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PSU for a home server

Erfurt
By Erfurt
in Power Supplies
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Posted

Hey guys,

I'm planning on making a home server and I don't really know how big the PSU should be. I'm going to have 8 hard drives (perperbly 3 or 4 tb WD reds) running on a raid controller, and a SSD. I just need to get a good PSU, that can run this setup, the mobo is going to be a MATX, haven't decided which one yet.

BTW it would be very nice if the PSU is modular or semi modular :)

My setup: i5 3570K  - Corsair H100i - MSI Z77 GD65 - 256 GB Samsung 840 pro SSD - Corsair AX760i - Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 2GB - 4x4 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer RAM - Corsair Carbide 500R (modded side window)

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500w will be plenty. I think each HDD uses 20watts at peak (spinning up) 

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600W Silverstone Strider Essential SST-ST60F-ESG

 

i am using this, its 80+ GOLD and rated for 24/7 operation cost me £67 in the uk from scan

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500w will be plenty. I think each HDD uses 20watts at peak (spinning up) 

That's not what matters for a server PSU. Amperage matters. 

HDD's need high Amperage when they spin up. Once they are spinning, it's fine, but getting 20 platters to 7,200RPM at once needs quite a bit of amps. 

How much? I have no clue. I just know that's something to consider when buying PSUs. Obviously this means a single Rail is important (more amps). 

Some OS's and/or motherboards intelligently spin HDDs up separately, with delays, to account for this.

The other thing that matters for a server PSU is efficiency (it's supposed to be on 24/7).

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Hdd's take very little power. Just get a solid 300-400w with enough connectors and you're good.

Where are you shopping? Budget?

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
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Hdd's take very little power. Just get a solid 300-400w with enough connectors and you're good.

Where are you shopping? Budget?

Don't really have a budget, but off cause I would like to get a good 'cheap' one, but I was thinking about getting the Corsair RM650, it has 8 sata connectors, so it looks like it could handle the setup

My setup: i5 3570K  - Corsair H100i - MSI Z77 GD65 - 256 GB Samsung 840 pro SSD - Corsair AX760i - Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 2GB - 4x4 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer RAM - Corsair Carbide 500R (modded side window)

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Don't really have a budget, but off cause I would like to get a good 'cheap' one, but I was thinking about getting the Corsair RM650, it has 8 sata connectors, so it looks like it could handle the setup

You'd be fine with the rm450 if you used an adapter.

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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I think WoodenMarker said it best.

 

Here's (IMO) a decent breakdown.

  • Drives draw more power on spin-up (the 3 and 4 TB Red drives draw about 20W a piece on spin-up), versus about 6W average during normal usage. It's only for a short period of time, but it can be enough to engage a power supply's over-current circuitry if the power draw exceeds the maximum rated output. If your RAID controller doesn't support staggered spin-up, those drives could potentially draw 160W from the wall by themselves.
  • RAM draws about 3-4W per stick for a generic 4GB-1600 MHz stick at standard voltages, so putting in 8 sticks could potentially increase your power requirement by 30W.
  • You haven't listed your CPU, but I'd assume it's somewhere between a Celeron and an i3, so let's say 40-60W.
  • Your RAID card will draw between 10 and 15W of power. Also, make sure you have a good fan blowing on it, they get hot.
  • Motherboards vary.
  • SSD is almost negligible.
  • Fans go for a few watts a piece.

Here is a power supply calculator from Asus. They also recommend 400-450W.

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use, and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them. - Galileo Galilei
Build Logs: Tophat (in progress), DNAF | Useful Links: How To: Choosing Your Storage Devices and Configuration, Case Study: RAID Tolerance to Failure, Reducing Single Points of Failure in Redundant Storage , Why Choose an SSD?, ZFS From A to Z (Eric1024), Advanced RAID: Survival Rates, Flashing LSI RAID Cards (alpenwasser), SAN and Storage Networking

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I'm going to be running a 750W to power up 16 drives so you probably need half of that. 400-500W is plenty.

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I think WoodenMarker said it best.

 

Here's (IMO) a decent breakdown.

  • Drives draw more power on spin-up (the 3 and 4 TB Red drives draw about 20W a piece on spin-up), versus about 6W average during normal usage. It's only for a short period of time, but it can be enough to engage a power supply's over-current circuitry if the power draw exceeds the maximum rated output. If your RAID controller doesn't support staggered spin-up, those drives could potentially draw 160W from the wall by themselves.
  • RAM draws about 3-4W per stick for a generic 4GB-1600 MHz stick at standard voltages, so putting in 8 sticks could potentially increase your power requirement by 30W.
  • You haven't listed your CPU, but I'd assume it's somewhere between a Celeron and an i3, so let's say 40-60W.
  • Your RAID card will draw between 10 and 15W of power. Also, make sure you have a good fan blowing on it, they get hot.
  • Motherboards vary.
  • SSD is almost negligible.
  • Fans go for a few watts a piece.

Here is a power supply calculator from Asus. They also recommend 400-450W.

Thanks, this will help me a lot. CPU is properly going to be an i3 or i5, depends if i5 is on sale

My setup: i5 3570K  - Corsair H100i - MSI Z77 GD65 - 256 GB Samsung 840 pro SSD - Corsair AX760i - Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 2GB - 4x4 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer RAM - Corsair Carbide 500R (modded side window)

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