Supermicro/Ablecom Redundant PSU Modifications

[TheBay]

I have a dual redundant PSU set up in my Supermicro SC745TQ-R800B, The PSU's are PWS-801-1R. I only use one of them at the moment, I may use them redundantly but think there is no need and will just keep one as a spare outside the chassis (It alarm's if you don't have power to one)

The issue I have is noise, each one will sit at 22 - 25 degrees when under load, but the fans lowest idle speed is around 5000rpm, which is what they constantly sit at.

I'm wondering if there is a way of modifying these so they spin a bit slower, I'm not thinking an inline resistor or anything, I wondered if there is a potentiometer that can be adjusted or anything flashed to it's logic (It must have logic as it reports status to motherboard).

I've already swapped the 4 central fans and rear fan to the same as what the "SQ-Superquiet" version use. I would have gone for the SQ model, but the PSU is way overkill and rated something silly like 1200~1400 watt!

I don't really want to go purchasing new PSU's either as it's a brand new chassis.

Not sure if anyone has done anything like this but thought i'd ask.

 

[badatSAS]

The real question is how much wattage do you need for the machine you have in the case?

I just took out my PWS-702A-1R power supplies, carefully unscrewed the power distribution backplane, and jammed a PWS-361-1H (360 watt 80 Plus Silver) power supply into one of the empty holes, and plugged the wires from it directly into my mobo/disks.

The startup noise is about the same as the steady-state idle noise from the 702A-1R, but then it quiets down to (some decibels quieter than my managed switch that make it effectively silent)

The PWS-361-1H was $20 shipped here in the US, vs $200 for the 500 watt supermicro platinum power supply that should also be very very quiet. But they all come back to "how much power do you need"

 

[TheBay]

The real question is how much wattage do you need for the machine you have in the case?

I just took out my PWS-702A-1R power supplies, carefully unscrewed the power distribution backplane, and jammed a PWS-361-1H (360 watt 80 Plus Silver) power supply into one of the empty holes, and plugged the wires from it directly into my mobo/disks.

The startup noise is about the same as the steady-state idle noise from the 702A-1R, but then it quiets down to (some decibels quieter than my managed switch that make it effectively silent)

The PWS-361-1H was $20 shipped here in the US, vs $200 for the 500 watt supermicro platinum power supply that should also be very very quiet. But they all come back to "how much power do you need"

Well this case is really designed for earlier power hungry Xeon chips from a few years ago hence the large supply, not to mention feeds for 3 graphics cards coming off the PSU!.

I'm running a E-3 1230V2 which is a low power Xeon as we all know, coupled currently with 8x Hitachi 2T 5K3000's, running off a LSI SAS2308 based card (LSI 9207-8i), it's going to have a RAID 1 or RAID 1-0 card soon with 4x 2.5" SSD or Hitachi laptop drives.

I'd estimate 450-500 watt tops? Especially with staggered spin up. I've been eying up the slot in 500watt redundant platinum supermicro PSU but it's pricey!

Both my 800watt are brand new, i'm sure they will fetch something on the bay?

Also why do you guys in the US get supermicro gear cheaper than us in the UK, it's not fair it's bad enough seeing things less in dollars than it is in pounds, but if I went to the states and bought it, it would be nearly half that price again with the exchange rate!

Looks like those 1U PSU's will go straight in!

 

[badatSAS]

I bet if you do the math you'll find your power requirements are much lower than 500 even peak. I used a P3 Kill-A-Watt wattage meter on mine before downgrading my power supply, but some of the other numbers are guestimates

Mobo+CPU (Xeon E3-1230v2 + Intel S1200BTLR+32GB RAM): 120 watts high end, 100 watts power-on, ~70 watts idle (these are my actual readings)
LSI 9207: 10W according to internet
8x5K3000: 100W (~12W x8) spinup only, 5W idle
4x2.5 SSD: 10 watts total?
--------------------------
240W peak


The PWS-361-1H was the same height+width as our power supplies but shorter, I did need to use an 8" 8-pin extension cable, and a few molex drive extension/splitter cables, but these are cheap. I haven't decided if I want to secure the PS into the case better, in which case I'll just need to drill one hole along the power supply "shelf". This PS also had 4A on the 5Vsb line, which I needed a minimum of 3A for my IPMI motherboard.

It's been quiet and solid in my SC745 since install.


