PicoPSU for fileserver?

[FartingBob]

I mentioned this in another thread (here), but need a more specific answer so came here.

My plan is to have a small fileserver/HTPC that will use an AMD 'hudson' e-350 board (the new all in 1 atom rival that SPCR reviewed not to long ago).

I will be having at least 4 HDD's 5400rpm HDD's connected.
Will a brick PSU like the Pico be able to power the whole system?

Wattage will be fine under load (Id estimate peak out around 30w for all the HDD's if stressed all of them at once for some reason + about 20w for rest of system + whatever a few fans use + safety margin) if i use one of the higher rated bricks, but is it safe to have that many HDD's connected to the PSU or will they overload it at some point (such as when spinning up)?

In the original thread i suggested getting 2 smaller Pico's and running the system off 1 and the drives off the other (or a bit of a mix and match), would this be the better option?

Im not an expert in power supplies, other than wattage requirements its all a bit of a mystery.

[ces]

I would go to the vendor sites and reviews and get the test numbers from each. SPCR has tested the 350. WD provides start up power numbers for their hard drives. Xbits tests its fans in its reviews for power utilization. If you can't find the numbers for a component... switch it for a component that you can get the data.... then add it up.

I would then add in an extra safety margin of 20%.

I would start by using the motherboard that SPCR used for its review of the 350 (I still think for about $75 extra, you can get a Sandy Bridge CPU and mother board and when you take into account the total cost with OS, mouse, monitor etc... its not that much more.... but you need to get what you are comfortable with) See:
viewtopic.php?p=541154#p541154

[FartingBob]

So if the peak wattage of everything seems fine then there is no other issue i would have to worry about with having so many HDD's connected at once?
I can get a e-350 and 2GB of RAM for around £115 right now, the cheapest SB setup i can do is around £160, and it only has 4 SATA ports, so i would need an addon card if i wanted to expand at all, the AMD has 5 ports.
Considering the first option will do everything i need and use less power i cant see why i would want to spend extra on the SB option.

[lodestar]

The E-350 boards on sale seem to have either 3 or 4 SATA ports, there's no evidence I can find of 5 being standard - at least on current retail units. But in any case the E-350 is unlikely to be much of a file server because its storage read/write performance is not very good, not even with an SSD see http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-brazo ... u-review/7. To me, £115 for a E-350 setup is just way too much money when Sandy Bridge is only £45 more.

[FartingBob]

All the m-ATX boards ive looked at have 5 SATA ports.

Back on topic though, is there any reason a single PicoPSU (100 or 120w most likely) wont run a system like the one i am building with 4+ HDD's?

[Vicotnik]

It should work fine. I ran my old file server (740G, underclocked Sempron 140, 4x2TB HDDs) on a picoPSU 120W and I plan to use it to power my future file server (H61, Pentium G620 or G620T, 4x2TB HDDs).
All the HDDs will spin up at the same time, so load at startup will be high. Just make sure that you don't overload the pico or the brick to much. Choose HDDs that don't draw too much from the +5V rail and keep an eye on the total load as well.

[FartingBob]

Follow up question, rather thatn start a new thread. Does anyone have cable lengths for the PicoPSU's (120w version most likely ill be buying), just want to know if everything will fit ok on my board and case. I know when SPCR reviewed it they measure length but its quite an old review, a more current version might have longer cables).

Also, the AMD e-350 has a 4 pin power connector for the CPU, is this required though? Its such low power that i cant imagine why they would need one but all the boards include it. Only the Pico 150/160w seems to have a seperate plug for the CPU power socket, so would i need one of them, or is this the sort of thing a molex can handle?

Just checked my current fileservers power draw with 4 HDD's, 85-95 watts! And thats with Bottom of the rung, cisngle core 1.6~ghz AMD and mATX board. Not exactly high powered. Thats only 20w less than my 2500K / HD4850 main setup idles at! Thought it was a bit lower than that. Hopefully with new HDD's (3x 3TB instead of 5 of various sizes), pico instead of normal inefficient (at sub 100w) PSU and the new CPU/board it should draw substantially less. Hoping for about half the power required next month when i build it. I'll keep you updated!

[Abula]

Try to research more about the hdd you chosing and its spin up power requirement, this probably its going to be the biggest issue going with the picoPSU, some setups support staggered spinup of disks, but i know very little about this. If you are going with 120W pico, you might aswell check JonnyGuru Recommened combo with the 120WI and FPS 19V, seems very efficient. You can always go for the 160XT that can peak into 200W.

On the AMD 4pin cpu i would assume its necessary, as it is on my Sandy Bridge i3 setup, but im not sure as dont have Zacate board to says for certain.

[SevenFour]

Also, the AMD e-350 has a 4 pin power connector for the CPU, is this required though? Its such low power that i cant imagine why they would need one but all the boards include it. Only the Pico 150/160w seems to have a seperate plug for the CPU power socket, so would i need one of them, or is this the sort of thing a molex can handle?

Have you seen these?:
Cables@ mini-box.com

and more specific this one:
4-Pin P4 Power Cable @mini-box.com

[FartingBob]

Have you seen these?:
Cables@ mini-box.com

and more specific this one:
4-Pin P4 Power Cable @mini-box.com

Thank you, i found a few molex to P4 cables on uk sites for very cheap as well.


From my original plans i am changing them to 3x 3TB drives most likely. With 3 5400rpm drives i shouldnt think that the pico would struggle on startup, but i'm leaning to the 150XT version just to cover it a bit more.

Abula, thank you very much for that roundup link. The picoPSU is only half the package, the adaptor is where most of the efficiency can be won or gain and theres very little info about them.

[HFat]

Have someone tried to test the staggered spinup feature which is apparently becoming common on Intel consumer chipsets? Maybe it doesn't work with all drives. But if it worked, it'd come in real handy for the people who want to run many drives with a pico.

[FartingBob]

Well ive ordered a pico 120w wide input (12-25v input), should arrive early next week, and the 19v adaptor mentioned that JohnyGuru's roundup linked earlier.

My current setup has 5 3.5" HDD's and a conventional PSU tied to a single core sempron.
As i said, it settles around 80-82w, but at startup peaks at 119w. With the new setup though i expect much less (especially as i will be only using 3, maybe 4 HDD's). I'll try the pico with my current setup as its arriving first, i rekon it should just about handle 5 HDD's.

[boxleitnerb]

I have the same question.

Did it work, FartingBob? I want to use 4 5400rpm drives and a Zacate (18W TDP) setup.

Anyone else with experiences with Picos and 4 hdds? Would be greatly appreciated.