Home Server PSU

[Stretch]

I plan on building a server at home and need some PSU advice.

The server hardware will be similar to the following

AM2 based Micro-ATX mobo with onboard sound, graphics, lan etc
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+
2GB DDR2 RAM
3/4 * 500GB SATA HDD
DVD RW

The server will be running 24/7 so I’d ideally like the PSU to be cool, quite (near silent) and as energy efficient as possible (this is very important).

I’d expect the max power requirement to be around 300w at full load so what’s my best option?

 

[semi-pro waster]

An Antec Earthwatts 380w would seem like a good option to me but you could always pick a higher end version if you might be adding a lot more to the system.

 

[Stretch]

Thanks for the speedy reply.

I’ve just realised I have an old Akasa PaxPower 400w ATX 2.0 silent PSU that’s been sitting in loft for a while doing not much.

I suppose my question now is would it use any more power than say 300w PSU even though the additional 100w is never required?

Also, is feasible to acquire a totally silent low wattage PSU from anywhere?

 

[semi-pro waster]

The subject is a bit debated at times due to efficiency ratings but that Akasa would be fine, it should be pretty happily into the middle of its power band which means it will be working near optimum efficiency and not overstressed. A PSU should only draw from the wall what it needs unless it is way outwith its efficiency band e.g. a 1kw PSU being used for a miniITX system that uses 50w total in which case it might use a bit more because it isn't at optimum.

All the above is a rather long way of saying that sounds like a great option.

You can get entirely fanless PSUs but they tend to be rather pricey and some have overheating problems, I'd just stick with the Akasa I think.