Silverstone SST-SX600-G 600w Gold SFX

If it would appear every 5 seconds I'd go nuts. Once a day I can live with (and it's kind of cute). :)
 
Urelure said:
That chirping sound is actually the most pleasant noise I've had coming from a computer. It's not there often enough to be bothersome and is almost charming:)
I suspect most of the people who has been been complaining about the fan noise have either a water cooled GPU or a very very quiet one, because the fan noise isn't bad at all, though it is there.
After running many many stress tests on my computer I don't hear any coil whine anymore, except for a few seconds whenever i overvolt my GPU. I've been doing that when needed to get through AC3 without crashing.
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I really don't mind the chirping noise either, though every once in a while, I'll completely forget about the fan being off and it will startle me :eek: ..on the other hand, I can imagine that hearing this same noise over an over again, once every 5 minutes, would drive me bonkers :p


I rarely ever notice the fan chatter anymore (it's there, but I've become desensitized to it somewhat). How well I notice the chatter usually boils down to whether or not the fan in my NAS is running (which is actually a pleasant sounding fan.. it's just louder than the chatter). But, when I do happen to notice the chatter.. it becomes hard to ignore, which can be annoying.

And yes, every time I've gotten coil whine with this PSU, running a short stress test (usually 10 minutes or less) seems to stop it. Don't think it's come back in quite a while.
 
Hi guys,

I putted my system together a few weeks ago. Sad news is, since a week ago I got some annoying noise coming from my PSU, it's like a constant whistle. When the fan starts up it sounds like it is trying hard to start for a thousand times (with a little beep every time), and then kicks in with a whistle. It's a new Silverstone SFX 600W version. I made a short video of it (with my phone so it's not that good quality) and posted it on Youtube: http://youtu.be/EIxPqfESkRE. I'm wondering if there is a fix for this other than replacing the fan itself. Because I'm guessing this is not RMA'able. Any of you guys that have the same problem?
 
Kezert said:
Hi guys,

I putted my system together a few weeks ago. Sad news is, since a week ago I got some annoying noise coming from my PSU, it's like a constant whistle. When the fan starts up it sounds like it is trying hard to start for a thousand times (with a little beep every time), and then kicks in with a whistle. It's a new Silverstone SFX 600W version. I made a short video of it (with my phone so it's not that good quality) and posted it on Youtube: http://youtu.be/EIxPqfESkRE. I'm wondering if there is a fix for this other than replacing the fan itself. Because I'm guessing this is not RMA'able. Any of you guys that have the same problem?
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That constant high-pitched modulating noise in your video sounds like coil whine.

Try running a benchmark or stress test program for a while to get some heat through the PSU. I use AIDA64 Extreme (you can find a trial here).. just start it up, and in the menu select "tools" then "system stability test". Keep your view on the temperatures tab to make sure nothing is overheating, and with the default top 4 stressors selected (CPU, FPU, cache & memory), click on the "start" button at the bottom. Run it for at least 10 to 20 minutes, then click "stop". If the coil whine is still there, try running the test again with "stress GPU" also selected and for a longer period of time.
 
so what is the cure for this coil whine plaguing some of the PSUs you guys have mentioned?
Better air cooling? Quality durable wires? RMAs?
 
jcagara08 said:
so what is the cure for this coil whine plaguing some of the PSUs you guys have mentioned?
Better air cooling? Quality durable wires? RMAs?
Click to expand...

Solution is one post up :)

The coil whine seems to go away after the PSU has been running hot for a while. It seems like the hot glue inside the PSU just needs to be "reflowed" for a while, and then it's able to dampen the coiled as intended.

So run it hard overnight and see if the whine is still there in the morning.
 
So what is the consensus on a solution to remove the PSU chirping? From previous pages, it seems to be ducting a 120mm fan over the PSU intake.
 
