Ultra V-series power supply

I currently have a 400w Ultra V-series power supply. I leave the
desktop unit in my bedroom on at night, and it's pretty loud. The
desktop is also running a Celeron on stock heatsink/fan, and the load
on the CPU is usually none. I think most of the sound is coming from
the large 120mm CPU fan, maybe even bigger, because it takes up the
entire surface of the power supply. If anyone has experience, would
the Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC be very quiet? I know I could just get a
passively-powered PSU, but those are quite expensive, and I'm not
pushing the CPU to full load, either, so I just need something to keep
everything powered without being loud.

Thanks,
- Eli

Eli Luong wrote:
> I currently have a 400w Ultra V-series power supply. I leave the
> desktop unit in my bedroom on at night, and it's pretty loud. The
> desktop is also running a Celeron on stock heatsink/fan, and the load
> on the CPU is usually none. I think most of the sound is coming from
> the large 120mm CPU fan, maybe even bigger, because it takes up the
> entire surface of the power supply. If anyone has experience, would
> the Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC be very quiet? I know I could just get a
> passively-powered PSU, but those are quite expensive, and I'm not
> pushing the CPU to full load, either, so I just need something to keep
> everything powered without being loud.
>
> Thanks,
> - Eli
>

Reviews for the W0070RUC are here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

You could buy one of the following. It is $125 and the reason I selected it,
is because there are fewer reports of failures. I didn't pick this
because of the 550W rating, but because it might still be working
two years from now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151027

I checked the three units newegg sells that are "fanless" or "nearly
fanless", and all had reports of blowouts or DOA.

Note that fanless power supplies are not completely silent. There is
a tendency for "coil noise" under load. For example, on my current
supply, if I run Prime95 or memtest86+, I can hear characteristic
modulation as the stages of testing change. So even if the fan noise
is gone, there are other obnoxious noises that are still there.

Paul