Pico PSU + hdd question

[mpcharles]

Hi guys

I am looking at building nas system on mitx platform
I need a power supply that will power a standard atom integrated board and 6 SATA hdd's

I have seen the pic of the PICO Psu and it only has 1 4 molex power connector/ sata extension

my question is how do I power 6 devices off it? if I got a molex to sata power thingo could I easily plug them all in a nice big line of 6 of them and it would be ok?.

Case I Am looking at is the lian li pcq08 , mitx gigabyte 525 board + 6 WD green hdd's.

Or would it be better to get a full power PSU. Thanks!

[mpcharles]

anyone?

[twitch]

Y cables:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subde ... id=1022604

I was planning to use the lian li as well for my nas, but switched to antec p183 - on sale $116

[Parappaman]

6 drives will use too much power on spin-up, the 150w pico may not be enough. Get a small ATX psu, such as a Seasonic S12II 330w, BeQuiet! L7 300w or Enermax Eco80+ 350w.

[StartledPancake]

I have a 150w pico and it isn't enough to reliably power 3x2.5 inch drives plus a 1tb Samsung Eco green on a i650 system. Interestingly the load at boot is only 60w but the pico will cause the system to reboot. This is with a 120w power brick.

The replacement corsair cx400 has no problems and the difference in noise and efficiency is minimal.

[twitch]

I have a 150w pico and it isn't enough to reliably power 3x2.5 inch drives plus a 1tb Samsung Eco green on a i650 system. Interestingly the load at boot is only 60w but the pico will cause the system to reboot. This is with a 120w power brick.

The replacement corsair cx400 has no problems and the difference in noise and efficiency is minimal.

This is very interesting. THanks for sharing. Just curious as to what was the difference in watts in efficiency if you happen to measure it.

[Vicotnik]

My file server with 4 x Samsung HD203WI is powered by a picoPSU 120W and a 120W brick. Works just fine.

[twitch]

My file server with 4 x Samsung HD203WI is powered by a picoPSU 120W and a 120W brick. Works just fine.

I'm wondering if the previous poster had an issue with startup load, but even at full load he didn't exceed 60w - is this an exception or the norm? I'm planning a mult-hdd nas+htpc with pico psu as well hence the interest

[Vicotnik]

I went with the Samsung drives because they seem to draw a little less than most other drives from the +5V rail during startup. I would be reluctant to try even five HDDs and six would really be pushing it. It could work, but the +5V rail would be overloaded during POST. Not the ideal solution.
With six HDDs I would use some other PSU, or somehow fix a staggered spin-up feature but that seems complicated to do. This thread touches on this a little bit.

[MikeC]

I'm wondering if the previous poster had an issue with startup load, but even at full load he didn't exceed 60w - is this an exception or the norm? I'm planning a mult-hdd nas+htpc with pico psu as well hence the interest

\
That poster had three 2.5" drives, which don't draw any power from 12V, only the 5V line. Hence, the picoPSU itself rather than the AC/DC adapter is probably the limiter.

[mimwdv]

My HTPC (in my sig) has been converted to a file server. I added 4xWD green drives, and took out the 2.5" drive and the tuner. Boots and runs flawlessly with the 120w Pico and the 80W brick. Of course I can't get the top on the case anymore because of all the drives in there, but that just gives good ventilation, right?