Is this behavior normal on an SC846?

[briandm81]

So I'm finally getting around to putting my FreeNAS build together. When I plug in the power supply...it turns fully on. Fans go into high gear and then calm back down a bit. Still super loud. I'll fix the loud part with a power supply swap. But...is it normal for power supply to spin up completely before I power on the system? I honestly thought my system wasn't posting because I thought it was running. Then I pushed the power button...and it fully came to life. My other SC846 does not do this. It just sits there silently until I turn it on. Am I missing something? The FreeNAS build with the issue is a 846E1-R900B. My other one is an 846E16-R1200B.

 

[britinpdx]

A number of the SM power supplies will spin the fans as soon as AC power is connected, irrespective of DC load being consumed. Older generation power supplies are noticeably worse. A simple test would be to pull the PSU from the "silent" chassis and try it in the "loud" chassis.

I've replaced all my old SM power supplies for reasons of noise and efficiency. The "Gold Rated" PWS-721P-1R (720W) and PWS-1K21P-1R (1200W) can be often found for $30~40 on eBay. The "Platinum Rated" PWS-501P-1R (500W), PWS-741P-1R (740W) and PWS-920P-1R (920W) are usually more expensive, but may have a slight noise reduction. If you can find them at a reasonable price, the PWS-920P-SQ (super quiet) are indeed very quiet.

 

[briandm81]

Excellent idea. Ithe just so happens that my other system is powered down atm anyway. I just tried it and you are right. It did spin up, it is just completely silent. So I just need another one of these 1200s then. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Fritz]

I avoid Ablecom PSU's. I find them much noisier that SM branded PSU's. The 920 SQ is indeed very quiet. I have one in my workstation about 2ft away and I can't hear it at all over the noise of the 6 chassis fans + 2 CPU fans.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

I avoid Ablecom PSU's. I find them much noisier that SM branded PSU's.

If folks could take a look at my Dirty Secret about power supplies post and report the manufacturer name, model, E-number and factory number we could probably come up with a pretty good list of what to look for and what to avoid.

Regarding Supermicro, Ablecom, and the suspicious similarity of their logos:

We use Ablecom Technology, a related party, for contract design and manufacturing coordination support. We work with Ablecom to optimize modular designs for our chassis and certain of other components. Our purchases from Ablecom represented approximately 18.1% and 23.1% of our cost of sales for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2008, respectively, and approximately 27.4% and 26.4% of our cost of sales for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2008, respectively. Ablecom’s sales to us constitute a substantial majority of Ablecom’s net sales. Ablecom is a privately-held Taiwan-based company.

Steve Liang, Ablecom’s Chief Executive Officer and largest shareholder, is the brother of Charles Liang, our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Charles Liang, and his spouse, Chiu-Chu (Sara) Liu Liang, our Vice President of Operations, Treasurer and director, jointly own approximately 30.7% of Ablecom’s outstanding common stock. Charles Liang served as a director of Ablecom during our fiscal 2006, but is not currently serving in such capacity. In addition, Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw, our Vice President of International Sales and Secretary, and a director, and his wife jointly own approximately 5.2% of Ablecom’s outstanding common stock, and collectively, Mr. Charles Liang, Ms. Liang, Mr. Liaw, Mr. Steve Liang and relatives of these individuals own over 80% of Ablecom’s outstanding common stock.

 

[Fritz]

My decision to avoid Ablecom is based on my own personal experience. In addition to being considerably noiser, I've never seen a 80 Gold, Platinum or even Bronze rated Ablecom PSU. The going prices for Ablecom PSU's on eBay tend to be considerably cheaper than the SM branded ones. Given the importance of good clean power to the health and reliability of servers, It doesn't make sense to skimp on this vital component. Most of my boxes are running SM Platinum PSU's but I have a stack of Ablecoms standing by for emergencies. Said stack came with bare chassis purchased from eBay.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

My decision to avoid Ablecom is based on my own personal experience. In addition to being considerably noiser, I've never seen a 80 Gold, Platinum or even Bronze rated Ablecom PSU. The going prices for Ablecom PSU's on eBay tend to be considerably cheaper than the SM branded ones.

More food for thought (Compuware is the manufacturer of the well-regarded 920SQ power supplies):

According to the report for the fourth quarter FY 2010, SMC also conducted a gross margin analysis on another supplier, Compuware. Prior to mid-2009, the power supplies SMC purchased from Ablecom were manufactured by Compuware. During 2009, SMC began purchasing power supplies directly from Compuware and consigning them to Ablecom for chassis production. Neither SMC’s relationship with Compuware nor its valuation practice concerning products purchased from Compuware is at issue in this ruling.

The only way to tell for sure who actually built the power supply is to look at the UL E-number. Based on the info quoted above and in my previous post in this thread, a power supply with a Supermicro, Ablecom, or Compuware label may have actually been manufacturered by any of those 3 - and perhaps even others.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

The only way to tell for sure who actually built the power supply is to look at the UL E-number. Based on the info quoted above and in my previous post in this thread, a power supply with a Supermicro, Ablecom, or Compuware label may have actually been manufacturered by any of those 3 - and perhaps even others.

And the plot thickens:

Ablecom, a Taiwan corporation, together with one of its subsidiaries, Compuware (collectively “Ablecom”), is one of the Company’s major contract manufacturers. Ablecom’s ownership of Compuware is below 50% but Compuware remains a related party as Ablecom still has significant influence over its operations. Ablecom’s chief executive officer, Steve Liang, is the brother of Charles Liang, the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Ablecom owns approximately 0.6% of the Company’s common stock. Charles Liang and his wife, also an officer of the Company, collectively own approximately 10.5% of Ablecom, while Steve Liang and other family members own approximately 36.0% of Ablecom at December 31, 2015.

So, Ablecom (which people seem to think poorly of) owns a good chunk (but less than 50%) of Compuware, which makes the highly-regarded 920SQ supplies.

And, according to Taiwan Trade, Compuware's listed owner is a Mr. Bill Liang.

Back at USCPB H169975, we find:

Bill Liang, brother of Steve and Charles Liang, is a member of the Board of Ablecom and owns 17 percent of company stock. His financial or management interest in SMC is unknown.

So, we have 3 brothers, one "owning" each of the companies in question.

 

[wookienz]

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