Quiet and powerful PSU for Xeon 2,8GHz system

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mariusolsen

Junior Member
Jan 14, 2005
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I am helping a friend of mine building a Xeon system, primarily for 3DStudioMax.

The specs:
Motherboard: ASUS NCCH-DL
CPU: 2 x 2,8GHz Xeon
Memory: Corsair TWINX2048-3200 DDR-DIMM 2048MB Kit w/two matched CMX1024-3200 DIMMs
GPU: Ati FireGL X3
(Anyone who have comments, are more than welcome to ...well, comment upon this system...:))

I am thinking about the Antec Sonata case, and the main thing remaining is the powersupply.
It should be powerful and quiet. Now, can one have it both ways, or to what extent is that possible? I have recomended at least 430W, for the sake of stability, and I am hesitating between Antec NeoPower and Fortron Source "Blue Storm" 460W.
I believe the Antec is most poweful, and that the Forton Source is most quiet...
Any suggestions or reflections, anyone?


 
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mariusolsen

Junior Member
Jan 14, 2005
10
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Thanks, gsellis. I'll look into it. I'm kind of confused by the reviews at http://www.silentpcreview.com. According to them, neither the Fortron/Source nor the Antec powersupply are really quiet enough. Are these guys neurotic when it comes to sound, or are they reliable? As for my own system, it makes so much noise that it would be impossible to hear the PSU (I ahev an Antec Truepower 430).
 
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Terumo

Banned
Jan 23, 2005
575
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For 3D work for a single computer that's going to do both modelling and rendering, get the best PSU you can get. Nothing works a computer more than those 3D modelling and rendering apps. They'll have to maintain 100% CPU useage for hours if there's animation work to be done (heck, even Wings3D operates at 100% without rendering).

Might even want to consider ECC/Register memory to be on the safe side. It really smacks to get a memory error 20+ minutes into a rendering, that not only brings down the program, a hard reboot is necessary.

What counts is stability and as close to 100% free of memory errors as possible for a 3D box.

That he can afford a program that costs nearly $4000, he can sure pay a few extra $$$ for ECC memory.
 
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mariusolsen

Junior Member
Jan 14, 2005
10
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0
Originally posted by: Terumo
For 3D work for a single computer that's going to do both modelling and rendering, get the best PSU you can get. Nothing works a computer more than those 3D modelling and rendering apps. They'll have to maintain 100% CPU useage for hours if there's animation work to be done (heck, even Wings3D operates at 100% without rendering).

Might even want to consider ECC/Register memory to be on the safe side. It really smacks to get a memory error 20+ minutes into a rendering, that not only brings down the program, a hard reboot is necessary.

What counts is stability and as close to 100% free of memory errors as possible for a 3D box.

That he can afford a program that costs nearly $4000, he can sure pay a few extra $$$ for ECC memory.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree, for the most part. But do you think the Antec 480 would do the job, or should he consider a OCZ powrersupply, or something like that?
 
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charlietee

Golden Member
Jul 27, 2001
1,280
16
81
The Antec SLK3700 BQE is a much better choice than the Sonata as far as the case is concerned.

I used to have a Sonata...She be gone...Unless they have changed, the cooling is just awful and the way the suck dust into all your optical drives is beyond insane.

The TruePower 380 in the Sonata or the 350 in the SLK3700 BQE for a dual Xeon system would be a no-no in my personal opinion.

My favorite power supply right now is the 500watt Fortron Blue Storm...Just sold the system I had with one in it...The case had 3 92's, 3 80's and a 120 that were 7 volted except the 120.

I could not hear the power supply fan over all that business but it is my understanding that they are quiet.

One thing for sure...The Blue Storm is a beast...Best "Band for the Buck" power supply on the planet...And it has the 6 pin 12 volt ATX connector that the Asus board you are planning on using has.

Zalman is always your best bet if you want quiet anything.

