Search found 72 matches

by speedboxx
Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:14 pm
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: FS: Intel Celeron 430 LGA775. Very Low Power CPU
Replies: 0
Views: 1911

FS: Intel Celeron 430 LGA775. Very Low Power CPU

My home server is going to be used for other duties and the processor will be upgraded. Just wondering if there is any interest in the Celeron 430 processor that's in it? This is a well known processor for its low power consumption, yet higher than Atom performance. Can easily build a sub 40-50 watt...
by speedboxx
Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:47 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Solar Activity and the Safety of your Backups
Replies: 16
Views: 9911

Re: Solar Activity and the Safety of your Backups

I dont think a widescale loss of data has ever been recorded due to solar activity, but in theory it could happen. Background cosmic radiation that leaks through our atmosphere can cause random bit flips here and there on memory devices. Up in space with no atmosphere, it is even a bigger problem, w...
by speedboxx
Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:57 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Efficiency marked on brick as Roman numeral
Replies: 4
Views: 1964

Re: Efficiency marked on brick as Roman numeral

Ive noticed this too. My old Dell Inspiron 6400 came with a power supply that was "IV" whereas my new Studio XPS 13 has a slimmer power supply ranked as "V." Curious as to how this translates into efficiency percentage wise.
by speedboxx
Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:39 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: The purpose of the primary hard drive sleeping?
Replies: 8
Views: 3766

I agree. With Windows operating systems, the OS is constantly reading/writing to the disk it seems. I dont even know why there is an option to set the hard drive to sleep after x minutes of activity, because realistically, I dont think Ive ever seen a Windows OS that could maintain 5+ minutes of no ...
by speedboxx
Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:01 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Is PicoPSU enough?
Replies: 3
Views: 2161

4 hard drives might be pushing it. Keep in mind that the startup peak power requirements (even for the WD Green) can be 20W/each. The DC-DC power supplies are only a good novelty if you want something quiet and compact, but other than that, I really see no other reason to use them over a high effici...
by speedboxx
Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:31 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Need some help interpreting power consumption results
Replies: 3
Views: 2033

Your Winmate should work. I wouldnt expect overall efficiency to be that much more than your existing Antec Earthwatts though. Im using a 90% efficient power brick (which is pretty high) with my Winmate and I only saved about 3 watts from switching out of my old Earthwatts.
by speedboxx
Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:16 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: 12v 15A power brick for picopsu?
Replies: 7
Views: 3931

I bought a 15V version to charge lead acid batteries. Although it might be 12V output at a fairly high current, it doesnt say what the efficiency is. Im assuming that like with any switch mode psu, efficiency is going to be pretty low at small loads. I dont see the point in getting a 120VAC > 12VDC ...
by speedboxx
Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:21 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Which storage media can best endure hot automobile interior?
Replies: 6
Views: 3257

Winter will be a problem too. Below 0C the fluid bearings on any hard drive will start getting viscous and your drive will have problems spinning up. There are automotive grade drives however, that can withstand from -40C to +70C operational temperatures. Like the Seagate EE25, Hitachi Endurastar, a...
by speedboxx
Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:32 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: WD20EARS or WD20EADS? What about seagate's 2tb drive?
Replies: 60
Views: 120632

Link to the claims? Only the older EACS drives count every single head load/unload in SMART. The newer EADS and EARS do not count those cycles in SMART. A SMART reported failure due to head parks doesnt mean that the drive has actually failed. Some people have 1 million+ head loads/unloads and the d...
by speedboxx
Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:09 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: WD20EARS or WD20EADS? What about seagate's 2tb drive?
Replies: 60
Views: 120632

The head parking issue is overhyped. I used to be concerned about it too, but the WD Green drives have been out for a long time now and there isnt a SINGLE report of a drive failing due to head load/unloads. For data storage I would actually choose the WD Green due to low power consumption, and the ...
by speedboxx
Fri Mar 05, 2010 7:13 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: PicoPSU-80 with 150W brick?
Replies: 11
Views: 8732

Wow that's way too expensive. The extra efficiency would practically never pay itself back as compared to the high initial cost. I've went through the Energy Star's list of power adapter efficiencies and if 120W is enough for you, you can find a LiteOn PA3717U-1ACA which is about 90% efficient for a...
by speedboxx
Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:02 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: PicoPSU-80 with 150W brick?
Replies: 11
Views: 8732

The Mean Well bricks are efficient, but it's hard to find them and I would suspect them to be pretty expensive. If you manage to find a pricing for them, could you let us know?
by speedboxx
Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:48 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Fanless 130W ATX PSU with 120W AC adapter *Video.
Replies: 186
Views: 201989

At those kind of loads, it would be very inefficient to use a traditional AC-DC transformer. It will be bulky and you will waste alot of energy as heat. It's better to use a switching laptop DC supply, otherwise you might as well just save the hassle and get a simple 80+ ATX PSU.
by speedboxx
Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:45 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: 740G motherboard with staggered spin up support?
Replies: 7
Views: 4792

It's not just the 12V rails, but the 5V rails pull a bit of current during spin up as well if I recall correctly. I think you are cutting it a bit close powering 4 drives with the Pico120 and your 110W brick, but it doesnt hurt to try and I think it should work. The GP are supposed to have reduced s...
by speedboxx
Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:12 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Fanless 130W ATX PSU with 120W AC adapter *Video.
Replies: 186
Views: 201989

Unfortunately my camera broke and I've been putting off buying a new one. My cell phone doesnt take very good close up pics. But basically how I did it was take apart an old broken ATX power supply. To fit my particular AC adapter and the DC-DC was a real tight fit, but I simply put the circuit boar...
by speedboxx
Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:48 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Fanless 130W ATX PSU with 120W AC adapter *Video.
Replies: 186
Views: 201989

