OCZ GameXstream 700W fan mod

[Spacehead]

This PSU is a bit disappointing when considering the loud noise that it's fan keeps. I guess it has meant to move a lot of air to keep small heatsinks, and different parts that aren't covered with heatsinks, very cool.

I have a watercooled system with all the fans on 5 - 7Volts , so this PSUs fan is the noisiest component in my system.

OCZ, do you think that gamers won't notice noise at all when they're playing with headphones? OCZ seem to have different products that produce less noise. Some users had their PSUs sent back to OCZ because of this. OCZ support thought that there was a faulty fan that was keeping the noise. I guess faulty OCZ components are rare, as their quality inspection seems excellent from what I have read. Many said that their replacement unit was as noisy as the "faulty" one.

I decided that it was time for me to just change the fan, I rarely have a quality PSU fail on me. If some has failed, it was just from my own careless actions.
So I cut the warranty sticker, voiding the warranty and opened it.

This is the fan I found:


I tested it at 12V, to make sure it was working properly. It seemed OK, no resonance or bearing problems. I can just tell that it is the loudest 120 mm fan I have heard. At 5.4W (12Vx0.45A) it propably runs more than 2000 rpms. Just a regular high speed fan, I think. So I needed replacement for that. I first tried Cooltek 0.11A , 1000 rpm, 1.32W fan, which was too inefficient , because PSU casing started to feel really warm.

Old Nexus 350W PSU had a perfect fan for this application:


It is a Yate Loon D12SM-12. Very pleasant tone at 12V, though somewhat noisy, but not a turbine like OCZs original fan.

I just cut the wires and connected red and black.

That yellow wire is for Fan leds , it supplies 12V from rail 3.

PSU can adjust the quieter fan now as it wishes, and it doesn't drive me nuts. From the back of the PSU I can feel as much of air flow than with the original fan, so performance shouldn't suffer. I put that Cooltek to Nexus350W. In there it should provide enough flow for those bigger heatsinks (on a ½ power PSU!) I should report after sometime if this OCZ PSU still works. I guess it will last as long as with the original fan. At least I don't need to sell it now because it is quieter. Next I need to kill resonance from my case.

OCZ , I think you should make it clear for the customers that this model series, GameXstream , isn't meant to be silent. Or if I had different fan that there should be, just tell me

This is the final look:


Specs of the PSU, pictures inside & PCB revision:

[RyderOCZ]

Just a note to all, replacing your fan voids your warranty.

No this PSU is not SILENT, but it is not loud at all when things are working properly.

[Duniek]

i have one 600W @ a64 rig at 939 with one 2,5" hdd + geforce6200
and fan working for max speed after 15 minutes of working and is horrrible noisy
(PSU is cold of course) not even warm

btw if I bought PSU in USm and want to ship it on RMA
in my coutry possible or another country in EU?

[Omastar]

My GXS 600w isn't very loud at all. Louder than a new Corsair VX450 I've got, or the 400w FSP Group in my server, but not as loud as a PC P&C, for instance. BTW, I hope you dusted out that PSU.

[Spacehead]

BTW, I hope you dusted out that PSU.

I will buy Compressed air at some point,

This room is so dusty I should be dusting that every day...

Those pictures show dust of about 2 months.

[Herbal]

I was reading this and saw the protechnic fan pic and thought "that looks familiar" then saw the inside of the PSU and recognised it immediately.

The OCZ GameXstream 700w PSU is exactly the same as the FSP Epsilon 700w PSU.


I'd been thinking of changing the fan in my FSP since it's now the loudest thing in my watercooled rig....looks like the D12SM-12 is the best choice (D12SH-12 pushes a bit more CFM but much louder).

[ArcticOC]

I saw something i didn`t like in the pictures... OZC is using supercheap caps from CapXon These Caps are rated as low-end and I have my self seen a lot of failures with this brand, reacently I had to replace all of them in my fortron PSU (epsilon 700)..

[begrip]

hmm that powersupply sure do make some noise with the original fan

[SteveSuk]

mine doesnt seem to bad? maybe i have a good one.

