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Fanless Power Supply vs Hope for Passive Overkill?

tridy

There are some people reporting that their higher wattage power supply with fans do not use fans even under heavy loads.

Would it be reasonable for a fanless build to get an overkill  power supply that is like 1000W and has a fan compared to a 520W fanless power supply, for an approximately 400W build?

Could I assume that the power supply cooler will remain passive all the time?

Does this "just in case" scenario make sense?

 

thanks

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Yes, having a high-wattage power supply with a passive mode is a good alternative if you cannot find a fanless power supply.

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Be nice to each other boys and girls. And don't cheap out on a power supply.

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8 minutes ago, HKZeroFive said:

Yes, having a high-wattage power supply with a passive mode is a good alternative if you cannot find a fanless power supply.

I'd tend to agree with this, aswell as the fact that the power supplies with a passive/silent mode are generally of a better quality, so when the fan is on they're super quiet. I had a RM series 550w and even when the fan was on it was super quiet.

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Check the PSU fan curve on the specs to see if it will actually remain passive under full 400W load.

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Thanks for the info and ideas! I will give it an extra thought, even though I am leaning more towards a "Seasonic Platinum-520 Fanless 520W"

 

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2 hours ago, tridy said:

There are some people reporting that their higher wattage power supply with fans do not use fans even under heavy loads.

Would it be reasonable for a fanless build to get an overkill  power supply that is like 1000W and has a fan compared to a 520W fanless power supply, for an approximately 400W build?

Could I assume that the power supply cooler will remain passive all the time?

Does this "just in case" scenario make sense?

 

thanks

 

The Seasonic Platinum 520 is an excellent fanless, high-end unit. But to address the overkill bit, I've made a post earlier this month on going overkill in attempt to extend your passive mode time that may be worth considering.

So before you spend a large sum of money on a overkill PSU, make sure the PSU you are looking at stay within the range that's ideal for your setup. There are some power supplies that the threshold of the fan turning on/off doesn't deviate much by going for a higher wattage unit (unless in the summer with a broken AC, my old Kingwin LZP550 had it fan turned on at ~500wDC like the the 1000w version).

 

Also, don't put too much focus on the fan curve chart that manufacturer provide. Along with it being tested in a controlled environment that may not applicable to real world usage, most power supplies are not load-based but rather thermal-based despite what the chart says (they used a load-based chart as it easier for the end-user to understand).

 

 

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Sometimes I wish we needed an AC in Sweden, but we need a heater most of the time ;).

 

 A good 1000W power supply with a fan also costs a bit more than the fanless Seasonic 520. I think I am starting to put my faith into Seasonic at this point.

 

Thanks!

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5 hours ago, tridy said:

Sometimes I wish we needed an AC in Sweden, but we need a heater most of the time ;).

 

 A good 1000W power supply with a fan also costs a bit more than the fanless Seasonic 520. I think I am starting to put my faith into Seasonic at this point.

 

Thanks!

Even though that Seasonic can withstand temperatures hitting 50C without trouble, I'd still recommend a fan pushing air around near the unit.

 

Enjoy your silence!

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20 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Even though that Seasonic can withstand temperatures hitting 50C without trouble, I'd still recommend a fan pushing air around near the unit.

 

Enjoy your silence!

Thanks!

 

With NSG-S0, I actually would not be able to call the system fanless if it had a single fan, to be honest with myself. A fan that does not spins is on the edge. With the thought that it actually should not spin and Seasonic costs less, I am going fully spinless/fanless. We'll see how that is going to work out for me in September when the case arrives and parts are in place :).

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  • 1 month later...

Do fanless power supply assume that there is some air circulation from the other components? What if there are no fans at all?

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8 hours ago, tridy said:

Do fanless power supply assume that there is some air circulation from the other components?

Yes, they do these days.

 

8 hours ago, tridy said:

What if there are no fans at all?

You have a problem...

And the PSU might overheat. 

 

And there are some PSU that are really silent although they have a (very high quality) fan...

And remember that a really good quality fan is expansive as hell and might increase the cost of a PSU about the same amount of a low budget version cost new.

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