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Best PSU for E-350 rig with SSD and DVD?

What kind of case are you going to put these in? I imagine the form factor will matter, especially if you want to put these into tiny miniITX cases, which don't always accept ATX PSUs.

If you put them into something like an Antec ISK-300, then the included 65W PSU should be sufficient for the E-350 + SSD + DVD drive.
 
Anyone want to calculate the difference in monthly/yearly cost, if my E-350 rig takes 50W (just choosing a nice round number here), and I pay $0.15 per KWh, between a 70% efficient "junk" PSU, and a 90% efficient Gold PSU? The Gold PSU costs nearly $50, I want to find out my rate of return on that.

50W * 100 / 70 = 71.42857142857143, * 24 * 30 = 51428.57142857143, / 1000 * 0.15 = 7.714285714285714. $7.71/mo operating cost. (Actually, that seems kind of high to me.)

50W * 100 / 90 = 55.55555555555556, * 24 * 30 = 40000, / 1000 * 0.15 = 6. $6/mo operating cost for Gold PSU.

So $1.71/mo difference.

Price of Gold PSU is ~$47. 47 / 1.71 = 27.48 mo, or / 12 = 2.29 years.

So it would take two years to pay off the Gold PSU, even drawing as little as 50W.

However, I plan on using my E-350 rig only for an interim of a year, until Haswell, then I plan on getting a "big" rig again. And without any PCI-E power plugs, I don't see re-using that 400W FSP Gold supply in a new rig. So it really wouldn't pay for itself in that timeframe. Of course, I could sell the entire E-350 rig a year later, and recoup some of the costs that way, but it might not be that sellable, if Jaguar rigs are also available at that time.
 
Dude, lay your calculator down and buy a good solid PS for your build.
Max component wattage draw @ 50% of rated PS and you're good.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Anyone want to calculate the difference in monthly/yearly cost, if my E-350 rig takes 50W (just choosing a nice round number here), and I pay $0.15 per KWh, between a 70% efficient "junk" PSU, and a 90% efficient Gold PSU? The Gold PSU costs nearly $50, I want to find out my rate of return on that.

50W * 100 / 70 = 71.42857142857143, * 24 * 30 = 51428.57142857143, / 1000 * 0.15 = 7.714285714285714. $7.71/mo operating cost. (Actually, that seems kind of high to me.)

50W * 100 / 90 = 55.55555555555556, * 24 * 30 = 40000, / 1000 * 0.15 = 6. $6/mo operating cost for Gold PSU.

So $1.71/mo difference.

Price of Gold PSU is ~$47. 47 / 1.71 = 27.48 mo, or / 12 = 2.29 years.

So it would take two years to pay off the Gold PSU, even drawing as little as 50W.

However, I plan on using my E-350 rig only for an interim of a year, until Haswell, then I plan on getting a "big" rig again. And without any PCI-E power plugs, I don't see re-using that 400W FSP Gold supply in a new rig. So it really wouldn't pay for itself in that timeframe. Of course, I could sell the entire E-350 rig a year later, and recoup some of the costs that way, but it might not be that sellable, if Jaguar rigs are also available at that time.
Click to expand...

Your math assumes you'll be at 50w load 24/7 for that entire time.
 
TemjinGold said:
Your math assumes you'll be at 50w load 24/7 for that entire time.
Click to expand...

its also assuming the crappier psu doesnt die and need replacement. plus 15 cents per kw is a little higher then most areas. 10 cents is more normal i think, especially during night time.

so 25w not 50, 5 cents less per kwh, and minus $40 for when you have to replace the junkier psu. lets leave out the 200k for when your house burns down

so just plug all those numbers in and reassess
 
wirednuts said:
its also assuming the crappier psu doesnt die and need replacement. plus 15 cents per kw is a little higher then most areas. 10 cents is more normal i think, especially during night time.

so 25w not 50, 5 cents less per kwh, and minus $40 for when you have to replace the junkier psu. lets leave out the 200k for when your house burns down

so just plug all those numbers in and reassess
Click to expand...

So if it's 25W, then the savings of the Gold PSU is halved, and the time it takes to pay for itself is doubled. 4.5 years? Not worth it in that case. I'll take my chances with the crap one.

I'm not sure why you want me to change the $0.15 per KWh, that's what my electric bill comes out to.
 
VirtualLarry said:
So if it's 25W, then the savings of the Gold PSU is halved, and the time it takes to pay for itself is doubled. 4.5 years? Not worth it in that case. I'll take my chances with the crap one.

I'm not sure why you want me to change the $0.15 per KWh, that's what my electric bill comes out to.
Click to expand...

im not trying to debate you, and i thought your scenario was a general one that could apply to more people. didnt mean to make it sound negative, i apologize if i did. i appreciate your input, since this stuff has been on my mind lately too, but obviously not enough to crunch the numbers 😀

also, you might be fairly close to 50w if youre using a 400w power supply or something way over what you need. an e350 setup for example runs on much less then 100w, so anything above a 150w power supply you would need a video card to justify. op doesnt say much, so were all just throwing stuff out there.
 
