The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

The xigmatek is mounted in the TOP of my secondaries case. It exhausts the entire case. Quite nicely too. A very needed addition to that case. Though its rather irritating that I have to remove it, when replacing the PSU If I'm right, I should never have to replace it again

 

Sorry creaky, I wasn't ignoring you. Wasn't sure how to respond til now. Basically, I have bad luck with linux. I will..."Man up" one day though LOL! And I have had SOME success with it. Ubuntu anyway. Puppy has been quite the prick though. I'm thinking the only way to find the problem is with windows. For I believe it is a driver that runs in windows. E.g. a Sata 3.0 or USB 3.0 driver. Since both of those technologies are brand new, it would not surprise me to be the culprit I plan to reinstall windows, and take baby steps til I find the problem. Not sure if that can happen during the week though Weekends are more casual

 

Sam,
The 700 does have a Thermister fan controller, so no problem there. I read a bunch of reviews on it last night and all of them were pretty favorable. The quality of the components is very high where it counts, and a lot of the components used, are usually only found in much higher priced units. They even use some of the same components as the high end Corsairs. I know that adding Surge protection would have raised the production cost by about $20, but I carry some in my toolbox, so it only Takes about 5 minutes to rectify the problem with a soldering gun. I do think the OCZ is worth the $30 it cost me.

You mentioned heat being vented into the case from the PSU, and I think I know why they do that, and it's directly related to case airflow and case pressure. Years ago when all a case had was maybe two 80mm low CFM fans in it, moving about 20-25 CFM, getting a PSU to exhaust properly was easy. Today, with all the very high CFM fans available, and the common use of negative case pressure, the exhaust can actually overwhelm the PSU's fans ability to move enough air, by trying to pull air back through the PSU, slowing down the PSU's airflow. They vent them inside the case to help remove some of the heat through the rear exhaust fan. Unfortunately, the air is drawn right through the area of the CPU cooler, so it raises the temps a few degrees. Negative case Pressure used to be the way to go in the days of lesser fans, but positive case pressure works much better with today's modern cases, which makes a lot of sense to me. I know that PSUs in a lot of the equipment I work on, have their air intakes for the Power Supply's direct to the outside of the case, to eliminate airflow bottlenecks for the PSU. These computer cases with the PSU on the bottom, draw their air from outside the case, as do a couple I've seen with the PSU mounted upside down at the top, with a fan grille opening to supply the cooling air directly to the PSU fan's intake. Most Media center cases draw their intake air to the PSU, from outside the case. Some cases even isolate the entire PSU in it's own chamber, with it's own intake to supply air to the PSU.

With my computer, I have about 100 CFM going in, and about 75 CFM going out. My PSU runs much cooler, and my overall temps are lower than they were using negative case pressure. It also allows the exhaust fans to more effectively remove more heat from the case.

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Shoulda bought one of these...

AeroCool 140 Streamliner

I know someone with a couple of extra.. well if he can find them... you wanna try one??

 

I was simply trying to point out, that the OCZ is nearly inaudible. At least to my ears, in my environment. I have components that seem to be louder than the OCZ. e.g. my CPU fan, and HAF932 front 230mm fan. Though thats REALLY nitpicking! That aero cool does look good though
Even when gaming, I don't believe the OCZ picked up in noise. Which could be attributed to bumping up the CPU, and GPU fans

The Xigmatek is generally inaudible

 

yea those are some bad boys. prolly the best fans on the market. PERIOD........

 

Rob,
I have to cast my vote for Scythe Slipstreams. Every one I've had tested so far was about 1-2dBA quieter than claimed! They are also the only sleeve bearing fans that have survived for more than a year, in this very dusty part of the country. This is what I ordered to replace the 53 CFM FN121 Silverstone, that also happens to be an extremely quiet fan.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185058

Depending on the results with the temps, the FN121 may wind up in the lower front to replace the stock Cooler Master fan. Just my two Cents worth!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

I"m sure it's good Russ but it's NOT a 140mm. I like the price and if they offer FREE shipping I may have to get a couple just because RUss said they was good...

 

GM,
Shows you what I know! LOL!! I didn't notice it was 140mm! ROFLMSOAO!!