Supermicro PWS 361 1H 360W 1U Redundant Single Type Power Supply w PFC | eBay This is the guy I bought mine from - looks like it would only cost $25 to ship it to you over the pond, so $38 total if you wanted one =)

*** Just realized the PWS-361-1H is actually rated for 400W on a 220V line, as opposed to 360 on our 110V

 

[TheBay]

I bet if you do the math you'll find your power requirements are much lower than 500 even peak. I used a P3 Kill-A-Watt wattage meter on mine before downgrading my power supply, but some of the other numbers are guestimates

Mobo+CPU (Xeon E3-1230v2 + Intel S1200BTLR+32GB RAM): 120 watts high end, 100 watts power-on, ~70 watts idle (these are my actual readings)
LSI 9207: 10W according to internet
8x5K3000: 100W (~12W x8) spinup only, 5W idle
4x2.5 SSD: 10 watts total?
--------------------------
240W peak


The PWS-361-1H was the same height+width as our power supplies but shorter, I did need to use an 8" 8-pin extension cable, and a few molex drive extension/splitter cables, but these are cheap. I haven't decided if I want to secure the PS into the case better, in which case I'll just need to drill one hole along the power supply "shelf". This PS also had 4A on the 5Vsb line, which I needed a minimum of 3A for my IPMI motherboard.

It's been quiet and solid in my SC745 since install.


Supermicro PWS 361 1H 360W 1U Redundant Single Type Power Supply w PFC | eBay This is the guy I bought mine from - looks like it would only cost $25 to ship it to you over the pond, so $38 total if you wanted one =)

*** Just realized the PWS-361-1H is actually rated for 400W on a 220V line, as opposed to 360 on our 110V

Is that your build above?, very similar to mine apart from mainboard!

Thanks for the link, yeah still cheap imported (not sure what custom tax will be like though).
Is there much of an effort getting it in or do things need to be cut and hacked? Would love to see a picture if it's not any hassle and you have one handy.

I'll drill a hole where it ends and use a rubber grommet to feed the cables through.


This should cover your hole if this PSU is the same width as the old one : CSE-PT0130L
Or could be trimmed.

*EDIT* Looks like no custom tax as it's under £36, that's if they don't include shipping costs...

 

[Biren78]

I bet if you do the math you'll find your power requirements are much lower than 500 even peak. I used a P3 Kill-A-Watt wattage meter on mine before downgrading my power supply, but some of the other numbers are guestimates

Mobo+CPU (Xeon E3-1230v2 + Intel S1200BTLR+32GB RAM): 120 watts high end, 100 watts power-on, ~70 watts idle (these are my actual readings)
LSI 9207: 10W according to internet
8x5K3000: 100W (~12W x8) spinup only, 5W idle
4x2.5 SSD: 10 watts total?
--------------------------
240W peak


The PWS-361-1H was the same height+width as our power supplies but shorter, I did need to use an 8" 8-pin extension cable, and a few molex drive extension/splitter cables, but these are cheap. I haven't decided if I want to secure the PS into the case better, in which case I'll just need to drill one hole along the power supply "shelf". This PS also had 4A on the 5Vsb line, which I needed a minimum of 3A for my IPMI motherboard.

It's been quiet and solid in my SC745 since install.


Supermicro PWS 361 1H 360W 1U Redundant Single Type Power Supply w PFC | eBay This is the guy I bought mine from - looks like it would only cost $25 to ship it to you over the pond, so $38 total if you wanted one =)

*** Just realized the PWS-361-1H is actually rated for 400W on a 220V line, as opposed to 360 on our 110V

Have pictures of this mod?

 

[badatSAS]

Is that your build above?, very similar to mine apart from mainboard!

The motherboard +cpu is, the rest of it I used your info and calculated instead

Is there much of an effort getting it in or do things need to be cut and hacked? Would love to see a picture if it's not any hassle and you have one handy.

I'll drill a hole where it ends and use a rubber grommet to feed the cables through.

I didn't do any cutting or drilling at all, just pulled the wires through after unscrewing the distribution board. There were 3 screws holding the distribution board in, two are on top and one is in the middle of all of the wires. I needed to unscrew one of the fan brackets to get my screwdriver at the right angle, but that's easy =) You could drill the hole, but it would be big - needs to get the ATX connector...

10 minute start to finish.

This should cover your hole if this PSU is the same width as the old one : CSE-PT0130L
Or could be trimmed.

I only had one PS, so I had the cover already


Pics:
Back of case (This is the 360 watt power supply in the top slot, blank in the bottom)

Where the wires come out, cover removed

Cover put back on

 

[TheBay]

That looks original!, nice mod.
What is it like in terms of sound?, can you hear it at all. looking at the dimensions of the drive if I drill a hole where it ends the ATX 8 Pin "Should" drop down with no extender needed.

