qtec and QTechnology are completely different companies. Having said that I had a Qtec PSU which served me well for a couple of years through much abuse (changed fans).

To the OP I would highly recommend Seasonic S12 if your after a PSU with a fan. Although not silent they are pretty much as quiet as you can get without modding the fan yourself. Be weary to dBA ratings from manufacturers.

As a general piece of advice give http://www.silentpcreview.com/ a good read, the recommendation and forums are useful.

The Antec NEO seem like good performers but there have been reports of poor reliability on spcr forums so worth a read up. Many PSUs are quiet when idle but noise may quickly increase with stress.
 
stlic said:
I think your confusing Qtechnology with Qtec. The former is recommended by QuietPC and by all accounts are great PSUs; the latter are the super budget brand which have gained a shady reputation. Qtec and QTechnology are completely different companies. Having said that I had a Qtec PSU which served me well for a couple of years through much abuse (changed fans).

To the OP I would highly recommend Seasonic S12 if your after a PSU with a fan. Although not silent they are pretty much as quiet as you can get without modding the fan yourself. Be weary to dBA ratings from manufacturers.

As a general piece of advice give http://www.silentpcreview.com/ a good read, the recommendation and forums are useful.

The Antec NEO seem like good performers but there have been reports of poor reliability on spcr forums so worth a read up. Many PSUs are quiet when idle but noise may quickly increase with stress.

ok - apologies i thought they were the same!!
 
stlic said:
To the OP I would highly recommend Seasonic S12 if your after a PSU with a fan. Although not silent they are pretty much as quiet as you can get without modding the fan yourself.

I have just got a 350w of these, really quiet, Great build quality, cheap & the company has been making computer power supplies since the 70's
-how long have some of the glitzy PSU makers been about...?
 
Thanks for all the advice so far.

DNWILLIAMS said:
Hiper 580w type R Ebuyer quickfind code 98562

Reliable, quiet, well made.

I found this on PC World website. No mention of R-Type, but I wondered if this item is the same thing. Considering the delivery costs from Ebuyer, it would be around the same getting it from PC-World.

This is the other brand they sell at PC World, by JeanTech, £5 more expensive, but not sure if it's better or not.
 
I found this on PC World website. No mention of R-Type, but I wondered if this item is the same thing. Considering the delivery costs from Ebuyer, it would be around the same getting it from PC-World.

Cheaper actually - if you buy it online, you'll get it for 59.99 as opposed to the instore price of 64.99. Then just select Collect-in-store as your delivery method, which is free, select your nearest store, and then just go pick it up.
 
If you have the dough then Silverstone ST60F, Quiet and has Quad 12V rails, although it is HUGE!!!...also Seasonic S12 600W is a good PSU, as are the Enermax Liberty Series...
 
I can also recommend Hiper PSUs, I put them in every machine I build and have not had one problem. Very quiet and rock solid stable.
By the way, why do you feel you need a 600w PSU? The power needs of todays computers are way over estimated, most competent gaming machines will happily run on 350w or less.
 
Stompy said:
I can also recommend Hiper PSUs, I put them in every machine I build and have not had one problem. Very quiet and rock solid stable.
By the way, why do you feel you need a 600w PSU? The power needs of todays computers are way over estimated, most competent gaming machines will happily run on 350w or less.

600W just for future-proofing really, as you never know what peripherals I'll be adding next. Overkill, I know. I borrowed my brother-in-law's 300W PSU, and all that did to my PC was power on the fans, nothing even came up on the display. Only a more powerful one would bring my PC properly to life. Or was I doing something wrong with the 300 W ?

Is it advisable to use splitters on the four-pin hard-drive connectors, if I want to add more peripherals than what the number of connectors supllied with PSU will allow, or will that be putting a non-recommended strain on the PSU?

Thanks.
 
That wouldn't be a problem with a PSU of that sort of power, although if you buy a decent PSU they tend to come with a million and one connections anyway :)
 
I'm about to build a new PC, and the PSU I'll be getting is easily one of the best available :

Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

Not cheap though, you could go for the Noisetaker further down that page if you don't need a modular psu.

And 350w just doesn't cut the mustard for a decent gaming machine these days at all.
 
After reading so much about the Hiper 580 R-Type, I decided to buy one to see how that goes. Firstly, it cured the sudden shutdown problem my PC suffered - so my old SilenX 600W PSU was faulty after all. Secondly, I'm amazed at my new Hiper! It's silent, runs cool and I love the idea of only attaching the cables that are needed so my case innards are very tidy without excess unused connectors. My old SilenX was a lot more expensive and ran as hot as Hell. No wonder it melted itself!

Thanks to all for the advice. :thumbsup:
 
Dr.Rock said:
After reading so much about the Hiper 580 R-Type, I decided to buy one to see how that goes. Firstly, it cured the sudden shutdown problem my PC suffered - so my old SilenX 600W PSU was faulty after all. Secondly, I'm amazed at my new Hiper! It's silent, runs cool and I love the idea of only attaching the cables that are needed so my case innards are very tidy without excess unused connectors. My old SilenX was a lot more expensive and ran as hot as Hell. No wonder it melted itself!

Thanks to all for the advice. :thumbsup:

its cool mate! enjoy the little box!! lol:rotfl:
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom