Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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samuelmorris
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Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Thu Sep 04, 2014 4:55 am

Looking for a suitable replacement for the 4 1/2 year old 530W Nexus NX-5000 in my file server. At present the server is pretty noisy in other aspects which I will deal with later, but as it stands this PSU pretty urgently needs replacing as it's making some unpleasant noises both of the fan bearing kind, and the electrical buzzing kind, each well above 30dB at all times.

This system currently runs a stock Q9550, X48 board, HD4830 (yes I know, but it's what was lying around at the time, and is basically silent!), a single SSD and 18 WD Green/Red hard disks (the system will hold a maximum of 20, which I may run at some stage). The highest draw I've seen from the system is during bootup (the disks do not use staggered spin-up) which was around 350W at the socket, so probably 300 ish out the PSU, as the spin-up load of these drives is still very light (mix of WD20EARS/WD20EARX/WD30EZRX/WD30EFRX/WD40EFRX, and probably some WD60EFRXes replacing the older 2TB disks soon).

Any recommendations on a solid, quiet PSU that I can replace this unit with? Given the disk config I'm thinking probably something single-rail.

Thanks

Sam

Abula
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:12 am

Look into Corsair rm series, semi passive psu, gold rated, fully modular, they have a 450, 550, 650W, to mention a few that coould work for your setup, the psu should remain fanless once your setup boots.

since you are on the uk, look also for be quiet E9 series, ibelieve thewy have a 450 and 550 versión of it that should also be a good option.

samuelmorris
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Thu Sep 04, 2014 5:20 am

Thanks, I'll look into the RM series. I was a bit wary of the lower-end Corsair products due to questionable reliability reports and high failure rates coming up on things like the hardware.fr reliability charts, but to be fair to it, my CX V2 has been excellent in the smaller PC, very quiet indeed (albeit that PC probably barely draws into three figures fully loaded).

BeQuiet I might consider, the other beQuiet unit I had was an absolute disaster (An 850W darkpower for the main gaming PC), so I'm not all that eager to give them another try :)

quest_for_silence
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:39 am

Abula wrote:since you are on the uk, look also for be quiet E9 series, ibelieve thewy have a 450 and 550 versión of it that should also be a good option.

The E9 isn't well suited to run a file server: as a (relatively cheap) group regulated platform, it suffers cross-loading, quite a lot usually, and given its slow running fan it runs pretty hot (not a reliability plus, for a file server). It's much more versed for a quiet desktop (and anyway is going discontinued: this month BQ will substitute it with the more modern E10).

samuelmorris wrote:I was a bit wary of the lower-end Corsair products due to questionable reliability reports

I'm not aware of those reports, anyway, with reference for a file server the low end RM (an implementation of CWT PUQ) seems slightly inferior (electrically) with reference to similar units (just for example, the Thermaltake European Gold London 550W, based upon the same CWT PUQ platform). On the other hand, it's usually vastly quieter.
Which are your priorities? Wouldn't you better put your question on a more focused (about PSU, I mean) forum, like JonnyGuru's one?

samuelmorris wrote:the other beQuiet unit I had was an absolute disaster (An 850W darkpower for the main gaming PC)

If it was the Dark Power Pro P10 850W, then it is a Seasonic P860 Platinum: if it was a disaster, probably it was a defective unit (that platform has an initial failure rate rather high, more than 10%, regardless of the brand, Seasonic, Corsair or BeQuiet), but then you should be covered by the extensive BeQuiet warranty.

A possible option is the EVGA 750 G2: incredibly cheap for the rated power, as efficient as a Seasonic G-series 550W at low loads, fanless up to 50%. It's not perfect (even with reference to the fan controller, as many modern semi-fanless units, I would add), but backed by good materials and an extensive 10-years warranty: check the relevant reviews around.

samuelmorris
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Thu Sep 04, 2014 6:44 am

I posted here because my previous two PSUs (the CX was a spur of the moment buy to satisfy a shop's refusal to RMA something until I tested with a different PSU), the NX-5000 and my ZM850-HP both came from recommendations at SPCR, and both have been excellent, near-enough inaudible at any load. Unfortunately the NX-5000 is clearly now at the end of its useful life, so I simply want to replace it with something that will perform as well.

