Need help deciding whether it's worth it to switch PSUs... :)

[Morgan MLGman]

So I've got (a 3 months old) XFX Pro XXX Edition 650W in my main rig, AFAIK it's a superior unit to the regular XFX Pro Series 650W as it's semi-modular and is a bit improved platform overall.

 

Rest of my specs:

CPU: i7-6700K @4,7GHz

RAM: 16GB

GPU: Radeon R9 Fury (heavily OC'd)

(more detailed specs in the signature below)

 

I have an option to switch it for a Be Quiet! Power Zone 750W from my secondary, more workstation-oriented rig (i7-5820K @4,5GHz + GTX 970 @1520MHz) which has a Silent Wings 2 fan inside, it's a bit over 1 year old but it's a more expensive unit. My XFX PSU is great, but it's not the most silent when I OC my current GPU (R9 Fury) as the power draw combined with the OC'd 6700K makes the PSU fan ramp up so it's audible.

 

The point of the swap would be to lower the noise, as the Power Zone has a much quieter fan and higher wattage, it should run quieter with my Fury and for the 5820K rig it shouldn't make a difference if the PSU was XFX as the GTX 970 doesn't draw too much power and the fan would be inaudible with the lower-wattage setup, correct?

Both PSUs are under warranty and were bought by me, brand new.

 

The questions are:

- Is it worth the hassle to swap the PSUs? Will the noise be actually lower? (it should imo) It wouldn't cost me a thing since I own both rigs.

- Which unit is actually better in terms of PSU quality? I know that the Be Quiet! one was more expensive, but is it really better? (Both PSUs are Bronze-rated), can I get an opinion @STRMfrmXMN?

 

Thanks in advance guys!

[♠FlamieMeister♠]

You'll be fine. It doesn't really have any impact to switch, as your a good amount below 650W, it would cost you more in power probs if you switched them. Stay with it.

[Morgan MLGman]

1 minute ago, ♠FlamieMeister♠ said:

You'll be fine. It doesn't really have any impact to switch, as your a good amount below 650W, it would cost you more in power probs if you switched them. Stay with it.

I guess you didn't read the thread entirely. I know that 650W is more than enough, I just want the PSU to be quieter as it's audible when the PC runs at full load for a long time (ex. BF1), the PowerZone unit has higher wattage, thus more headroom, which not only should make the fan run at lower RPM, but the fan in the Be Quiet! unit is also one of the quietest fans on the market (Silent Wings 2).

Note that the only "flaw" of the XFX PSU that I have according to jonnyguru's review is the fan noise...

[Gonio]

According to the PSU tier list your XFX is tier 3 vs the other is tier 4. Don't think it will be problematic for your OC though. Would myself try it atleast if I want less noise.

 

For PSU the 80+ rating (or cost for that matter) says nothing about quality though for info...

[Morgan MLGman]

2 minutes ago, Gonio said:

According to the PSU tier list your XFX is tier 3 vs the other is tier 4. Don't think it will be problematic for your OC though. Would myself try it atleast if I want less noise.

The tier list is very general. The Be Quiet! Power Zone might be inferior to the XFX Pro XXX electrically (efficiency etc) but it's superior in terms of noise, features, wattage and overall quality.

 

4 minutes ago, Gonio said:

For PSU the 80+ rating (or cost for that matter) says nothing about quality though for info...

I know that, I know enough about PSUs to judge a good unit from a bad one I mentioned that both are bronze so people don't say "take the gold one, it's better than bronze", and also why I bought both despite being bronze, cause I know it doesn't mean anything, really. There are bronze units MUCH better than gold one, examples are those two units I mentioned when compared to, let's say EVGA NEX Gold.

[Gonio]

True. Just mentioning it as info either for you if you arn't sure and/or for other viewers of this post that might not know that.

 

[App4that]

You know me, I'd do it just to do it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all.

 

And I'm a fan if Be Quiet. 

[Morgan MLGman]

8 minutes ago, App4that said:

You know me, I'd do it just to do it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained after all.

 

And I'm a fan if Be Quiet. 

Well, I guess the drawback would be me having to re-plug and rearrange cables in two separate rigs, and the possible upside would be a quieter rig, just not sure if it's enough of a difference to warrant all the work I'd have to do The cables are pretty neat in both rigs as one of them is in an NZXT H440 designed by Razer and the other is my main rig with the P400, since I care about the looks of both of those I'd need to put some work into managing the cables again

[i_build_nanosuits]

if it doesnt cost you much or anything then why not...otherwise i'd say just get extensions for your current PSU or go balls to the wall and get an EVGA G2 and be happy to have a top of the line PSU for the next 10 years.

