Best quiet power supply 2024 – best for your silent PC build
We help you find the quietest PSU on the market
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When it comes to power, PC builders usually want to get themselves a reliable and efficient PSU – but modern-day advancements mean that you can be faced with a growing number of silent PSU options that weren’t available in the past. With plenty of choice out there these days, what is the best quiet power supply for your silent PC build? Anyone looking for some quick suggestions should take a look at the Seasonic Focus PX-650 or Seasonic PRIME TX-850.
Most power supplies use a fan for heat dissipation and this is where that pesky buzzing sound comes from. Manufacturers have ways of tackling the sound output of a PSU by using hybrid models or going fanless. No matter what PSU design you are looking at though, it can be hard to find the best power supply for your build whilst keeping the volume down. So, we have decided to sort through the different boxes out there to find you a truly silent PSU option – regularly updating this page for the latest and greatest.
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Best quiet PC power supply 2024 : reviews
Time to talk about these power supplies in greater detail. We have a good range of brands and a variety of wattage levels to talk you through – so let’s not waste too much time. We go through pros, cons, specs, and more.
Seasonic Focus PX-650
Seasonic Focus PX-650
Wattage
650W
80 Plus certification
Platinum
Modularity
Full modular
- Very efficient
- Silent in fanless operation mode
- Reliable & 10 year warranty
- High quality build & cables
- Price premium
Seasonic is widely known for its power supplies and its safe to say they are one of the most reliable manufacturers on the market. The Focus PX-650 is one of the best quiet power supplies money can buy. This efficient PSU outdoes many of the competition, and can easily support a high-end gaming system.
With it’s fanless mode for truly silent operation, it’s hard to beat in terms of keeping the noise down. Fan control at the back of the power supply gives you great control over the cooling and volume levels. Aside from being extremely efficient (80 PLUS Platinum), it is also completely modular which is always handy for cable management. Speaking of cables, Seasonic have fitted this with some high-quality cables, with generous length for easy connectivity.
The plethora of connector options and the unit’s great 650W capacity allow for the Seasonic Prime to be used in a mid-high end gaming system. If you want true silent operation in your PC then look no further!
Seasonic Prime TX-850
Seasonic Prime TX-850
Wattage
850W
80 Plus certification
Titanium
Modularity
Fully modular
- Top-notch efficiency rating
- Hybrid fan control
- Fully modular design
- 850W is more than enough power for most systems
- Pretty expensive
It’s not surprising to see another entry from Seasonic here because (as we previously mentioned), they are a highly regarded PSU manufacturer. The Prime series is great, with high efficiency and unrivaled performance.
This 850W model is semi-passive and operates differently from a truly fanless model. The PSU will remain silent due to its fan staying idle until it hits a certain load and even under heavy load it keeps quiet thanks to its fluid dynamic bearing fan. Seasonic calls this a hybrid, and it is one of the quietest 850W PSUs on the market while operating over its range. The SSR-850TR PSU also comes fully modular and has a whopping 12-year worry-free warranty.
The Prime series was Seasonic’s major comeback into the PSU sphere, with them now filling out the range to include gold, platinum, and titanium models. This model is an excellent choice for anyone looking for the best semi-passive PSU. The SSR-850TR offers more than just a Titanium level of efficiency and stellar build quality, it’s quiet, bordering on silent.
be quiet! Dark Power 13
be quiet! Dark Power 13
Wattage
1000W
80 Plus certification
Titanium
Modularity
Full modular
- Plenty of power for high-end builds
- Great build quality
- Excellent efficiency rating
- Quiet fan design
- ATX 3.0
- Not fanless or hybrid
The guys over at be quiet! are no strangers to making high-quality power supplies and as the name suggests, quiet ones too. This powerful 1000W model comes from the be quiet! Dark Power range, which each feature a balance between low-noise and high performance. We’re making quite a jump up here to one of the best 1000W PSUs on the market, which is just what you need if you’re running a high-end gaming rig with the likes of the RTX 4090 inside.
This PSU isn’t the quietest ever, especially under heavy load due to a lack of fan control. That being said, it was virtually silent under a low load and will remain that way until it is truly being tested thanks to the Silent Wings fan design. This 1000W PSU is fully modular and offers an 80+ Titanium efficiency rating of up to 95.2%. This top-notch efficiency is what makes this power supply worth it – much needed for such a powerful component. It is of course designed with the latest high-end 40-series GPUs in mind with ATX 3.0 & PCIe 5 support for your 12VHPWR cable.
Despite not being able to beat the silent fanless operation of our Seasonic pick, the quality of be quiet’s PSUs still get this on to the list. This is a great overall PSU from be quiet and will do well as part of any high-end build.
CORSAIR RM650x
CORSAIR RM650x
Wattage
650W
Certification
80+ Gold
Modular?
