Silverstone FX350-G fan replacement

w00t

Minimal Tinkerer
Original poster
Jul 24, 2019
3
0
Hello,

Stock fan is insanely loud, and I can not use this PSU as my daily setup. Unfortunately, it's also 40x40x15mm which makes it hard to find good alternatives since none of the decent 40x40x20 available on the market will fit.


Stock fan:
  • Jamicon KF0415B1HR-R
    • 32.9 dBa
    • 8.84 CFM
    • 6 mm H₂O

The ones available with decent noise volume is 40x40x10:
  • NF-A4x10 FLX
    • 19.6 dBa
    • 4.82 CFM
    • 1.78 mm H₂O
And:
  • Noiseblocker BlackSilentFan XM-2:
    • 14.0 dBa
    • 3.9 CFM
    • 0.92 mm H₂O
I have benchmarked my system and maximum usage will never ever be over 230W. When gaming, average is around 130-150w with spikes up to 220W.

EDIT: OCCT Power Supply test for 10 minutes, avg. seen was around 195W, highest spike was 229W.

I'm concerned about swapping the stock fan to any of the lower performing fans listed.

Question, would this be safe?
 
Last edited:

k0n

Cable-Tie Ninja
Jul 3, 2019
213
280
What case have you mounted it in? When I looked at this formfactor for my build for me it had to be possible to mount a bigger fan on the PSU.

Is it possible for you? Unfortunately I can't help you with selecting any 40mm fan.
 

w00t

Minimal Tinkerer
Original poster
Jul 24, 2019
3
0
I forgot to update this thread. I went with the Noiseblocker BlackSilentFan XM-2. Things have been running just fine. Air temp from the PSU does not feel super hot when on load, so it is OK. I works for my <200W full load.
 

CC Ricers

Shrink Ray Wielder
Bronze Supporter
Nov 1, 2015
2,233
2,556
Just a question about this PSU- does this have a passive 0 RPM mode on for low loads? If not I will just have to go with something else.
 

Bjornyyy

Trash Compacter
Jan 22, 2017
49
18
If been looking at getting one as well but the 6-pin PCIe connector is not enough for the 8-pin RTX 2070 super I want to buy. Is it possible to mod the psu so it has a 8-pin connector?
 

Estanful

Caliper Novice
Aug 23, 2019
24
36
If been looking at getting one as well but the 6-pin PCIe connector is not enough for the 8-pin RTX 2070 super I want to buy. Is it possible to mod the psu so it has a 8-pin connector?

Aliexpress
 

Godalor

Chassis Packer
Sep 14, 2019
13
4
How was swapping the fan, was it as simple as unscrewing the fan, unplugging it and plugging in the new one?
You have to open the entire unit, for which you have to remove a "danger of electrocution" sticker, but surprisingly no "warranty void if removed" sticker. Then you unscrew the Fan. I had some difficulties getting the stock fan out, because there's just enough space for it to fit in, so you actually need to force it. My Screwholes had some of the casing bent inwards which made it necessary to slightly push back the metal plate with the screwholes, but it might be different with other units.
The fan connector is a 2 pin which is pretty much in the middle of the PSU board. I recommend using some pincers to get the fan connector out.

That said I replaced the Stock fan with a Noctua a4x10, which is totally silent. But I have noticed that under load, the PSU can get quite hot. I don't have any temp sensors so I can't exactly measure the temperature, but it felt like the PSU casing was going up to around 70°C, which means the components were probably hovering around 80°C, which imo is dangerously high. I'll probably be switching back to the stock fan and just live with the noise because I don't want my PSU to die in half a year. I'm running a GTX 1660 Super and a Ryzen 5 1600 btw, so I'd wager that maximum load is around 230W. I'm not sure reducing power draw will make much difference since the PSU is already heating up that much while being quite far from its max capacity.
 

exanders

Efficiency Noob
Dec 16, 2019
6
2
Hi everyone,

I just did the replacement with a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX today but I didn't test it yet since my motherboard was defective (pch fan broken), but here are several pictures of the operation:



(On this picture ^^^ , the disconnect cable is not the fan, it was already disconnected so I left it untouched. If someone knows what it's for, and if it's supposed to be disconnected ? )


(The fan is the plugged connector on the pcb)


As soon as I receive the new motherboard, I will measure my power consumption on load and external psu case temperature, but I'll probably have to underclock since I run a Ryzen 7 3800x and an RX570...
 
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Jace

Chassis Packer
Jan 28, 2017
20
24
Haha, I did this same mod today too! Unfortunately, after I had already put everything back together, I noticed that the fan doesn't spin at all... I hope that there's just something that's blocking it from moving and not something more complicated... But I'm pretty sure there isn't anything blocking it. The psu actually stays pretty cool even without the fan, but that's pretty much only when doing light stuff like web browsing and youtube. In gaming it starts to get warm (obviously) so I didn't want to stress it too long. Does anyone else have this problem? I used the same Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX and connected it to the 3 pin to 2 pin adapter that came with it, and that to the psu.

@exanders - That disconnected cable is connected to that white 2 pin port next to the red wires
 

Godalor

Chassis Packer
Sep 14, 2019
13
4
Haha, I did this same mod today too! Unfortunately, after I had already put everything back together, I noticed that the fan doesn't spin at all... I hope that there's just something that's blocking it from moving and not something more complicated... But I'm pretty sure there isn't anything blocking it. The psu actually stays pretty cool even without the fan, but that's pretty much only when doing light stuff like web browsing and youtube. In gaming it starts to get warm (obviously) so I didn't want to stress it too long. Does anyone else have this problem? I used the same Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX and connected it to the 3 pin to 2 pin adapter that came with it, and that to the psu.

