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Do I need a 2nd PSU?

M

Mr Bob

Golden Member
I am running the computer in my sig and I need to know if I will have enough power to handle 2-4 more 250gb WD hard drives.

Basically, I have 2 DVD burners, a Hardcano fan/temp controller, 6600gt, x-mystique soun card, x2 4400+, 4 WD raptors, 2 250GB drives, and I want to add 2-4 more drives.

I am already out of power connectors, so any future hardware that requires a power cable, will be connected using one of those Y splitters.

So, if I add 2-4 more hard drives, will I need a 2nd PSU?
 
Just get a good 600W+ PSU.

Seriously though, holy crap that's a lot of HDDs & peripherals in your case :Q
 
If you have an old AT PSU that you trust lying around, that would be an easy connection to do. I ran a 350watt enermax and a 230 watt AT PSU in my case for a while.
 
So you honestly think I need another PSU? I was hoping that what I have now would be fine 🙁

If I end up needing another one, I will just not get more HDs. I don't want an external PSU, nor have room for one in my case.
 
Originally posted by: Mr Bob
So you honestly think I need another PSU? I was hoping that what I have now would be fine 🙁

If I end up needing another one, I will just not get more HDs. I don't want an external PSU, nor have room for one in my case.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it might be fine. 10 harddrives is kind of a lot though. They draw more power when starting up than when they're operating so that's what I would be a little concerned about. I don't know off hand what the current draw of a harddrive is on startup though to give you a numerical answer.
 
The Foltron would work IMO as it's a quality PSU...if not go better wquality/wats and move or sell the Foltron for 1 nother rig...running dual PSU's may posess 1 problem unless you reduntant it...
 
"if not go better wquality/wats and move or sell the Foltron for 1 nother rig...running dual PSU's may posess 1 problem unless you reduntant it..."
- Sorry, I don't understand what you mean here....

"Yeah, it might be fine. "
- I got this one because I figured it was a high quality PSU with an ideal amount of output. Is there any way I can tell if it is good enough? I am sure my 10k rpm raptors already draw quite a bit of power.

I could just go ahead and put the drives into an external enclosure, but I was hoping that I had enough power.

Should I post this in the highly techincal forum?
 
My hardware for running dual PSUs (Enermax 660w and Seasonic S-12 500w). The Enermax is being replaced by a Seasonic 600w though.

dual Xeon 2.66 GHz w active cooling
4x512mb PC2100 DDR
6800 GT OC
8 port RAID controller
5x250gb SATA hd
2x120gb IDE
8x92mm case fans
2x120mm case fans
4xdual cathode UV lights

If you want to use dual PSUs is up to you. I can help you out if you need any info on how to hook them up and all that. I'm actually doing some interesting modding to the secondary PSU right now. I have it setup so that the 24 pin isn't being completely wasted, and is powering case fans and fan controllers. I'm modding the SLI connectors to power case fans too. It should be interesting.
 
Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
My hardware for running dual PSUs (Enermax 660w and Seasonic S-12 500w). The Enermax is being replaced by a Seasonic 600w though.

dual Xeon 2.66 GHz w active cooling
4x512mb PC2100 DDR
6800 GT OC
8 port RAID controller
5x250gb SATA hd
2x120gb IDE
8x92mm case fans
2x120mm case fans
4xdual cathode UV lights

If you want to use dual PSUs is up to you. I can help you out if you need any info on how to hook them up and all that. I'm actually doing some interesting modding to the secondary PSU right now. I have it setup so that the 24 pin isn't being completely wasted, and is powering case fans and fan controllers. I'm modding the SLI connectors to power case fans too. It should be interesting.
Click to expand...


I think you forgot the 150 lbs part.
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
Originally posted by: tasburrfoot78362
My hardware for running dual PSUs (Enermax 660w and Seasonic S-12 500w). The Enermax is being replaced by a Seasonic 600w though.

dual Xeon 2.66 GHz w active cooling
4x512mb PC2100 DDR
6800 GT OC
8 port RAID controller
5x250gb SATA hd
2x120gb IDE
8x92mm case fans
2x120mm case fans
4xdual cathode UV lights

If you want to use dual PSUs is up to you. I can help you out if you need any info on how to hook them up and all that. I'm actually doing some interesting modding to the secondary PSU right now. I have it setup so that the 24 pin isn't being completely wasted, and is powering case fans and fan controllers. I'm modding the SLI connectors to power case fans too. It should be interesting.
Click to expand...


I think you forgot the 150 lbs part.
Click to expand...

Yes, my computer weights more than my wife... 😉
 
And I think you forgot the part on how you ride your computer on wheels around your house when no one is home...... 😕













Nerd.
 
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
And I think you forgot the part on how you ride your computer on wheels around your house when no one is home...... 😕

Nerd.
Click to expand...

No, the wife was home, and we took turns. And it's elite. Get it right n00b. :laugh:

 
lol fellas. I still haven't received an answer though, although now I know what other PSUs I can get.

Who can I ask that will know for sure?
 
You don't *need* two. But if you start having problems, such as drives dropping during scandisk ops, heavy file transfers, or defrags, then you know it's time to upgrade. You can always get one, and then another later. And you don't need much for a secondary PSU. Just something that's heavy on the +12V rails, as that is what is usually being used up the most.
 