Said DarkPower was back in Q4 2008, so whatever the model was back then! I ended up selling it to a friend instead as the ZM850-HP was far superior for noise anyway, and didn't have the faults the Darkpower had (shutting down for overload at 700W out of its 850 rating, and leaving the 12V rails live at 2V or so when shut down). For some reason the faults didn't seem to bother him, as he didn't exceed 700W with his lower-specified system.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Sep 04, 2014 7:10 am

samuelmorris wrote:the NX-5000 and my ZM850-HP both came from recommendations at SPCR, and both have been excellent

Obviously we can help you in the noise-related respects, but IMO it would be safe for you (given the high number of drives) to put your question even to a PSU-focused community (I already pointed out which one).

With reference to the Dark Power, well, it isn't surely the P10, which is much more recent. With the already given caveat about early failures, you may consider the Silverstone NightJar NJ520 (or the Seasonic P520FL if it were cheaper): fanless and top notch, they REQUIRE a trustworthy seller for any possible RMA (sound related).

Abula
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:25 am

If you want something reviewed and recommenmded by spcr, thats top in its class around 500w, i would look into kingwin striker 500 or rosewill silentnight 500W, both were reviewed by spcr and got editor choice, sadly this models are more common in the US, so search for superflower 500W passive psu, it should be the same as superflower is the oem manufacturer for the models mentioned above.

If you want more info Check both spcr reviews, and you can also Check big psu sites like jonnyguru, hardwaresecrets, Techpoweup for more point of view of them, saldy cant do linking from my Phone.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Sep 04, 2014 11:33 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:IMO it would be safe for you (given the high number of drives) to put your question even to a PSU-focused community (I already pointed out which one)

Given that the OP was probably busy, just for the sake of knowledge I've taken the liberty to put a related question there: we'll see.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Fri Sep 05, 2014 6:53 am

I just got a couple of min on my hotel =)

Here are the SPCR reviews,
Rosewill Silent Night 500 Platinum 80 Plus
Fanless PSUs: Kingwin Stryker STR-500

Here is a place on UK where you can buy the same, just branded superflower,
Super-Flower SF500P14FG 80plus Platinum fanless

And lastly a none spcr review of it, but a very well respected site for PSUs, JonnyGuru Reviews - Super Flower Golden Silent 500W Fanless

Its up to you if it justifies its price, compared to PSU like corsair RM series,
Corsair CP-9020066-UK RM Series RM450 80 Plus Gold 450W ATX/EPS Fully Modular Power Supply Unit
Corsair CP-9020053-UK RM Series RM550 80 Plus Gold 550W ATX/EPS Fully Modular Power Supply Unit

quest_for_silence
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:35 am

Abula wrote:I just got a couple of min on my hotel =)

Since your abuse of video surveillance and frequence in visiting hotels I will start to think that something is rotten in the state of Denm... err, Guatemala. :wink:

Do you think those PSUs have enough connectors for about 19-21 drives (I'm wondering what the OP did with his Nexus)?
And TTBOYK how many A any single peripheral wire may hold (I dunno the relevant specs)?

samuelmorris
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:41 am

The case uses backplanes which connect four drives via a single (or pair) molex connector - the drives are not powered using traditional SATA connectors, and on a modular PSU I would only fit a minimal number of those to run the O/S SSD.

Thanks for the links, call me suspicious but given the quality of SuperFlower products I've had in the past I'm not wholly convinced about the longevity of a PSU from them, but I know there's a lot more to it than that, with OEMs etc.
I'm probably going to go for an RM650 from Corsair. A little overkill but it at least allows me the freedom to run pretty much any hardware I want to in this box at a later date.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:59 am

samuelmorris wrote:The case uses backplanes which connect four drives via a single (or pair) molex connector - the drives are not powered using traditional SATA connectors, and on a modular PSU I would only fit a minimal number of those to run the O/S SSD.

