PSU Power Draw

[jellybeard999]

"Green" computing isn't something I've paid much attention to, but I'm looking at a 24/7 file server - well actually probably 24/7 with a 6 hour standby time.

I've looked at USB to network adaptors, NAS enclosure etc and they're all either massively flawed or too expensive.

If I use a D510 atom board, PCI sata card and probably 8x 3.5" hard drives, would power consumption be PSU dependant?

IE will the system draw the same power, regardless of whether I use a PICO PSU, 400w Coolermaster (which I intend to use) or a 1000w Corsair.

 

[Cycrow]

the pc will only use the amount of power that it needs, the psu's rated wattage is what it can go upto if the pc needs it, but doesn't use that power constantly.

however, different psu's have different efficiency so they will vary in how much they use.

80% efficiency would mean the psu will need to draw 100W of power to deliver 80W to the pc.

Atom/Via Epia/Mini-Itx is the way to go if you want low power usage

also getting less, bigger hard drives, will use less power. so a 2TB drive is better than 2 1TB drives for power usage.

also the slower the driver, generally the lower the power usage. The Green drives are usually slower than normal ones.

but then speed/performance isn't really need for a basic file server

 

[jellybeard999]

Thanks. Most of the drives I have are either WD Green or the samsung equivalent. I've a couple of 500gbs which are only used for document, photos, music etc backups which I will probably phase out at some point