Intro:

    Part of noise issues with your PC can come from the PSU. Simply, because the PSU exhaust fan is usually located in the back of the PSU, and is closer to exterior of the case, hence, you would hear it. Yes, you can kind of hide a high dB HSF fan in a closed case, but I know as I mature in my PC experience, I'm tired of having a PC that sounds like an airplane taking off. So this leads to the review of a fanless, and a 140mm fan PSU review. Yes, that 140mm number was correct. Take a look and see if any of the units are up your alley...


The fanless PSU - Features: (Slightly edited)

 - Real No noise Design
 - High performance components are designed for extra long life and provide maximum system performance
 - Heavy duty transformers designed to support high performance system several drives
 - Cable-tube on main power cables for better cable routing and neatness
 - Aluminum Chassis
 - Built in EMI filter, low ripple noise
 - Over voltage, Over power and Short circuit protection
 - Tube-tide design to tidy the wires
 - Designed refer to UL, CSA, TUV regulations. Meet Intel ATX12V/ATX 2.03
 - Compatible with all leading processors including Pentium III, 4 and AMD Athlon XP
 - Serial ATA 150 Ready & Fully Support All AMD & Intel P4 Series Demand
 - Remote On/Off Control
 - Universal Connector Fits Most of Branded Motherboards
 - High quality gold-coated connectors are good for conduction


The fanless PSU - Packaging:

    The COOLAMX fanless PSU comes in voltages up to 480 watts. This one being 300, should satisfy modest users, and especially HTPC's with enough stable juice to run your system. Looking at the colorful box below, will give you an idea of what to expect with your purchase. The sides of the box carry Model information, and the features of the PSU.

(1) Top of box	(2) Model	(3) Features

What's inside?:

    Opening the box reveals a adequately packed PSU. This one is aluminum, so it will help absorb heat. Included is a AC Power Cord, and two power adapters. One converts power on the PSU, the 20 pin ATX connector, to a 24 pin. The other connects the 12 Volt auxiliary power from 4 pin, to an 8 pin connector. Depending on the flavor of your mainboard, you may or not need them at all. It sure is nice to have them though. Especially if you upgrade your mainboard in the future. You don't have to buy another PSU...

    Seeing that there is no fan in the PSU, it has a many vent holes on all sides, except for the top, which has no vent holes.

(4) Includes	(5) Cables/box	(6) The PSU (Bottom/Back)

    Watt information is provided on the sticker which is on the top of the PSU. It provides the breakdown of amps on each rail. Note: 15 Amps on the 12 Volt rails is more than I've seen on some 400+ watt ones.

(7) Watt info (Top of PSU)

The connectors:

    Along with 1 serial ATA connector, there are 6 Molex connectors, 2 Berg connectors, (Floppy) and 3 mainboard connecters that you may or may not need. The cables are tremendously long, so you shouldn't have any problems in full tower cases. However in smaller cases, you may have some trouble trying to hide the wires. Even though only the ATX power connector is the only one sleeved, it gives at a better impression from the start compared to some off brand cheapie PSU's that are out there.

    Since I previously mentioned the wires were long, I thought some might like a breakdown. So here are some quick measurements for you. The ATX power one is 20" long. The two sets of wires with the Molex (2 each) and Berg (1)  connectors are around 32" long. The length to the first Molex on the wires is about 21". The other wire with just the two Molex connectors is the same length as the ones with the Berg connectors. Minus the Berg connector coming out of the last Molex on the chain. I hope that made sense to you...

(8) All cables	(9) The wires

The back of the PSU close up:

    While there isn't too much to see here, I'll go over it briefly. Of course your standard AC power socket is there, along with a handy On/Off switch, and a voltage switch, which switches between 155 Volts AC and 230 Volts AC. Lastly, a small little sticker to let everyone know, well, that can see the back of your PSU, is indeed fanless.

(10) Back of PSU

The 140mm fan PSU - Features:

 - Built-in long life 140mm silent cooling fan
 - Serial ATA 150 Ready
 - 3 Speed Fan Control Switch
 - Universal Connector Fits Most of Branded Motherboards.
 - Fully support All Intel & AMD series demand.
 - High quality gold-coated fan guard & connectors are good for conduction.
 - Tube-tide design to tidy the wires.
 - Over voltage protection, short circuit protection on all output levels
 - All DC output wires have 500mm length minimal


The 140mm fan PSU - Packaging:

    This unit is well packed again, and with another colorful box. This one is also aluminum, so it will help absorb heat. In this instance, I chose not to take pictures of the sides conveying the model number, and the features list like above. The features list is above in text anyway.

(11) The box	(12) Inside box

    The cables included are below. The 20 to 24 pin ATX, the 4 pin to 8 pin mainboard header, and the AC Power cord. Not much else to see here, moving on...

(13) Includes

The sticker:

    I was confused for a bit, since the packaging lead me to believe this was a 300 watt PSU, which was another reason for not including the box side pictures. In actuality, it is a 500 watt. Joy! Anyway, if you want watt breakdowns via the DC rails, click on the picture below, and your reward will be a bigger picture!  ;) I have no explanation of the wattage discrepancy, other than I'm sure it will be resolved, or has been, in retail packaging.

(14) Watt info

    The next page will conclude the 140mm fan PSU, and have testing results. Continue on please...


 

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