If you want rock solid rails and build quality second to none...The Blue Storm is a viable alternative to what everybody knows are the best...And that would be PC Power & Cooling...I just cannot justify their cost.

But for a dual Xeon system using that motherboard Blue Storm Fortron 500 is an excellent choice.

IMHO...Of course !!!!!
 
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mariusolsen

Junior Member
Jan 14, 2005
10
0
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Thanks, charlietee. I will consider the Fortron Source powersupply, but I'm not so sure about the case. A bit unfortunate in my opinion that there is no sound in/out in front...
 
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ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
Adding line in/headphone to a 5.25" faceplate has to be the easiet thing someone can do...
 
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anpictum

Junior Member
Apr 16, 2005
12
0
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Hi, I've been searching some threads on 2cpu.com and there is a growing theory among members there that a PSU with only one "strong" 12v railis the way to go with the NCCH-DL. I'm still trying to sort my Xeon machine out as I have had stability problems. I've summarised the history below. Please let me know which power supply worked for you. Thanks.

System specs:
Coolermaster Stacker
NCCH-DL Rev 1.02 bios 1.03
2 x Nocona 3.6GHZ with Swiftech MCX604-V coolers
2 x Crucial 1GB PC3200 CL3
1 x NEC ND3500AG DVD-RW
6 x Western Digital SATA Raptor (boot - 2 x 73GB on 6300ESB, storage 4 x 36Gb on Promise controller)
2 x Western Digital SATA 250GB Caviar on PCI Raid card using PCI-X slot
1 x Hitachi ATA 100 40gb
1 x HIS ATI X800XT PE
1 x Creative SB Audigy2 using PCI 32 slot
6 fans controlled using Cobalt V Pyramid controllers
Windows XP Pro SP1 (up to date)


As my system requirements came to over 600 watts, I decided to go for a dual psu set up with 2 x 400W dual 12v (14A, 15A) rail Akasa PaxPower PSU's. However, this didn't work. I did manage to install the O/S with only two Raptors on the 6300ESB ports despite frequent crashes on reboot. To try something new, I hooked up my old Thermaltake PurePower 560W single 12v (22A) rail PSU (not EPS but has adaptor cables) and everything ran fine. I then installed four more Raptors on the Promise controller and also the ATA 100 40Gb drive. Still everything was fine.

I tried different combinations of controllers and drives and ran SisoftSandra Burn in Wizard and the machine was 100% stable. All the drives and controllers were tested, but I wasn't happy running a total of 9 hard disk drives on this PSU so I invested in the new Thermaltake PurePower 680W with triple 12v rails (15A, 15A, 8A). The first time I powered on with the new PSU with all the components connected everything went fine and I installed Halo to give it a run. As soon as I launched the game, the PC turned off. After several hours of testing the result is this: with 2 Raptors in raid 0 plus the optical drive, graphics card and memory, the system won't boot past the welcome screen. Each time I have to turn the main power switch off at the PSU and wait up to 30 minutes before it will start up again. If I try any sooner than that the PC instantly turns off.

Before I read threads in some forums, I was going to try the Enermax EG851AX-VH(W) 660W which apparently has 4 x 12v rails (14A, 16A, 14A, 16A) with each CPU having its own 12v rail (Enermax state that it will run Quad Xeons). The Asus manual states that a PSU with 600W minimum and 3 x 12v rails is recommended, but my experience with the single 12v 560W PSU seems to bear out the widely held theory in forums that, despite what the Asus manual says, a PSU with a strong single 12v rail such as the Antec TruePower 550W EPS (36A on the 12v rail) is the preferred solution.
 
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dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
3
76
Here are psu companies in order from the absolute best to not as good

PC Power & Cooling>OCZ>Fortron>Antec> most others. The Fortron BlueStorm is superior to ANYTHING Antec makes at the current moment and will be a perfect psu for your machine. It is the best bang for the buck out there. Highly recommended.
 
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