You're running that server since about five years ago, so I guess it's fine: but on the other hand, the peripheral cables usually may handle a limitate amount of current, even when powering a backplane, so it's a nice surprise to me seeing that.

samuelmorris wrote:I'm probably going to go for an RM650 from Corsair. A little overkill but it at least allows me the freedom to run pretty much any hardware I want to in this box at a later date.

The RM750 has a better build quality, if you mind (different OEM, Chicony vs CWT), but the RM550 has a better fan profile (the fan should start at 650rpm instead of about 1000rpm as on the RM650).
Anyway, your thoughts about Super Flower are groundless, even if I guess you're fully aware of that.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Fri Sep 05, 2014 8:07 am

The backplanes look like this (although this one only has one molex per channel):

http://amastaba.free.fr/RM424pro/resize ... 08_DxO.jpg

Using WD Green drives, the peak utilisation will be at spinup, according to WD's documentation this is something of the order of 8 or 9 watts, so for a full bank of four that's 35W per molex connector, and of course only for about 7-8 seconds. As far as I can recall, the highest number of molex connectors on a single chain is typically three? So the most you're looking at across them all is about 100W tops for a few seconds, then it would settle down to no more than 50W or so for the full set of three. Whether I'd want to run things the same way with 7200rpm drives is another matter :)

Noted on the build quality and fan profiles - is the fan profile of the RM750 the same with regard to starting at 1000rpm? I don't really want to spend much more than the price of the RM650 but I'd much rather have a better idle fan profile on the PSU (and, if at all possible, a fan profile that stays idle up to at least 200W or so in order that the PSU doesn't make any appreciable noise when running in normal operation). The ZM850-HP might make sense to switch in there as it's silent, is more than capable, and I'm contemplating an upgrade to the gaming PC in the next few months, but it is itself almost 6 years old, I'm not sure I want to swap something that old in there, as I don't really know how much life there is left in it!

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 8:29 am

samuelmorris wrote:is the fan profile of the RM750 the same with regard to starting at 1000rpm?

Sophisticated fan controllers (like the ones used in hybrid or semi-fanless PSUs) are complex things, as they react to load, ambient temperature and duration (and they would seem a bit prone to early fault too, regardless of the brand).

Broadly speaking the Chicony implementation will start higher than the RM550 on a mainly 12V load (I think WD specs are about a pure 12V load, but check). But in case, it should start a lot later (at an about 50% load on a RM CWT-based, rather than at an about 80% load on a RM Chicony-based). High ambient temps may lower these thresholds, but both those platforms should be perfectly able running fanless at an about 200W load.

samuelmorris wrote:I don't really want to spend much more than the price of the RM650 but I'd much rather have a better idle fan profile on the PSU (and, if at all possible, a fan profile that stays idle up to at least 200W or so in order that the PSU doesn't make any appreciable noise when running in normal operation).

As said, any of the quoted RM units should handle fine (fanless) those 200W DC, even if depending of the ambient temperature.

Anyway, what about that one?

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Fri Sep 05, 2014 8:36 am

I don't necessarily need it fanless, but going straight from fanless to 1000rpm seems a bit excessive don't you think?

I'm not particularly keen on having a fully fanless unit, as since this server is mounted upright, this makes the system a traditional PSU-at-the-top hot box scenario. The CPU heatsink is fanless, although the rear case fans are fairly powerful (2x80mm max 3800rpm, running off the motherboard at less than half that unless the CPU gets heavily loaded up). Nonetheless I do worry that up there there might be too little ventilation for a fanless PSU, and one as low as 400W would be running at a good 60%+ load on a daily basis in this system. A unit that will stay below 1000rpm or so and has a reasonably good acoustic profile will be more than adequate for this system at the moment - until I get the fan controller to drop the speed of the front 120mm fans, I won't hear the PSU over them anyway. Right now, anything is quieter than the Nexus unit with the defective fan :)

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 10:09 am

samuelmorris wrote:I don't necessarily need it fanless, but going straight from fanless to 1000rpm seems a bit excessive don't you think?

I agree, nonetheless that's about how those contemporary semi-fanless units work (almost all, as there's a reason: when you have heated a PSU, it requires more cooling prowess to cool itself down. The partial exceptions, to the best of my knowledge, are the smaller units, I mean up to about 500W, as their fan controller are set less aggressive).

