Power consumption of recommended Budget Box

[zero_koop]

I'm thinking of building an unRAID server and I'd like something that has low power consumption.  However, my primary purpose is to lower the long term costs so it doesn't matter if I buy more expensive energy efficient components or if I buy cheap components that use a little more energy.  My initial thought was to look at the Atom processors, but then I came across the recommended Budget Box, which seems cheap enough, but how is the power consumption of this setup?  If I'm looking for the lower long term cost should I be pursuing an Atom route?  I know there might not be a black & white answer, but any suggestions are appreciated.

 

I am only looking to build a server that can house about 4 drives.  6 would be nice, but I'm not sure if I'd end up using that capability.

 

Thanks.

[gabbott]

The budget build uses a Sempron processor that uses pretty little power. I'd venture to say it is somewhat similar in power consumption to an atom build.

 

I use the budget build, but my kill-a-watt for some reason stopped working. If I get it replaced I can post some numbers.

 

I can also confirm that you can configure the budget build to go into S3 sleep mode with a script provided on the forums.

[gabbott]

Here is a link where they mention the Sempron using the same power consumption as an atom at idle (31W):

 

http://www.servethehome.com/amd-sempron-140-sargas-whs-review/

 

At 31w, it compares favorably to the Intel Atom N330/ NVIDIA ION system that also showed 31w (on the same Kill-A-Watt).

 

They mention at full load the atom uses less power but they also mention how you should focus on idle power since your server will sit at idle alot more than full load. Although they don't seem to test the Sempron at full load (just an i5 and the atom), but regardless, even if it is higher, at idle they are equivalent.

[zero_koop]

okay, good to know.  One last question then, the Budget Box recommends a 400W power supply to support up to 12 drives.  Since I won't be coming close to that number of drives will a smaller PSU give me lower power consumption?  In other words, will a 300W power supply run 4 hard drives with less power than a 400W power supply?  My intuition says "no, it should be the same assuming both PSUs are equally efficient", but I'm looking to shave off as many dollars as I can from this setup.  Thanks again.

 

Link to Budget Box for convenience: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility#Budget_Box

[gabbott]

okay, good to know.  One last question then, the Budget Box recommends a 400W power supply to support up to 12 drives.  Since I won't be coming close to that number of drives will a smaller PSU give me lower power consumption?  In other words, will a 300W power supply run 4 hard drives with less power than a 400W power supply?  My intuition says "no, it should be the same assuming both PSUs are equally efficient", but I'm looking to shave off as many dollars as I can from this setup.  Thanks again.

 

Link to Budget Box for convenience: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility#Budget_Box

 

At equal efficiency for the load, the size of a PSU wouldn't matter, would only use what is drawn from it. Now most PSUs reach their efficiency at a certain percentage of load. I'd say go with an efficient single rail 400W PSU and give yourself a little headroom in case you decide to grow. Also, don't skimp on PSU as far as brand (and I recommend looking for one that is a single rail on the 12V), and I don't think there will be a huge price difference between a 300W and a 400W.

[zero_koop]

Great advice, thanks everyone

[BRiT]

An Intel i3-530 CPU with integrated GPU on a H55-chipset motherboard will also idle around 25-30 watts. On a weekly basis FRYs has thse CPU+MB combos typically for $100-$130.

[queeg]

An Antec Earthwatts 380 would work great for the budget box.

 

http://www.pugetsystems.com/store/item.php?cat=Power+Supply&id=5082&com=0a844c8e

 

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6485.0

 

[jouyang]

An Intel i3-530 CPU with integrated GPU on a H55-chipset motherboard will also idle around 25-30 watts. On a weekly basis FRYs has thse CPU+MB combos typically for $100-$130.

 

+1. I still don't get why so many people in love with Atom. I3 530 + H55 setup cost and power consumption are similar to Atom setup but I3 can do alot more then Atom.

[BLKMGK]

Look at the PSU rating. 80+ and above for good power efficiency. These will often have thermal fans and other features that are worthwhile. It's not simply the power rating you want to look at...

[BRiT]

The new CULV i3/i5 CPUs will idle even lower at 15 watts.

 

I had considered an ATOM setup, but any task which needs any amount of CPU would be running for hours. If you take into account how much total power is consumed to perform different tasks, the i3 530 comes out the most efficient. Even though it spikes higher at load, the task will complete in a fraction of the time, so total power consumed is still significantly lower.

