Oklahoma Wolf
09-19-05, 11:23 PM
For those interested in fanless units (not that I'd call them useful for most people wanting to overclock), Xbit just reviewed two fanless PSU's - the Fortron Zen and Topower TOP-420NF.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/noiseless-psus.html
This is the first time I've seen the actual innards of the Zen - it's an impressive piece of engineering. The crossload charts are incredible - thanks to independant voltage regulation, this thing regulated between 1-2% it looks like. These results are ahead of the OCZ 470w and 520w Powerstreams Xbit has tested. However, I would expect these kinds of results from something as overbuilt as the Zen. Wasn't entirely good news though - heavy 5v loads make it noisy in the ripple charts, and the protection circuitry is overprotective. And SPCR's sample failed without warning - still not sure what's up there.
The Topower unit did better regulating than its cousins in the OCZ Modstreams, however was clearly not designed from the start as a fanless unit.
So, I'm still not recommending any fanless units anytime soon. However, I'd say Fortron has the right idea for building one. I still like the Etasis/Silverstone fanless as well, though it too has its shortcomings.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/noiseless-psus.html
This is the first time I've seen the actual innards of the Zen - it's an impressive piece of engineering. The crossload charts are incredible - thanks to independant voltage regulation, this thing regulated between 1-2% it looks like. These results are ahead of the OCZ 470w and 520w Powerstreams Xbit has tested. However, I would expect these kinds of results from something as overbuilt as the Zen. Wasn't entirely good news though - heavy 5v loads make it noisy in the ripple charts, and the protection circuitry is overprotective. And SPCR's sample failed without warning - still not sure what's up there.
The Topower unit did better regulating than its cousins in the OCZ Modstreams, however was clearly not designed from the start as a fanless unit.
So, I'm still not recommending any fanless units anytime soon. However, I'd say Fortron has the right idea for building one. I still like the Etasis/Silverstone fanless as well, though it too has its shortcomings.