And that's why as my latest PSU I bought an Enermax Platimax 500W, as its fan should spin around 330rpm costantly at about any load: but it's usually an expensive unit (SPCR has some different findings for the larger 600W unit, but anyway, when it will arrive, I'll see).

samuelmorris wrote:Nonetheless I do worry that up there there might be too little ventilation for a fanless PSU, and one as low as 400W would be running at a good 60%+ load on a daily basis in this system.
Some food for thoughts:

SPCR Fanless PSU Torture Test
SPCR Fanless PSU Build Guide

BTW, you can also flip your case upside down, given that you shouldn't have any optical drive or feet to properly fit.

Probably, first of all you should figure out whether opting for a more rightly sized PSU (fanless or hybrid: Seasonic P400FL, Corsair RM450/550, Super Flower Golden Silent), or going for an overrated one to bank on the late coming into play of the fan and the overbuilt components (eVGA SuperNOVA G2 750, Corsair RM750: a possible variant could be finding a fanned, quietish PSU for reliability purposes, like the excellent Cooler Master V700).

Or you may simply step down to less "aspiring" but cheaper units, as your server cannot be that quiet with twenty disks and lots of fans.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Fri Sep 05, 2014 10:13 am

Yeah the Nexus is obviously one such unit that runs 300-400rpm most of the time. The Zalman seems to run about 700rpm and that's also fine, even for a 140mm fan, the thing is effectively inaudible. I think I'd prefer that to a semi-fanless unit by the sound of things, for the reason you specified. Admittedly I could tip the case upside down, I'd have to investigate how well that'd suit the rest of the internals (mainly considering the passively controlled Adaptec disk controller which does run a bit on the warm side), but it shouldn't be an issue I suppose.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:38 pm

18 WD Green/Red hard disks
The base noise level of virtually every PSU recommended by SPCR would be way below your aggregate HDD noise. In fact, most any 500W+ model from any good brand would work fine. I would definitely go with a fan-cooled model; there's no need to spend $ on a fanless. Choose a 600W one w/ the longest/best warranty.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:59 pm

MikeC wrote:Choose a 600W one w/ the longest/best warranty.
600W MikeC?

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:43 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:
MikeC wrote:Choose a 600W one w/ the longest/best warranty.
600W MikeC?
Well, obviously he could go a lot lower, but the higher rating might give provide longer service for a 24/7 rig with that many drives. Price hardly varies between 500~600W models.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:24 pm

MikeC wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote:
MikeC wrote:Choose a 600W one w/ the longest/best warranty.
600W MikeC?
Well, obviously he could go a lot lower, but the higher rating might give provide longer service for a 24/7 rig with that many drives.

I don't agree about that, Mike.
As you know better than me, usually, within the same series, higher wattage models just have larger heatsinks or caps. As caps are cheaper than heatsinks (usually), the differences are just the caps between models which share the same box and PCB (the higher powered unit may likely have a more aggressive fan controller either). But whether those caps are craps (pun intended), you won't gain any longer service using larger ones (while you may borrow some life - for instance - from some higher quality caps, which you will find on more expensive platforms only, regardless of the wattage).
However, that's just my humble opinion.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:00 pm

quest_for_silence wrote: I don't agree about that, Mike.
As you know better than me, usually, within the same series, higher wattage models just have larger heatsinks or caps. As caps are cheaper than heatsinks (usually), the differences are just the caps between models which share the same box and PCB (the higher powered unit may likely have a more aggressive fan controller either). But whether those caps are craps (pun intended), you won't gain any longer service using larger ones (while you may borrow some life - for instance - from some higher quality caps, which you will find on more expensive platforms only, regardless of the wattage).
However, that's just my humble opinion.
All other things being equal, parts rated higher typically run longer, and parts that run cooler also run longer.

It's not likely to be a big difference, except when one PSU is running close to its rated power often and the other one clearly never reaches rated power. It also becomes more significant in quieter rigs which generally tend to run hotter, or when ambient temp in the room is often high (like in sub/tropical places w/o aircon).

