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My Enermax "Whisper" power supply has been a torn in my ear since day one. The supposedly quiet temperature controlled fan screamed like an 8000 RPM Delta!

Tonight had had the idea to try mucking about with the thermistor circuit. Obviously, an addition or subtraction of resistance should change the fan speed. To my delight, I I discovered that an increase in resistance dropped the fan speed. Thus, simply cutting the wire to the thermistor leads to minimum fan speed.

So, if you have a whisper that driving you nuts with it's loud fan, don't hesitate to snip off the thermistor. Your ears will thank you.

Interesting. I am currently looking to get an Enermax to use. It certainly seems odd that it would be so loud on a "whisper" power supply unit. Obviously you've thought of this but is there any change that the power supply is having a hard time cooling itself off?

Alternatively, the termistor could be bad.

It would seem to me that removing the thermistor should increase the fan speed if the thermistor is placed in series with the fan motor. In series, its a simple resistance reduction that increases the voltage on the fan and would increase fan speed. In parrallel, it would depend on the resistance of the termistor.

I suppose that the thermistor could be wired in parrallel and be at a very high resistance so that its effects are eliminated from the overall fan system. But this would only allow the fan to run at full speed on 12V. That should only be 5000 rpm from the thermaltake website and only produce 39db. I think 39db is noticable but I would not guess that it would be termed "screaming" and certainly should be lower than something like the Dragon Orb 3 which could easily be termed "screaming" or "taking off".

I'd be interested in any more observations about this power supply. I am planning to use a 350W version on a XP2000+ system shortly.

Thanks,

I don't know why I see alot of posts concerning the noise level Enermax Whisper power supplies. Seems to me that a quality well ventilated PSU is supposed to have some noise.

My new comp has the Enermax Whusper 430W, four 80MM case fans, PAL6035MFC heatsink fan, anf chipset fan. It sits on top of my desk not more than two feet from my head. While it is definately louder than my first PIII comp, it is NOT too loud.

Quit belly-aching people!

I have the 430 W Enermax Whisper Quiet, and it is VERY quiet, even though it a has two decent fans in it. Certainly quieter than the old generic one-fan el cheapo I had before.
I have 3 more case fans working at their slowest speed, plus the CPU fan (Intel original P4), the whole system is the quietest I've ever had...
Strange you should have problems with noise from the Enermax...

what do you guys recommend for a quiet, 350-400 watt power supply that ISN'T enermax

This sounds pretty good:

http://www.antec-inc.com/p_true430.html

On-line prices...
$49 True330
True380 is backordered
$71 True430
$85 True480
$105 True550
...or get one included in one of the nice Performance Plus cases.

http://www.antec-inc.com/en_perf_plushome.html

The weird thing about the Enermax "Whisper" PSU is that the rear 80mm outtake fan isn't thermally controlled, but the bottom 92mm is. Plus, you have to connect the rear fan to a fan header on the mobo for it to work (I just found this a bit strange). Mine runs quiet, so, there must be something wrong with your bottom intake 92mm fan. Just replace it with a new fan.

PowerMarkymark wrote:

I don't know why I see alot of posts concerning the noise level Enermax Whisper power supplies. Seems to me that a quality well ventilated PSU is supposed to have some noise.

My new comp has the Enermax Whusper 430W, four 80MM case fans, PAL6035MFC heatsink fan, anf chipset fan. It sits on top of my desk not more than two feet from my head. While it is definately louder than my first PIII comp, it is NOT too loud.

Quit belly-aching people!

Some people use computers for purposes in which having even a mildly noisy fan can disturb their work -- for instance, recording music. It's always nice to have the noise floor in your studio defined by the fan on your power supply. The quieter the fan, the less it appears in recorded tracks.