From owner-freebsd-hardware Thu Aug 23 12:16:37 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from linux-wlan.com (cpe-66-1-218-98.fl.sprintbbd.net [66.1.218.98]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 12C8337B403 for ; Thu, 23 Aug 2001 12:16:29 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from b.j.smith@ieee.org) Received: from ieee.org (thebs.cc.absoval.com. [192.168.100.89]) by chef.cc.absoval.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id VAA17183; Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:13:19 -0400 Message-ID: <3B8306E5.9DBA13D3@ieee.org> Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:12:05 -0400 From: Bryan-TheBS-Smith Organization: SmithConcepts, Inc. X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.3-SGI_XFS_1.0.1 i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Brian Cc: freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG, nicole@unixgirl.com Subject: Re: 3ware stuff not ready for heavy duty useage-followup References: <03d801c12a9e$bab359c0$6601a8c0@elitists.org> <005101c12aa5$7dd36160$0201a8c0@fear.wrath.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.org I have been following this hardware thread for awhile. Rule 1: Read the _actual_specs_ on your power supply! I've seen 250W PS that provided more current on the 3.3+5V lines than most 400W. If you have a newer CPU and a lot of add-in boards, you'll need it! Antec and Energmax (?) seem to have PowerPC&Cooling specs for 1/2-1/3rd the price. And I love Antec's case designs (especially the SX635 and SX1040), plus they just came out with a "cost effective" 350W PS ($50 versus $85 for their 400W). Rule 2: Add up the 12V current provided and match it against your drives. This one is simple enough. Although see #3 ... Rule 3: Add up the 12V current required for "start up" if you don't have SCSI Unlike SCSI, IDE doesn't provide a "delayed spindle" so you can offset the "startup current" so not all drives start at the same time. "Startup current" can really affect your PS, especially since it is usually 2X+ any other operation. Be wary with IDE and make sure you get at least a _good_ 400W PS if you've got 6+ drives total, possibly one of those Energmax 400/450peak and 550/650peak ones for 8-12. -- TheBS -- Bryan "TheBS" Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org chat:thebs413 Engineer AbsoluteValue Systems, Inc. http://www.linux-wlan.org President SmithConcepts, Inc. http://www.SmithConcepts.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message