Just catching up after months away...
Was the Silverstone SX500-LG released? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Will it fit in a v1 M1 case? How does is compare noise-wise with the 600watt?

sorry if all of this has been answered already- its been awhile... Just starting contemplating another M1 build for the winter...
 
slabhatnik said:
Was the Silverstone SX500-LG released?
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Not yet.
Will it fit in a v1 M1 case?
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Barely. If you have a long GPU, you can just about fold the wiring out of the way as long as the GPU does not have a backplate. The connector PCB cannot be pushed further inside the chassis like on previous Sivlerstone PSUs, so either you lose the backplate, use a shorter GPU, modify the plugs themselves to reduce their height, or use a different PSU.
 
slabhatnik said:
Just catching up after months away...
Was the Silverstone SX500-LG released? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Will it fit in a v1 M1 case? How does is compare noise-wise with the 600watt?

sorry if all of this has been answered already- its been awhile... Just starting contemplating another M1 build for the winter...
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There's a thread for that specific PSU: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1834746
 
I just received my SX600-G today, and it's a revision 1.1. Does anyone knows what are the changes? I'll finally get to build my M1 over this weekend!
 
Hmm that's the first we've seen or heard about a v1.1 of the SX600-G. If possible, we'd like a few photos of the cables and the side with the fan. Maybe it could be internal but with the 450W I believe the v1.1 added a capacitor in-line with a cable.
 
Someone over on OCN asked them about it and they said there was no changes.

Obviously not completely true or there would be no need for a revision but it may be some minor internal change.
 
Aibohphobia said:
Someone over on OCN asked them about it and they said there was no changes.

Obviously not completely true or there would be no need for a revision but it may be some minor internal change.
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Right, we won't know for certain unless someone opens it up, or if the rep comes around and lets us know about it.
 
ghostwich said:
Right, we won't know for certain unless someone opens it up, or if the rep comes around and lets us know about it.
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How much do you wanna bet that the temp sensor was moved/tweaked, and now the semi-fanless feature actually works properly?

Then again, if so.. this could explain the couple new reports of folks hearing the fan's start-up chirp over and over again (possibly adjusted to a point where the fan just keeps turning on and off).

Please let us know your experience Dean!
 
I ordered my unit from Amazon. I haven't got around running it yet, but the build should be completed by this weekend. I took a few pictures, but nothing tells it apart from a revision 1.0 on the exterior beside the sticker.

http://imgur.com/a/RlG2x
 
I've had the 1.1v and 1.0 the only differences I really noticed were that the fans were a bit quieter once it started running. The difference was really negligible and I'm not even sure thinking back if it really was quieter. Also when the psu turned off it sometimes didn't make a coil whine noise and when it did it wasn't very loud.

The coil whine problem that I've experienced with the 1.0 is only when the psu gets heated up but not enough to have the fans running and it makes a slight whine with the fans budging a little. That whine is still there in v1.1.
 
I was originally interested in the SFX-L PSU, but after the delay and the clearance issue with the M1, I decided to jump on the SX600-G after reading the johnnyguru and spcr reviews. They both stated the unit was solid and relatively quiet.

Now I am having second thoughts after exploring this thread. I also found a review on newegg of the revision 1.1 unit. It seems that this new revision doesn't address the problems people are complaining about in this thread.
 
88records said:
I've had the 1.1v and 1.0 the only differences I really noticed were that the fans were a bit quieter once it started running. The difference was really negligible and I'm not even sure thinking back if it really was quieter. Also when the psu turned off it sometimes didn't make a coil whine noise and when it did it wasn't very loud.

The coil whine problem that I've experienced with the 1.0 is only when the psu gets heated up but not enough to have the fans running and it makes a slight whine with the fans budging a little. That whine is still there in v1.1.
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On either unit, once the fan turned on did it ever turn back off again when the PC was still running (not during sleep, or shutdown), or did it always stay running?
 
AFD said:
On either unit, once the fan turned on did it ever turn back off again when the PC was still running (not during sleep, or shutdown), or did it always stay running?
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They both constantly stay on. I tested the 1.1 to see if it had the same problem and I put it on load to get it running and afterwards on idle, and unfortunately it never turned off. Both only turn off when the computers shut down (although I didn't try sleep).