Im running the 80mm fan at 5V, it normally consumes 0.2A at 12V. It's practically inaudible. I would say when it comes to cramming everything in a tiny ATX enclosure, then the fan is necessary because you can feel the exhaust to be somewhat warm even at these low loads. The DC-DC is very efficient a...
by speedboxx
Thu Feb 18, 2010 7:53 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Fanless 130W ATX PSU with 120W AC adapter *Video.
Replies: 186
Views: 201989

Ok so I paired up the Winmate 120W DC-DC with a 90% efficiency 120W power brick. With some hacking, I managed to stuff everything inside a standard ATX power supply enclosure + slow spinning 80mm fan. With my old Antec EA380 80+ psu, idle power consumption of my server was 40W. With the new DC-DC I ...
by speedboxx
Thu Feb 18, 2010 10:16 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: How to modify ATX PSU to output higher voltage? (14V+)
Replies: 5
Views: 21549

Oh, my bad then. Thanks for the suggestions though. I ended up picking up a switch mode 400w 15V supply (10% voltage regulation) for about $50. That should do it, saves the hassle of modding an existing PSU.
by speedboxx
Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:16 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: How to modify ATX PSU to output higher voltage? (14V+)
Replies: 5
Views: 21549

"Variable capacitor" ?? Think again. What do you mean? I understand the higher quality PSUs have voltage stabilization features, but Ive taken apart a bunch of cheap power supplies where there was a variable capacitor that you can change with a screw driver, but I was only able to get the +12v rail...
by speedboxx
Wed Feb 17, 2010 7:40 am
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Searching for mATX Low Power Server Motherboard
Replies: 18
Views: 11821

Two boards that meet the low power and 6 SATA requirements would be the popular Biostar A760G (hard to find this one) and the Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 (no ECC). Both are low cost. Is ECC even necessary for home server use, or is it just snake oil? I havent found any sort of documented evidence or test ...
by speedboxx
Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:41 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: External drive for backup
Replies: 3
Views: 2040

Unless you live somewhere hot or if you have multiple drives crammed into a tiny enclosure, active cooling really isnt necessary. I would say for the WD Green, you definately do not need to actively cool them in an external enclosure.
by speedboxx
Sun Feb 14, 2010 8:59 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: UPS + PSU = Buzzing? Will this damage anything?
Replies: 1
Views: 1524

UPS + PSU = Buzzing? Will this damage anything?

Ive been having a few long power outages recently. My WHS machine is hooked up to an APC BE-450 UPS with the Grid Junction add-in setup such that the WHS will shut itself off when UPS power hits 50%. When the WHS is on UPS power, the power supply (Antec Earthwatts 380) has a LOUD buzz. I've never he...
by speedboxx
Sun Feb 14, 2010 9:07 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Fanless 130W ATX PSU with 120W AC adapter *Video.
Replies: 186
Views: 201989

So isnt it kind of pointless to buy this DC-DC if it will be used with a psu brick that's less than 85% efficient? Assuming the DC-DC is 93% efficient and you use a 85% efficient brick, then your overall efficiency is only roughly 79%. Even under low loads of 40W-ish, you would probably get roughly ...
by speedboxx
Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:46 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: How to modify ATX PSU to output higher voltage? (14V+)
Replies: 5
Views: 21549

How to modify ATX PSU to output higher voltage? (14V+)

Not for computer use, but I need a high current power supply that can deliver 15+ amps at 13V or above (ideally 14V, but no more than 15V). All the high current power supplies are expensive, so I was wondering if anyone knows of a way or could point me in the right direction to modifying an existing...
by speedboxx
Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:14 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: Do drives get noisy?
Replies: 10
Views: 4729

I cant say for sure, but I could swear some of my drives were noisier after 10k power on hours. Such as my WD Blue SE16. I have read that over time and heat the fluid bearings start to evaporate, which could be a possible explanation. With the older bearing drives, the bearings could wear over time ...
by speedboxx
Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:52 pm
Forum: Deals, Vendors and Classifieds
Topic: 130W ATX power supply + 120W AC adapter 54$
Replies: 153
Views: 182834

Has anyone tested whether the improvements of going DC-DC are actually that significant as opposed to maybe just getting an 80plus psu like an Antec EA380? Even if you were to pair it up with a 90% efficient AC-DC adapter, the combined efficiency of the DC-DC and the AC adapter will be only around 8...
by speedboxx
Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:41 pm
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: <150W Gold/Silver/Bronze PSUs for i3/i5+H55/H57 ?
Replies: 6
Views: 3067

The Wintec 120W DC-DC is on sale for $30 shipped right now. Finding an efficient AC adapter is difficult, but the LiteOn PA3717U-1ACA is 90% efficient and can be had on eBay for $30. This is the setup that Im getting and Ill be attempting to cram everything into a standard ATX psu for a cheap $60 80...
by speedboxx
Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:32 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: power supply recomendation
Replies: 5
Views: 2539

The Antec Earthwatts 380 is cheap and readily available.
by speedboxx
Sat Feb 06, 2010 5:27 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: D510MO (Mount Olive) : 13watt Atom D510 mITX board
Replies: 26
Views: 35271

Neven wrote: An idle power consumption of 26W with this set-up is actually very weak. I have seen quadcore set-ups that consume less power at idle.
Proof/link?
by speedboxx
Sat Feb 06, 2010 5:51 am
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: 47 watt 7 TB server (disks spun down)
Replies: 8
Views: 7415

Ive got the exact same motherboard and cpu as you. Ive noticed that you can't go any lower than 0.9v on the CPU or else you get stability issues. I get about 38-40W idling with no drives spun down, this is my setup (very similar to yours): AMD LE-1250 at 1ghz, 0.9v Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2 1 stick Cors...