eskro666 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi guys! Is the Antec Earthwatts 380W good enough for a 10 'green' Hard Disk Drive unRAID Array? Even thought it has two +12V Rails? thanks Quote Link to comment
mickeykool Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 According to this calculator, http://www.antec.outervision.com/PSUEngine you should be fine as it says min of 300 watts but I'd up watts alittle more for more head room down the road. Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Yes, it has two rails, as described here: +12V1: 17A / 1A / 3% / 120mV +12V2: 15A / 1A / 3% / 120mV So the first rail has 17A and the second has 15A. One of those rails also supports the motherboard, fans, etc and we aren't sure which one it is. So to be safe, let's drop each rail by about 3A. 14A is enough to run 7 green drives or 4 7200rpm drives. 12A is enough to run 6 green drives or 4 7200rpm drives. So if you ran only green drives you should be good up to around 13 drives. If you ran only 7200rpm drives you should be good up to around 8 drives. If you ran a mixture of the two, you'll have to figure it out yourself - assume 2A for each green drive and 3A for each 7200rpm drive. For what its worth, I use the Antec Earthwatts 380W on my 6 drive test server, and it performs well. See Joe L's response below. Quote Link to comment
queeg Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 It can support 8 7200 rpm drives. So 10 WD green drives seems possible to me. Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 According to their product brochure here: http://www.antec.com/pdf/flyers/Earthwatts_US.pdf Dual 12V outputs: 12V2 for Motherboard and peripherals; 12V1 for processor (the CPU connectors) So... you are limited to 15 Amps of the 12v2 rail for the Motherboard, peripherals, disks and fans. I would not try 6 green drives.. that might be pushing it. Remember, the 12v1 rail is ONLY for the CPU. Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Thanks Joe, good info. I wonder why it works on my 6 drive test server then? Most of those drives are older 7200 rpms. I haven't seen any problems to date. Quote Link to comment
eskro666 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 hmmm... Safer buying the Antec Earthwatts 430W then? Still has 2 Rails but, second Rail has 16A... thanks Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 hmmm... Safer buying the Antec Earthwatts 430W then? Still has two +12V Rails but, second Rail has 17A... thanks! Same issue... One rail is probably for the CPU, the other for everything else. Might then get 6 or 7 green drives. Quote Link to comment
eskro666 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 so 16A on second RaiL is not enough.... im trying to understand how it works,, thats why the ANTEC ECO 400W is perfect for a 10 'green' Drives unRAID Array? Cuz it has one 30Amps +12V Rail? Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Exactly. Antec Neo Eco, Corsair, or Seasonic are the best PSU choices because they all have single +12V rail designs. Quote Link to comment
eskro666 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Ok, im starting to get it! So 30amps divided by 10 drives = 3amps per drives.... do green drives uses 3amps or more? thanks Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Ok, im starting to get it! So 30amps divided by 10 drives = 3amps per drives.... do green drives uses 3amps or more? thanks Green drives = 2 Amps per drive. Older non-green drives, 3 Amps per drive. Motherboard, peripherals, fans, etc, figure 3 to 5 amps. Quote Link to comment
eskro666 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 wow ok, perfect and thanks to you all thats important info and i now know it Quote Link to comment
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