PSU For a lot of HDD's

[kaotixkc]

I have just built a new system and used my old psu which to be honest works fine.
My main problem is that I do a lot of video editing and other media activities so I require a lot of hard drive space.

I currently have 5 x 1TB drives and a further 300GB Raptor.
I also have an Nvidia GTX285 which requires 2 x 6-pin PCI-E connectors.
Also have a DVD burner and some other case fans which require molex connectors to power.

I need at least 7 SATA power cables
At least 3 molex connectors (due to location of fans and cables)
Power would have to be something over 650 watt, my current one is 630 watt and seems to run fine but I don't have all my HDD's plugged in which could lead me to think I would need more power for the additional 3 I can't plug in.

If anyone can suggest a suitable PSU I'd be very grateful.

 

[daship]

Use a PSU calcultor, and buy one that works and use adapters.

 

[Ancient_1]

The SeaSonic M12D SS-750 that I use has plenty of connectors for your purpose 11-sata and 8-molex. It is quiet and very efficient and here is a review of it.

 

[nukemaster]

Well, with 6 sata drives, my power draw rarely if ever passes 350 at the wall. Thats with a Q6000 @ 3.0 and 4870. I think you are fine, I recommend getting some cheap molex->sata adapters and just taking them apart. Use those sata connectors to make your own adapter for 3 drives each like this

I used an old molex extender and cut the other molex off. Works great and fits the drives perfectly

 

[croc]

Well, with 6 sata drives, my power draw rarely if ever passes 350 at the wall. Thats with a Q6000 @ 3.0 and 4870. I think you are fine, I recommend getting some cheap molex->sata adapters and just taking them apart. Use those sata connectors to make your own adapter for 3 drives each like this

I used an old molex extender and cut the other molex off. Works great and fits the drives perfectly
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2338/hddp.jpg

Very clean installation. Congrats.

 

[kaotixkc]

Well, with 6 sata drives, my power draw rarely if ever passes 350 at the wall. Thats with a Q6000 @ 3.0 and 4870. I think you are fine, I recommend getting some cheap molex->sata adapters and just taking them apart. Use those sata connectors to make your own adapter for 3 drives each like this

I used an old molex extender and cut the other molex off. Works great and fits the drives perfectly
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2338/hddp.jpg

Dude that's an Antec 900 HDD cage isn't it? I have the same case but didn't think that kind of 'backwards' mounting would work due to the fan casing being right up against the caddy.
Where did you get the inline SATA connectors? I have a molex to SATA which have the same inline setup but I don't have enough molex connectors to actually use them which is stupid. This is my main problem, I'm going to have to 'Y' split off some molex connectors to get more SATA connectors I think.

Thanks for the replies though guys, much appreciated.

 

[croc]

Did some looking at some drives, Seagate Cheetah 15k and WD velocipraptor as I figured these would pull the most power. Interestingly, the Cheetah's don't pull as much as the Barracudas or the velociptor.

But the main point is that the highest start-up draw for any newer drive was 2A or under.So 7 drives would only pull 14A at start-up, max. Running amperage should be only half to 2/3rds of that amount, depending on head movement, reads, writes, etc. With Nuke's suggestion, (which is now in my memory bank) you should be good to go

 

[nukemaster]

That picture is upside down(so the cables come out the bottom). so the drives face the other way.

Nothing touches and I cut the drive cage later for proper fitting of the cables. That was a prototype with the drive cage backwards and the fan on the other side so it was still in the front, but had room for the cables(there is a cut out on the back bottom of the cages).

You also have to drill extra holes if you want 4 screws on the drive, if not, you can only use 2 per drive.

I got the cables from different Asus boards as they come with at least 2 cables(or at least my last 2 did). I got extra cables from a local computer store from there box of spare parts from system builds. Due to new management i can not longer get then for 25 cents per cable tho

The inline sata connectors are just the ones off normal sata cables. Most are simply pressed into the wire cutting the sheathing(wire skin stuff) and making contact with the wires inside. I just took them off some of those and an old power supply

It does not look and different from the outside. Well unless you have the flash on

 

[kaotixkc]

That picture is upside down(so the cables come out the bottom). so the drives face the other way.

Nothing touches and I cut the drive cage later for proper fitting of the cables. That was a prototype with the drive cage backwards and the fan on the other side so it was still in the front, but had room for the cables(there is a cut out on the back bottom of the cages).

You also have to drill extra holes if you want 4 screws on the drive, if not, you can only use 2 per drive.

I got the cables from different Asus boards as they come with at least 2 cables(or at least my last 2 did). I got extra cables from a local computer store from there box of spare parts from system builds. Due to new management i can not longer get then for 25 cents per cable tho

The inline sata connectors are just the ones off normal sata cables. Most are simply pressed into the wire cutting the sheathing(wire skin stuff) and making contact with the wires inside. I just took them off some of those and an old power supply

It does not look and different from the outside. Well unless you have the flash on
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5909/900m.jpg

I just tried it out and for the life of me can't get the drives to sit right in the cages at all. Will need to drill an extra set of holes I think. I also noted from yours that you possibly have a first revision of the case (not only from the timestamp but the cage looks different from mine on the sides.)

Back on topic! I've opted for the Corsair HX750 mainly to accomodate future upgrades in power consumption but also because it's modular and has 12 SATA and 8 molex, plus 4 PCIe which will be useful should I ever add another graphics card.

Oh and also, if you have black SATA cables and mesh round the power cables you wouldn't be able to notice them so much through the front of the case 'with the flash on' (or when someone looks at your pc when it's turned off.)

 

[Malcolmk]

Well the best power supply on the market at the moment is the Enermax Evolution 1050w. It's big, modular, very efficent and has 16 sata cables. It's about as good as it gets. If it's a bit too much then go for the Corsair HX750 which is built by Seasonic.

 

[nukemaster]

Oh and also, if you have black SATA cables and mesh round the power cables you wouldn't be able to notice them so much through the front of the case 'with the flash on' (or when someone looks at your pc when it's turned off.)

For some reason the fans always stop covering it

But i took out the fans since it was extra noise and only a few degrees cooler, now it looks strange....

And yeah, its the first 900 with the pain in the ass screw system(there is a small hole for the screw then the actual hard hole for the drive). The latest one I had worked with used long screws. Never even tried to see if that still worked.

 

[theAnimal]

If it's a bit too much then go for the Corsair HX750 which is built by Seasonic.

CWT builds the HX750 & 850.