okay, many of you will notice that i aleady have a PSU thread going.. but this is different.

see, i want a quiet PSU, and i thinking of dropping $50 or so to get that.

right now i have a 400W Futuremax PSU. it has a 8cm fan going out the back, and an externally mounted 8 on the reverse side (inside the case). it makes A TON of noise. not squealing or anything, just sounds like a vacuum. when i cup my hand over the back, my room gets quiet.. its nice :D. however, i am sure that can't be healthy.

sooo, i had this idea though, as an alternative to buying a new PSU... since i haven't had any performance issues with my current one. perhaps i will though, i bought a new CPU and video card, and have yet to install them.

annnyways, i have this spare rheostat that fits in the PCI slot of case, it came with my CPU HSF. i am thinking of opening up my PSU, and rigging it to the fans in there.

two questions

1. how do you hook it up? i've never installed a rheostat in the hardwired sense, only clipped some plugs together. my first instinct is to put it in the middle of the positive (red) wire... although this may be wrong thinking.. i am going off what knowledge i have with dealing with AC current, is DC different when it comes to dimmer like set-ups? because i've installed dimmers on AC circuits by putting them in the middle of the hot lead.

2. what kind of risks are there involved in slowing down the fans in my PSU? if it contributes to the early death of my PSU, fine... an excuse to buy the new one. however, if it puts my more expensive hardware at risk, i.e. hard drives, mobo, cpu, video card.. i don't think i want to take the risk. i will however take the risk if you guys can provide me with some warning signs i might expect from a faltering PSU if indeed it starts to hurt it.

by the way!

here are my old specs:

Athlon XP 2100+
Geforce4MX 420
1 Hard Drive

new specs (untested, waiting for new mobo):

Athlon XP 3200+
Radeon 9700 Pro
2 Hard Drives

thanks!

if it contributes to the early death of my PSU, fine

It WILL.

an excuse to buy the new one

Along with whatever else it took with it.

I don't recommend doing this at all. You run a major risk of:
A> Electrocuting yourself by opening up the PSU. Even if it's not plugged in, the capacitors hold a charge that is often shocking (slap your knee)
B> Overheating your PSU. The fan (in a quality PSU) is regulated by a thermal sensor inside the unit. It is meant to run at those speeds.
C> Shorting something out which in turn will cause you to curse both your PSU and yourself for having tried such a thing rather then buying a quieter PSU.
D> Refer to A and slap you knee again.

Want a quiet PSU? Try a coolermaster RS-450. ULTRA quiet. The ACLX is $60 at Zipzoomfly and the ACLY (with blue LED) is $80. Both are exactly the same PSU except one has the LED.

ASUS P5GD1
P-4 3.4 SOCKET 775
1G Corsaire PC400
ABIT RX600SE 256MB PCI-E

oh, alright.

i didn't mean to offend... i just like doing quirky electrical things. i figured if let it sit a couple hours the charge may dissipate.

i am still curious about the rheostat thing.. :(. shrug.

can you send me a link, i couldn't seem to find it out zipzoomfly >_>.

thank you

i found it for $67 & free shipping at chief value, i think i may go for it.. but i would like to spend $50, as i sort of set myself to a $50 budget.. $67 is being naughty.. can you spare me the guilt with a secondary suggestion happeecrappe?

www.zipzoomfly.com I don't understand whatis hard about that address.

i never had difficulty finding the site.

i wasn't able to find the aforementioned product.

i don't understand how you can find any of this even remotely upsetting.

if you'd like to contribute something, an answer to my question would be fitting.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=370776
There ya go. With free shipping.

ASUS P5GD1
P-4 3.4 SOCKET 775 OCed to 3.9
1G Corsaire DDR400
ATI RX700XL 256MB PCI-E

;-) thank you very much. i appreciate your help

by the way, my last post was directed towards the other user, not you (in case you weren't sure)

Get a new PSU.

Go on with life.

i suspect anyone who regularly attends these forums doesn't have much life to look forward to.

"i suspect anyone who regularly attends these forums doesn't have much life to look forward to."

But, to put a rheostat on a PSU fan to control fan noise ....... now THAT'S a life!!!!!!!!

Play nice children...