PSU experience

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I know there are a lot of product questions, but I want one based on experience. I'm looking at replacing my power supplies with something other than Enermax, because I'm tired of their power supply issues. I've been through about 5 power supplies with them. I need Xeon compatible power supplies, either with a 24-pin, or a 20p to 24p converter. Also, I'm looking for a 460w and a 660w. Also, has anyone ever heard of the form factor PSII / RPM (not ATX)? My case (Enermax FS2300SS) supports these, but I haven't been able to find any. Thanks.
--Tas.

 

[Zucarita9000]

With that setup, I'll look into a high end redundant PSU unit. You have lots of hard drives, and even when they use few amps of power at idle (a WD800JD uses .45a at 5v and .5a at 12v) the current needed to spin them up is usually higher.

See what Seasonic or PC Power & Cooling have.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

**SUMMARY**
Anyone have a dual processor server setup? I want to know what power supplies ya'll have, and if you would recommend them to anyone else? I want to power my mobo and two hard drives with the bigger power supply, and then about 16 hard drives (max) with the second, smaller power supply.
--Tas.

 

[Zepper]

PSII is the same as ATX form factor (was its original name when it came out pre-ATX days) and I think the RPM is Redundant Power Module - which is a compact redundant PSU form factor. I would recommend you to check out Zippy PSUs - not cheap but right up there with PCP&C at the top of the heap. The Sparkle FSP550-60PLG is a great dual Xeon PSU as well.

.bh.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Okay, cool. Thanks for the recommendations...
Tas

 

[ribbon13]

Sparkle FSP550

 

[jonnyGURU]

You're having power supply issues with 5 Enermax's in a row? That makes me think that there's something else going on other than faulty power supplies. I've never seen anyone have that kind of a track record with Enermax. Do I think they're "inadequate" power supplies? Read on...

Almost all of my dual Xeons (which are all at least 2.8GHz) are built on either Supermicro tower or 4U cases or Enlight 4U cases and they usually come with what is labeled as "400W" power supplies made by Enhance (although labled "Ablecom" or "Enlight" they're actually made by Enhance.) In most cases, I'm actually using the exact same board as you! Mind you, those Ablecom and Enlight server power supplies are actually about "500W" compared to most end user PSU specs because they're rated at nominal load and not maximum, but I don't find the build quality or values of the components inside any better than an Enermax EG465P. They all run 24/7 with no issues. Hell, I've got one with a dead PSU fan (one of the Supermicros) and it STILL runs with no issues (I really need to get around to replacing that PSU.)

My dual 2.8 Xeons put a total of about 13A load under full load on the 12V rail. I'm guessing yours probably asks for 12A on the 12V rail. Your EG465P (I'm guessing that's what 460W you have) is rated at 33A on the 12V rail.

Are you saying you've had "power supply issues" with the same build and five different power supplies or five different builds all with Enermax power supplies? And are you sure they're power supply related issues? Meaning, how did you determine there's a power issue? Replacing the Enermax with something else?

By the way: I don't have "16 hard drives" like you plan to have, but I do have eight Serial ATA Seagate 80GB drives running in a RAID 5+1 on two of the builds. Again... No issues.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Wait a minute... Kranitz... Is that you???

 

[xsilver]

http://www.enhance.com.tw/cgi-bin/produ...pe=alpha-ascend&action=searchdbdisplay
http://www.topower.com.tw/home/power_supply_atx12v.htm the last few

dont know where u can get them in the us though
nice PSU -- but $$$

 

[jonnyGURU]

Searching on Enhance's website is cookie based. Your search results rendered no results for me.

As for the Topower link: I don't think you can get any of those in the states. If you could, I'd suggest the MP Series.

You might be able to find the Tagan branded Topower's with the 2 2x2 connectors that interlock into one 2x4 Xeon MP connector, but they would be expensive and it seems that everyone is showing those power supplies as "TBA" and not actually in stock.

 

[Zepper]

OCZs are Topower based - and by Zippy, I meant the HP2-6460P, etc. Most Silverstone PSUs are made by Enhance. And sometimes you can find them with the Enhance label using Froogle.

.bh.