In my early silencing years, when PSU efficiency was 70~75% max, I burned through a number of 300W Seasonic (and other) PSUs which I ran at perhaps 1/3 or less of rated power but with super low fan speed in relatively hot PCs. Similar rigs with 400W models survived longer, and one w/o a modified fan (ie normal airflow) in an early file server never died.

Just my experience.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Sat Sep 06, 2014 4:20 am

I agree with mike to some extent, specially the multiple drives will make much more noise than the setup PSU, that said i think the RM series should fit well, specially with the price being so low, given that its not Corsair top line, it offer a lot for the money considering semi passive, fully modular, and gold rated. There has been some issues with some line that IIRC they were fixed in newer batches, but reviews from users seems to point they are good PSUs, and with it being semi passive to me its a good thing, having the fan for when it needs it just gives me piece of mind for 24/7 operation. None the less these are not the best PSU out there, and we haven't had the luck of SPCR to review them, so its up to you into what is good enough for you.

Btw mike... is there any plans on reviewing any of the Corsair RM series?
quest_for_silence wrote:Since your abuse of video surveillance and frequence in visiting hotels I will start to think that something is rotten in the state of Denm... err, Guatemala. :wink:
LoL, =)

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:04 am

MikeC wrote:In my early silencing years, when PSU efficiency was 70~75% max, I burned through a number of 300W Seasonic (and other) PSUs which I ran at perhaps 1/3 or less of rated power but with super low fan speed in relatively hot PCs. Similar rigs with 400W models survived longer, and one w/o a modified fan (ie normal airflow) in an early file server never died.

Just my experience.
Point taken, althought IMO it doesn't seem the case of the RM-series (but maybe you was thinking about another platform for that specific job).

And, just to be clear: your experience is priceless for our community.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:17 am

samuelmorris wrote:a single SSD and 18 WD Green/Red hard disks (the system will hold a maximum of 20, which I may run at some stage).
Just one thing, given that its over doing it, i still followed what Lime tech community seem to agree and recommend for their servers, The Power Supply Thread
A good PSU for unRaid has the following:

1. Single 12 volt rail. A subsequent figures refer to the 12 volt rail.
2. The minimum capacity that can power your build. Any more will just waste power. All drives will be in use during startup, shutdown, parity check, parity build, failed drive emulation, and drive rebuild, but startup requires the most power.
3. 2 amps (24 watts) per green drive and 3 amps (36 watts) per non-green drive on the 12 volt rail.
4. 5 amps (60 watts) for the motherboard on the 12 volt rail.
If you decide to follow this recommendation, for 20 green drive setup at least look into a PSU that has 20x2 + 5 = 45amps on the 12V rail. Corsair has the following amp rattings on their RM series,

RM450 = 37.5A
RM550 = 45.8A
RM650 = 54A
RM750 = 62.5A
RM850 = 70.8A

So... RM550 or above should be fine to furfill the limetech recommendation.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:31 am

Thanks for the insights guys. I'm definitely going to be heading down the single-rail route I think, but the definitive role for this server isn't set in stone, I'd like any PSU that costs me a fair amount to be capable of handling a change in role for the server later down the line, e.g. if it should become a video encoding box. It currently stores a lot of video but the gaming PCs handle the encoding tasks as they have more powerful CPUs. I'm conscious of course that the motherboard/CPU/GPU/RAM in this PC are now all in excess of 5 years of age, so at some point it may be upgraded, and at that time I'll take the decision whether to do anything else with it or keep it just primarily as a storage box (if the latter, obviously the HD4830 can come out and be replaced with integrated graphics in the CPU). Given the valid point about disk noise (they're all sub-15dB drives according to SPCR though, and don't serve large numbers of users so won't be seeking all day, thus even if I stick some WD60EFRX disks in the noise level will remain low - that said, they are all in hot-swap caddies so the airborne noise they do produce is exposed directly to the room), I think semi-fanless seems a bit of a waste of time. My primary concern is that around the 200-250W DC level with the system warm, the PSU remains quiet, I would say ideally below 20dB. This way, even if the CPU is loaded up on a task, the system's not going to get loud. I effectively use this box as a terminal server when away from home / at work, so it has been known for browser tabs to be sitting eating 1 or 2 CPU cores, and while the noise of the system is a nice alert to bring this to my attention, I don't want a PSU that starts making a lot of noise when this occurs.