 

The overall efficiency between an i3 530, Atom D510, and Atom 230 were compared in various situations in this review at TomsHardware [ http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/d510mo-intel-atom,review-31890-14.html ].

i3 530, 0:36:13 time, 36.1 watt hours TOTAL

Atom D510, 2:16:42 time, 69.9 watt hours TOTAL

Atom 230, 3:48:10 time, 136.2 watt hours TOTAL

 

And for transcoding from DVD to x264, the i3 took 05:16, Atom D510 took 21:58, and Atom 230 took 46:35.

[Rajahal]

An Antec Earthwatts 380 would work great for the budget box.

 

http://www.pugetsystems.com/store/item.php?cat=Power+Supply&id=5082&com=0a844c8e

 

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6485.0

 

 

I originally considered it, but ultimately decided against it.  The Corsair 400 W is generally only a few dollars more, it comes with a power cable (which the Antec does not), and it has a single 12V+ rail (the Antec has 2).  It just seems like a better deal all around.

 

---

 

zero_koop, I originally designed the Budget Box recommended build around my own server, since it has been working quite well for me.  Basically, the Budget Box is my same server if I were to build it today.  Therefore, some key parts are different (I wouldn't use the Promise TX4 or the Antec p180, for example).  The amount of power that it draws depends on your setup, of course.  My server's current specs are:

 

CPU: AMD Sempron 140 (running stock speeds with stock heatsink/fan)

Mobo: Biostar A760G M2+

Add On Cards: Promise TX4, Rosewill PCI-to-Serial adapter (for communication with UPS)

RAM: 2 x 2 GB Kingston DDR2 800

PSU: Antec Earthwatts 380 W

Drive Cages: 2 x 3-in-2 w/ 1 each 60 mm fans

Case: Antec p180 with 3 x 120 mm fans, two set on 'low' and one set on 'medium'

Hard Drives: 8 Total, mix of 5400 and 7200 RPM

• 1.5 TB Samsung 5400 RPM
  
• 1.5 TB WD EARS 5400 RPM
  
• 1 TB Samsung 7200 RPM
  
• 1 TB WD EARS
  
• 2 x 1 TB WD EADS
  
• 500 GB WD Blue 7200 RPM
  
• 320 GB Seagate 7200 RPM
  

 

 

Here's what my Kill-A-Watt tells me about my server's power draw:

 

At Boot: 115 - 125 W

 

Peak during Boot: 176 W

 

Idle, all drives spun up: 102 W

 

Idle, all drives spun down: 69 W

 

Parity Check (all drives being read): 121 - 122 W

 

Playing a movie (one drives spun up, all others spun down): 73 W

 

 

[queeg]

An Antec Earthwatts 380 would work great for the budget box.

 

http://www.pugetsystems.com/store/item.php?cat=Power+Supply&id=5082&com=0a844c8e

 

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6485.0

 

 

The Corsair 400 W is generally only a few dollars more, it comes with a power cable (which the Antec does not)

 

The PugetSystems are including the power cable with the Antec Earthwatts psu.  

[gfjardim]

My specs don't meet the budget box ones, but here are my power measures:

 

PSU: Antec EarthWatts 380w

MB: Foxconn A6VMX AMD 690

Processor: AMD Athlon2 x2 245 - Regor

Mem: 2X2GB DDR2

unRAID: 4.5.4 modded kernel with Powernow-K8 suport added.

SATA: Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

HDDS: 7x 1TB WD Green

 

MB + Mem + Processor = 38w

 

MB + Mem + Processor + SATA = 45w

 

MB + Mem + Processor + SATA + Hdds spindown = 52w

 

MB + Mem + Processor + SATA + Hdds spinup = 83w

 

MB + Mem + Processor + SATA + Hdds spinup + Parity = 101w

 

MB + Mem + Processor + SATA + Hdds spinup peak = 145w

 

Average consumption in the last 110 hours = 64,6w/h

 

[aiden]

+1. I still don't get why so many people in love with Atom. I3 530 + H55 setup cost and power consumption are similar to Atom setup but I3 can do alot more then Atom.

Atom is fanless.  And for a lot of us, CPU horsepower is not a requirement for a file server.