[Lee13168]

Mine makes horrible noise too. Over two times more loud then my 120mm fan on the back of the system.

[Spacehead]

I think bearing of the fan was broken, original fan runs a bit out of balance at 7V.

Do this only if you don't care about warranty. I was hasty with this.

[MichelinGuy]

Your power supply looks furry
But if you're psu brakes down you should try soldering the original fan back, shouldn't be so hard. Nice mod

[itznfb]

I will buy Compressed air at some point,

This room is so dusty I should be dusting that every day...

Those pictures show dust of about 2 months.

maybe that's why it was loud

[syncrod]

i have yet to experience this loud fan that everyone talking about!!

[lowfat]

I replaced the fan on my 700W GXS about a month after I purchased it (Sept 2006). I used a Yate Loon D12SL-12. Although I don't use the power supply anymore, it is still working fine.

[0rion]

Wow, I was just searching google for threads on people who had loud fans on their GameXStream 700W. Im also running a water setup, and as is the case in the OP, the PSU is the loudest fan in the case. I can easily hear it 2 rooms away. As it happens, I just bought 4x D12SM-12 Fans from petras, the ones that go up to 1650 RPM. I might just do this modification now. Ill try giving it a clean with compressed air, as it IS quite dusty, but if it doesnt quiet down it might be recieving an upgrade. Thanks for the thread and testing, it was just what I was looking for!

[Tulatin]

To users who don't want to void the warantee:

In effect, there is a way to do this. You need to place something in that will stop the stock fan - an L bracket, or something else like that. Then just affix a fan on top of that / external to the PSU with either longer screws, tape, etc. Granted, the fan below will block some airflow, but it will be quieter, and if you use something like blue painters tape to affix, there's no way that it'd show any voiding

[Soakki]

I also have OCZ StealthXStream 600W, sticker in package says noisekiller.
I think it is a bit weird to sell psu like its silent when it has 37dB Yate loon fan inside.

I also replaced original fan with ~20dB fan.
Looks quite the same inside than the more expensive gameXstream version..
Might be the same psu with another price tag..

the psu has worked fine since i replaced the fan.. I have used it with Quadcore & 2x 8800gts 640mb cards sli configuration..
If you decide to buy this psu, i advice you to be ready for fan replacement progress.. psu=good, fan= really bad...

[ST4]

If you're after a quiet system, it's better you run the fan header externally to the mobo, instead of running it internally back to the PSU. It will give you more control over RPMs (via Speedfan or mobo fan utils) and let you monitor it also:



This will also let you do fun things like run your PSU externally:

[cegras]

Jesus, that's awesome : D

My GxS made a horrible resonance and noise inside my case. Ended when I finally gave in and bought a PCP - best purchase so far.

[Kopi]

For further reference, just take a blow dryer and an exacto (sp?) knife to the warranty sticker..it comes right off and you can re apply it...NOT that I condone this or anything..

But my GXS is honest to god DEAD silent...when I use my fan controller to turn all the fans to OFF I can't hear it at all

[Spacehead]

The same psu still working and in use and has provided silent power at hot ambient temperatures too!

[BeepBeep2]

My fan isn't so loud, not near as loud as my 2000 RPM (Hydro bearing) and 2000 RPM (sleeve) fan on my CPU/ rear exaust...it seems to be ramped way down w/ semi dim LED's.

Glad to see the actual PCB in these, to make sure they are the rev. 2 80 Plus FSP's with slightly better ripple values.

[[XC] Oj101]

It's the same unit as my AOpen 700w, except mine is rated at 15A*4 instead of 18A per rail. Even powering two 9800GX2s the fan isn't noisy, either OCZ changed the fan or that dust is your culprit.

[db87]

My GameXstream 700 was always quiet unti last week, some bearing problems. I replaced the fan with a little quieter Antec PRO 120mm DBB. It works perfect. Suffcient airflow, no warm PSU casing, just the perfect balance I was looking for. So a Antec PRO or tricool is a good choice to replace the fan with!