Your power supply is one of the hottest components in your PC, literally speaking. So it only makes sense that even the best power supplies have powerful fans that make some noise under load. Here at Computex 2023, Cooler Master is attempting to solve that problem with its new X Silent Series of PSUs, which promise total quiet, even when the fan is running.
We had a chance to look at two X Silent power supplies at Cooler Master's Computex suite, which Cooler Master claims are the first fanless options to go up to 750 watts. For those who don't quite need absolute silence, there will also be a model with an RGB fan, but it's tuned to only spin at slow speeds, so it's likely any other fans from your CPU or GPU cooler will be much louder than the PSU.
Cooler Master says that it cools these PSUs using a vapor chamber and a "single-piece heat dissipation structure." The company also posits that having better thermal management will allow these components to last longer.
X Silent Series PSUs are all ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 compliant, coming with 12VHPWR cables. There's no word yet on pricing or availability, but the company says it believes higher-wattage fanless models should be achievable soon. We're OK with the Cooler Master team taking their time with that and making sure to get it right.
At least as impressive as the silent models are Cooler Master's compact V SFX Platinum lineup for SFF systems, which now go up to a stunning 1300W. Keep in mind, these aren't longer SFX-L PSUs, but look to be standard SFX models, which typically come in at 100mm x 125mm x 63.5mm. That's a lot of power in a package that's roughly 4x5x2.5 inches. So, if you can find a compact case with room for an RTX 4090 and a crazy overclocked CPU, Cooler Master has you covered.
If you have an older Cooler Master PSU and you want a high-quality 12VHPWR cable for it, the company will be selling upgraded right-angle cables that it claims are an improvement on Nvidia's design.
There will be two versions of the cable. One will be able to plug into both the 16-pin header on Cooler Master's newer, ATX 3.0 power supplies and another will connect to three, 8-pin connectors on older power supplies
No word yet on what the cables will cost, but we like to see companies working to improve what has so far been a problematic power connector and adapters.