Data on power draw?

[MMacD]

As a default, because I have no comparative data, I'm planning to buy an A1SRM-2558F for my NAS.

But it bothers me that there might be some other motherboard/cpu combination that would be as good or better a choice. If only I knew what it was.

Probably people here have data on other motherboards' basic power consumption and performance as a NAS, which, if posted here as a sticky, would be very useful to other people -including me, of course- who are trying to take the best decision on what to buy.

Or is that information already posted somewhere here and I just can't find it?

 

[DrKK]

Total power draw depends on a lot of factors. CPU, RAM, how many drives you have, which drives you have, whether or not powerd is running, how many fans you have, etc. How good your power supply is. It's just not a thing that's amenable to posting in a raw sticky. The best you can do is add up reasonable wattages for the constituent components in anticipation of the draw, and then, once you build the system, check your work.

I have an X10SLM motherboard, 4x4GB Ram, and three WD reds in it, on a G3220 CPU. It's around 40W at average. But you might build a very similar system to that and be drawing 60W or 80W. or 30W.

 

[cyberjock]

Like DrKK said. It's not a single component, or even a couple of components that affect total power draw. Its the sum total of *all* of your components, how they are configured for your situation, and how they are used.

So while I could write a very detailed thread on my system, it does nothing to help someone that has one or two different components, has a different use case, or demands a different configuration.

So I'm sorry, but a sticky on this would be infinitely long because of all of the choices. The best you can do is pick stuff expertly that applies to your situation and configuration choices.

 

[HoneyBadger]

There's some lazy napkin-math answers in @jgreco's power supply sizing thread that might give you a flavor of what you're after.

 

[DrKK]

An interesting factoid: Because my system (like so many other people's) is purely low power server based (i.e., no video GPU, no other high-wattage draw components), the low power draw is actually somewhat of a problem in the sense that even the very small power supply I have (I think it's like 350W, about the smallest high quality power supply you can get) is still MASSIVELY over-powered for my system even at uber-max draw. As a result, I waste a bunch of power, I'm sure, and run at a ridiculously bad power factor (I think something like 0.7). PSUs tend not to operate very well when you are only pulling 10-20% of their juice.

 

[Bidule0hm]

Well, add a fan, or two, or a dozen... problem solved :D

 

[DrKK]

Well, add a fan, or two, or a dozen... problem solved :D

Funny enough, DrKK has a sickness/OCD condition with fans.

If I buy a case, and there is a mounting position for a fan, I *MUST* mount a fan. I cannot stop myself. It doesn't matter if the fan would serve any purpose or is in any way required for a cooling solution. ALL FAN LOCATIONS ARE MOUNTED WITH FANS. I cannot stop myself.

 

[Bidule0hm]

If you put enough of them you'll have the first levitating NAS in the world... or just the most power hungry NAS in the world :)

 

[depasseg]

ALL FAN LOCATIONS ARE MOUNTED WITH FANS. I cannot stop myself.

Have you noticed that you can mount a fan ONTO a fan? The holes line up perfectly.
You're welcome!

 

[Bidule0hm]

Next DrKK's NAS...

And because you need more of them...

I actually thought about the exact same thing a long time ago and wondered to what it would look like :)

 

[DrKK]

Have you noticed that you can mount a fan ONTO a fan? The holes line up perfectly.
You're welcome!

BLAST YOU!

 

[HoneyBadger]

Have you noticed that you can mount a fan ONTO a fan? The holes line up perfectly.
You're welcome!

This post brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

 

[Ericloewe]

Code:

Thread Status: DERAILED

Re: Power Factor - even at 10%, a power factor of 0.95 is easily attainable. 0.7 is more typical of the standby rail, but that one is typically switched over to the "real" 5V rail after power-on, on modern PSUs.

 

[DrKK]

I don't know what to tell you sir. I have a modern, high quality, power supply, and I don't get anything even remotely like 0.95PF.

Not like it matters though at the sub-50W range.

 

[Ericloewe]

I don't know what to tell you sir. I have a modern, high quality, power supply, and I don't get anything even remotely like 0.95PF.

Not like it matters though at the sub-50W range.

I just went through a couple of reviews, and the only PSU that didn't manage 0.95 didn't have active PFC, so your case is definitely strange.

 

[cyberjock]

What was/is your PF @DrKK ?

Last time I checked out the PF on a machine it fluctuated between 0.97 and 1.02. In fact, with every computer I've checked in the last few years it's been betwee 0.97 and 1.02. It's a necessity that you have active PFC in your PSU to even meet the requirements for the 80%+ certification. My laptop sits at 0.99 solid all day and night.

 

[DrKK]

Sir...a PF of 1.02 doesn't even make mathematical sense, since it is the sine of an angle.

Sir.

 

[Ericloewe]

Sir...a PF of 1.02 doesn't even make mathematical sense, since it is the sine of an angle.

Sir.

^
Can't do better than 1 without breaking Kirchoff's laws.

 

[DrKK]

^
Can't do better than 1 without breaking Kirchoff's laws.

Can't do better than 1 without going into the domain of complex numbers.

 

[Ericloewe]

Can't do better than 1 without going into the domain of complex numbers.

AC is already generally expressed with complex numbers, but that's just a silly little trick to represent phases. So the amplitude would have to be complex, which would be a massive can of worms with no physical meaning I can imagine.