building rig with LOTS of hd's.. best psu?

Skree

Skree

Skree

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I'm about to build a new file/client server PC, with an end capacity of 10 BIG sata2 drives. prob seagates or samsung spinpoints. They're going in a CM201, as i dont want to get rid of that fantastic case, but have no other use for it at the moment. Plus it fits in the area i've earmarked for my server, and it looks good. got a 120mm fan for the rear outlet. Got all the specs sorted out really, either going to use my old XP-Mobile 45w chip on a DFI infinity, or get a new, fairly low end core2duo setup in there, with any ole nondemanding graphics, and a dvd burner

Not sure what PSU i'll need though. The main part of the PC won't need anything special, but i'm wary of running so many drives on one PSU - all mine are high end but fairly old, so i'm going to need a new one

I need a psu with BEEFY Sata power rails. i'd like one with a 120mm fan. those super big enermax psu's prob wouldn't fit in the 201. I also dont want to spend too much... would prob justify £80, as the rest of the rig, even using old mobo/gfx/ram/cpu/case is going to be around £1000.

any ideas anyone?
 
For around £80 i think the corsair 620w will probably be the best choice, without lots of graphics card drain and with low processor consumption i dont think there will actually be a massive drain on the PSU.
 
the corsair hx620 will probably be fine because of using a low end cpu and inbuilt graphics, but if its not enough the enermax (the galaxy is the huge one, infiniti is standard size) and seasonic 700w-ish power supplies might be a good choice, but maybe even the 520w would be fine because the cpu and gfx and mobo will prob only use ~100w
 
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You really don't need a beefy PSU :)
Was running 6 drives on an old 200w jobby for well over a year, & had absolutely no problems. The PSU in question is still running 4 drives in a secondary box- Got replaced when the server was rebuilt to A64 recently.

-Leezer-
 
I'll probably end up using the XP-M chip on a DFI which has no onboard graphics, sure i can find a proper PCI graphics card somewhere.. got a AGP tnt-2 if not.

have always been an antec fan but will look at the corsair ones :)
 
leezer3 said:
You really don't need a beefy PSU :)
Was running 6 drives on an old 200w jobby for well over a year, & had absolutely no problems. The PSU in question is still running 4 drives in a secondary box- Got replaced when the server was rebuilt to A64 recently.

-Leezer-
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triple reduncancy mate. I really dont want to run a PSU at the limit of its capabilities, i want it to have quite an overhead before maximum, as we're talking initially 5tb of data going up rapidly (20gb+ a week) over the years, and i've had a rig killed when a psu died before. DO NOT want to lose that kind of data. I've got some bits in the pcs in here hat are super old, like the 8-9yr old maxtor 536DX 15.2gb drive in our current client server that's been under load 24/7 since the day i bought it and is still 100%, no bad sectors. I'd like this file server, with all quality parts under not too much stress, to last like that, which it ain't if i skimp on psu or cooling.
 
DavidB said:
Do any PSU's ? :confused: I think extra cables would have to be purchased.
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can be purchased off the bay in stacks of 1 to 100 sata cables and power cables for about £1 each
 
i dont think hdd's will use much power as you think im was running 1x100gb 2.5, 7x500gb 3.5" off a cheapo 200w without probs now the unit has been upgraded to 1x200gb 2.5", 4x500gb, 3x750gb. the box is running 2k3 and is downloading pretty much every day and with avg weekly download of about 100gb, im not saying get a 200w psu but no need to pay loads for a 500-600w one that isnt needed
 
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Probably true, but my point was more that HDDs use peanuts in the way of power :)
Most of the power in modern PSUs is there for running the GFX card & heavily overclocked processors.

Any decent quality large brand PSU should do the job just fine, but you've gotta remember that even the best brands will have the occasional dud. On the other hand, you get some stuff that'll just keep on going and going; Luck of the draw really.

On the subject of elderly drives, the 20gb Seagate running the boot partition in my server has been running near continuously scince 2001. 47 bad sectors collected over the years though, but still runs perfectly.

-Leezer-
 
ages ago, i saw a power comparison table which said a typical HD uses about 37w at peak. Yes, you guys prob got away with running a 200w psu because you werent running many hd's at load at the same time. I'm going to be doing heavy file transfers, but i think probably a 500w one would be sufficient.

It turns out i'm going to need a seperate download box, so i'm probably going to purchase a mini/nano-itx mobo, and use that as a dedicated dl'er.. but i'm going to try and fit that into a small box, say, an old CD-ROM casing, and whack the lot in the same box as my file server - you can get those with 12v dc inputs, so i presume they could be run off a molex - mini itx stuff has been made as low as 11w, so that could be done..

