Silverstone Decathlon 850W (DA850W) squealing like a stuck pig under 3d video load.

[hankbaskett]

I foolishly bought one of these, thinking the squealing problem from the 750w version would be fixed. It isn't. What ever became of the efforts to get Silverstone to take care of this problem? I'd love to know how to proceed.

[quicksilverXP]

Man... that is indeed a bummer. Seeing the prices of the DA850 around the web, I suggest you return it for a refund and get the Ultra X3 instead.

[SKYMTL]

My rep at Silverstone said the following:

After receiving similar feedbacks from elsewhere, we went back and found that the noise was caused by the very fast response of our power supply to compensate for loading changes. The transient response of our Olympia/Decathlon is excellent but this also results in noise that people hear due to the frequency it produces. We have since made some adjustments in our subsequent production runs to slow the response time slightly so that the frequency is more difficult to be heard by human ears.

We are open to offer free replacement to any customers that find their power supply has unacceptable high-pitched noise.

[UncleJT]

Free replacement, that's acceptable.

- JT

[dr4gon]

Free replacement, that's acceptable.

- JT

so they hade it a higher more erry pitch... great :wtf: lol makes me even more unsure, looks like the x3 would be perfect :rolleyes: but its so much more expensive.

[UncleJT]

Well, not acceptable to you. But, if I was a DA850 owner and had this problem, I'd sure appreciate a free replacement.

However, I'd never buy this supply to begin with. Go with the X3 baby. ;)

- JT

[jonnyGURU]

...but its so much more expensive.

850 vs. 1000W. You get what you pay for.

Too much? Wait two months for the X3 800W.

[dr4gon]

850 vs. 1000W. You get what you pay for.

Too much? Wait two months for the X3 800W.

oh hmm, good point JG and JT, my 2900XT should be ok with the X-finity ultra 600W for the time being, I hope, we'll find out soon enough.

[hankbaskett]

My rep at Silverstone said the following:

After receiving similar feedbacks from elsewhere, we went back and found that the noise was caused by the very fast response of our power supply to compensate for loading changes. The transient response of our Olympia/Decathlon is excellent but this also results in noise that people hear due to the frequency it produces. We have since made some adjustments in our subsequent production runs to slow the response time slightly so that the frequency is more difficult to be heard by human ears.

We are open to offer free replacement to any customers that find their power supply has unacceptable high-pitched noise.

SKYMTL! I recognize you from the NCIX forums, which incidentally is where I got this thing from. I'm thinking I might just send this thing back, that response doesnt make me feel great about keeping this PSU. Any recommendations on a similar quality/power PSU @ NCIX?

Thanks

[hankbaskett]

Scratch that "I'm thinking I might replace it" talk... I will be returning this thing, I just tried to play a game with it. It's not the volume of it, but the frequency... I can't imagine a much more annoying noise. :mad:

[SilverStone]

I think perhaps the response given to SKYMTL should have been a lot more detailed and worded a little better. So here goes my first post at jonnyGURU.com!

The transient response performance that our current Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W can achieve is best in class (also best that we've ever had). The goal was to have power supplies with top-notch performance not only during static loading (which is what most power supply testers do) but also in dynamic loading conditions. Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W models can react to sudden changes from high load to low load (and back) quicker than any power supplies that we have tested.

Unfortunately for us, this high performance also results in transfomer to produce frequency that a few too many people consider noisy. Believe it or not, we can have three people in the room listening to the same power supply with one person claiming that he cannot hear anything while the other two can identify the noise as either acceptable or annoying. We ended up testing many high wattage power supplies from our other series/other companies and found that practically all of them will make noises but with different frequencies. Our Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W on average has higher frequency while the Strider lines has the lowest (therefore inaudible to human ears). We found that transient response performance was almost proportional to frequency of sound that a power supply makes.

Since we do not have enough evidence to show that having "excellent" transient response is better than merely having "great" transient response in real world usage, we decided to scale back this aspect of Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W’s performance in our subsequent production units to reduce the sound frequency. If you have a pair of sharp ears, the noise can probably be heard when you put the power supply next to you, but they will not be detected when used in a PC anymore.

