October 5, 201411 yr I just recently purchased a SeaSonic G-550 for my new unRAID server and it doesn't work. The board won't even start (no fans), LAN LED is blinking when a cable is plugged in, so something is happening but no luck with any kind of booting. I checked with an old PSU that I hat lying around (a SeaSonic S12II-380) and the board booted instantly without any problems so I guess the other PSU was DOA. Now the question is this: I plan to RMA the PSU I bought but I am unsure what to do in the meantime. I could just try to use the old PSU to get the server running again, but it is neither single rail, nor is it very powerful. I am running 6 disks at the moment, mostly Seagates and WD (green and red). Would you say it is ok to use the old PSU while waiting for a new one or rather not risk it and wait without an unRAID?
October 5, 201411 yr the old one will be fine. There are plenty people running 350w PSU in the mini ITX cases with 6-8 drives.
October 5, 201411 yr Author Even though it is not single rail? I don't really understand if this is just not recommended or a bad thing...
October 5, 201411 yr You can use the old power supply certainly as a temp. The reason single rail power supplies are recommended is the trouble in getting all the power out of a dual rail power supply, like your Seasonic. It has two 17A rails. You'll need to avoid overloading each rail. So depending on connectors, that can be easy or hard. If one rail is dedicated to the motherboard, then your drives have a 17A limit. On a similar sized single rail, that limit would be what ever is left after the motherboard.
October 5, 201411 yr Even though it is not single rail? I don't really understand if this is just not recommended or a bad thing... It's not a "bad thing". As long as the rail you're using to power your drives has ample current for the drives, it makes no difference at all. In multiple rail PSU's, the rails are generally split so one provides motherboard and PCI/PCIe power; the other is used for the leads that power your drives. If you're going to power a LOT of drives, it's better to have all of the power available without the need to be concerned about which rail is powering the drives. But as long as you have "enough" -- which clearly you do -- it makes NO difference.
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