Which PSU?

By The Dark Knight
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The Dark Knight

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Hi. A friend of mine is planning to build a home server. The specs are as follows:

AMD Athlon 5600+ or Phenom II X4 CPU

4 GB RAM (8 GB in the future)

12 2 TB (or 3 TB) WD Caviar Green HDD's

Which PSU would you recommend for a build like this?

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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

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I would highly suggest getting something modular. You will really really thank yourself for going that route.

Corsair, Cooler Master, OCZ, all make a good quality PSU.

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Grand Master

Mindovermaster Moderator

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I don't particularly like OCZ, but yeah. Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec.

I had an Antec Earthwatts 380 in my previous server. (now dead motherboard)

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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

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I don't particularly like OCZ, but yeah. Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, Antec.

I had an Antec Earthwatts 380 in my previous server. (now dead motherboard)

They have good reviews. There will be failures on any PSU, but that's what the warranty is for. 3 years is pretty generous from OCZ. And for the price, you really can't go wrong. I've used them many times and haven't had any issues.

But if you want the top notch, then yeah go with Corsair or Seasonic.

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UseLess

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PSUs are pretty simple products to buy, roughly speaking.

1) Get a "brand name" CPU (thermaltake, corsair, coolermaster, etc). They're all "good" and the minor variations in quality is in no way shape or form worth worrying about.

2) Get a PSU that can provide enough power for your rig - For something like that, I would say ~500W would be good, but there are PLENTY of PSU calculators on the net - take a look if you're worried

3) Find the right number of plugs you're going to need

  • Don't worry about modular - you're going to be using all the plugs anyway with 12 HDDs
  • Get as many SATA power plugs as possible, and buy enough MOLEX (the old 4pin power) to SATA adapters to plug in all your HDDs

4) If efficiency matters to you, get a platinum or higher rated PSU - if its going to be on 24/7 and you have extra $$$, get a fanless one! (VERY few choices for fanless)

Keep it simple, don't pull your hair out over which brand - they're all reliable, every brand CAN give you a dud, always use (surge) protection!

Let us know how you go =)

edit: I use this - I love it and I know it's overkill =P Keeps my 24x7 server quiet, and power efficient (and i only have 7HDDs and no discrete GPU, so only use 2 out of the 4 molar cables)

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Grand Master

Mindovermaster Moderator

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Not all PSUs are created equal. A cheap PSU can endanger your entire system.

500W is a bit overkill for his AMD CPU. HDDs don't take a lot of power.

Modular is used just used to minimise the cables that you do not need.

Fanless PSUs are rare, yes, but I would not recommend one. Any PSU is going to get hot. A fan is needed in most cases.

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The Dark Knight

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Thanks a lot for all the replies everyone! Here are some more inputs based on the replies above.

Money is not an issue at all. Only thing is, choices are limited in India. If it is something exotic, we will have to import, which is a hassle. That said, Corsair, Cooler Master and Antec are easily available here (right from basic models to top-end).

I (and my friend) strongly believe in using a high quality PSU from a well known brand.

Server will be on 24/7, but it will be in a storage room, so noise levels are not an issue.

Yes, wattage wise, HDD power consumption is low. But the thought I had was, when you switch on a system with so many drives, won't it briefly draw a lot of current?

We have also already ordered this cabinet. We chose this specifically for the sheer number of HDD's that can be fitted. :)

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/shinobi/

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Grand Master

Crisp

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Personally I think 450W is not enough.

Phenom II's either run at 95W or 125W

2x 4GB DDR3 depending on manufacture - 2 - 6W (per DIMM)

1x 2TB HDD depending on manufacture - 25 - 30W (per drive)

RAID controller card depending on manufacture - 12 - 30W

Case fans - 1 - 2W? (per fan)

I would go 600W or 650W.

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p1p3

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Personally I think 450W is not enough.

Phenom II's either run at 95W or 125W

2x 4GB DDR3 depedning on manufacture - 2 - 6W (per DIMM)

1x 2TB HDD depedning on manufacture - 25 - 30W (x12)

RAID controller card depending on manufacture - 12 - 30W

I would go 600W or 650W.

I would not go under 500W. An old file server me and some friends built with about 12 disks in had problem starting with a 450W PSU. Sometimes it would start and sometimes it would not. Once it was running it would usually work. Usually we had to start it, wait for the disk to spin up and reset it and it would boot without any issues. When we upgraded to a 800W (a bit overkill) all those problems went away.

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The Dark Knight

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I would not go under 500W. An old file server me and some friends built with about 12 disks in had problem starting with a 450W PSU. Sometimes it would start and sometimes it would not. Once it was running it would usually work. Usually we had to start it, wait for the disk to spin up and reset it and it would boot without any issues. When we upgraded to a 800W (a bit overkill) all those problems went away.

Ahhhh, yes! I thought as much starting up would be an issue as there are so many drives! Thanks for clearing that up p1p3! :)

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Grand Master

LaP

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I don't think there's such a thing as overkill unless you go for 800+W PSU.

Stop me if i'm wrong hardware is not really my field of expertise but PSU are best when used around 50-60% load right ? I would not see as a good thing a PSU working at close to full load 24/7. You got to have some head room.

600W to 650W looks spot one to me. Corsair makes really good PSU in the price range.

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p1p3

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What do you all think of this one?

http://store.antec.c...45-23860-1.aspx

I contacted a couple of vendors, they can procure Seasonic PSU's also if I wish. How about this model?

http://www.seasonicu...12II-Bronze.htm

I don't know about that specific model from Antec but about half of the ones we bought for work (about 15 bundled with chassis) have died. Purely personal preference but I would not buy another Antec power supply. You can never go wrong with Seasonic, however the ones you listed only have up to 9 SATA connectors so you will have to use an adapter if you need more than that.

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The Dark Knight

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We have decided to get the Seasonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze PSU! Thanks for all the inputs everyone! :)

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The Dark Knight

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Hmmm, the Seasonic SS-750JS is only 500 bucks more (about $9), I might as well get that! :)

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The Dark Knight

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Go with the SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

But that is only 550W. The server will be drawing a lot of power, especially when starting up. Plus, I am getting a 750W PSU for the equivalent of $110, so I might as well go for that. :)

Thanks anyways though!

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