Blain said:
Dude, lay your calculator down and buy a good solid PS for your build.
Max component wattage draw @ 50% of rated PS and you're good.
Click to expand...

It's a budget low-power build, I want to spend as little as possible on this.

Max component wattage draw is like 50W, at most. Where am I going to find an 80plus (gold?) 100W PSU? They don't make them. The best I could find was that 400W one, which is pretty-much overkill for this rig, and out of the budget.

Like I said, I have a VP-450 in storage, I could use that one. I also have a couple of EarthWatts 500W units, and a Xion 400 ATX unit. (That one is almost as bad as a case PSU.)
 
youre missing the point then. why worry about 80+ if youre buying a power supply thats properly sized to your load?

if youre only drawing 50w, then youre definitely wasting more energy with a 400w power supply over say a 150w one that might not be rated 80+. i dont know for sure what all the numbers would be... if you would like, i can unplug my harddrives from my server and find out what its drawing at load. i am using one of those 150w cooler master active pfc supplies. and yes (remembering an old thread) it does fit 😛 theres a big gap all around it in the back, but meh

and like the ones i linked, they are dirt cheap and quality made. you cant lose. also, the 80+ rating usually doesnt mean as much as they want you to think. most supplies were always at least 75% efficient at most loads...
 
wirednuts said:
im not trying to debate you, and i thought your scenario was a general one that could apply to more people. didnt mean to make it sound negative, i apologize if i did. i appreciate your input, since this stuff has been on my mind lately too, but obviously not enough to crunch the numbers 😀

also, you might be fairly close to 50w if youre using a 400w power supply or something way over what you need. an e350 setup for example runs on much less then 100w, so anything above a 150w power supply you would need a video card to justify. op doesnt say much, so were all just throwing stuff out there.
Click to expand...

Well, I was hoping someone would comment on whether or not my math is correct.

For 50W, with a 70% efficient supply, do I calculate 50W * 100 / 70, or 50W * 1.3?

No video card, the E-350 mobo has only a PCI slot. Might throw in a WiFi card at some point.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Well, I was hoping someone would comment on whether or not my math is correct.

For 50W, with a 70% efficient supply, do I calculate 50W * 100 / 70, or 50W * 1.3?

No video card, the E-350 mobo has only a PCI slot. Might throw in a WiFi card at some point.
Click to expand...

part of the reason i dont want to figure it all out is because my math is weak at best and i dont trust my numbers. but this stuff is fairly simple, just give me a min after i eat ill run it up to see if yours matches what i get. you do look right off hand btw

how about this, you plug in that 450w supply you have, record idle and full load wattage levels at the wall with a killawat, and i will do the same with my 150w supply? im just as curious as you are, if the difference is so small it doesnt matter then i will be buying bigger supplies just to cover future endeavors.
 
The parts were supposed to arrive today, but the case didn't arrive.

So I won't be able to test it for a few days, but I am willing to do that.
 
ok. its the only way to really know, otherwise were trying to go off the efficiency ratings which i know are ballpark at best, and they vary with load creating a variable we cant possibly know.

that will give me a couple days to actually buy a killawatt too 😀 i have an ac clamp meter, but i would have to hack up an extension cord to use it. or turn off everything in my room and open the breaker panel 😛
 
and actually, looking at it-

50W * 100 / 70 = 71.42857142857143, * 24 * 30 = 51428.57142857143, / 1000 * 0.15 = 7.714285714285714. $7.71/mo operating cost. (Actually, that seems kind of high to me.)
Click to expand...

the 70% would be added to your initial wattage... so i think it should be 50w * .7 + the difference = 65w. thats what should be drawing from the wall if your pc is drawing 50w from the power supply at 70% efficiency

but in real world, i bet its drawing 50w at the wall or less so again, this is a lot of guessing. but either way, 71.4w like you had at 15 cents a kwh probably is to the tune of $7 a month. this is why i am always so worried about power usage with my pc's and home lighting. it can add up big time! thats a netflix subscription right there boy! 😉
 
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You don't need a Gold (label paid for by the PS maker), but you should buy a quality PS.
If a crap PS dies, it can take out memory, MB or SSD. It's false economy to cheap out when buying a PS.
You don't have to get expensive to still buy quality.
 
Blain said:
You don't need a Gold (label paid for by the PS maker), but you should buy a quality PS.
If a crap PS dies, it can take out memory, MB or SSD. It's false economy to cheap out when buying a PS.
You don't have to get expensive to still buy quality.
Click to expand...

i think we understand that, i know i was making comments about failing power supplies but really i was just being argumentative. even most budget power supplies today hold up pretty well if you dont run them to capacity all the time
 
PicoPSU would probably be the most efficient supply, but the form factor wouldn't really work for your case.

Buy a good quality supply, don't worry about efficiency rating.
 
I was getting 2 watts plugged in, not turned on, 47 watts booting up, 42 watts in windows installing software. I will see how it runs under OCCT.

Idle 36W.

48-49W under 100% CPU load with OCCT:linpack 64-bit, 90% mem (8GB).

Not bad. Staying under 50W at the wall.
 
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