But i'm going to be stretching even the best of PSU's.. i'm pretty happy OcUK have started carrying PC Power & Cooling psus - they were always the best, better than antec. - It's going to be on 24/7 so i want a fairly big psu, so it can run at VERY low strain most of the time, but when i do hardcore file transfers, it can cope with running all HD's at full whack.. I'm considering an Antec Earthwatts, the top one is only 500w though.. might get a truepower trio 650w - I've always been VERY impressed with the Antec PSU's i've had.
 
The two Antecs you mentioned are actually built by Seasonic just so you know (which is a good thing! although they are made with slightly cheaper internal components which maybe doesn't make them so suitable for a more 'critical' system).

I'd personally recommend something like the 650w Etasis Gaming Power. Generally their brand is regarded as equal to Zippy or PC Power & Cooling and it comes with 8 sata power connectors by default so you'd only need 2 molex->sata adapters. The only downside really is the 80mm fan, but if you read this review jonny doesn't mention noise and it's usually something he picks up on when a unit is getting too loud. It's £92.

A good alternative would be a Silverstone Olympia 650w as it is also built to a high standard, and even has a bonus of a 120mm fan and one large 12v rail. You would need 2 extra molex->sata adapters though as it only comes with 6 sata power connectors. Oh and it's £94.

Of course there's always the perennial favourite in the Corsair hx620w. It would do everything you're asking for while being quiet and modular. It's got 8 sata power connectors and a 120mm fan. Oh and a 5-year warranty which might give you peace of mind.
 
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Nullvoid said:
Of course there's always the perennial favourite in the Corsair hx620w. It would do everything you're asking for while being quiet and modular. It's got 8 sata power connectors and a 120mm fan. Oh and a 5-year warranty which might give you peace of mind.
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Yeah i think i'll probably end up using that.. or even a more powerful version of the same psu. Not too bothered about the modular bit, but it would help, with two actual pc's in the box, and 10/11 Hd's and a dvd burner, it'll help to be able to specify what cables to use, without having to alter the psu physically - I'm not averse to doing that, been modding PSU's for years (PC's are about the 1 thing i've used my college electronics for..lol) but i wouldnt want to void a 5yr warranty. I'm basically looking for uber quality.. all the other parts in all my rigs except the XP2100 DTP rig downstairs are picked for uber quality and performance, DFI, Corsair BH ram, Asus graphics, antec psu's, old coolermaster ATCS cases etc

EDIT: having said that, if i was going for the Corsair 620w psu... the PC Power & Cooling 620w is about the same price.. doesnt have a 120 mm fan though.. dunno how much heat i'm going to have to get rid of though till i get the HD's - am looking at Seagate 'Cudas - IIRC they're a bit cooler running than the Samsung Spinpoints i swear by for my user rigs
 
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iTX are fun

heres my fileserver/download box



Jetway fanless 1.2GHz 1GB ram 1x200gb 2.5", 6x750gb 1x750gb on e-sata sold the last few 500gb drivers

running win2k3 with torrents emule, ftp server and usenet sometimes gets too much for the little C7 cpu so with your download box i would maybe go for something like a 1.5 or 2.0GHz itx and mine only takes 6w but i think the 12v power bricks are rated at 80-120w's so dont know about wiring off molex
 
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I'd probably end up with a drastically cut down XP, or 2K pro as an OS, with comodo AV/firewall, using azureus etc. Yeah i'd go for a higher end ITX - just for as much futureproofing to run download progs that come out as possible.

Don't forget, the wall wart (power bricks) are specced up to run a optical drive, a hard drive, and some USBs as well - i'd prob never use an optical, cept for initial install. Or USB stuff... I'd even go as far as using a laptop HD for that pc's boot/download storage drive, to save space and power. IIRC the VIA chipped ITXs dont take many watts at all, max of 30ish. I'd use the dedicated graphics molex so many psu's today have for its power.. AFAIK that can handle SERIOUS power requirements. Love your external fan there.. thought i was the only person that did that.. lol

My main prob there is going to be fitting it all into the same Coolermaster201 (not the world's largest case, in fact quite small) as a full ATX rig with 10 HDs and associated controllers and stuff.. FUN :D

EDIT: I will post pictures when i've got it all done, prob in case central.. got to save up £1000 to do it, so watch this space, about xmas time (it'll be my xmas pressie to myself :D )
 
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most modern sata drives use about 0.5amp on both the 12v and 5v rail. this is hardly worth noting for any semi-modern psu. but yeah i'd vote a corshair nevertheless, good psus apparently :)

ta

alec
 
Think about 2.5 A at 12 V per drive maximum. The 5 V rail is just used when in power saving mode, a fine feature of the SATA spec. With 10 drives that comes out to 25 A. Add in another 15 for other bits (since it's a small file server it doesn't really need much in the realm of processing capability). That comes out to 40 A on the 12 V rail(s). The Corsair 520 Watt model is much more than sufficient at 54 A capacity. I think it would make a fine choice.
 
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