ECO Mode on a EVGA PSU: Is it worth to enable it?

[eera5607]

Hello everyone! This the ECO Mode's description on the  EVGA 850 GQ, 80+ GOLD 850W user's manual: 

Quote

The ECO Thermal Control System, when enabled, allows the fan on your EVGA power supply to shut off during low to moderate operation loads. The EVGA power supply’s fan will automatically turn back on when needed, based on the temperature the power supply reaches. The fan will also increase in RPM when needed, based on the load operation being requested from the components connected. This prevents unnecessary  rotation, reduces ambient noise levels and will increase the life span of the fan due to the fan not spinning when not required.

Is this mode going to have a negative impact or produce any undesirable effect on the rest of the system? Is it worth to enable it? I think I will use at most 350 Watts on a usual day. Thanks!

[xentropa]

I use something equivalent on my corsair power supply (fan off under low loads)  it should be fine, the parts inside a power supply are not as heat sensitive, compared to a CPU, DRAM or flash memory chip.

[eera5607]

3 minutes ago, xentropa said:

I use something equivalent on my corsair power supply (fan off under low loads)  it should be fine, the parts inside a power supply are not as heat sensitive, compared to a CPU, DRAM or flash memory chip.

Ok thanks. So, no decrease of the lifetime of the components? The fan is off almost all the time due to the low load of my system. 

[WereCat]

3 minutes ago, eera5607 said:

Ok thanks. So, no decrease of the lifetime of the components? The fan is off almost all the time due to the low load of my system. 

There is a 10-year warranty on that thing for a reason. No, you don't have to worry.

[3rrant]

17 minutes ago, eera5607 said:

Hello everyone! This the ECO Mode's description on the  EVGA 850 GQ, 80+ GOLD 850W user's manual: 

Is this mode going to have a negative impact or produce any undesirable effect on the rest of the system? Is it worth to enable it? I think I will use at most 350 Watts on a usual day. Thanks!

It is fine, you won't have any negative effects and you won't reduce the lifespawn of your component. My Supernova P2 has been using it for 3+ years now, nothing ever changed and nothing will (thunders apart).

[STRMfrmXMN]

21 minutes ago, eera5607 said:

Hello everyone! This the ECO Mode's description on the  EVGA 850 GQ, 80+ GOLD 850W user's manual: 

Is this mode going to have a negative impact or produce any undesirable effect on the rest of the system? Is it worth to enable it? I think I will use at most 350 Watts on a usual day. Thanks!

The fan will just come on when the components inside get hotter. The fan otherwise would always run. There's really no reason to not enable it.

[eera5607]

Thanks STRMfrmXMN, ErrantNyles, WereCat and xentropa! I will turn the ECO mode on. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

2 minutes ago, eera5607 said:

Thanks STRMfrmXMN, ErrantNyles, WereCat and xentropa! I will turn the ECO mode on. 

You can just press the "@" symbol to tag people, btw, not hyperlink.

 

@eera5607

[eera5607]

Just now, STRMfrmXMN said:

You can just press the "@" symbol to tag people, btw, not hyperlink.

 

@eera5607

 thanks! @STRMfrmXMN

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 hour ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

The fan will just come on when the components inside get hotter. The fan otherwise would always run. There's really no reason to not enable it.

I'm personally not a fan of it. I leave "eco mode" off, keeping the fan on. It doesn't make any appreciable noise with the fan on, and it drops PSU temps by up to 40 degrees in my testing.

[eera5607]

5 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I'm personally not a fan of it. I leave "eco mode" off, keeping the fan on. It doesn't make any appreciable noise with the fan on, and it drops PSU temps by up to 40 degrees in my testing.

Thanks. Well that's interesting. I first started wondering because I read something similar from another user. He said that if the PSU is on the bottom of the case with the fan looking down the top of the PSU case will get very heated and it would damage the components. I really don't think that is the case (someone mentioned the warranty for example)  but I think that for sure the PSU will work at higher temperatures. I ask the same thing to the EVGA support team and their answer was:

 

"Having ECO mode enabled or disabled will not have any negative impact on the unit itself. I would recommend testing both options for your system, as every set-up and everyones preference is different." 

 

I asked here because in that case, and considering that the total load operation from my system is a little lower than half of the full wattage that can be delivered by the PSU, the fan will probably be off almost all the time. Also, I have to say the the majority of opinions that I have read consider the eco mode to be useful. I wanted to know your opinions in my specific conditions. Thanks again. 

[STRMfrmXMN]

1 hour ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I'm personally not a fan of it. I leave "eco mode" off, keeping the fan on. It doesn't make any appreciable noise with the fan on, and it drops PSU temps by up to 40 degrees in my testing.

I hope you're talking 40F and not 40C cuz man, I'm turning that shit off immediately in my 550GS if it's Celcius.

[Techicolors]

i just leave ECO mode on. the fan gets pretty loud but luckily it never turns on even when my pc is at full load. tho it does get pretty warm to the touch after said loads 

[iamdarkyoshi]

2 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

I hope you're talking 40F and not 40C cuz man, I'm turning that shit off immediately in my 550GS if it's Celcius.

Yeah they run at like 60c in fanless mode...

 

My brother's corsair RM 750i does the same thing. His has corsair link so I was able to see the temps, and sure enough, no fan until it goes above 60

[eera5607]

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Yeah they run at like 60c in fanless mode...

Well that's a huge difference. As far as I understand the PSU components are designed to work at up to 105 degrees so it is below that but that's a big difference. I think that while is not affecting the temperatures on the PC in general it should no be a problem. I think. And that's what EVGA support told me. 

[iamdarkyoshi]

12 minutes ago, eera5607 said:

Well that's a huge difference. As far as I understand the PSU components are designed to work at up to 105 degrees so it is below that but that's a big difference. I think that while is not affecting the temperatures on the PC in general it should no be a problem. I think. And that's what EVGA support told me. 

Any time you can run electronics cooler, do it. It places less thermal stress on them. I have no doubt a PSU running fan always would have an extra 5 years of life.

[eera5607]

1 hour ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Any time you can run electronics cooler, do it. It places less thermal stress on them. I have no doubt a PSU running fan always would have an extra 5 years of life.

Thanks. I found this graphic on EVGA Faqs. 

According to this, the fan will start running at 750 RPM at 55 degrees. Then, at 65 degrees it will run at 1500 RPM. It will run at 1500 RPM until the temperature reaches 60 degrees and at 750 RPM until 40 degrees. And one important thing is that if for example if the PSU reaches 55 degrees the fan will start running and cool down until 40 degrees then turns off. And that again and again so the PSU should run at a maximum of 55 degrees on low loads. That's what I understood.