What fan for my psu?

Flaring Afro

Flaring Afro

New Member
How much cfm does a 450 watt psu typically need? I built my htpc and I bought quiet parts, but I used a psu I had sitting around the house (it hasn't been used). Its a startech and its loud. Louder than an xbox 360, while the rest of the pc is super quiet. Since its always on, it's too loud to stand. Instead of spending $50 on a hopefully quiet psu, I want to just replace the fan and was thinking of this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999602

I bought one for the case and it's always on high, but silent. Does anyone think this will/won't work? Thanks.
 
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^ Are they unsafe? If it goes bad, most psus have loud fans so I could rip mine out and reuse it, not having to worry if the new one I buy is silent. I just don't want to fork over $60 on a $200 htpc that works. If it breaks, my laptop has an even better video card. I can still watch my movies so it wouldn't be a disaster if i had to wait a week for a new psu.


ganzey said:
im pretty sure that they have different power connectors.
Click to expand...

I saw a how-to online and sometimes they have the small 3 pin connector and sometimes they are soldered, i've soldered wires to a tiny power button in a netbook for my carputer so I dont think it will be too bad. :good: If its another connector I could fuse or crimp the wires too....
 
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of all the power supplies i have ripped apart(about 10) they all had 2 pin red and black wire plugs. Also, if the psu goes out, it might also take out the mobo, cpu, graphics, hdd, etc. it doesnt always, but there is the possibility.
 
hmmm i'll have to think about it. i bought the psu off newegg around 4-5 years ago and it had many, great reviews then. My model might be solid...or most of the 50+ people just reviewed it right after putting it in.... :(
 
Flaring Afro said:
^ Are they unsafe? If it goes bad, most psus have loud fans so I could rip mine out and reuse it, not having to worry if the new one I buy is silent. I just don't want to fork over $60 on a $200 htpc that works. If it breaks, my laptop has an even better video card. I can still watch my movies so it wouldn't be a disaster if i had to wait a week for a new psu.




I saw a how-to online and sometimes they have the small 3 pin connector and sometimes they are soldered, i've soldered wires to a tiny power button in a netbook for my carputer so I dont think it will be too bad. :good: If its another connector I could fuse or crimp the wires too....
Click to expand...

They are cheap units, cheap units have high failure rates and when they fail, they usually fail catastrophically and have a large voltage spike that can blow out other components as well. Not to mention better quality units will also save money due to higher effeciency. Generally these days most power supplies have quiet 120 or 140mm fans, or in the case of pc power and cooling units an 80mm fan but pretty much silent.
 
Funny thing about power supplies. In all the years that I have been doing this I have only had 2 actually fail. One was due to a faulty switch and the other just quit working. None of which failed in any sort of spectacular fashion nor damaged anything else when they did fail. They just quit. Most of the time they get replaced because I have higher power or connector needs and the old ones just don't supply it anymore.

Oldest one I still have is a Bestec 400 watt (20pin + P4) that runs my testing bench alongside an OCZ 400 watt unit. The Bestec has gone through 2 fans now and still keeps on plugging along. Not exactly a high dollar PSU (in fact I think it was a pull from an OEM), but according to my PSU tester, she runs stable at proper voltages. Replacement cost for the exact same one would be about $15 or so.

That being said, OP if you want to do the work to fix the current PSU then that fan will work fine. If the current one is soldered in then no problem. If it has a 2pin connector you may have to splice the new fan onto the connector wires. Either way if you are confident enough to do that sort of work then the risk is probably minimal but the choice is up to you. If you are planning at sometime to use the PSU in another system at a later date then sure, get a higher end unit. Personally, For a $200 htpc I wouldn't go out and spend a whole bunch of bucks on a high dollar PSU when the replacement for that Sparkle will probably do just fine.

YMMV
 
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