Power Consumption Difference Between CD and Hard Drives

[irenealan]

Just wonder on average how much power would a CD rom when idle or spinning? How about hard drive?

Since I just bought a new video card which need an extra power plug so I wonder if I should use the power in series with the CD rom or the hard drive. It may sound stupid but I worry if I put two extra power consuming devices on one line and will break the PSU since I got a very small barebone with 250w non-branded PSU. Thanks for the help!

 

[jonnyGURU]

Don't.

A CDROM can spin up to suck down about 20W on the 12V rail. Which isn't much (not even 2A,) but the draw isn't very clean and is quite sudden. It's not going to "break the power supply," but it may cause artifacts or lock ups.

 

[irenealan]

so you mean I should hook up the video card power with the hard drive in series?

In another thought, why don't I just hook up the video card by itself and have the CD Rom and hard drive hook up in series! =P That should be better right?

 

[jonnyGURU]

How'd you get that out of what I type?

I'm saying you SHOULD NOT put the two (the video card and CDROM) on the same cable. That's also the whole premise behind split rail PSU's. Go ahead and put the drives together, though. They won't really know the difference.

 

[irenealan]

Sorry jonnyGURU, let me give you more info about my case. Since I am building with a small barebone, the 250w PSU only has two power plug (separate line), one for the CD Rom and one for the HD. Now I have a AGP graphic card which need another power plug, so I use the 1 split 2 card came with the card, to split out a power plug for the card.

Now I don't know if I should split the power line of the CD Rom or the HD. Or I should dedicate a power plug line to the graphic card and use the spliter on the CD Rom and HD?

Hope this clears up my questions and sorry for the confusion!

 

[jonnyGURU]

I'm not confused at all.

What I've been saying is: You should have a dedicated power cable for the video card and put the two drives together on the other.

I hope this clears up my answers and sorry for the confusion.

 

[irenealan]

great thanks, I will do it as you said!