FSP Aurum Xilenser AU-500FL 500W
by Martin Kaffei on April 20, 2012 4:45 AM ESTConclusion
We'd like to make a comparison as always, but we have to wait for more information on pricing and availability first. However, the FSP Aurum Xilenser AU-500-FL offers a good performance and a modular connector panel as well. The worst thing we can say about the performance is that it has higher ripple results than Seasonic (X-460FL) and the electronics could be more silent.
The AU-500FL reached up to 92% efficiency (230V), with no more than 25mV ripple and noise on the smaller outputs and tolerable voltage regulation. There's no fan for cooling, but the electronics made an audible noise this time. Even so the PSU is close to what we'd expect: almost silent. But we should keep in mind that there's some serious competition from Seasonic's product line.
The AU-500FL has four PCIe connectors—quite nice for a passively cooled PSU. All of the cables are longer than 55cm as well, so you can safely use this unit in some larger cases. All the chosen components are upscale and the design and topology is flawless. There is a well equipped filtering behind the entrance and Japanese capacitors are used throughout the PSU (except some all solid caps). The transistors are well dimensioned and FSP offers all the expected safety functions. It should be noted that this PSU looks exactly like a X-460FL without a line filtering stage but multiple +12V outputs.
We definitely look forward to seeing FSP's fanless series in all markets, as passively cooled PSUs are rare. FSP is able to provide a good product that is nearly as good as the solution from Seasonic. In summary, it can be stated that the AU-500FL is recommendable for most PSU enthusiasts if they charge a good price.
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mtoma - Sunday, April 22, 2012 - link
Well, all I can say that the value proposition it's relative. For silent PC enthusiasts, it is well, well worth the extra cost. For the others, I say only that the Seasonic units don't accumulate heat (the temperatures are about the same as a HDD with 5400 rpm) and dust.Iketh - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
The efficiency results fit the platinum specification, no? What am I missing here?Martin Kaffei - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
It's quite close, but you need 90% @ 20% load and 115V and 92 % @ 50% load and 115V. The results for 230V are always higher, but 80Plus works with 115V input.popej - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
Basically fanless PSU doesn't make fanless PC. So why bother and pay more?mariush - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
It can be nearly inaudible.I've mounted an Accelero S1 rev 2 on my Radeon 4850, so it's completely silent.
The power supply is a Seasonic X-650 which turns off the fan at below about 170 watts of usage.
So all there's left is the CPU fan which is a low noise 120mm Zerocool fan and a low speed fan cooling down my 4 hard drives.
This computer is obviously not suitable to be completely silent, due to the heat generated by the hard drives and the old processor (Intel Q6600).
But, there are AMD and Intel processors that run with just a large heatsink (and even more models would run passively with a bit of downclocking) and if you use a SSD, you then have a completely passively cooled system.
It's really not that hard to achieve that.... and once you do this, you'll be wondering how you lived for so much time with fans buzzing you constantly.
I personally spotted the difference (or should i say improvement) caused by lowering the number of working fans in my computer.
kmmatney - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
I also have an Accelero S1 Rev2 on an HD4890. It can run passively cooled, but I still lashed up a 90 mm fan (with a resistor to reduce speed) just to get a little airflow and peace of mind. I bought several fan resistors years ago, and they allow you to get silence while using cheap fans.http://www.outletpc.com/nt5639.html?gclid=COiR-OHw...
ZekkPacus - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
It's more than possible to do, though, and in that kind of system this kind of PSU is ideal. Graphics cards are available up to the HD6850 that are passively cooled, plenty of options between the 6570-6770 or the GT440 for nVidia. Any Sandy Bridge CPU 65W or less can be easily passively cooled, either with a Nofen heatsink or a large (Thermalright or Scythe) tower heatsink. Hell there's an i5-2500T (only available OEM, you're not SUPPOSED to be able to buy it retail but you could probably find somewhere that would sell it), quad core CPU with a 45W TDP. SSDs are silent in operation. A good case with enough venting (especially top venting), and the noisiest thing in it would be an optical drive.It's very tempting sometimes.
Sivar - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
I wrote an (ad-free) article about a completely fanless system I built. The case was far less than ideal, but I've since used better cases. It's important to have a fan grill at the top to allow heat to passively rise but it is not required.I usually build fanless systems for reliability and low-maintenance (no dust), but I'd not attempt to build a fanless gaming PC. A Geforce 580 would require a heat exchanger the size of another computer case.
Article:
http://www.formortals.com/the-solid-state-pc/
jwilliams4200 - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
NoFan, a Korean company, makes components and complete systems that are entirely fanless. For some reason their products are not sold in the US, but quietpc in the UK carries them:http://www.quietpc.com/manufacturers/nofan
The CR95-C "Icepipe" cooler is interesting. It is bigger than the Thermalright HR-02 although less surface area, and seems to be quite a bit more open -- probably a good thing for natural convection cooling. Unfortunately it blocks the first PCIe slot of your motherboard, and it can interfere with the top of your case (I had to cut a bit of metal off the top of my Xigmatek Midgard II case in order to get it to fit)
Sivar - Friday, April 20, 2012 - link
Good link; I've never seen that unit, and I did a lot of searching once the HR-02 became difficult to find. Thanks!