Contrary to what some have speculated, this phenomenon wasn't caused by quality control issues because we can show the same power supply to two people at the same time and elicit different responses. Rather it was our intention to deliver top dynamic loading performance that produced noises some of our customers consider unacceptable. If you are a current user of our Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W power supply and you do not hear the noise mentioned by other, it is likely that your ears simply cannot pick up on the frequency emitted or your PC has other noises that are louder (some 680i motherboards and 8800GTX cards have high pitch noises as well).

I hope this clear up questions that some of you may have of our Olympia/Decathlon 650W ~ 850W power supplies. I will post version numbers that will help to identify the original models and the revised ones in a few days.

[madmat]

Quick question since we're now fortunate enough to have a SilverStone rep here to straighten things up. Why not epoxy pot the transformers to prevent coil noise? That way you can still keep the transient response at the current levels and 86 the offending noises. Potting has been used in the audio industry to prevent sympathetic vibration in transformers and mics and pickups for many years now and I'd think that it would help to cure the ills you're experiencing now.

[UncleJT]

and thank you, SilverStone, for joining us.

- JT

[Battle_Rattle]

Yes thank you for joining the forum...

It is a tremendous and welcome step always to have some forum help.

[SilverStone]

Here is a summary of version changes that affects all Olympia and Decathlon PSUs from 650W to 850W:

V1
Original

V1.5
Revised

V2
Original

V2.5 & after
Revised

[signmeuptoo]

It's really cool to see an SS rep here, kudos to you guys. Yeah, why not fix the problem with a mechanical change?

[Battle_Rattle]

Here is a summary of version changes that affects all Olympia and Decathlon PSUs from 650W to 850W:

V1
Original

V1.5
Revised

V2
Original

V2.5 & after
Revised


So assuming I have sensitive hearing... I'm looking for version 1.5 or v2.5? Or am I looking only for v2.5?

Sweet... Thanks...

[cantankerous]

this is good to hear as I do have an original v1.0 that clearly hums and whines when under heavy load. I am glad to hear as well that their is no ill happenings to be worried about with the psu due to this noise. Is the newer revisions still performing just as well and responding just as quickly with this fix or not because of the fix? I am wondering if this noise is worth putting up with due to the psu possibly being better at what it does because of the noise you follow?

EDIT... would you be able to let us know whether this new v2.5 revision contains a PROPER AND CORRECT 8 pin PCIe power connector unlike the older revisions that are reliant on an adapter to be used instead? For a modular power supply like my DA750 I find it foolish to need an adapter as the cable itself is not hard connected to the unit but removable. I would like to be sure I get a proper cable to go with the new unit if available. Thanks.

[Zerone]

I got V2.0 of DA750 and stuck with the same problem.

Does anyone know if its been completely fixed in V2.5 or not?

[jonnyGURU]

I got V2.0 of DA750 and stuck with the same problem.

Does anyone know if its been completely fixed in V2.5 or not?

Yeah. Did you see SilverStone's post? 2.5 and up is revised. All a 2.0 is is a 1.0 with 8-pin PCI-e connectors.

[SilverStone]

this is good to hear as I do have an original v1.0 that clearly hums and whines when under heavy load. I am glad to hear as well that their is no ill happenings to be worried about with the psu due to this noise. Is the newer revisions still performing just as well and responding just as quickly with this fix or not because of the fix? I am wondering if this noise is worth putting up with due to the psu possibly being better at what it does because of the noise you follow?

The revised models' transient response is indeed slower than before but their performance in this aspect should still be among the best in class. If supreme "dynamic" performance is very important to you, then the original version is better.

EDIT... would you be able to let us know whether this new v2.5 revision contains a PROPER AND CORRECT 8 pin PCIe power connector unlike the older revisions that are reliant on an adapter to be used instead? For a modular power supply like my DA750 I find it foolish to need an adapter as the cable itself is not hard connected to the unit but removable. I would like to be sure I get a proper cable to go with the new unit if available. Thanks.

V2.5 revision and after have new 8pin PCI-E so you don't need to use adapters.

