PSU for NAS

[Marcmallow]

I'm taking an old dell system and transplanting it into a new case for a NAS. My plan is to have 3 SSDs and 2 16tb HDDs, and likely a blu ray drive so I can rip blu rays directly to the storage, so 6 sata devices. Unfortunately, many power supplies only go to 4-6 sata plugs, especially at 400-500 watts. For efficiency, I don't want to really go higher than that.

 

What's my best option to also have room for adding more drives down the road? I know molex adapters are usually frowned upon, but would pcie power adaptors work since I'm not going to have a graphics card? And what's a decent PSU for a good price for a server?

[TylerD321]

Most power supplies are most effective at 50% utilization. Find out what your average wattage is, double it, and get a power supply with that wattage.

[Marcmallow]

2 hours ago, TylerD321 said:

Most power supplies are most effective at 50% utilization. Find out what your average wattage is, double it, and get a power supply with that wattage.

I know, that's why I specified 400-500 watts. I'm specifically asking about the number of sata power connectors

[mariushm]

Hard drives and SSDs consume very little power.

 

A hard drive consumes less than 1A from 5v and less than 1A from 12v.

 

A SSD consumes only power from 5v, and usually consumes very little when reading data from them, but a bit more when writing data. A SATA SSD usualy doesn't go over 6-8w (or around 1-1.5A)

 

M.2 SSDs run on 3.3v and may consume up to 3A (10 watts)... pci-e 3 drives consume less,  the higher the pci-e version, the more power they may consume.

 

You don't need to look at the wattage of the power supply, look at the current the power supply can give on 3.3v and 5v

 

While a 400-500w may work, you may want to avoid it because they may have a limited amount of current on 3.3v or 5v, for example only 12-15A on each voltage. In comparison, a slighty higher wattage psu may be able to supply up to 20A on each voltage.

 

You can get cables that convert one molex or one SATA connector into multiple sata connectors if you want more connectors.   Use cables where connectors are crimped or where wires are press-fit into the connectors , don't get MOLDED connectors .

 

molex to 4 sata  press-fit connectors : https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-108794-24-Inch-15-Pin-Female/dp/B009GULFJ0/

sata to 4 sata press-fit connectors :  https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Power-Splitter-Adapter-PYO4SATA/dp/B0086OGN9E/

 

molex is rated for 5A per voltage, sata is rated for 4.5A  ... the molex version would be safer.  I would recommend not using more than 3 sata connectors on each such cable.

 

molex to 5 sata crimped connectors (crimped = connectors where you can take out individual wires from the connectors) : https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Extension-Splitter-Adapter-24-inch/dp/B094J9K7FB/

 

 

You DO NOT want to buy molded connectors, which look like these : https://www.amazon.com/Zaharov-Power-Splitter-Adapter-Female/dp/B079LY2LTS/

 

Basically, the housing is injection molded over the contacts, wires are often spot welded on the contacts instead of being soldered or crimped (both better) and the plastic of the housing is much software and weakens with heat, so the risk of short circuits is higher.

 

 

[Marcmallow]

32 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Hard drives and SSDs consume very little power.

 

A hard drive consumes less than 1A from 5v and less than 1A from 12v.

 

A SSD consumes only power from 5v, and usually consumes very little when reading data from them, but a bit more when writing data. A SATA SSD usualy doesn't go over 6-8w (or around 1-1.5A)

 

M.2 SSDs run on 3.3v and may consume up to 3A (10 watts)... pci-e 3 drives consume less,  the higher the pci-e version, the more power they may consume.

 

You don't need to look at the wattage of the power supply, look at the current the power supply can give on 3.3v and 5v

 

While a 400-500w may work, you may want to avoid it because they may have a limited amount of current on 3.3v or 5v, for example only 12-15A on each voltage. In comparison, a slighty higher wattage psu may be able to supply up to 20A on each voltage.

 

You can get cables that convert one molex or one SATA connector into multiple sata connectors if you want more connectors.   Use cables where connectors are crimped or where wires are press-fit into the connectors , don't get MOLDED connectors .

