should I upgrade my server's PS?

[CorNut]

Right now My server has some cheap ECS board and all of the sata ports are used so I bought a perc 5i and am in the process of acquiring 8 hitachi 2tb drives for a raid 5 (I have 5 drives so far) I am going to be recycling my Gigabyte p35 board and e8400 CPU to take over the server duties soon since I need a PCI-E slot for the raid controller and the e8400 which I'm sure is unnecessary but the 2 cpu's are both 65w and if one will be in service while the other collects dust I may as well use the faster one.

I got a copy of WHS 2011 so the new server will be running that instead of XP-64 (Server 2003) and it will be primarily media storage but it will also serve as a security setup. I have 8 BNC cameras and a q-see pci-e card that allows 8 BNC cameras. I am not knowledgeable with the cameras but I do know I read something about some of the processing is within the cameras so it doesn't really tax the CPU much if that makes any sense to you? These are the cameras I have (total of 8) and right now my PC runs the card but I did a test run with WHS 2011 on the new box (not in service yet, just for testing) and despite them not officially supporting WHS they worked fine.

The video card in the server will be this HD 4350 because the video cameras require a video card for something that they do and it's the best candidate I have sitting around. My other options are an x600xt, x800, 9600gt, and an 8600gt.The 4350 is a lot smaller than the other cards so I assume a lower power draw although I haven't verified that but that's why I will most likely choose it.

The reason I don't have all 8 hard drives right now is because I've been buying them as they were for sale after rebate and there's always a limit so I buy em as I can since I'm a cheap ass wanting those $10 rebates to save an additional 20%.

So when this server is up and running it will have this GA-p35-ds3l MB, an e8400 Wolfdale, 8 of those cameras I previously posted, 8 of these 2tb low power drives in 2 of these hot swap bays(already have them), and a perc 5i controller. One of the 2 open slots on those bays will be for HD #9 which will be where the video for the security cameras go since the security will not be stored on the raid array and the second one will just be plugged into another one of the on-board sata ports but left open so I can pull something off the server easily if the need ever arises. The OS drive will be internal, I have a 1.5tb green drive I'll most likely use for that but that isn't set in stone. So I would need to power a total of 10 drives with the occasional 11th if for some reason I plug a drive in one of the bays to pull something off, the video card, 4gb (2x2gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2), and this BNC cemera controller. There won't be any optical drives, I'll use my external drive for installing OS or if I ever need to use a drive for anything. When I did the calculator to see what I need it came to like 375 or something, I forget the actual #. I have 2 spare power supplies that meet the requirement since the server I run now only has a 350w PS. The 2 I have are this 400w Antec and this 500w OCZ.

The OCZ power supply was only used for about a week on a build years ago and it was kinda a nightmare. First the 4 pin wouldn't reach the motherboard so I had to extend the 4 pin, once that was all done I went to install my video cards and realized it only had 1 6 pin so I had to use an adapter for the second card and I didn't like that so I just ordered an SLI certified one that worked and replaced the OCZ. That is all the use it has seen but it's still rather old so it isn't 80+ certified or anything. The Antec is fairly used, I used it for probably a year or more but it always worked fine. Would you use either of those or should I invest in a better one? Is there really a worthwhile savings with getting one of the 80+ ones? If I can cut operating costs and it'd be a noticeable difference I wouldn't mind investing a few dollars but if it's only a savings of like 25¢/mo and one of these would suffice then I'll just recycle one of these if they'd work.

Sorry for the novel, I just wanted to make sure I gave every bit of information about the system in question.

 

[Dangman]

The 2 I have are this 400w Antec and this 500w OCZ.

I don't recommend reusing either. The former because it's really old and the latter because it is old and mediocore.

Considering that this is your file server with TBs of data that we're talking about, skimping on the PSU is not a good idea at all. So I recommend getting this PSU:
$45 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU

Would you use either of those or should I invest in a better one? Is there really a worthwhile savings with getting one of the 80+ ones? If I can cut operating costs and it'd be a noticeable difference I wouldn't mind investing a few dollars but if it's only a savings of like 25¢/mo and one of these would suffice then I'll just recycle one of these if they'd work.

Based on efficiency, no not worth getting a new PSU. HardOCP recently had an article about that:
http://hardocp.com/article/2011/10/04/80_plus_irrelevant_to_you_when_buying_psu/

But as note above, you might need a new PSU anyway considering the age and quality of your other PSUs.

 

[CorNut]

would getting this one be a good idea? With the promo code and rebate it actually comes out to $10 less than the 400w one.

There is also a couple Corsair ones, this one is 500w and comes to $34 vs the 400w antec at $45, and the 520w Antec at $35 after the rebate. There is also one more I'm looking at, this Corsair 430w power supply comes to $20.50 after its coupon and rebate. I don't mind rebates, I'm good at making sure I fill them out. All 4 are affordable, I don't have to get the least expensive one, just seeing if me not minding rebates might possibly make one of the others a better option? If cost wasn't a concern which would you recommend? Thanks for the response, I'll definitely take your advice and get a new PS.


*EDIT*
With reading apparently not all Corsair PSU's are good. I didn't find anything factual other than people's opinions on 2 of their power supply makers. Seasonic makes some of their PSU's and are thought to be good where some are made by channel well which they say is inferior on some sites where other sites say they're fine. Both of the power supplies I posted by Corsair here are made by channel well, does that mean I should stick to the antec's? If so would getting the less expensive one with more power vs the one you posted be better? The power supplies only draw what they need so having a higher power one won't create more heat or cost more to run right? Sorry I'm trying to research and learn about PSU's, I've never really put the effort to ensure high quality PSU's, I've mostly just found one that worked and called it a day in the past but I want to make sure the server isn't going to crap out on me

 

[Zero82z]

would getting this one be a good idea? With the promo code and rebate it actually comes out to $10 less than the 400w one.

There is also a couple Corsair ones, this one is 500w and comes to $34 vs the 400w antec at $45, and the 520w Antec at $35 after the rebate. There is also one more I'm looking at, this Corsair 430w power supply comes to $20.50 after its coupon and rebate. I don't mind rebates, I'm good at making sure I fill them out. All 4 are affordable, I don't have to get the least expensive one, just seeing if me not minding rebates might possibly make one of the others a better option? If cost wasn't a concern which would you recommend? Thanks for the response, I'll definitely take your advice and get a new PS.


*EDIT*
With reading apparently not all Corsair PSU's are good. I didn't find anything factual other than people's opinions on 2 of their power supply makers. Seasonic makes some of their PSU's and are thought to be good where some are made by channel well which they say is inferior on some sites where other sites say they're fine. Both of the power supplies I posted by Corsair here are made by channel well, does that mean I should stick to the antec's? If so would getting the less expensive one with more power vs the one you posted be better? The power supplies only draw what they need so having a higher power one won't create more heat or cost more to run right? Sorry I'm trying to research and learn about PSU's, I've never really put the effort to ensure high quality PSU's, I've mostly just found one that worked and called it a day in the past but I want to make sure the server isn't going to crap out on me

The Corsairs are cheaper but the Antecs are better. Personally, I'd go for the 520W NEO ECO out of that bunch.

 

[Dangman]

Just go with the Antecs.