Need help optimizing my NAS/Mediaserver PC for low power.
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:42 am
I built a fairly beefy system for NAS/mediaserving purposes. It has a Core i5-4590S with 8gb of ram and 6 mechanical hard drives in a Fractal Node 304 case.
My uses include Plex, Madsonic (music streaming), several newsgroup clients, and basic file sharing.
With a single drive, i was able to get 30 watts idle from this system which I was pretty happy with. But with 6 drives, im getting 60 watts. I want to try to get it lower. The things I am asking myself are:
1) Should I allow some of my drives to sleep? Many of my drives seldomly get accessed. I read that letting your hdd sleep and power on regularly can shorten it's lifespan. I only plan on letting my drives sleep/power on about once or twice a week. Is this fine?
2) should I enable EPU feature on my Asus motherboard? Also, are there any other power saving modes or settings I could set in the BIOS to reduce power usage aside from underclocking/undervolting?
3) any recommended "Power options" for windows? I'm using Windows 8.1.
4) any other tips?
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
My uses include Plex, Madsonic (music streaming), several newsgroup clients, and basic file sharing.
With a single drive, i was able to get 30 watts idle from this system which I was pretty happy with. But with 6 drives, im getting 60 watts. I want to try to get it lower. The things I am asking myself are:
1) Should I allow some of my drives to sleep? Many of my drives seldomly get accessed. I read that letting your hdd sleep and power on regularly can shorten it's lifespan. I only plan on letting my drives sleep/power on about once or twice a week. Is this fine?
2) should I enable EPU feature on my Asus motherboard? Also, are there any other power saving modes or settings I could set in the BIOS to reduce power usage aside from underclocking/undervolting?
3) any recommended "Power options" for windows? I'm using Windows 8.1.
4) any other tips?
Any help is appreciated, thanks.