be quiet! Straight Power 10 CM 800W Power Supply Review
Ryan Martin / 10 years ago
Fan Speed
When testing in a power supply laboratory it is difficult to take fan noise readings as the noise from the Sunmoon test equipment and air conditioning corrupts everything. The next best thing in our circumstances was reading off the fan speed with a tachometer to get an idea for the noise. The ambient temperature during testing held constant at 22 degrees, with 1 degree of variation. Each power supply had a consistent time period of 5 minutes to stabilise between each load scenario.
In my experience the following general relationships apply between noise levels and fan speeds, though it can vary greatly between the type of fan used.
- Below 800 RPM – Inaudible/Silent
- 800 to 1000 RPM – Barely audible
- 1000 – 1200 RPM – Audible but still quiet
- 1200 – 1400 RPM – Moderately noisy
- 1400 – 1800 RPM – Noisy
- 1800 RPM or higher – Intolerable
Is it silent? Not at 100%, but under 0-80% loads be quiet!’s Straight Power 10 CM 800W is pretty much silent. At 1500 RPM it isn’t too noisy either. Our rough guide is useful but in this case be quiet!’s higher quality fan can spin a bit faster than a bog-standard fan before it gets as noisy.
