Hi, I've got a fileserver running which has a total of 12 regular 7200 RPM SATA harddrives. The power supply used now is old and I don't trust it, so I'd like to upgrade it. I'm hoping to get some advice on which wattage I should be looking at, and possibly also a specific PSU. I'm assuming I should be looking for something with strong 12V rails (HDDs run of those, right? ) Specs: Some MSI Socket 939 motherboard Athlon 64 3000+ Geforce 4 MX 3 PCI SATA controllers 12 7200 RPM SATA harddrives I don't plan on adding any more harddrives to the system, and I don't feel like spending a fortune on a PSU... Any suggestions?
All SATA? How many molex and SATA connectors do you need? The biggest issue you'll have is start up amps being drawn - 15W (peak) x 12 disks = 180W that isn't too bad, but check what the 5V load is on all the drives because that will be more crucial.
Thanks for the tip. All disks have both molex and SATA connectors, so I need 12 in total. I've already got plenty of "splitters", so as long as the rail can handle it, this shouldn't be a problem.
I'd try to get a PSU with a single hefty 12v rail, makes cabling things up easier when you can just power it from wherever without having to worry about balance things out.
