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be quiet! Straightpower 700W |
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Fan Noise
The temperature controlled fan on the be quiet! power supply works quite good. When the load is low the unit is rather quiet and spins up to keep the PSU cool when load is high.
Value and Conclusion
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| 9.0 | The Straightpower 700W is a great power supply which is able to deliver loads of power when needed. Of course our power hungry ATI Crossfire system was running rock stable. The power delivery was not only stable, but also rather quiet. Even at high load the fan does not get too loud. Of course the fan speed will go up to keep the PSU cool, but it never is annoying. Another important point in my opinion is that it is standard sized. Some manufacturers oversize their PSUs to have more space, this can lead to compatibility problems with some cases. I find the price of $150 a bit expensive, it might scare a lot of users away. But in my experience a good PSU is a worthy investment into the future. A couple of years ago I went through four PSUs which died rather quickly. Then I decided to buy a top quality brand PSU, it's still working today like on day 1 and I will take it with me when I upgrade my system. So even if you have only a midrange video card you may consider investing some money into a good PSU. When you upgrade your system you don't have to worry about the PSU upgrade. |
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Regarding our findings that the be quiet! Straightpower 700W is identical to a PSU from OCZ we received the following statement from be quiet!:
be quiet! and OCZ Power Supplies are not identical Power Supplies. There are manufacturing variances between both of them. Both power supply brands are developed and designed by different and independent product managers and engineers.
By taking a first look to ATX Power Supplies, all ATX Power Supplies Manufacturer have to meet the Standards and especially Power Supply Design Guides, which describes the necessary measurements and technical requirements. i.e. be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER items are manufactured in accordance to ATX 12V 2.2 and EPS 12V 2.91 standard and it uses 4 separate 12V cables for an optimal power supply and stable operations.
By taking a closer look you will find some differences within the non-visible components like, PCB, heat sink and partly other build-in components and by choosing the most silent fan for active Power Supplies. The results will be indicated by performance tests.
Each power supply manufacturer is trying to improve the quality and performance of its own power supply brand. Be quiet! is using own designed PCB, own designed heat sink, partly other build-in components as well as most silent fan for being as quiet as possible.
Be quiet! should be as silent as possible, otherwise it does not make sense to call your brand like this. We are focussed on energy-saving design by offering high efficiency of up to 83% within the STRAIGHT POWER Series in accordance to the new RoHS and WEEE Directives. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Substances_Directive or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEEE)
