Power Supply Experience with staggered spin-up

wirdo

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Apr 27, 2019
19
4
Hello,

I'm currently having some issues with my new build. I'm in the process of replacing my old Dell T110 II for an SFF.
Using the Dynamo Mini power supply with an 180W power brick.

The SATA (JST b4b-xh-2) connector has a current of 3A. since it's a NAS i need to connect 4 x 3.5inch drives.
In total this will exceed the 3A which the connector is able to handle.

I've been reading something about straggered spin-up which some sata/raid controllers seem to have but cannot find anything about it.
Is there anyone here that perhaps faced the same issue?

Thanks.
 

wiretap

Average Stuffer
Apr 25, 2017
55
142
3 amps on what? 12V or 5V wire? On spin up, the average modern mechanical hard drive will draw 1.5-2.0 amps on the 12V wire and 500-700mA on the 5V wire. Usually max load read/write/seek combined is under 500mA on the 5V and under 1 amp on the 12V.

You'll have to make sure the power supply can handle the specifications of the hard drives you're wanting to use. If you can handle the steady state operation current, but might not meet the requirements of all of them spinning up at once, that's when you'll want to use staggered spin up. That option will be either on the motherboard BIOS settings if you're using onboard SATA/SAS, or it will be on the RAID/HBA controller BIOS settings. Note that all controllers don't support the staggered spin up feature, so make sure it does before you buy.
 

wirdo

Chassis Packer
Original poster
Apr 27, 2019
19
4
3 amps on what? 12V or 5V wire? On spin up, the average modern mechanical hard drive will draw 1.5-2.0 amps on the 12V wire and 500-700mA on the 5V wire. Usually max load read/write/seek combined is under 500mA on the 5V and under 1 amp on the 12V.

You'll have to make sure the power supply can handle the specifications of the hard drives you're wanting to use. If you can handle the steady state operation current, but might not meet the requirements of all of them spinning up at once, that's when you'll want to use staggered spin up. That option will be either on the motherboard BIOS settings if you're using onboard SATA/SAS, or it will be on the RAID/HBA controller BIOS settings. Note that all controllers don't support the staggered spin up feature, so make sure it does before you buy.
Well the connector used for the sata powering cable is rated at max 3A (12 + 5V) combined. As per your averages I don't think it's wise to connect 4 hard drives to that cable.
I should've looked into the specifications before ordering the PSU :)

Thanks for your input!
 
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