2 PSU for Raids

silversurfer · 11 Oct 2007 at 21:50

Is it ok to use 2 psu on a system. I could or should just buy a newer more powerfull PSU but this is an old budget system, would it do any harm to the drives if they started before the motherboard is powered

The present PSU is ancient, its only 300w and theres upto 6 drives on this machine now. I think its feeling the strain

Written on the side:
3.3v 20A
5v 30A
12v 10A

mk17 · 11 Oct 2007 at 22:07

Corsair HX520 or HX620? c. £70, c. £95 respectively - should last you a while. Dunno about 2*psu, sorry.

semi-pro waster · 11 Oct 2007 at 22:20

You can run two PSUs but it is a bit trickier as you need to make sure they start at the same time normally (some cases like the Coolermaster Stacker come with a switch though I think).

I'd just buy a new PSU though, what is the rest of the specification? If you can't stretch to the HX 520w or 620w then the Corsair VX 450w is a good option at ~£45.

silversurfer · 13 Oct 2007 at 09:41

I could probably rig up some switch to turn on both psus at the same time roughly. Ive no idea why it'd damage them anyway but thanks for the info.

The psu seems to be handling 4 hdd ok at the moment.

Whats the best way to setup Raid 0+1 though. Theres PM,SM,SS,PS to choose as striped or mirrored sets out of 4 IDE HDD on 2 cables.
Not ideal I know but its budget like I said, so whats best?

mattyfez · 13 Oct 2007 at 18:52

My Lian-Li case came with a twin PSU adaptor, so you simply leave both PSU's switched on, and the motherboard will power both up simultainiously when you power the PC up.

silversurfer · 13 Dec 2007 at 17:21

Ive only just noticed that info mattyfez sorry, do you use that system yourself and does it require special PSU.
Just asking out of interest as it turned out this little budget psu was more sturdy then I realised.

I wonder if I could buy one of those adapters seperately if it was needed in future.

Also while Im here just wondering is PFC is needed particularly or is it just for converting between 110v/240v on the fly

Humate · 13 Dec 2007 at 17:39

I also have one of those cables running two PSU's. Works fine. it doesnt require any special psu's. Although one thing that concerns me is that if you turn both psu's off and unplug them the mobo warning light goes out, and then comes back on a second later, all the fans spin, then they go off, then on again... etc 3 or 4 times. Seems to have some juice left in the psu. hasnt blown up yet so it must be fine

mattyfez · 13 Dec 2007 at 21:34

Dont use it myself, no....but you could pair any standard PSUs with it, as they would both operate totally independently.
one PSU would be strictly a slave though, as it only has the "soft on" inputs from the motherboard.

Say for example your current psu was struggeling with 5 HDD's, 5 fans, a powerfull cpu and graphics card, you could off load the graphics card and a couple of hdd's to the secondary psu, would come in handy for people who have two decent psu's, saves them having to get rid and spash out on a new uber £ model.