The Power Supply Thread

[bcsteeve]

would you believe that people here complain about how expensive our electricity is?  ALL the time, there are letters in the paper about how we're getting "ripped off" by our electric utility.  Sigh.

[garycase]

Anyone who complains about 6.9c/kWh electric rates is not paying attention to the world !!!

 

[bcsteeve]

They're mainly made because we have tiered rates.  So it goes up to something like 10c if they use over (some amount I could never get close to).  Poor them  lol

[PeterB]

[*]SeaSonic SS-300ES Bronze 300W has no review at HS but can I assume it has similar performance?  Its the right size/shape for the case.  Cost is $6 more due to shipping but that's no big deal.

 

This is the model I'm using in my HTPCs.  It works perfectly well and is a standard ATX form factor, so should be a direct bolt-in for your case.

[Frozone]

Hello,

 

I am planing to build a unraid Server with 12 x 4TB WD RED HDD's.

How much A should my Power Supply have?

On the WD page it says the drive need 250mA, but that sound to good, or?

 

I am planing to buy a Sea Sonic SS-400FL2 which has 33A on 12V, but I am not shure if this is enough?

 

Thx

[Fireball3]

Careful!

An electric motor draws the highest current when standing still.

So you have to consider the starting current for dimensioning your PSU.

WD Red's have about 1,73 A peak.

If you use green drives only, then it could be sufficient for 12 drives.

(presuming the rest of your equipment is not drawing more than ~10 A)

Why don't you stick to the first 3 posts of this thread?

It's well explained there.

 

 

[Frozone]

Hey Thx,

I read the first 3 posts. But muy question was how much A the RED's need.

If it's 1,73A peak as You write then it's less then the calculation for the green's in the first post.

Then the Sea Sonic SS-400FL2 would be fine.

[c3]

Post #1 includes the SS-400FL and states up to 15 green drives.

 

Perhaps you are confused by the term green. While it has been used by WD as a product name. Here it is used to label the class of drives operating at less than 6000 rpm (5400-5900 typical), ie the lower power demand drives. No one wants to just call them slower drives, and since the rpm is sometimes hidden or variable, the class is labeled green.

[Frozone]

Ah ok perfect.

I thought with green are exactly the WD Green meant, and not the category <=5900rpm.

 

So then it' fine for me and I go for the SS-400FL2 which is the successor from SS-400FL and has same 33A for 12V.

I could easy buy the SS-460FL2 which has 38A, but of course I want the smallest W as possible to have better efficiency.

[Fuggin]

I have a Rosewill RSV-L4500 server chassis and 10 HDDs I will transfer from my current server. The new server chassis has 8 cooling fans. So 2 questions.

 

1. Should I run all the chassis cooling fans through a fan controller?

 

2. Which PSU will provide me with enough power connections to power all the fans AND up to 15 (7200rpm) HDDs?

[c3]

From the first post, you should be looking at a 650W from SeaSonic or Corsair. However depending on your installation, you may need to add connectors/splitters. Check the guidance given in post #1 for power per drive type, and you can fit other manufacturers to your requirements.

 

Without specifics on the rest of your hardware it is difficult to be sure how to connect fans, but a fan controller is not a bad idea. One with temperature feedback may help if you need to reduce fan noise.

[MikeBuzz]

Am looking for the rightsize power supply to run the following

 

8x 3 or 4 TD WD Red's

www.asrock.com/server/overview.asp?Model=E3C224D2I

Xeon E3-1230 V3

 

would a 350w be enough

[garycase]

350w should be plenty as long as you're sticking with low-power drives like the Red series.  I've set up a couple systems with 350w PSUs and 6 drives, and I've got no doubt there was enough "headroom" for two more drives (especially since the drives weren't as low-power as the Reds).

 

[MikeBuzz]

Thanks for that, now to find a decent 1u power supply

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

 

[FreeMan]

Any suggestions for a very quiet, yet reasonably priced PSU for my desktop machine?