Originally posted by: Mr Bob
Basically, I have 2 DVD burners, a Hardcano fan/temp controller, 6600gt, x-mystique soun card, x2 4400+, 4 WD raptors, 2 250GB drives, and I want to add 2-4 more drives.
Click to expand...

DVD burners aren't used 100%, fans are. How many fans are you using, and what size? You should be okay on the +5V, so I'd be more worried about the +12v. Also, what kind of power usage is on the processor? I haven't researched power usage on non-server CPUs...

 
Originally posted by: Mr Bob
I don't mind spending $100 on a 2nd PSU, it is that my case isn't designed for two PSUs, else I would have already purchased one. If I need a 2nd PSU, I won't buy the 2 additional drives, if I am fine without it, then I will buy the 2 additional drives.

Assuming I can find a nice hard drive kit for my case ( reference: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=37&threadid=1712559&enterthread=y )
Click to expand...

(Posted on reference thread as well). Keep forgetting that other people don't have my case... How much room do you have? (Pic if possible??)
 
Can't you use staggered start-up for the drives? You should be OK, drives don't actually use that much power. Your graphics card isn't that power-hungry. If you told me you wanted 7800GTX SLI as well, I'd say get your own substation. 🙂

May be worth investing in a PCP&C. Expensive, but if that PSU can't take the load, nothing can.
 
Originally posted by: Fresh Daemon
Can't you use staggered start-up for the drives? You should be OK, drives don't actually use that much power. Your graphics card isn't that power-hungry. If you told me you wanted 7800GTX SLI as well, I'd say get your own substation. 🙂

May be worth investing in a PCP&C. Expensive, but if that PSU can't take the load, nothing can.
Click to expand...

The problem is that I believe he will be running RAID, in which the drives will be used at the same time... If they were used independently, it wouldn't be that big of a deal at all. If you are using all the drives in a RAID 5 array, then it becomes a very big deal.
 
"Keep forgetting that other people don't have my case... How much room do you have? (Pic if possible??) "
- My camera isn't working at the moment, but I took a quick video of it that might not show all that you need: http://s24.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2EQKZXQML9WWE0PWUFLF9XJ5MP

" Can't you use staggered start-up for the drives?"
- It doesn't sound like something I would want to use, but if you can explain some draw backs and such I'll know.

"You should be OK, drives don't actually use that much power."
- I don't like 'should be ok' when dealing with important data. I won't do it unless I know for 100% it is fine. Of course there can always be a problem, but I can say for 100% that the PSU runs 4 raptors and 2 wd 250gbs perfectly fine.

"The problem is that I believe he will be running RAID"
- It's going to be a raid 1 array in the last 2 slots (meaning I will be pushing 8sata drives on the same MB -_- )
 
I can't see the video (can't download stuff at work), so I'll have to check that out later...

Staggered spin-up. Basically, your controller powers up a specified # of drives at a time, reducing the load on the PSU. I have 7 drives, and I have them spin up 2 at a time, to avoid the PSU having to work to handle 7 drives spinning up at once (which is pretty much the most power consuming thing the drives do).

If a person uses all the drives seperatly, then staggered spin-up on the drives is all that is needed. However, in RAID, all of the drives are used at a time, more or less, so the requirement for power is greater.

EDIT
If you are already doing good with the 500, I'd just consider doing a PSU upgrade, and get the 2 drives. Just make sure you are comparing +12v rails, and get something bigger on your +12v rails than what you have now. I'd be comfortable with doing that. 😉
 
Here are the pictures: http://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2O9F1D21W15EB1GG4E1PL4GPW7

It is a zip file with JPGs, if you can't view those I can upload them to my server.

"If you are already doing good with the 500, I'd just consider doing a PSU upgrade"
- Well I just paid $100 for this PSU. I want something with covered wires, that looks decent, any suggestions with these requirements? I got it through NewEgg, so I assume they wouldn't mind allowing me to return it. I hate the position of the fan, it is on the top, and faces 3 raptors, which doesn't make me happy.

Edit: Don't forget that I am running an x2 4400+

Maybe something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148020
 
Originally posted by: Mr Bob
Here are the pictures: http://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2O9F1D21W15EB1GG4E1PL4GPW7

It is a zip file with JPGs, if you can't view those I can upload them to my server.

"If you are already doing good with the 500, I'd just consider doing a PSU upgrade"
- Well I just paid $100 for this PSU. I want something with covered wires, that looks decent, any suggestions with these requirements? I got it through NewEgg, so I assume they wouldn't mind allowing me to return it. I hate the position of the fan, it is on the top, and faces 3 raptors, which doesn't make me happy.
Click to expand...

Sorry, still can't down that. I can when I get home in 8 hours though...

Well, check at Performance PCs. I sent my Seasonic back to them to get sleeved, as it had molded SATA power plugs, and I can't sleeve those. They do excellent work. Depending upon your budget, 600w Seasonic would work well for you. Or if you can afford it, the PC Power and Cooling 600 watts are the best. But damn they are expensive. I'm all about getting the best stuff, but I went with dual Seasonics (600w & 500w).

EDIT
Absolutely not the Aspire. I've heard of several people on here complaining about them, and they definitely aren't what you need for that kind of load.
 
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