@exanders - That disconnected cable is connected to that white 2 pin port next to the red wires
Had the same problem... had to swap the 2 wires on the Noctua 2 pin adapter connector. The PSU seems to be using a different polarity standard for the 2 pin than Noctua does. Just strip the plug by pushing the small metal plates in and pulling it off, then reinsert the wires the other way around until the metal tabs lock into the connector.

EDIT:
The psu actually stays pretty cool even without the fan, but that's pretty much only when doing light stuff like web browsing and youtube. In gaming it starts to get warm (obviously) so I didn't want to stress it too long.
I also had the same thought as mine stayed cool in testing aswell, I ran MSI Kombustor for an hour with the PSU outside of the case. I have built it into my Velka 3 and now it's heating up quite badly. It's kind of a bummer that the only possible mounting direction in the Velka 3 is with the second opening into the case, My fan is mounted as an exhaust so the PSU pulls hot air out of the case which definitely isn't helping the issue that it already heats up by itself...
 
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exanders

Efficiency Noob
Dec 16, 2019
6
2
It's good to know I'll have to open it again to swap the fan cables. I used the 3pin to 2pin converter provided with the Noctua as well.

@Jace The question is more am I supposed to leave it unplugged ? Maybe for EU standards ?

Was yours plugged in? Since the psu's warranty is now void after opening, I don't want to mess with it x)



@Godalor I was wondering if placing the fan the other way would be better since the velka's fan at the top are pulling hot air to the top ? Or maybe the side panels have too much holes to pull air strongly enough from bottom to top ... ? I may try this when I have time
 

Godalor

Chassis Packer
Sep 14, 2019
13
4
@Jace The question is more am I supposed to leave it unplugged ? Maybe for EU standards ?

Was yours plugged in? Since the psu's warranty is now void after opening, I don't want to mess with it x)


Mine was and still is plugged in and I am in Germany and bought mine from Amazon in Germany, so I don't think it's a country standards thing...

It's good to know I'll have to open it again to swap the fan cables. I used the 3pin to 2pin converter provided with the Noctua as well.

@Godalor I was wondering if placing the fan the other way would be better since the velka's fan at the top are pulling hot air to the top ? Or maybe the side panels have too much holes to pull air strongly enough from bottom to top ... ? I may try this when I have time

I think a fan pulling air in would definitely be better aswell, I'd rather have 5°C more on my CPU and GPU than on my PSU, but then it's also gonna pull in dust because the PSU is on the bottom side of the case and it has no dust filters at all. I'm not entirely sure whether dust buildup in a PSU like this is gonna become a fire hazard.
 

exanders

Efficiency Noob
Dec 16, 2019
6
2
Ok, I bought mine from Amazon France. I wonder if this cable has to do with fan speed management, because for the short period I used the psu, the fan was only going up and never slowing down (at idle).

I will first try without the cable plugged to see how it behaves...

I think a fan pulling air in would definitely be better aswell, I'd rather have 5°C more on my CPU and GPU than on my PSU, but then it's also gonna pull in dust because the PSU is on the bottom side of the case and it has no dust filters at all. I'm not entirely sure whether dust buildup in a PSU like this is gonna become a fire hazard.

Good point... and a small dust filter would break the airflow too much I guess...
 

Godalor

Chassis Packer
Sep 14, 2019
13
4
This will probably be my final update... I changed back to the original fan 2 days ago putting it in as an intake fan instead of the stock exhaust setting. Needless to say I had to notice again that it sounds like a jet engine.

So I swapped back to my Noctua, also as intake instead of exhaust, which I tried before and got painful temps. The intake works quite fine. I put my SSD in the configuration where it's at the bottom of the Velka 3 case touching the PSU so I can probably take the measurements from its temp sensor as a reference for PSU temps. I got a max of 48°C on the SSD, if I account for the plastic insulation of the SSD that probably means the PSU is sitting at around 60°C, which is already 10°C better than my temp estimation of the previous setup. It's still getting hot to the touch after a while but it stays within what I would call normal operating temperatures.

I'd call this a full success, because the system is incredibly silent now and despite the PSU basically blowing hot air on the CPU cooler the Ryzen 5 1600 has not gone above 60°C in gaming yet without a custom fancurve. I definitely think I should set a custom fancurve on the Noctua NH-L9a, though, because it stays relatively silent even at 70% fanspeed.
 
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MOTHMAN

Cable Smoosher
Jan 7, 2020
8
0
Hi guys, sorry this might be a bit of topic resurrection.

I've gotten the same PSU, and it can power my Ryzen 2600 and GTX 1070 pretty well (as long as both things aren't overclocked).

The noise is unbearable though, even at idle, so I'm going to purchase a Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX (12v as far as I can tell). I'm just wondering if I should connect the fan to a mobo header and run it full speed, or connect it as a PSU fan which requires some cable cutting and using the OmniJoin adapters.

My question is: The original fan has 2 wires, the Noctua has 3. Which one should I connect to which?
 

exanders

Efficiency Noob
Dec 16, 2019
6
2
Hi Mothman,

The FLX edition (and maybe the non-FLX now I see it...) of the Noctua NF-A4x10 as described on their website ( https://noctua.at/en/nf-a4x10-flx ) comes with a 3 to 2-pin adapter, so you shouldn't have to cut any cable.

You can see it on the right of this picture:



You may have to swap the polarity on the adapter to make it work with the PSU:



Then you can connect the fan directly on the pcb of the PSU (cf pictures on previous post).