Suggestions for a new Corsair PSU

I wish to purchase a Corsair PSU for my system. I went on the website http://www.corsair.com and with the help of PSU finder was able to find PSUs in the range of 500-650 W. I was unable to determine which one was best for me. I want the "QUIETEST" PSU for my PC. Please note:-

1) I never overclock my system and always run all components at stock voltages and prefer doing so in future as well.

2) The maximum TDP of my i7 processor is 130 W.

3) The maximum power consumption of my graphics card is 100-110 W.

4) Other specifications can be found under my username

Price of the PSU does not matter. The only thing that matters is (yes, I know I am repeating it) that it should be "completely silent".

Please advise.

Please could you tell me whether I should purchase a Corsair GS 500 or a GS 600 W would be preferred ? Also, please could you tell me which of the 2 is "less noisy" ?

In addition, I also wanted to know is there any significant difference in noise levels between GS and TX series ?

My full load is maximum around 389-400 W according to the PSU calculator. With this load, I doubt if it will ever go to full load and produce a significant noise level.

I would like to add that the 2 hard drives run at 5900(2 TB) and 7200 rpm (500 GB).

EDIT :- I guess RAM GUY in your earlier post, you meant "insight" instead of "incite" right ?

Thank you for the advice. If the TX650 is the "quietest" and better than the GS series, I would surely prefer it.

However, don't you think it is an overkill ?

Besides, I tried searching on the internet regarding the noise level comparison between the 2 but was able to find none. Would appreciate it if you could send me the links.

EDIT :- I have no problem with modular or non-modular PSU because barring 1 module, I will use the remaining 3. Also, I checked out the cost of TX650M and GS500 and there is a huge difference. Thus, if the noise level variation is not that much (if you could please provide me the links), I will be more than happy to settle for GS500 instead of TX650M or, for that matter TX550M would also be fine.

As I was unable to find anything regarding noise levels of a particular Corsair PSU on the internet, I request your kind attention regarding it.

I understand this can be a bit too much for you, but since this is my second Corsair product purchase, I want to be doubly sure that all things are absolutely right this time as compared to the previous incident.

Would appreciate it if you could send me the links.

I'm not overtly going to steer a customer away from Corsair's products since they're the sponsor of this forum, but for your own peace of mind in making an informed decision with minimal chance for buyer's remorse, you might want to browse over to Silent PC Review. That site is dedicated to addressing the issues you raise. It's also competently staffed IMO, so you can reasonably rely on their opinions.

Thank you GeneralEcletic for trying to help me out. FYI, I was fully aware and had already scanned through all reviews at SilentPCReview before starting this new thread.

It is because of deficiencies in the website that I am asking suggestions of other people to assist me with the "quietest" PSU in accordance with my PC's specifications.

I have already conducted a thorough search through internet previously but because there is not a single website that outlines the salient points nicely, I was compelled to ask my question here.

Well, I sympathize with your dilemma. "Silent" is awfully subjective if we're talking about any PSU that has a fan. The only type that's really going to be "silent" is one that's convection-cooled i.e. fanless. There used to be a few of those on the market, but I don't know what may be available these days.

Unless we have actual data from an anechoic measurement with calibrated equipment, you're never going to know exactly what you're getting into. Good luck trying to find that information from ANY manufacturer.

The other problem is that fans tend to vary a LOT from sample to sample in their response to low-rpm usage. Most fans, in my experience, can be expected to emit some kind of groans, thumps, whines, chirps, tweets, or other potentially annoying noises under those conditions. You can qualify one particular fan part number from a particular manufacturer, but find that the next production run doesn't behave anything like the ones you qualified. Naturally, the way around this problem is to write an exhaustive spec that spells out environment and acceptable behavioral limits, along with a suite of qualification tests, and spell out a sampling plan that assures lot to lot compliance, but as you can imagine, I'm sure, that this isn't easy to do. It's also expensive. And I seriously doubt that Chinese fan manufacturers would have anything more than 0.000 interest in participating in such tightly-controlled production.

But that's what you'd have to do if you were a high-end PSU manufacturer who wanted their specs to be taken seriously.

Not to be snarky (but they have it coming) can you seriously expect a PSU manufacturer that can't even manage to include current ratings and voltage tolerances (among many other obvious specs) on their data sheets to address the issues in making a truly silent fan? I kinda doubt it.

So, I guess you simply buy what looks best for your situation and take your chances that you won't have a chirper or tweeter. Or you can buy one where the fan never stops, but runs slowly enough that most people aren't going to hear it. I've taken the latter approach, which is getting harder and harder to pursue lately with the faddish notion of 0-RPM fans finding its way into more and more PSU lines.

Good luck!!

Thank you for your help GeneralEclectic.

Others please note that this issue is not resolved and I would like to reiterate my previous post.

Any suggestions are most welcome.

"I have no problem with modular or non-modular PSU because barring 1 module, I will use the remaining 3. Also, I checked out the cost of TX650M and GS500 and there is a huge difference. Thus, if the noise level variation is not that much (if you could please provide me the links), I will be more than happy to settle for GS500 instead of TX650M or, for that matter TX550M would also be fine.

As I was unable to find anything regarding noise levels of a particular Corsair PSU on the internet, I request your kind attention regarding it.

I understand this can be a bit too much for you, but since this is my second Corsair product purchase, I want to be doubly sure that all things are absolutely right this time as compared to the previous incident."

