Power Supply - confused

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Fester

Weaksauce
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Oct 6, 2010
Messages
85
I've spent my entire day off trying to get the penultimate part for my 1st PC build. However, I'm still confused. I just want one that doesn't have a coil whine but it seems like all these models have reviews or reports of coil whine so I'm completely confused on which to buy. I don't understand if the coil whine is due to the KM3 models. It's also confusing when looking up reviews because the X series models are updated, however a lot of the reviews are for the previous generation. I'm just looking for any guidance that can be provided. All of the below mentioned models are in my price range.

Here's the list I've got:

Seasonic two models:

X series
750
850
Platinum Series
760
860

Corsair AX series:

AX750
AX760
AX850
AX860
 
Seasonic PSUs (Corsair uses Seasonic PSUs) tend to have a significantly higher chance of coil whine complaints than other OEMs.

However, keep in mind coil whine is completely random, and it depends a lot on the hardware you're running and how sensitive you are to such noises. You might hear it, but a person standing next to you who's less sensitive won't.
 
If you're that worried get a PC&P, same owner as Seasonic(OCZ) and has significantly less reports of coil whine.
 
majax79 said:
I've spent my entire day off trying to get the penultimate part for my 1st PC build. However, I'm still confused. I just want one that doesn't have a coil whine but it seems like all these models have reviews or reports of coil whine so I'm completely confused on which to buy. I don't understand if the coil whine is due to the KM3 models. It's also confusing when looking up reviews because the X series models are updated, however a lot of the reviews are for the previous generation. I'm just looking for any guidance that can be provided. All of the below mentioned models are in my price range.

Here's the list I've got:

Seasonic two models:

X series
750
850
Platinum Series
760
860

Corsair AX series:

AX750
AX760
AX850
AX860
Click to expand...



I have the corsair ax850, no coil whine issues, I swear some people need a psychologist for all their technology related OCD, screen sparkles, coil whine, fans making noise, lcd's hot as ovens, phones heavy as bricks etc.

seasonic makes the corsair AX and HX line, seasonic is number one in the industry Ive never had any coil whine issues with any of their units and I have used them in several builds as well as using them exclusively in my personal rigs.
 
darksparten said:
If you're that worried get a PC&P, same owner as Seasonic(OCZ) and has significantly less reports of coil whine.
Click to expand...


ocz owns pc power and cooling not seasonic, since ocz took over at pc power and cooling their power supplies have not lived up to their former reputation and ocz uses a little know great wall.......chinese company I do not recommend either ocz or pc power and cooling anymore.

seasonic is NO LONGER FOUND in pc power and cooling units.
 
conghelach said:
I have the corsair ax850, no coil whine issues, I swear some people need a psychologist for all their technology related OCD, screen sparkles, coil whine, fans making noise, lcd's hot as ovens, phones heavy as bricks etc.

seasonic makes the corsair AX and HX line, seasonic is number one in the industry Ive never had any coil whine issues with any of their units and I have used them in several builds as well as using them exclusively in my personal rigs.
Click to expand...

The Corsair AX850 is not the newest model that used the KM3 (which is what people are speculating is causing the noise). Also, a Seasonic tech rep states that they are investigating the issue (doesn't help me at the moment).

I've gone through countless threads (as of 1/1/2013) and there is no shortage of people RMA for another one which they RMA. Here is a video of the issue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixi-Dhryd7o

I just want to make sure I do my homework before I spend $200.
 
I have a Seasonic X750 in my computer and have not seen the coil whine some report..

but I have heard about some reporting the issue to be sure, I was kinda worried about it when I ordered but it hasn't been a issue here.
 
I have both a corsair AX650 and AX750, they run 24/7 and there is no coil whine that i can hear over the sound of everything else
 
conghelach said:
ocz owns pc power and cooling not seasonic, since ocz took over at pc power and cooling their power supplies have not lived up to their former reputation and ocz uses a little know great wall.......chinese company I do not recommend either ocz or pc power and cooling anymore.

seasonic is NO LONGER FOUND in pc power and cooling units.
Click to expand...

PC Power & Cooling MK III 400-600 watt models are built by Seasonic.

Great Wall has proven themselves more than capable of making a great unit. Just look at the Sparkle Gold 1250 and OCZ 1000W Gold.

The PC Power & Cooling MK III 750 and 850 are manufactured by Super Flower, who have also proven themselves to be great manufacturers.

You may want to do your research before making blanket statements like that which simply aren't true.
 
If you can seriously hear coil whine with the gpu/cpu/case fans going, and the panels on the computer, then you have some ridiculous hearing ability. The video you linked has a dude with a microphone 1mm from the psu and you can still barely hear it over the fan noise.

My old video card had way worse coil whine when I watercooled it and overclocked the hell out of it, so pretty much anything can do it, not just a PSU.
 
Last edited:
OK, so I'm going to just go with whichever one I want. However, with the below listed parts, would 750-760 or 850-960 be optimal? Isn't it 50% CPU usage when the fan kicks on?

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 FTW 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 02G-P4-2678-KR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

SSD Hard Drive: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-442

Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233186

Optical Drive: Lite-On LightScribe 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive IHAS424-98 - Retail (Black)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106335

Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2412M Black IPS Panel 24" 8ms Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 2,000,000:1 (1000:1) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824260047

Speaker: DELL UltraSharp and Professional Series 468-7412 10 W 2.0 AX510 Flat Panel Stereo SoundBar http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836260002&Tpk=Dell AX510
 
300 ~ 350 W is the base power requirement. But allowing a bit more for derating due to aging, a bit more for safety and for minor upgrades, say 400 ~ 450W.

Strongly recommend reading detailed reviews of PSU's of interest at this site ([H]ardOCP), JonnyGuru, Hardware Secrets, and similar sites where PSU's are thoroughly tested.
 
A solid 550W PSU would be enough for that setup. Maybe a 650W at most. You do not need a 750W or higher. As for fan, which fan are you talking about? The CPU HSF? or the PSU fan? If the latter, it depends on which PSU you're talking about. Some PSUs don't turn on the fan when the full system power load/use is like below 25%
 
Rosewill Capstone. Seasonic can take its coil whine that it hasn't fixed and screw. I used to like them, but doing nothing to fix the problem proves to me that they aren't as solid as I thought. I use and recommend the Capstone.
 
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