The new PSU 24-pin connector has less wiring but a wider footprint and now pushes against the big ole’ Corsair RAM. I will probably change that later.
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HTPC BEFORE
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HTPC AFTER
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Performance and Wattage
This upgrade to my HTPC was really fun. I was able to remove some noisy parts and still keep the same wattage and form factor. It was also a challenge to find the right parts and do the research on the decibel ratings for each component.
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In addition, the new cooling solution dropped the temperature by over 10° C. That is a great performance increase. Thank you Thermaltake!
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I had checked the height of the cooling solution prior to ordering it. Make sure you really check the height. Some specs give you a fan height AND a heat sink height.
Again, you can see the jumbo Corsair RAM is so wide that it touches the 24-pin connector. I might switch the RAM out with another system at a later time.
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I checked the sound levels after about 10 minutes of running. 46.4 dB. Sweet!
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Conclusion
So yeah, it was well worth it. It is now over 10 decibels less than before. The temperature drop and increased storage also helps to justify the expense of the upgrade. I hope to continue my DRP and slowly quiet the house down. I guess it is now time to start working on the dishwasher…
See you next Friday night,
Timothy Daleo
Nice upgrade Tim, thanks.
TIM – I'm really missing the "Let's set this pig on fire". BTW, good move on listing the sleeping wife lower than Dave McCabe's voice.
DVN pointed out that I'm louder than a dishwasher 🙁
i love those pico psu 1 have a couple of them already they help alot.
my next pico psu will be going into my HP EX470 what do you think? good idea
What wattage draw do you get from your EX470? I would only suggest changing PSUs if you had one that was bad. Or of course you wanted to just play! 😉
i forget, i would have to throw the killa watt on it again.
The pico i like using is the 150 with the 150 block.
i changed the factory psu once already, it died after the first year.
but in the name of (DRP) i might just give it a try 🙂
I would think that the Pico type PSU would be a viable alternative to finding a replacement PSU on the EX series. I am not sure if you could remove the old PSU, as it seems integrated into the mounting on the EX series. I guess you could just unplug it and leave it under the mobo. I would also see if the 150 rating is the actual output of the Pico.
Tim – a few useful – official Sound references (IT) you may wish to review :
http://silent.se/iso-9296.php
When we had our PCs tested the (very official) results were staggering :
ISO7779 (clause 6.10) LWA = 27.3
A weighted Power Level
This converts to approx 13.5dB @ 1M The sound pressure @ 1M
(Domestic 'sound meters' tend to start to work around >30dBA – so are useless in the sound zone we work in – an interesting point – when I attended some of the chamber tests, it was not only weird but painful, as the test chambers are near zero dBA – that means your ear drums actually move 'out' as typically they are always 'under ambient pressure) – causing pain (so much for silence is golden)
Measuring sound is always going to difficult outside of ETL. We have a complete Acoustic Noise Test Procedure where I work. While I am not an engineer, I do appreciate all of the work that goes into testing the equipment. They pump down with gas and calibrate the consoles and microphones with amazing accuracy to the microbar level. The little cheapie meter I bought was just to try out and I was not even being consistent with the measured distance. Did I mention the beverages?
I am surprised they let you in the chamber during testing (must be different testing of course) but I bet it was cool to feel complete silence!
so much for hearing ringing in my ears
haha