The only solution that I can think of to get rid of the coil whine is to keep the psu consistently cool and from what I can tell if you can keep the bottom part cool the fans shouldn't necessarily turn on although I haven't tested that out.
 
Coil whine isn't caused by heat, it's caused by combining certain components (like PSU, motherboard and GPU) that cause a certain frequency in a coil which allows the coiled whire to resonate. The only real solutions are to find what component is causing it (CPU, GPU, motherboard, ...) and replace it or put a dab of hot glue onto the coil that is resonating. But this isn't easy.

WiSK has already speculated (more than once in this thread) that the white paste that is put onto the coils to prevent this, is not done correctly and by putting a good amount of load (>300W) on it for long periods of time (overnight) could allow the white goop to become a little more "goopy" and attach properly to the coils.

Atleast a few people have said this reduced their coil whine or eliminated it. Other noises like a chattery fan or clicking noise is related to the fan and not coil whine.
 
Phuncz said:
Coil whine isn't caused by heat, it's caused by combining certain components (like PSU, motherboard and GPU) that cause a certain frequency in a coil which allows the coiled whire to resonate. The only real solutions are to find what component is causing it (CPU, GPU, motherboard, ...) and replace it or put a dab of hot glue onto the coil that is resonating. But this isn't easy.

WiSK has already speculated (more than once in this thread) that the white paste that is put onto the coils to prevent this, is not done correctly and by putting a good amount of load (>300W) on it for long periods of time (overnight) could allow the white goop to become a little more "goopy" and attach properly to the coils.

Atleast a few people have said this reduced their coil whine or eliminated it. Other noises like a chattery fan or clicking noise is related to the fan and not coil whine.
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Coil noise is, as its name suggests, caused by electromagnetic coils. These coils, which may act as inductors or transformers, have a certain resonant frequency when coupled with the rest of the electric circuit, as well as a resonance at which it will tend to physically vibrate. However in a computer part there are many electrical parts/circuits which can cause whining noises since whining is caused by a part (or parts) physically vibrating and thus it may not actually be the coils themselves that make the annoying noises.

While coil whine doesn't also occur simply by heat, something within the sfx 600 is causing the coil whine, and coil whines can occur independently without the interaction of another unit or in combination as its not always dependent on another item.

I've also personally tried the "overnight" load which hasn't personally worked for me.
 
88records said:
I've also personally tried the "overnight" load which hasn't personally worked for me.
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That's interesting. I have much the same components as you (at least I did have the 980 in the NCase at first). I just set the GPU to run folding@home for a few days and my coil whine is gone.
 
Wow! Got a brand new weird and exciting sound to report..

After installing my 970 ITX (only had iGPU before), the PSU now makes a high-pitched frequency sweep (very slowly from high to low) right before the "birdy chirp" sound (which indicates the fan turning on). Only lasts for maybe 5 seconds, and doesn't happen again until another cold boot. Has never happened before the GPU install.

No biggie, and not a complaint.. just something.. weird.


SilverStone Engineer #1: Yeah, those bitchy SFF assholes at [H]? Sure.. we'll make them a quiet powerhouse PSU. But, hey.. let's give them something with lots of, uh..
SilverStone Engineer #2: ..lots of "character"? <devilish grin>. So.. what's the new 1.205b revision for again?
SilverStone Engineer #1: It's purely a new sticker indicating that the new sticker was revised from 1.205a.. bet they'll get a big kick out of that! But get this.. for revision 1.206a we're changing the cute bird chirp to a funny cow moo!

:D
 
They should call it a feature.

"Our new SFX PSU is so eco friendly due to it's efficiency and smaller packaging that we've even thrown in the sounds of nature as a bonus!"

:p
 
I would actually like my PSU making a cow go moo when I turn it on. Pro tip, Tony Ou !
 
AFD said:
the PSU now makes a high-pitched frequency sweep (very slowly from high to low) right before the "birdy chirp"
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Yup, I've had that one since day one (but then I always had a graphics card). In the beginning, I mistook it for our washing machine, but then discovered it was the psu. Sometimes I get it a couple of times in a row before the chirp, but usually only once.