 

I've got 2 drives in it now (one will be moving into my unRAID, once it's upgraded), and a low-end graphics card, so I don't need a lot of power, just quiet. I'm working from home full time now, and, honestly, starting to be a bit concerned about my hearing.

 

This looks to be a pretty good price, and is listed as "quiet" but doesn't really say what quiet is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139049

Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this one, or a suggestion for something else?

 

Thanks!

[prostuff1]

Just about anything from Corsair of Seasonic will be perfectly fine.  The Corsair you linked should be fine for your purposes.

[garycase]

I agree that MOST units from Seasonic or Corsair are good PSUs.  But I do NOT recommend the CX series Corsairs ... there are several design tradeoffs that simply make these less reliable units than the TX, HX, and AX series units.

 

The wattage range is fine ... but I'd get a better unit, like one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

 

 

[FreeMan]

Thanks for your input, Gary & ProStuff!  I ended up grabbing the ThermalTake PSU out of a dead machine I have sitting here, and the difference is like night and day!

 

<snip>But I do NOT recommend the CX series Corsairs <snip>

 

Interesting, since the CX series Corsairs are listed in the first couple of posts as recommended good PSUs.  I'm not here to argue the point with you, since I'm the one asking for info, but is it worthwhile having a discussion amongst those who do know about whether those are good recommendations to leave up front there? If there are design issues, maybe it's time to update the recommendations... 

 

 

[Abula]

Hi,

 

Im about to move into a new case, Lian LI PC-D8000, atm im planning on moving the current hardware to it which is

 

SUPERMICRO X9SCM-F

Intel Xeon E3-1230

Kingston 4GB ECC DDR3 1333

2x IBM M1015

8x Hitachi 5K3000 2TB (5400rpm)

8x Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB (5900rpm)

6x Samsung 1.5TB (5400rpm)

 

I'll be swaping the 6 samsung for 6x WD 5tb reds when they hit the market, but not planning on changing toward 7200rpms drives ever.  When 4k movies become mainstream, im planning on modding the case to fit 32 to 36hdds (will depend on how the modding go).  Still undecided on which PSU should i upgrade to, thinking on todays requirements, according to the 2amp rule on the the first post, the 24x2 = 48amps, in the future 32x2 = 64amps, an 850W with single 12V rail will have 70amps, so a little tight for the future, but also not all hdds take 2amps fully, some go lower, so i was thinking 850W would be fine.

 

I am considering the Corsair RM Series 850 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified Power Supply - CP-9020056-NA RM850, but open to any suggestions that could fit the needs better.

[NiKa]

@Abula..

 

My lian li d8000 arrived today... after so many months

 

and i would really like to know if you have reached your decision on what PSU to buy?

 

 

[00b5]

What about a spare power supply for a 2nd unRAID box or just to have a spare PS laying around?

 

Surely I can get something other than an $80 PS as a backup/spare for testing purposes.

 

I suppose in the long run, I might build a 2nd box, and it would have no more than 6 hdds, green/reds at the max (probably more like 3 if I ever did it).

 

Its also nice to just have a spare to power up old MB's, etc.

 

Any suggestions?

[talueng]

What do you think about the Corsair 850HX modular PSU? I found a good deal on eBay but am not sure if it's a good PSU and if it's too much power (I read somewhere that 550W is enough for unRAID).

[garycase]

What do you think about the Corsair 850HX modular PSU? I found a good deal on eBay but am not sure if it's a good PSU and if it's too much power (I read somewhere that 550W is enough for unRAID).

 

It's a superb power supply => but WAY overkill for UnRAID ... and in fact would be running well below it's peak efficiency at the low wattages an UnRAID system would likely require.

 

[optiman]

I'm buying a new PS for my server and found the SeaSonic SSR-650RM 650W on newegg.  Is this a good model, as it's not listed on page 1?  Not sure if it is new or just not recommended.

 

My other choice or option is the CORSAIR HX series HX650 650W.

 

They are only $10. different.  Which is better?

[garycase]

They are only $10. different.  Which is better?

 

Both are superb units -- you won't go wrong choosing either.  Personally, I'd buy the Seasonic, but that's just personal preference.