Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Silent 500W Power Supply

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the nice-juice-box dept.

NightRyder writes "To cope with the increased power demands of today's processors and video cards a 500W silent power supply has been released by Antec. The topic of silent power production has been an important one to the computer community recently, especially concerning the increased hardware demands by new game and operating systems. Considering the processing demands of something like, *cough* Windows Vista, its important to be able to keep your computer cool without it getting loud."

15 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. "silent" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i did not find word "dB" in there..

    1. Re:"silent" by Cave_Monster · · Score: 5, Interesting
      This fan is off most of the time but when the insides heat up it will be turned on until the temperature is below the set limit. When running, the fan's speed will vary automatically based on how hot the PSU is, so even it is running it may barely be audible because the fan is spinning slowly.

      So they have mostly eliminated the need for a fan by using some good heat dissipation methods. Though if you are running your PC for extended periods of time or your PC is tucked away under a desk somewhere where it doesn't get much air flow, I would expect the fan to be humming away as normal.

  2. There was a story about power supplies earlier by ReformedExCon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I remember that the story was discussing how the advertised wattages of these power supplies were pretty much lies or gross exaggerations. So we're talking about 500W of power without cooling, but how much power can be drawn until the thing dies from heat exhaustion? And can the 500W output be sustained for extended lengths of time?

    Also, does anyone find really strange that slashdot would put the CSS definition files in the images.slashdot.org domain? One computer I use shows Slashdot completely stripped down. This one shows it "normally". Any way to get rid of advertisements and images without losing the formatting as well?

    --
    Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
    1. Re:There was a story about power supplies earlier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Plus this one from antec is just the 300W version with a Plastic-encased fan on the front and re-badged to 500W... although it's a damned good power supply.

      These XYZ reviews should be stopped,they are getting to a page for one paragraph almost, it's rediculous. Besides there are a million and one sites that have already reviewed these PSUs. There is some troll (no doubt from XYZ) who keeps submitting their stories to slashdot to get traffic.

  3. Going in my next PC by goodbadorugly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Having just discovered this power supply a few days ago, I can definitely say its going in my next PC. Although my primary machine thus far has been an Apple Powerbook, I can definite say that I miss a decent windows computer in my life (I switched to mac just this April). A friend asked me to troubleshoot his PC just a few days ago and scarily enough it took a few seconds to get into the groove of things in his windows environment.

    Having said that, the value of a good power supply in your computer is second to none and the power supplies from Antec have never disappointed.

    What intrigues me about this particular model is that unlike its less powerful brothers it actually does have a fan. Though under light loads the fan stays off or does very little spinning. For a computer I am building that is doubling as both a light gaming machine and a PVR the large rated output and silent properties make for one killer combination.

    And thats what I tell myself every single dang day so I can justify its 200 dollar price tag!

  4. Overrated subject? by markass530 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I understand how the proliferation of the p4 and its space heater specs created a bit of a backlash against the modern computer and its exponential power requirements & noise generation, but I think it's gone overboard. Who doesn't have some kind of background noise on the computer be it, a movie, or mp3 playing. How really big is the market for absolute silence, beyond media pc's, where high power requirements shouldn't exist.

  5. Thank Joe Betts by Markus+Registrada · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It was Joe Betts, working at IBM Almaden Research Lab, who designed the first 90%+ efficient switching power-brick, for the Thinkpad. Before that, bricks were all twice as big, and ran hot-hot-hot. After that, all the other guys had to clean up their acts too. He didn't study electrical engineering in school, but he didn't let that slow him down; he learned what he needed when he needed it.

    Nowadays he's at Oqo.

  6. IT IS NOT SILENT by CaptnMArk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It has a fan.

    Silent = no fan
    Quiet = quiet fan

    (2x fan -> ! Quiet)

    IMO

    (I now have a silent 350W power supply)

  7. Exactly. by Craig+Davison · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now that the motors on (consumer level) hard drives are nearly silent, the loudest source of noise from your computer is probably the processor fan, followed by any small peripheral fans such as those found on video cards and motherboard chipsets. The power supply fan is probably the quietest moving part in your PC.

    Power supplies also make the least distracting sound (IMO) because the large, slow fans produce more of a whoosh than a whine. Try powering on your computer with your processor out and no drives plugged in to see what I mean.

    --
    Hands in my pocket
  8. Re:Why all the silent computers? by LarsWestergren · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, you are unusual then. Noise affects people differently, but experiements show that for many people, a lot of ambient noise disturbs sleep, causing fewer REM periods. It can also damage your hearing over time.

    --

    Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die

  9. Is the PS now the biggest heat producer in an PC? by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had just built a new computer with a 90nm Athlon64 and a 500W power supply. This is mainly for work, so no hot/fancy GPU. The CPU heatsink is absolutely cold to the touch. The air blown from inside the case feels exactly the same temperature as background. But, the air that comes out of the power supply is noticably warm. It really seems like the power supply is the only thing that is actually producing any heat. Is this typical of modern systems? How much more difficult is it to make efficient power supplies? Somehow I feel even worse about all the power I waste on power supply inefficiency than the power I waste with my CPU.

  10. Re:Is the PS now the biggest heat producer in an P by lucifer_666 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Look, you are probably correct. But please humour me and take that case cover off, and double... no tripple check your heatsink is actually touching the CPU. Check it is secured down tight. Check you have used thermal material.

    Basically there is no way that heat sink should be cold. The heat must be going somewhere. If your heatsink is not seated correctly, the heat is going back through the CPU pins to the motherboard, which will go bang some time in the near future.

    I know you are probably very skilled and good, but please... just humour me... everybody could make a mistake.

  11. Once upon a time by Vitus+Wagner · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Once upon a time I've asked wife of one my friend, how she can tolerate humming of all his computers round the clock. And she explained that her father was captain of river ship, and she spent much of her childhood in the cabin aboard the ship. So she is used to an idea, that when engines run smoothly, everything is Ok, but if silence fells, something wrong have happened.

  12. Re:While you're spending $200 on a PSU... by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I run my system on a UPS for the reasons you state, but I had an experience that makes me wonder.

    I had a motherboard that died (fried capacitors, anyone?), and the resulting load tripped the circuit breaker for that room.

    But the UPS kept the power coming in spite of the tripped breaker, and the result was a fair amount of smoke from the MB before the power supply in the PC finally gave up and died.

    I got lucky, but it could have easily burned the house down...

    --
    A house divided against itself cannot stand.
  13. Minor clarification by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    From the article summary: The topic of silent power production has been an important one...

    This should be called power conversion, not production.