As I've said before, it's a little sound effect machine. :p

Or rather, a little beat box. It can do washing machines and birds. ;)
 
The worst thing about all of this is that for many of us this is the only choice we have. It's not like we've got a plethora of SFX PSUs we can choose between.
 
Is it like this consistently at load? At what load? I hear a lot about strange noises (above), chattering and general loudness at load, comparable to the 450w.

Has anyone used this at around 300-350W? E.g. GTX 970 ITX system.

The theory is that lower load = cooler PSU = quieter and i've seen this tested but not on this PSU.

Despite all this, it's basically the only choice.

Regarding a noctua fan - i wouldn't mind paying a bit more for this but it will probably push the PSU over $200 AU. This is in line with very high end platinum PSUs or top rated gold modular 850W+ PSUs.
 
I'm only bothered by it on low loads, when I can hear the annoying fan chatter. I don't think the fan is loud though, the fan noise is a LOT worse with the 450W ST45SF-G (v 2.0, the 1.0 is even worse), at ANY load (it annoyed me very much, also in idle).

At load (gaming), it's drowned out by my reference GTX 980, which doesn't make all that much noise.
 
yolostrats said:
Is it like this consistently at load? At what load? I hear a lot about strange noises (above), chattering and general loudness at load, comparable to the 450w.
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On mine.. chatter at idle and chatter at load (sometimes it's not very noticeable, sometimes it is). What load? Dunno. Enough to get all four of my Noctua fans (and my 970 fan) spinning pretty damn fast and pushing tons of air.. and I can still hear the stupid PSU chatter above all that. The fan itself doesn't ever sound loud to me.. it's just the chatter that I find annoying.

The sweeping frequency and birdy chirp only happens when the fan starts up (and only happens once after a cold boot, since the semi-fanless design doesn't work). I've had modulating coil whine only at startup, and a different higher pitched frequency that persisted.. both have went away after running stress tests. One returned, and again went away after putting some heat through the unit.

It's really not *that* bad, but it's not at all good by any definition of the word.

As Backfeed just mentioned, it's actually quite an improvement over the ST45SF-G.. so count your blessings you didn't spend money on both? :p


And Noctua.. I can guarantee you they'd consider it a defect and would insist upon a replacement, were this one of their fans. Their fans aren't magic, they just sound like air being pushed about.. which is what fans do, and I'm quite okay with that ;)
 
A Noctua would be nice but they don't currently have a slim 80mm fan and it usually takes them 1-2 years to come out with a new product.
 
Let's wait and see what they are going to do with the SX500-LG before we condemn Silverstone to professional ignorism, considering they didn't went with the standard crap GlobeFan fan from the OEM design.
 
It is a mystery to us as consumers why, after making the important step of reducing the fan rpm profile, they then picked a run-of-the-mill fan for production. Having seen the success of the Noiseblocker PC-P mod, it seemed obvious to me that they might ask Blacknoise for a quote for a custom run of IP55 series 80x15 industrial fans. Who knows, maybe they did? We don't know how many different fans they considered and what price and specifications they were looking for.

pointfiveo said:
Plus Silverstone wouldn't consider Noctua.
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Not Noctua necessarily, but their OEM is Kolink are also based in Taipei, in fact only 12km apart. There's no reason why they wouldn't consider to do business with them. It's very possible that Silverstone reached out to Kolink for a quote, who then asked for a minimum order of 50,000 with a development time of six months, and certain demands about using the Noctua branding/marketing etc. There could be all kinds of reasons that would make it a non-starter for either company.

Another thing: although Noctua and Noiseblocker carry some street cred on English speaking forums, most PC component sales are in Asia, where those brands aren't worth an extra 20 euro.
 
Mine sometimes makes this noise that sounds like a bomb dropping. Starts off with a high pitch noise and gradually gets lower. It also will make high pitched chirping sounds.
 
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