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How many PSU's?

L

lowpony

n00b
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
5
Hey all, I haven't been on the forums in a few years, used to log in as lanjunky back then. Briefcase computer tutorial and all that jazz...
I haven't kept up with some of the new hardware out lately, specifically the power needs of newer boards, vid cards, CPUs and stuff.
I built a computer last year for a bud at work and he keeps expanding, adding drives. It's a real storage monster and we keep adding on... We're thinking of adding more power and I wanted to get your input on how crazy we need to get.
He's got an Intel 820 dual core on an AS Rock mobo, 2 gigs Patriot DDR2, ATI 9600 AIW AGP and 2 Sony DVD burners. But he's thinking of having me switch it over to an Intel mobo and an unspecified PCIe vid card.
His OS is installed on a Raptor and he has 2 x 300gb IDE drives, 2 x 300gb SATA drives, and (if I remember right) 4 x 500gb SATA drives. And getting ready to add another.
When we run out of drive bays in that big Lian Li case (SOON!) and the 750gb drives get down in price he'll start buying those and phasing out the "little" drives...
He likes to download movies but doesn't like to store them on disks, he wants to keep them all on his drives. hey... it's his computer. I build it, he tears it up, I fix it. That's the deal..
he's also got 2 120mm fans and 2 80mm fans. Plus that big honkin Orb CPU cooler that looks like a cieling fan.
I can't remember the brand of his current PSU but it's a 550 or 600 watt unit.

He has his drives set to power down after idle for 3 minutes so they usually don't draw a lot of power.
He's thinking that instead of laying out tons of cash for a 1000+watt PSU he wants me to piggy back another PSU in to power the storage drives, maybe a 600 to 700 watt unit. And he's got an older 350 or 400 watt unit laying around he might want to power the fans with.
Eventually he'll have 12 hard drives in it. I think that's all he'll have room for...
What do you guys think? I'll build it however he wants, but I'd like an informed opinion to pass on to him first.
Personally I'd rather err on the side of caution. Power is like sex or ammo, it's better to have too much than not enough...
 
He doesn't need anywhere near that much power. Even with an 8800GTX, he won't need anything bigger than a corsair HX 620.
 
Thanks guys. And thanks for the link to the calculator.
One of the reasons he's been worried about it, and myself to some extent, is that even when idle, but at speed the drives draw almost 9 watts each. But the only time all his drives are at speed is at bootup and the first 3 minutes it's running. After that they power down unless he's writing to a drive.
So, theoretically, just his drives are drawing 900 watts off the bat and there seemed to be a possibility of insufficient power to the system causing instability. But we haven't seen anything to indicate that's actually happening
Maybe he's just looking for an excuse to add to a system that already does everything he needs and wants it to do...
 
He's only got 9 drives. The worst-case estimate I've seen for drives is 3A@12V. Add in 10A for the processor (probably overkill, but it *is* Netburst), 6A for the video card, and 3A for the burners. That's only 46A, and the worst case. Normally power-on consumption is more like 1A@12V for the drives, which gives 28A.

What brand power supply is it? 550W should be enough, but whether the power supply will deliver that is strongly dependent on what brand it is.
 
lowpony said:
Thanks guys. And thanks for the link to the calculator.
One of the reasons he's been worried about it, and myself to some extent, is that even when idle, but at speed the drives draw almost 9 watts each. But the only time all his drives are at speed is at bootup and the first 3 minutes it's running. After that they power down unless he's writing to a drive.
So, theoretically, just his drives are drawing 900 watts off the bat and there seemed to be a possibility of insufficient power to the system causing instability. But we haven't seen anything to indicate that's actually happening
Maybe he's just looking for an excuse to add to a system that already does everything he needs and wants it to do...
Click to expand...
9 watts a drive means 900 watts will power 100 drives.

9 watts/drive * 12 drives = 108 watts.

I've got an IBM storage unit that holds 10 15,000RPM fiber drives, and the whole thing runs off one 600 watt PSU.
 
kumquat said:
9 watts a drive means 900 watts will power 100 drives.

9 watts/drive * 12 drives = 108 watts.

I've got an IBM storage unit that holds 10 15,000RPM fiber drives, and the whole thing runs off one 600 watt PSU.
Click to expand...

LOL!! You are correct.
No wonder my checkbook never balances....
 
unhappy_mage said:
He's only got 9 drives. The worst-case estimate I've seen for drives is 3A@12V. Add in 10A for the processor (probably overkill, but it *is* Netburst), 6A for the video card, and 3A for the burners. That's only 46A, and the worst case. Normally power-on consumption is more like 1A@12V for the drives, which gives 28A.

What brand power supply is it? 550W should be enough, but whether the power supply will deliver that is strongly dependent on what brand it is.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't remember what brand it is. Not a generic cheapie though. nice unit, well built, and he doesn't buy any parts unless he's scoured net net for reviews and they're all positive.
 
Jasonx82 said:
that calculator says i need a 999watt psu :eek:
Click to expand...
That means you need a new hobby to soak up your money.

May I suggest skiing, SCUBA diving, or... yachting perhaps?
 
Again, thanks for all your input.
I see now that another PSU isn't needed.
I sent him an email telling him that, but that I'd stil do it if he wanted. It sounds like fun...

I also told him that one thing that chaps my butt about PSU's is that they never have enough of the right kind of connectors, I hate using splitters. And with all the drives, data cables, power splitters.... the inside of his case is a mess. Drives me nuts.
And SLI capable PSU's really drive me nuts because most of the good units on the market have it and it's just extra cables hanging around if you don't have an SLI setup.
So for me, the only reason to add another PSU is to cut down on splitters and organize his cabling situation a bit. Maybe a couple of modular 450 to 500 watt units. There's enough room in the top of that monster case to do that and it'd be nice and tidy..
 
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