[i_build_nanosuits]

20 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

 since I care about the looks of both of those I'd need to put some work into managing the cables again

...huhhh...that is supposed to be the fun part

as a tech enthusiast there is no better thing to do than a power supply swap other than a case swap IMHO

 

[Morgan MLGman]

12 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

if it doesnt cost you much or anything then why not...otherwise i'd say just get extensions for your current PSU or go balls to the wall and get an EVGA G2 and be happy to have a top of the line PSU for the next 10 years.

Well since I own both PSUs I can do the swap freely, I just wonder if it's worth it. The Power Zone unit from Be Quiet! should be quieter based on the fact that it uses a very quiet fan and has more headroom? Cause the XFX can run the 5820K + GTX 970 rig without any issues as the wattage will be low anyway. And it's not like the PSU is super-loud now, it's just audible, and since I have another PSU to switch it with I decided to ask for opinions

8 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

...huhhh...that is supposed to be the fun part

as a tech enthusiast there is no better thing to do than a power supply swap other than a case swap IMHO

 

Yeah, it's just that with work and other personal stuff I don't have as much time for gaming as I used to, and swapping those PSUs + cable management would take good 2-3 hours to do properly

[App4that]

Practice makes perfect with cable management Bro. You know you want to.  

[STRMfrmXMN]

2 hours ago, Morgan MLGman said:

So I've got (a 3 months old) XFX Pro XXX Edition 650W in my main rig, AFAIK it's a superior unit to the regular XFX Pro Series 650W as it's semi-modular and is a bit improved platform overall.

 

Rest of my specs:

CPU: i7-6700K @4,7GHz

RAM: 16GB

GPU: Radeon R9 Fury (heavily OC'd)

(more detailed specs in the signature below)

 

I have an option to switch it for a Be Quiet! Power Zone 750W from my secondary, more workstation-oriented rig (i7-5820K @4,5GHz + GTX 970 @1520MHz) which has a Silent Wings 2 fan inside, it's a bit over 1 year old but it's a more expensive unit. My XFX PSU is great, but it's not the most silent when I OC my current GPU (R9 Fury) as the power draw combined with the OC'd 6700K makes the PSU fan ramp up so it's audible.

 

The point of the swap would be to lower the noise, as the Power Zone has a much quieter fan and higher wattage, it should run quieter with my Fury and for the 5820K rig it shouldn't make a difference if the PSU was XFX as the GTX 970 doesn't draw too much power and the fan would be inaudible with the lower-wattage setup, correct?

Both PSUs are under warranty and were bought by me, brand new.

 

The questions are:

- Is it worth the hassle to swap the PSUs? Will the noise be actually lower? (it should imo) It wouldn't cost me a thing since I own both rigs.

- Which unit is actually better in terms of PSU quality? I know that the Be Quiet! one was more expensive, but is it really better? (Both PSUs are Bronze-rated), can I get an opinion @STRMfrmXMN?

 

Thanks in advance guys!

The noise will likely be lower. I mean, you should be fine to put either PSU in either system. It's a bit of a hassle but if the noise matters then why not?

 

Also, why do you have a "secondary" rig with a 5820K

[Morgan MLGman]

7 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

The noise will likely be lower. I mean, you should be fine to put either PSU in either system. It's a bit of a hassle but if the noise matters then why not?

 

Also, why do you have a "secondary" rig with a 5820K

Cause my gaming rig has a CPU that's better for gaming  The 5820K rig is more workstation-oriented (thus faster CPU-slower GPU), but it still does decent in newer titles after you crank a few settings down  I'll give it a shot. 

 

I'm curious, which unit is actually better in terms of PSU quality? The Be Quiet! one was quite a bit more expensive but it has more features and a quieter fan.

[STRMfrmXMN]

15 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Cause my gaming rig has a CPU that's better for gaming  The 5820K rig is more workstation-oriented (thus faster CPU-slower GPU), but it still does decent in newer titles after you crank a few settings down  I'll give it a shot. 

 

I'm curious, which unit is actually better in terms of PSU quality? The Be Quiet! one was quite a bit more expensive but it has more features and a quieter fan.

The XFX is a Seasonic unit so I'd assume it. That said, it performs fairly average. It might be based on the M12, I dunno. Either way I think they're comparable. Maybe bring in @quan289?

[quan289]

XFX Pro XXX Edition 650W and XFX Pro Series 650W are based on the same platform Seasonic AT / AM platform. I'm pretty sure the improvement you see in reviews are minor variances in quality between samples in which the manufacturer goes with another component(s) that they have on hand when there is insufficient stock. But yes, the XXX Edition is indeed functionally superior due to modularity.

 

The Power Zone uses a FDB fan and I believe to have a more relax fan profile at lower loads. This would allow it to be less susceptible to bearing noises and reduce turbulent noises; however, unlike many other BQ's PSU, the Power Zone is quite a bit louder overall - having the fan spin up to 2000RPM and over at mid to high loads.

If you are noise sensitive and have the time to removed the PSUs and redo cable management on both system, it may be worth it.