 

molex to 4 sata  press-fit connectors : https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-108794-24-Inch-15-Pin-Female/dp/B009GULFJ0/

sata to 4 sata press-fit connectors :  https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Power-Splitter-Adapter-PYO4SATA/dp/B0086OGN9E/

 

molex is rated for 5A per voltage, sata is rated for 4.5A  ... the molex version would be safer.  I would recommend not using more than 3 sata connectors on each such cable.

 

molex to 5 sata crimped connectors (crimped = connectors where you can take out individual wires from the connectors) : https://www.amazon.com/COMeap-Extension-Splitter-Adapter-24-inch/dp/B094J9K7FB/

 

 

You DO NOT want to buy molded connectors, which look like these : https://www.amazon.com/Zaharov-Power-Splitter-Adapter-Female/dp/B079LY2LTS/

 

Basically, the housing is injection molded over the contacts, wires are often spot welded on the contacts instead of being soldered or crimped (both better) and the plastic of the housing is much software and weakens with heat, so the risk of short circuits is higher.

 

 

So this PSU has 22A on the 3.3V rail, and 17 on the 5 volt rail. 6 sata connectors and 3 molex, does it look good? https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6RTrxr/thermaltake-smart-600w-80-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-ps-spd-0600npcwus-w

 

Also in this case the molex connectors are all part of the same cable, could I still use 3 sata devices on each one of those with individual adapters?

[mariushm]

10 minutes ago, Marcmallow said:

So this PSU has 22A on the 3.3V rail, and 17 on the 5 volt rail. 6 sata connectors and 3 molex, does it look good? https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6RTrxr/thermaltake-smart-600w-80-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-ps-spd-0600npcwus-w

 

Also in this case the molex connectors are all part of the same cable, could I still use 3 sata devices on each one of those with individual adapters?

 

That psu would work, but I'd suggest spending a bit more for higher efficiency. For example this $65 Thermatake Toughpower GX2 600w psu : https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-toughpower-gx2-gold-ps-tpd-0600nnfagu-2-600w/p/N82E16817153415

 

EVGA GD series would also work : https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Xgwkcf/evga-600-gd-600-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-100-gd-0600-v1

 

 

You still get 6 sata, 3 molex (on toughpower, I think gd series has 4/4) but will be more efficient at low loads... and has higher warranty and probably the fan is also a bit better quality.

 

Doesn't matter how many molex you use, basically don't go over around 9-10A of current on each wire going INTO the power supply.  So for example if there's a cable with 3 molex connectors  you have 9-10A that can be split among the 3 connectors.  If you add a molex to 4 sata  you'll have 9-10A split  across 2 molex + 4 sata - so up to 6 devices.  Even knowing each hard drive consumes up to 1A on 12v, it's a good idea to be a bit conservative and leave some reserves, that's what I was saying it would be a good idea to not use more than 3...  the original 2 molex + 3 sata = 5 devices  ... 9-10A split across 5 devices = 2 A for each drive, safe and enough.

 

 

 

[Marcmallow]

21 minutes ago, mariushm said:

 

That psu would work, but I'd suggest spending a bit more for higher efficiency. For example this $65 Thermatake Toughpower GX2 600w psu : https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-toughpower-gx2-gold-ps-tpd-0600nnfagu-2-600w/p/N82E16817153415

 

EVGA GD series would also work : https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Xgwkcf/evga-600-gd-600-w-80-gold-certified-atx-power-supply-100-gd-0600-v1

 

 

You still get 6 sata, 3 molex (on toughpower, I think gd series has 4/4) but will be more efficient at low loads... and has higher warranty and probably the fan is also a bit better quality.

 

Doesn't matter how many molex you use, basically don't go over around 9-10A of current on each wire going INTO the power supply.  So for example if there's a cable with 3 molex connectors  you have 9-10A that can be split among the 3 connectors.  If you add a molex to 4 sata  you'll have 9-10A split  across 2 molex + 4 sata - so up to 6 devices.  Even knowing each hard drive consumes up to 1A on 12v, it's a good idea to be a bit conservative and leave some reserves, that's what I was saying it would be a good idea to not use more than 3...  the original 2 molex + 3 sata = 5 devices  ... 9-10A split across 5 devices = 2 A for each drive, safe and enough.

 

 

 

Perfect thank you so much for the help! I really appreciate it!