good modular psu for home server

[silent]

hi

building my first un-raid server and have these compnents so far:

fractal design R3 case
asus m5 am3 mobo
amd sempron 145
new cpu to come, dual or quad core.
4 gig corsair ram
dvd-rw drive
60 gig SSD drive
6 sata hdd's 2-tb, 1 x 1.5 and 4 x 1tb.

whats the best quiet modular relaible psu for around £50-70 to run all that steadily with flexibility to add more drives later.. happy to buy 2nd hand within warranty. i have a antec eco modular that scan are kindly refunding me as i struggle to get cables for it. i can put the £45 towards that.

this a good one:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...r-warranty-psu

[Demonwar]

Coolermaster modulars I've used in the past have been pretty silent and have a good range of cables. I didn't buy a modular this build but the CM 520 I did have is still going strong in a new build.

The Corsair one (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...-12v-quiet-fan) is only just outside your price range. I went for their non modular GS 600 this time around mainly due to cost and me being picky. It's a nice piece of kit tho, I could hide all the cables nicely still.

Know you have just been burnt with Antec but their PSUs are on the today page and fit your price ranges. Dunno what cables the gamer psus come with, hopeful more than your 'eco' model which always annoyed me as it's cheap for a reason but its written only once what you are getting.

[silent]

i liked the look of the new OCZ ZT range to. full modular.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What CPU are you using??

You will need to determine what sort of idle and low load wattage your system will be pulling. Hence,I would be looking at PSUs which have good efficiency in the 40W to 150W range.

[silent]

am3/AM3+/ phenom, FX4100 something like that.

i may upgrade to an i3 setup.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

am3/AM3+/ phenom, FX4100 something like that.

i may upgrade to an i3 setup.

What is the exact model number of the motherboard??

[silent]

my mobo is an asus m5 and i know the cpu's it can take. just need to get a cheap one. need to send my eco antec psu to scan tomorrow so i can get a refund and buy a new one. just after a good quiet efficient one. corsair/.ocz and coolers are on my list. just seeing what else.

[Greecean]

perhaps one of the silver power fanless ones?

[silent]

i may take a look at those. what make?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

my mobo is an asus m5 and i know the cpu's it can take. just need to get a cheap one. need to send my eco antec psu to scan tomorrow so i can get a refund and buy a new one. just after a good quiet efficient one. corsair/.ocz and coolers are on my list. just seeing what else.

The most important thing to look at is low load efficiency. A lot of PSUs have poor efficiency at low loads dropping down to around 70% at upto 25% load.

You are looking at £100+ for the fanless PSUs.

[scaryjim]

Given this is a server I assume it'll be running 24/7, and you'll be looking for as low-powered CPU as possible? You're likely to be able to get idle power draw to ~ 40W and peak around 70W - 80W, so if you buy a 550W PSU you'll be looking at power draw between 8% and 15%. That's going to suck, efficiency-wise - Bronze certification only requires 80% at minimum 25% load, and most PSUs will drop off rapidly under that. As CAT said previously, you need to be looking for peak efficiency in the < 150W range, which realistically means 300W as an absolute maximum rating.

EDIT:
these aren't modular, but they'll give you an idea of specs:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/300w-...an-atx-v22-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/350w-...n-atx-v231-psu
This one is modular, but is slightly over spec IMNSHO
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/400w-...onze-quiet-fan

[silent]

i've devcided to stick with my sempron 145 processor and asus m5 mobo. both low powered with 4- 8 gig of ram. it should run quiet but i could get a passive cpu cooler with that chip couldn't i?

yes, it will be running pretty much all the time except when were away.

[scaryjim]

That's very similar to my current HTPC setup (Sempron 140 + ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO), and by undervolting the CPU by 0.3v (which brings it down to 1.05v) I get my entire system draw, at full load, to ~ 50W down from ~ 65W at stock voltage. I'm running off an FSP 250W flexatx PSU (due to case restrictions) which is, frankly, overpowered for my needs, but I found when I tried to use a 90W picopsu the OCP tripped as soon as I turned the PC on

Anyway, at stock volts the Sempys are 45W, and undervolted you're probably looking at nearer 30W. At 45W I'd recommend a pretty meaty cooler for passive cooling, and plenty of airflow through the case, but it should be doable. If you can undervolt, you'll still need a beefy cooler but can probably get away with less airflow (i.e. slower fans!). Personally I'd be inclined to just stick with the stock cooler though; mine hardly ever gets above 40C and is barely audible.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Its a shame the Huntkey 300W is not quieter,otherwise it would have been ideal as it is Gold rated and under £40 too.

[silent]

is it better to have a higher psu like 500 for future proofing? saying that and your replies, i won;t need much as the hdd's won;t be on all the time.