Having measured the system draw at startup (no staggered spin-up) I think 2A is massively over the top for green drives. As far as I can tell, even the first-of-a-size 4-platter WD green drives are pulling less than 1A at spinup due to the low spin-up rate. With the Q9550 (not very idle efficient), X48-DS4 (not very idle efficient), HD4830 (not very idle efficient) and 18 WD greens, the power draw at AC at spinup is 350W or so tops, which after PSU efficiency can only be a maximum of about 25A all-in. I'd place the idle for the rest of the system probably somewhere around 6-7A given the components involved, which places the drives at around an amp each, no more.

On the other hand, I do want a reasonable bit of headroom for the reasons stated above, as well as to keep the PSU below too high a load level, given the 24/7 nature of the system. Given an estimated peak (boot draw) of the system of 320W ish, I think 500W is probably sufficient.
Looking at the PSU table article, nothing much seems to have topped the NX-5000 for noise characteristics except for the Seasonic X-650 which is well over the double the price I paid for the Nexus, and admittedly overkill!
Would be nice to see an SPCR-standard article for the RM series...

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:33 am

Abula wrote:Btw mike... is there any plans on reviewing any of the Corsair RM series?

Do you think is it necessary (to recognize it as a valuable platform)?

Anyway, give a read to that comparison and play with the graphs (it requires Google translator, unless you speak german, but the graphs don't work in the translation).

Abula wrote:So... RM550 or above should be fine to furfill the limetech recommendation.

Also, AFAIK staggering spin-up should help.

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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:46 am

samuelmorris wrote:I think 2A is massively over the top for green drives.

As far as I recall, 3Tb Green are rated for 1.78A +12VDC (I mean, not so massively distant from 2A).

samuelmorris wrote:nothing much seems to have topped the NX-5000 for noise characteristics except for the Seasonic X-650

The Nexuses were extremely quiet units: on the other hand, they were cheaply built and underperforming with reference to most of contemporary PSU of similar price.
Probably similar (to the Nexuses) units are some BeQuiet ones, nowadays, like the above quoted E9 or the upcoming E10 (I mean, very quiet, a tad cheapishly built, usually overpriced, but with a fairly long warranty).

samuelmorris
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by samuelmorris » Sat Sep 06, 2014 5:53 am

That cheap manufacture was one of the reasons I was concerned about using them initially, but fortunately that proved pretty much a non-issue, at least until now. Definitely need to sort this at the start of next week though, could hardly sleep through the racket it was making last night :D

Yeah reading the spec table now I can see the 1.78A figure - all I can say that in practice they're not using anything like that much. In any case, if I take the 6-7A 12V figure for the rest of the system and consider 1.78A for all 18 disks I come out with 39A needed - let's call it a round 40. At 45.8A that places the RM550 at under 90% capacity worst case.

I have a Nexus Value 430W in the PC I now use at work which I've had for longer, but that's not had anything like as many hours use as the NX-5000 and has probably run cooler most of its life too, being at the bottom of an NZXT Whisper.

Abula
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Re: Suitable replacement for NX-5000 R3

Post by Abula » Sat Sep 06, 2014 6:07 am

Nexus units came in a time where we had very noisy PSU and thus its strength, but as Quest posted, they had nothing amazing aside from their noisy, their components were subpar, that said i have friends live with $25 psu for years and nothing happens, but to some do. But we have come a long way from those times, today most are not as noisy as they were, specially because there is no as much cooling as it used to be needed, the newer psu have less power wasted on heat. Personally i still swear by Seasonic, their gold and platinum series are to me the best PSU in the market, Superflower also seems like a very good top end option, but its expensive to get them specially their Leadex line.... $500 for PSU is out of what im willing to pay, even if its the best, although i do have dreams about it... =)

But overall i feel the Corsair RM series offer a good PSU for what it costs, and what im recommending unless people are willing to spend more and risk the Seasonic coil whinning, that hasn't happen to me in 4 different psu.

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