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PSU for 8 hdd system

T

tiuk

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 1, 2006
Messages
99
For work I need to build a system that will have 8x 500 GB SATA2 HDDs.

Specs:
Abit AB9 Pro
C2D E6300
1 GB Corsair TWINX PC6400 DDR2 (2x 512MB)
8x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA2

Not sure about video card, but it will be something very low end. I've never built a system like this before, what should I be looking for in a PSU? Most of them that I've seen only have 6x SATA connectors. Does it matter if I use adapters on molex connectors, or should I look for one with 8x? I also have no idea what kind of wattage I should be looking at. Usually when I build a system I judge by the CPU and GPU requirements, but in this case I think the big power hog is going to be the hard drives.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
You should plan for each drive to draw 3A@12V at startup, even though they'll only actually hit an amp and draw less under normal conditions. So allocate what you need for CPU and video card (65W TDP = ~5A, add video card and misc and call it 12) and then get whatever else you need for 24 more amps. I own this power supply (36A@12V is a coincidence, I swear!), with which I've powered 14 drives. That was, granted, using a board that powers CPUs off the 5V rail, but the 6-drive difference has a big impact.

People generally recommend single-rail designs for many-drive systems.
 
I'm running 11 hd's, a dvd burner, AMD 4200x2, gig of ram, 7300 video card on the Corsair HX620. It still runs cool and quiet!
 
maddude0025 said:
I'm running 11 hd's, a dvd burner, AMD 4200x2, gig of ram, 7300 video card on the Corsair HX620. It still runs cool and quiet!
Click to expand...

wow and its stable? what are your +12V at? I have 4 hdd with a corsair620 and i think i need a stronger psu. my +12V is showing 11.78V right now.
 
linjy2 said:
wow and its stable? what are your +12V at? I have 4 hdd with a corsair620 and i think i need a stronger psu. my +12V is showing 11.78V right now.
Click to expand...

what are you measuring it with?
 
Software voltmeters aren't generally regarded as accurate, since they often specify the wrong multiplier for the data they report and thus the wrong data is shown. A handheld VOM from Radio Shack will give more convincing results. The HX620 is well regarded; I'd be surprised if 4 drives was making it strain.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Software voltmeters aren't generally regarded as accurate, since they often specify the wrong multiplier for the data they report and thus the wrong data is shown. A handheld VOM from Radio Shack will give more convincing results. The HX620 is well regarded; I'd be surprised if 4 drives was making it strain.
Click to expand...

I am running 6 drives on a HX520: E6300@2.8, DS4, 2GB, GeForce 7300.
 
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