Delivering enough power?

[Liger86]

I just got done discussing a "power managment problem" with a friend.

Roughly what im gearing towards is powering a high end graphics card with high end CPU, example AMD-FX60 and 7900 GTX run in SLI. Also the system has 10 (ten) hard drives, 10 hard disks.

Obviously a 400Watt PSU wont handle all of this, right? So, how stupid or not is it to modify the case to have 2 PSUs. Of course it has to be a big enough case, thats obvious.

Will there be any sort of problems or negative outcome on having 2 really powerfull PSU close together? Aproximatly 1200watts total.

The scenario is that one PSU would feed the motherboard and video cards and the second PSU will power only hard disks and CD drive.

Does anyone see this layout as a hazard?

[rwmarsh]

Well, they do make very powerful single PSU's (900+ watts). Check this one out, it may be useful, and would be easier than modifing a case to accept 2 PSU's.

[Liger86]

$349.99 is kind of a lot of money, it seams like 2 $70 PSUs would be cheaper...

[rwmarsh]

Just an example, the first one I found...

[Mario F.]

I don't see much of a problem having two PSUs somewhat close together. If the case supports it (I don't anything anything short of a Mid-T will), go ahead.

You just want to make sure you buy top notch material. Don't be greedy. If you have 10 HDs there (god knows why), just make an extra effort and buy 2 good PSUs designed to dissipate as much heat as possible.

[Liger86]

I don't see much of a problem having two PSUs somewhat close together. If the case supports it (I don't anything anything short of a Mid-T will), go ahead.

You just want to make sure you buy top notch material. Don't be greedy. If you have 10 HDs there (god knows why), just make an extra effort and buy 2 good PSUs designed to dissipate as much heat as possible.

For sure a case is a full tower with some room on the bottom to be modified to use 2 PSUs, and of course good ventilation for the HDs. But my main concern is figuring out possible hazards. And finally a little thinking when it comes to turning on both PSUs with the front power button...

[CornedBee]

Indeed - ATX PSUs are soft-controlled, so you'd have to find a way to coordinate them.

I found this:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=78807
And this:
http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...ply-guide.html

Google rules.
http://www.google.at/search?q=multip...utf-8&oe=utf-8

[Liger86]

Indeed - ATX PSUs are soft-controlled, so you'd have to find a way to coordinate them.

I found this:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...ad.php?t=78807
And this:
http://www.overclock.net/power-suppl...ply-guide.html

Google rules.
http://www.google.at/search?q=multip...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Those are some really good links indeed thanks for the help. The one I found most interesting is the second one, now i know which wires need to be jumped simultaniously with the main PSU for example to be able to have them both start at the same time when i press the power button.

[Mario F.]

There will be an excess of heat in-around the PSUs. That's what I mean. Not the HDs. Being a full tower I guess is good as long as there is some space between each PSU (don't do this if they are going to be touching each other). A cheap PSU not always offers good ventilation. They tend to get very hot.

You are now going to have two, inside a closed case in which fans are what separates a working machine from a meltdown. I would really suggest you spend good money on the PSUs.

And... a extra fan for your case blowing out. Actually, perfect would be an extra pair of fans. One blowing in and another out. If you don't want to spend on the PSUs, at least consider the case fans.

[psychopath]

Keeping your rig in a large container filled with liquid nitrogen may also be benificial.

[Liger86]

liquid nitrogen may also be benificial.

trying to keep the system as maintence free as possible.

If you have 10 HDs there (god knows why),

Well why do you think blockbuster has unlimited rentals for $27 or something like that a month? *lightbulb*