Can I speed up my enermax PSU?

My brand new 3 day old enermax modu 82+ just go fried. The fan won't turn any more. The Psu was in a small case right over my cpu passive heatsink. By the time I realized my Psu fan had stopped, my cpu core temps read 90c! I put in my $20 apevia PSU and my computer seems to still work but I don't know if there are tests I should perform to see if my compuer got damaged by hot temperatures. My Psu was acting as my only case exhaust and I think it just got too hot and burned out. I was able to monitor my modu 82's PSU rpm's by attaching it's 3 pin header to MB and saw even when stress testing with prime95 it never went above 900 rpm's even though on Psu box it said up to 2000 rpm's. Was this a deffective PSU that wasn't spinning fast enough? It seems I can't get my $ back from this PSU so I have to deal with enermax to get it replaced. I'm wondering if I can get this Psu to spin fast enough for my needs, or if I need to sell it used and pick something else up instead that can move more air for my purposes. My apevia is keeping my cpu temps 15C lower than the enermax was but it's much too loud. Can enermax modu 82 be made to spin over 900 rpm's for me or does it reserve higher RPM's for high wattage draws?

 

Having a PSU fan as the only fan in a system is a crazy idea, the fan bearings (not to mention the PSU itself) will overheat and seize up. Get a proper case fan in there. Additionally, using a cheap Apevia PSU will probably destroy what's left of the PC, those units go pop at no notice. Buy a proper PSU like a Corsair HX after returning the Enermax. 900rpm is fine for a PSU fan speed, the Corsairs run at 700 with no problem, but that assumes they only have to cool themselves, not the entire system.

 

Thanks sammorris, but I'd like to try my luck with PSU case fan as only exhaust. I will have 3 other 80mm case fan's blowing air into my case. My case is sugo series small form factor case and there is no room for exhaust fan. Anyways my apevia is running fine so I need to either figure out how to increase my replacement enermax's Rpm's past 900 rpm's or get a suitable replacement that moves more air at a decent noise level. Any suggestions?

 

Why not just set an 80mm fan at exhaust? If you want a PSU that moves excessive air (at the cost of excessive noise) buy something like a Thermaltake Toughpower (not one of Tt's cheaper units, they're bad)

 

Less noise is my primary concern. I thought the best airflow senario in my case was to push air in with my cage fan and expell it out with PSU providing my PSU is pushing enough air. Like I said my Apevia is pushing enough air but it is very loud. I believe my best bet would be to go with a PSU with variable speed. Do you know if the corsair you recomend will push more air than my enermax for me? Maybe I can fool the PSU into thinking it has more load and increase the RPM's that way? My case is silverstone sugo series sg02-f

 

If you're feeling brave, just break open a decent unit like a Corsair, Zalman or whatever and stick your own 120mm fan in it, something like a Scythe SFF21E or SFF21F. If you're genius you could run a fan controller wire out of the unit somehow and run it off its own fan controller..

 

Do you recommend doing this to my new enermax? Since it's fan just stopped working? This is an expensive unit to be tinkering with.

 

It is, but most PSUs are either unreliable, noisy, or designed for silence with minimal airflow, there isn't much in between. Whether you want to void the warranty on an expensive PSU that has actually broken is your choice, but I would recommend against doing it for that unit as it relies on PWM fan speed monitoring, not traditional voltage change like normal fans, so finding a suitable replacement fan for it will be hard.

 

So It seems I'll contact enermax directly and get my PSU replaced. Do you know if they will try to claim negligence on my part? Do you know if I can fool my enermax replacement PSU into thinking it has a higher load so I can exceed 900 rpm's?

 

Not to my knowledge, seriously, just design your case ventilation better. Two 80mm fans in, one 80mm and the PSU out. That's the traditional way of doing it. If you're concerned about noise get Nexus Realsilent 80mm case fans, they can cool a Sugo well enough with a low speed PSU as I've seen that exact combination done. If you still get heat issues with your CPU buy a cooler with a fan, but a low speed one, like a Low profile freezer 7 pro with the fan speed reduced.

 

Thanks again, I'm happy with my NT06-e heatsink. Have you seen my case? I was told by others who own it it that it only makes sence to use chasis fans to blow in. I could however buy something like a spot cooler perhaps, but I don't know if this is a good idea or where I would put it.

 

obviously the enermax PSU at 900 rpm's max was insufficient airflow for me unless it was just a deffective PSU but I don't know if this is the case. Can you recommend a quiet PSU with better airflow than the enermax at 900 rpm's which is as high as I could get it to go?

 

No such product exists, The highest speed a PSU fan can be before it starts to become noisy is about 1000-1100rpm, PSU fans use noisier ball bearings as (heh, ironically) they have a lower failure rate than quieter sleeve bearing fans. Consequently your only realistic option is to improve your case airflow. My friend has a Sugo, and he has multiple exhaust fans which runs his system stone cold. He uses a Seasonic S12 PSU with only 600rpm fan speed.

 

Is it my exact case? product link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163112

I don't think your friend uses a passive heatsink though which will heat up my PSU since my NT06-e heatsink is resting flush against PSU since my cpu is right below my PSU. I was told that this case and my NT06-e heatsink were designed to be together with chasis fans blowing in.

 

Have you seen the pictures of my case as shown on my newegg link? There are 3 chasis 80 mm fan mounts. 1 is seperated in the harddrive enclosure. 1 in the back is at an angle where it would blow down on a video card if I had one. And 1 is on the top of my case. I had it told to me if I face fans out they will end up fighting each other and provide poor airflow. However you are both saying this will lower temps of my PSU? I imagine this would heat up my cpu and MB though.

 

He has the older SG-01 Evolution, but looking at those pictures it is identical in layout, he has the fans at the top and rear blowing out. He uses the stock Intel CPU cooler, but having a passive one wouldn't be a problem if you just turned your fans to be exhaust, I don't see what's so hard about that.

 

Indeed, but those tend not to be very effective unless they're quite noisy. I'm still strongly suggesting one of the case fans be reversed.