[SilverStone]

Quick question since we're now fortunate enough to have a SilverStone rep here to straighten things up. Why not epoxy pot the transformers to prevent coil noise? That way you can still keep the transient response at the current levels and 86 the offending noises. Potting has been used in the audio industry to prevent sympathetic vibration in transformers and mics and pickups for many years now and I'd think that it would help to cure the ills you're experiencing now.

Sorry I missed this earlier, but to answer your question...

We could epoxy the transfomer but we would run into problem trying to cool it with epoxy cutting off heat dissipation. Power supply like the Olympia/Decathlon are rated for 50C environment so it would take a complete redesign to devise a layout that will run cool enough with epoxy applied.

[madmat]

No worries. Could you not put a heat sink on the core of the transformer? Just curious since it seems a waste to lower the response time just to cure the whine.

[Bun-Bun]

Interesting... glad to see a SilverStone rep here in on this :D

I know I must have really sensitive ears because I can here skwealing, whineing, and buzzing from all PSU's. Esspecially on very low power with nothing but fans attached. I couldn't imagine trying to sit next to one of these PSU's before the revision.

Glad it is all working out and good discussino is coming from it though ;)

[cantankerous]

The revised models' transient response is indeed slower than before but their performance in this aspect should still be among the best in class. If supreme "dynamic" performance is very important to you, then the original version is better.



V2.5 revision and after have new 8pin PCI-E so you don't need to use adapters.

Thanks a ton for the response. The noise isn't too bad when I have the speakers or headphones on so I think I will just deal with the noise for now since A) the transient response is better, B) I really can't be arsed about an RMA since the unit seems to be working fine as is. If it ever started failing I would just RMA it then and would probably get a v2.5+ at that time automatically anyhow. I wouldn't mind the proper 8 pin PCIe cable however without needing an adapter. Would it be possible to just get this sent out to me as a replacement? Since it is modular (DA750) it should just be a straight cable swap and not a whole new unit needed for this right? The ends of the proper cable should just be keyed properly allowing it to fit in new video cards without the adapter while still fitting into the PSU as is, even if the wires are just rearranged if need be?

[cantankerous]

I just read the review on this unit, doesn't seem too bad minus the regulation issue. Everything else was near identical to my DA750 unit though I believe my DA750 had slightly better regulation.

Jonny, you mentioned the pot raised the 12v rail when turned. How high did you actually read the 12v rail before and after the turn? I would love to do this to my unit as I believe it has the same function. Shame it voids warranty however. =(

[jonnyGURU]

If I had the pots turned so high that the PSU wouldn't turn on, I think the most appropriate answer to your question is "too high."

[dr4gon]

Thanks jonny for doing the review (http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=112&page_num=3). You know I was always interested in it ;).

Lol too bad I ordered mine a few weeks ago, but have been very satisfied with the overall quality and 8 pin :). The only thing that bugs me is the noise, almost like a ticking sparking noise whenver the HDD is loading, GPU is running, or CPU is being tested with Orthos/Prime.

I am running revision 2.0 and almost want to get the 2.5 version, but I think cantankerous summed it up. And it has a 3 year warranty, so I've got a chance if anything goes wrong. By the way jonny where you running a x.0 revision or an x.5, because you said you couln't heat it.

Thanks a ton for the response. The noise isn't too bad when I have the speakers or headphones on so I think I will just deal with the noise for now since A) the transient response is better, B) I really can't be arsed about an RMA since the unit seems to be working fine as is. If it ever started failing I would just RMA it then and would probably get a v2.5+ at that time automatically anyhow. I wouldn't mind the proper 8 pin PCIe cable however without needing an adapter. Would it be possible to just get this sent out to me as a replacement? Since it is modular (DA750) it should just be a straight cable swap and not a whole new unit needed for this right? The ends of the proper cable should just be keyed properly allowing it to fit in new video cards without the adapter while still fitting into the PSU as is, even if the wires are just rearranged if need be?

[EarlZ]

Where can i exactly see the version, im planning to get the DA750 soon to replace my 750ZF since im in need of a modular PSU and a more silent 120mm fan vs the 80mm fan

[EarlZ]

Btw, how loud is the squealing noise.. is it that audible in a total silent environment? as my 750ZF does buzz but i need to stick my years beside the PSU vend to hear it though.