BTW! At almost $18, it should have free shipping! At $29.99 + $2.99 shipping, the Noctua NF-P14 FLX is probably the best 140mm fan in the world. It's certainly one of the quietest. 64.96cfm @1200rpm, 19.6dBA. 49.29cfm @900rpm, 13.2dBA. 41.93cfm @750rpm, 10.1dBA. I would try one with the motherboard controller set to voltage first, before I used the speed adapters.

The aerocool runs at 54.7cfm @1000rpm, 19.6dBA. The Noctua has the same noise spec of 19.6dBA @1200rpm, but moves air at 64.96cfm. You want a 140mm fan with lots of air with very low noise, this is it!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

There's a 140mm version of the Slipstream you guys realise? The 'Kaze Maru 2' is the successor to the original Kaze Maru. It's in 500, 800, 1200 and 1700rpm speeds. It's not a true 140mm fan as it uses a 120mm frame, but it is still 140mm in diameter and moves the appropriate amount of air. I want to get one as the back fan for my HAF but it means importing one from the US. Ironically, even with the poor exchange rate at the moment, doing so would cost no more than I paid in the UK for a Noctua 120mm fan a couple of years ago!

 

Russ sent you a PM. Gimme a reply asap I appreciate it.

 

No offense, but I would rather spend the money and get the Noctua NF-P14 FLX! With a MTBF of 150,000 hours versus the 20,000 hours of the Kaze Maru 2, and a good deal quieter at 1200 RPM, it's certainly worth consideration. I also just now found out that you can plug it into the CPU header on the motherboard, set it to Auto, and it works fine! Should be damn near silent! Expensive, yes, but vewy vewy quiet!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

Noctua fans are overrated really. I haven't tested the newer models, but they never fixed the 550Hz bearing resonance in the original fans, causing them to be far louder than their stated noise level. The Slipstreams also have a bearing resonance, but it only appears under stress (i.e. positive pressure against them). The resonance frequency of the Slipstreams seems to be about 455Hz.

 

Sam,
I don't know, but I had a short physical demonstration of the Noctua, last night and it is amazingly quiet at any speed. I am impressed! You can set it standing up on the desktop, and there's no buzz, and you only feel the very slightest bit of vibration, holding it with your fingertips. The blade balance must be flawless! I guess that's why it costs so much! I wonder what they did to the motor to make it last 17+ years between failures. That's what 150,000 hours works out to. The Kaze Maru 2, works out to a little over 2 years between failures! I got the specs straight from the manufacturer's websites.

Russ

 

sam,
Here's a couple of typical reviews that I found.

http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/OCZ_GameXStream_700W_1.html

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=333

I do realize that these reviews are pretty old, but I don't see how you can say you would rate my CM over the OCZ Gamestar 700w. Many of the components are the same ones used in far more expensive PSUs, including Corsairs! With two AC bridge rectifiers instead of one, three power MOSFET transistors in the Active PFC stage instead of two, and eight Schottky rectifiers in the final DC stage (four for the +12V, two for the +5V, and two for the +3.3V output), I don't see how you can come to that conclusion.

best regards,
Russ

 

Likewise the OCZ StealthXStream 600W uses most of the same internals thus my heavy recommendation of it. It's very cheap price-wise and matches the performance and quality of several better known units. I wouldn't promote it if I didn't think it was a VERY good unit.

 

Estuansis,
The first review was somewhat suspect, as they didn't have a load tester that could load more than two +12v rails. They did a nice job of breaking down the components though! The second review has all the right equipment to do a better job of testing it. In both reviews, the 700w GameStar was highly recommended. While the 500w CM has been a good and very stable PSU for me, it can't hold a candle to the quality features of the GameStar! With the proper equipment, they were able to load the 4 +12v rails to 692w. To my eyes, that's pretty good!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

And this is just the load on the 12v+ rails? Mine has been run on a proper load tester and it shut down at 730W. Albeit not entirely on the 12v+ it was total DC output.

Very interesting on the 12v+ results though as I assume that would be the main difference between the StealthXStream 600 and the GameXStream 700. The case on the PSU lists its max output on the 12+ rails at 580W! Again, I wish I would have paid closer attention to the test as it was being run. I would then have a bit more to add to the discussion, LOL.

 

Estuansis,
Read the second review, and you will learn a lot of answers to your questions. I really like this guys way of putting things into words. There's a good bit of knowledge in that review!

Russ
P.S.
Your package has arrived ! :>)