HD power consumption

[Guyi]

Hi

I'm considering getting another HD, but I dont know if my current PSU will suffice. Tell me if another HD will kill my PSU or not

PSU - HEC 300W
2 HD (maxtor,wd)
gfx- 5600 ultra
dvd drive, cdrw drive
2 120mm fans
cpu fan

would another HD make such a difference?

thanks

 

[Crashman]

If the power supply is stable now, the extra drive probably won't be a problem. If the power supply is already a bit unstable, the extra hard drive will probably push it over the edge. Hard drives don't draw a lot of power, just enough to make the difference when a minor problem is already present.

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[Guyi]

by stable you mean no random crashed, fails and so forth?

is there a way to know how much "juice" the power supply has left?

 

[Crashman]

Power supplies will normally sag (drop voltage) under load, when the load is too great. A good program for tracking voltage changes is Motherboard Monitor 5 (MBM5), which has an option to create a log of system readings.

If you can handle setting up MBM5 and configuring it...I'd set logging to create a text file on your desktop every 5 seconds with 60 recordings. Then do a Direct 3D app like 3D Mark, because 3D causes the video card to draw more power. Reboot the system and read the log, if the voltages are fairly constant you don't have a problem yet.

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[Guyi]

o_0

ok

 

[pat]

I had a 300W PSu handling 3 HDD and all the other stuff fine at one time. Now, I have a 420W handling 4 HDD.

Biggest demand are at startup. Once the platters are running, they draw less on the PSU. Weak PSU will have the HDD to not run at its speed fast enough and wont be "ready" when the BIOS ask, thus, wont show in BIOS first time, but will at reboot because they were already spinning. I once had a computer that I had to reboot after startup because the HDD was never ready on time. A BIOS update that allowed more time for the detection fixed the issue.

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[Crashman]

Hard drives draw a few watts when running. They draw the big power starting up. Video cards on the other hand draw the big power while rendering, and very little when starting up. Now, it makes sense that if his system can handle 3D apps without voltage drop, it should handle the startup power of a hard drive since 3D isn't being used at that time.

All of this assumes he has a normal power supply, which drops voltage under a lesser load than would cause it to reset or blow a fuse.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Guyi]

the computer store claims that this PSU is actual 300w and not less.

do i need mbm5 if i already have a way to check the 12v and 5v thingies while rendering?

 

[arkus]

A quick and dirty method if you just want a rough idea...

<A HREF="http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL" target="_new">http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL</A>

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