Strange Power Supply Question

[TomB]

I'm getting tired of the constant hum of my computer power supply. I have the box directly in front of me on my desk, and I do not want it on the floor because.......well.........I'm always tinkering with something or other inside(I've lost the screw that attaches the side panel), and climbing under my desk to swap cards gets old after a while.

So my question: Is there a power supply made that is meant to be separate from the main case? I realize this is quite strange, but if I could get hold of something with extra long leads that would allow me to put the supply a distance away, I'd be a happy camper.

[Serge]

Never bought from them (pricy) but have considered..
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/power_supplies/ultra_quiet/index_ultraquiet.htm

[Dave_H]

Tom,
Intriguing questions about a remote power supply, I could think of a couple possible problems because the power leads are D.C. current, like voltage loss, or magnetic interferance from the cables.

The main thing would be that you would need a fan in your computer anyway. I actually put in at least one fan in addition to the fans on the PS and the CPU. I have found that replacing the fan on a cheep PS with a ball berring fan helps a lot. (Serge-Great link for that PS thank-you!). Also, sometimes extra noise is caused by vibration from something loose. (again cheep PS sometimes have flimsy tops that are loose and rattle).

I have replaced my PS fan with a nice 80mm. ball berring fan ($10.00) and added a slot fan and the system is far quieter than before. Also, I have added 80mm fans as intake fans with no additional noise added to the system.
Dave

[tonym]

You don't want to separate your power supply from the remainder of the computer.

Trust me on this. Too many problems crop up: 1. the excess voltage drop due to the extra resistance of the longer cables; 2. noise pickup problems because you now have two separate enclosures (common-mode noise); 3. noise radiation problems from the power supply leads (they're now "outside the box" and will cause RF interference with your TV/radio/etc.); 4. the great probability that you will damage your motherboard during a thunderstorm if you get a close proximity lightning strike (~1500 ft...depends upon many factors)...had enough yet??

The better solution is to get speed controllable fans for your case and power supply (it's not as daunting an effort to open the P/S and replace *just* the fan) and use the fans in conjunction with a temperature controller (e.g. thermostat) to cause the fans to go to full speed only when it's necessary. The remainder of the time they'll spin at 50% or whatever low-speed value you choose. All minframes and high-end servers and workstations do this so as not to deafen the folks that have to work in any proximity to these systems (which can contain as many as 30 fans!!!). Some of these computers sound like a 747 at take-off when all fans are running full speed.

This is definitely a roll-your-own solution, but you can obtain the fans and controllers very easily (see http:\\www.ebm.com, they have great fans and they own Papst, the Cadillac of cooling fans!).

If you're interested in this kind of fix (I *highly discourage* doing funny things with the power supply -- I was a computer system hardware system designer for 15 years and have seen the good, bad and ugly), then send me an e-mail and I can send you some information on controlling fan speed!

Tony