Yes, Fully
- Very Quiet
- Good Load Regulation
- Quality capacitors
- Fully modular
- Efficient
- Only one EPS connector
The Corsair RMx series is one of the most popular in the market – and for good reason. Like the HX and AX models, these PSUs offer full modularity and excellent efficiency.
The RM650x features Corsair’s “Zero Fan Mode”, which is essentially a smart fan controller that only fires up the fan when the system reaches a certain load (much like the SSR-650TR). When using the Zero Fan Mode, the fan won’t start spinning until the PSU hits a load of 40%, which is the same for the HX series too. This PSU will deliver full power continuously at temperatures of up to 50°C, so it clearly has components capable of handling the heat. Aside from the thermal performance, the RM650x also sports full modularity, making upgrades much easier to install at a later date. This model comes with an 80+ efficiency rating of Gold and a handy 10-year warranty.
This PSU from Corsair is an excellent choice, with superb performance and quiet operation. Aside from having a high build quality, top-tier performance, and being from a very reputable company, this PSU benefits from its 10-year warranty – which goes a long way.
EVGA Supernova 850W T2
EVGA Supernova 850W T2
Wattage
850W
Certification
80+ Titanium
Modular?
Yes-Fully
- Efficient
- Quality capacitors
- Very Quiet
- Semi-passive
- Fully modular
- Short distance between molex connectors
EVGA is one of the most popular PSU manufacturers on the market today, known for its quality and efficiency. With an ever-growing range of PSUs, it’s pretty simple to slot an EVGA PSU into this line-up, and the Supernova 850W T2 is worthy of its place.
The Supernova T2 is a semi-passive PSU, so naturally is very quiet, but, if under full load there would be some audible noise. The fan will not be spinning most of the time, but if you are dealing with higher temps you can disable this mode to let the fan spin continuously. To assist with the noise output we see the use of double ball bearing fans instead of fluid dynamic bear fans, which will also improve longevity.
This PSU is certified 80+ Titanium for efficiency (which is one of the best out there), and that yields 94% (115VAC) / 96% (220VAC~240VAC) under typical loads. Furthermore, this PSU also features full modularity, giving you a bit more flexibility and room for cable management. The EVGA Supernova T2 range is superb and an excellent choice for quality, reliability, and efficiency. This is a top-tier PSU from a highly regarded manufacturer and as long as you keep your power usage low, this will operate silently.
Things to consider
Naturally, giving your power supply less to do can decrease the noise output – but not everyone can afford to aim for higher wattage, and thankfully, size generally doesn’t matter as much anymore.
There are a few factors that can impact the noise output of a PSU, and it’s definitely worth taking note of these before you make your next power supply purchase.
Reliability
Quality is a must, no matter if you want to buy a quiet power supply or not.
This is because the primary purpose of a PSU is to supply your expensive components with precious power. Bad-quality power supplies can produce noise due to anything from coils vibrating to poorly constructed fans. Cheaper power supplies can also be manufactured with thinner metal housing, which allows passing vibrations to be sent to the PC case. Always go for reliable, well-built power supplies, with beefy warranties!
With this in mind, the selections in this article all represent trustworthy manufacturers in the PSU world that offer quality products, power efficiency, and decent warranties.
Passive PSU
Power supplies are generally very efficient these days, but they aren’t perfect and can still produce some heat. A passive PSU (also known as a fanless PSU) cools by using massive heatsinks and superb efficiency. With no moving parts, a fanless PSU gives you true silent operation and should be considered for low-power builds.
Semi-Passive PSU
Semi-passive power supplies (or hybrid PSUs as they are commonly known) use fan profiles / zero fan mode to act only when needed. This means that the PSU fan will run at idle until a certain percentage of the load has been hit, at which point the fan begins to spin. The percentage varies across different models but in many cases, the PSU will remain silent until it gets to around 40% load.
Best quiet power supply FAQs
What is the best brand for quiet power supplies?
There are a number of top brands for power supplies, but which one is best? Well, right now we’d have to give the crown to Seasonic – they’ve really knocked it out of the park when it comes to developing near-silent PSUs which doesn’t compromise one bit on the build quality.
Are noisy power supplies bad?
Power supplies can get noisy for a number of reasons. It’s natural for your PSU to get louder under a lot of stress, with even quiet models becoming more noticeable at higher loads.
That being said, a constantly noisy PSU (even when idling) is an annoyance, or could even point to problems with the component, typically the fan.
Final word
Selecting the best quiet power supply can be tricky, and you may think that there’s a limited amount of options to choose from. Be sure to use our Power Supply calculator to help you choose the best PSU if you are not quite sure. With the introduction of hybrid models that sport semi-passive cooling, sourcing a quiet power supply is no longer difficult.
Seasonic are pushing the hybrid fan design far; their Prime TX-850 and Focus PX-650 models are our top two right now. They even offer truly fanless models as well, but they are harder to come by and stick to a lower wattage.