:moon:

 

[xsilver]

oh sorry
enhance has under their eps series

Model Number Category Add To Basket
ENS-0565 EPS 12V

* Output Wattage : 650 W
* Dimension : 180 * 150 * 86 mm
* AC Input Spec : 115~240V@10A/60Hz ; 5.0A/50Hz ( Full Range )
* +3.3V and +5V combined loas shall not exceed 170W
* Active PFC
* Over voltage/current protection
* Under voltage protection
* There is also a seperate 12V4 with max current 8.0A

Voltage +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 -5V -12V 5Vsb
Current 33A 24A 13A 18A 16A 8A x 0.5A 2A


the common factor being a crapload of 12v (55A to be exact) -- the 3.3 and 5v arent the greatest but your hdd's are using 12v if im not mistaken

and hey spending $200+ on a psu to protect dual xeons + 6800 ultra + 8hdds I think is justified

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Zepper
OCZs are Topower based

True. And I just checked my PowerStream and it does have the two 2x2's that you can clip together. The 520W is only around $150 and is fairly quiet.

Although I'm still not completely convinced that you have a PSU problem.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: xsilver
oh sorry
enhance has under their eps series

Model Number Category Add To Basket
ENS-0565 EPS 12V

* Output Wattage : 650 W
* Dimension : 180 * 150 * 86 mm
* AC Input Spec : 115~240V@10A/60Hz ; 5.0A/50Hz ( Full Range )
* +3.3V and +5V combined loas shall not exceed 170W
* Active PFC
* Over voltage/current protection
* Under voltage protection
* There is also a seperate 12V4 with max current 8.0A

Voltage +3.3V +5V +12V1 +12V2 +12V3 +12V4 -5V -12V 5Vsb
Current 33A 24A 13A 18A 16A 8A x 0.5A 2A


the common factor being a crapload of 12v (55A to be exact) -- the 3.3 and 5v arent the greatest but your hdd's are using 12v if im not mistaken

and hey spending $200+ on a psu to protect dual xeons + 6800 ultra + 8hdds I think is justified

Not "55A to be exact." I've used that PSU. You can't load all four rails up to maximum at the same time. Not even close actually. I'm not saying that Enhance is bad. Like I said, all my Xeons run on Enhance PSU's. I just wouldn't bother with that one.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Five power supplies--I had a 400w powering the entire system (only had 4 hd's and 1gb RAM then), and it would drop the hard drives. They would just power down, and then I would hear the RAID controller rebuilding the array. Luckily, it was the RAID 1 array, so I found out that my RAID controller works very well in that capacity. So I upgraded again, and the same thing happened. I got a 1100VA UPS, to make sure it wasn't being cause by spikes and brown outs. Hard drives kept dropping out. And I was getting all kinds of errors in the software used to monitor the voltages (Supero Doctor III). Then I got a PowerAngel, and measured how much juice the system was pulling--ended up being 4.8a on a 120v line. Coupled with the laser printer I have, they were pulling about 10a total. So I checked the breaker, and it's a 20a breaker, so I wasn't maxing out the 120v line to the room. (I was in an apartment, so it was questionable). Then I upgraded the 400w to a 660w, and put the system and 2 hard drives on that, and all of the fans (8x80mm, 2x120mm) and the rest of the hard drives on that, and I haven't had any issues since. But eventually I will be replacing these hard drives as they get older and everything, so I was wondering about other setups that people have.
Tas.

 

[jonnyGURU]

I still don't count five power supplies. You had a 400W and the drives spun down, which would make me think the problem could be the motherboard or RAID controller IF I had more faith in the power supply (read on.) Then you replaced the 400 with a 660W and it works fine.

That's two power supplies.

Also, my bad I guess... I thought you were using the 460W because that's what's in your sig. You never said that you were using a 400W.

So if you're only using a 400W, then the power supply really could be the problem. It probably DOESN'T have enough juice on the 12V rail for your system. But how is that Enermax's build quality fault? Why are you trying to put a 30A load on a 400W power supply that's probably only got 18A available on the 12V rail. :roll:

I don't mean to egg you on or anything, but seriously. Even SuperMicro bundles a minimum 450W power supply with that motherboard of yours. Why would even try a 400W with all of the drives you have?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Well, I went from a P4 system to a Xeon, and I was using the same power supply. I then got a 460w 24p power supply, and had problems with it. I thought it was just the power supply, so I got another one. Had problems with it, so I went to a 550w. Then the 660w. Had less problems, but still had some. That's when I went to having two power supplies. So I have another spare 460w if I ever need it, and the 660w and a 460w in the system right now. I built computers, but this was my first server to build, so I've made some mistakes along the way, but everything is working out now. Except for the fact that I might have to sell this machine in about 2 - 3 months, which is absolutely frightening. Oh well. Life sucks.
Tas.

 

[jonnyGURU]

It's not frightening. If you went through that many power supplies and still had problems, you probably actually have a bad motherboard! Sell it and move on if you're not willing to address it. Like I said, I've used the same board with just as many drives with less of a power supply than your 460W, 550W or 660W and have had ZERO problems. Some other problem is afoot.