I dont work at Corsair but Ive got to say if you want silent you should probably avoid any of the newer CWT units that seem to fall victim to the fan chirp/buzz when the fan spins up.

Youre asking about the noise level of the tx650 but you must be aware that there are several models of tx650.

The oldest model being CMPSU-650TX

The v2 version made by seasonic,CMPSU-650TXV2

And the new unit made by CWT, 75-001315 which looks to be susceptible to the same fan issue in every other CWT psu that spins up the fan under load.

If you can get a true V2 (seasonic) Its what I would recommend.

Thank you Caughtout3 for the information but I prefer purchasing a Corsair product. No worries. I will wait for their response.

I dont work at Corsair but Ive got to say if you want silent you should probably avoid any of the newer CWT units that seem to fall victim to the fan chirp/buzz when the fan spins up.

 

Youre asking about the noise level of the tx650 but you must be aware that there are several models of tx650.

The oldest model being CMPSU-650TX

The v2 version made by seasonic,CMPSU-650TXV2

And the new unit made by CWT, 75-001315 which looks to be susceptible to the same fan issue in every other CWT psu that spins up the fan under load.

 

 

 

If you can get a true V2 (seasonic) Its what I would recommend.

Here is my personal experience.

I have had a TX650 for around 2 years. Not the V2, the original. That one, I realised only lately, once I was using it in a test bench, that it has a high pitched whine to it. Not loud, but its there. That may be due to the load of my i7 system and the GTX580, but its not as quiet as one would wish for.

The best experience ever and the quietest was the VX550. For whatever reasons Corsair decided to discontinue the series. Probably due to it being bullet proof and never needing replacement. :biggrin:

The latest 3 PSUs that I have been using are the CX430, CX500 and CX600. The CX430 is dead quiet, so are the other two. Being builders series, one can probably expect variations in the results, but my personal experience has been one of surprise in terms of near quiet fan noise. Having said that, I can only hope that Corsair does not downgrade the quality fans of these in the future.:laughing:

The fan noise will always remain subjective. If the PSU is being used near its output capabilities, then the fan will inevitably contribute to increased noise levels. Thus, if one gets a PSU with lots of overhead, then the chances are that the fan will stay mostly in idle, which may ensure much reduced noise.

Hopefully someone with a CX750 can pitch in and report. That may just be an ideal candidate if the other CXs are anything to go by.

The AXi series are probably the quietest since their fans don't spin up until they go above certain load.

Looking at the fan noise curve of the AX860i and AX760i, they're dead silent until you go above 20% load and then the fan noise is only 20 db through 50% load, they don't hit 25 db until 95% load and top at 30 db at 100% load.

Not sure when they're releasing though, they're listed in the manual for AX1200i, but I haven't seen them anywhere yet.

Thank you everyone for their valuable suggestions. I can safely conclude that AX series will be the best but it is going to burn a big hole in my pocket and a noise level in 30-35 dB will be acceptable.

Hence, that leaves me with just 2 options:- GS series or TX series. Out of these 2 (since I am not overclocking at all) I would prefer to go with the cheapest and quietest option possible when running everything at stock settings.

Also, Caughtout3 mentioned something about "The v2 version made by seasonic,CMPSU-650TXV2" which does not have the fan noise issue. Please could someone clarify that point as well.

As I said in my earlier post,

If the TX650 is the "quietest" and better than the GS series, I would surely prefer it. However, wouldn't it be an overkill ?

Besides, I tried searching on the internet regarding the noise level comparison between the 2 but was able to find none. Would appreciate it if you could send me the links.

Also, I have no problem with modular or non-modular PSU because barring 1 module, I will use the remaining 3. Also, I checked out the cost of TX650M and GS500 and there is a huge difference. Thus, if the noise level variation is not that much (if someone could please provide me the links), I will be more than happy to settle for GS500 instead of TX650M or, for that matter TX550M would also be fine.

As I was unable to find anything regarding noise levels of a particular Corsair PSU on the internet, I request your kind attention regarding it.

I understand this can be a bit too much to ask for, but since this is my second Corsair product purchase, I want to be doubly sure that all things are absolutely right this time as compared to the previous incident.

Please let me know which to single out of the above 2 and would TX550 suffice instead of TX650 ? Thank you.

EDIT :- Also, zsde has suggested that the Corsair builder series, cx500/600 is also exceptionally quiet (according to his personal experience). Though, I seriously doubt if a builder series PSU will be that much quiet when compared to GS/TX series, any feedback regarding it will be appreciated.

Thank you for your help. Please could you help me regarding 3 more points:-

1) What is the difference between "CMPSU" and "CP"

2) I understand this can be a bit too much, but if possible, please could I know which one out of GS and TX series produces less noise (with links if possible)

3) I checked out TX550M Part# CP-9020001-NA on the website but found out that the estimated availability is till Sept. 1, 2011 so was a bit confused as to whether it will be available or not.

Thank you.

I do not want to argue with you regarding Caughtout3's post mentioning CMPSU-650TXV2 but would like to inform you when I searched for "CMPSU-650TXV2" on the internet, I realized that it is a Corsair product belonging to the Enthusiast Series-TX650 V2- 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Corsair PSU.

Also, please may I know if "CP" is the newest lot and "CMPSU" is the old lot.