Have you swapped the middle fans for the SQ ones?, I picked mine up for £4 each

Get a FAN-0103L4 on the rear, they look lovely and also silent.
http://www.boston.co.uk/productimage.ashx?data=fan-0103l4&width=350&height=350

 

[badatSAS]

I'm going to shut off my switch later to see how much noise the PS is making, will add back nonce I've done so - but I can't hear it over my (1U) cisco switch.

I bought my 8-pin extension for $4 shipped, I'd rather do that then drill into the case if possible, I also didn't want to take the motherboard out or worry about metal shavings getting onto the motherboard from drilling with it in.

I do have the SQ fans in the middle, cost me $15/ea, and I can't find the FAN-0103L4 for less than $30 shipped anywhere states side Honestly, I think it's exhausting passively fine but if it stops i'll probably zip-tie a 120mm fan on the back and call it a day. If I ever see a fan-0103L4 pop up on ebay for $15 or less I'll grab it however =)

Also, please ignore that Samsung 840 laying next to the motherboard in the 3rd pic, I know it shouldn't be there but my SSD-5.25" adapter didn't come yet.

 

[TheBay]

I'm going to shut off my switch later to see how much noise the PS is making, will add back nonce I've done so - but I can't hear it over my (1U) cisco switch.

I bought my 8-pin extension for $4 shipped, I'd rather do that then drill into the case if possible, I also didn't want to take the motherboard out or worry about metal shavings getting onto the motherboard from drilling with it in.

I do have the SQ fans in the middle, cost me $15/ea, and I can't find the FAN-0103L4 for less than $30 shipped anywhere states side Honestly, I think it's exhausting passively fine but if it stops i'll probably zip-tie a 120mm fan on the back and call it a day. If I ever see a fan-0103L4 pop up on ebay for $15 or less I'll grab it however =)

Also, please ignore that Samsung 840 laying next to the motherboard in the 3rd pic, I know it shouldn't be there but my SSD-5.25" adapter didn't come yet.

Good point about metal shavings, if the board was out though it would work but that's hassle for you.

As an alternative get FAN-0091L4 (Cheaper as most people upgrade to the FAN-0103L4 or just remove it) and fit any widely available PWM fan of your choice, it's the same housing as FAN-0103L4.

 

[TheBay]

I bet if you do the math you'll find your power requirements are much lower than 500 even peak. I used a P3 Kill-A-Watt wattage meter on mine before downgrading my power supply, but some of the other numbers are guestimates

Mobo+CPU (Xeon E3-1230v2 + Intel S1200BTLR+32GB RAM): 120 watts high end, 100 watts power-on, ~70 watts idle (these are my actual readings)
LSI 9207: 10W according to internet
8x5K3000: 100W (~12W x8) spinup only, 5W idle
4x2.5 SSD: 10 watts total?
--------------------------
240W peak


The PWS-361-1H was the same height+width as our power supplies but shorter, I did need to use an 8" 8-pin extension cable, and a few molex drive extension/splitter cables, but these are cheap. I haven't decided if I want to secure the PS into the case better, in which case I'll just need to drill one hole along the power supply "shelf". This PS also had 4A on the 5Vsb line, which I needed a minimum of 3A for my IPMI motherboard.

It's been quiet and solid in my SC745 since install.


Supermicro PWS 361 1H 360W 1U Redundant Single Type Power Supply w PFC | eBay This is the guy I bought mine from - looks like it would only cost $25 to ship it to you over the pond, so $38 total if you wanted one =)

*** Just realized the PWS-361-1H is actually rated for 400W on a 220V line, as opposed to 360 on our 110V

Thanks for the link and info, did you buy from the same seller?

Just gone for one of these, came in at £26 inc shipping, have mailed him to see if he can do a deal on an extra one with shipping, should be able to sell my 800watt units as they are brand new, My UPS is reporting 240v line voltage here so should easily cope with a 400watt rated load if needed.

 

[badatSAS]

That is exactly who I bought it from. Sorry I haven't switched off the switch yet to hear the PSU - every time I think to do it my wife is playing <some stupid game on facebook> and she'd kill me. I ordered some new 6" patch cables to neaten up my rack so there will be forced downtime in the next week or so at some point =)

 

[TheBay]

I don't think English is his native language and ended up having a nightmare ordering 2!, so just went back on and clicked buy it now again. Hope it turns up

As long as it's not louder than my 3000KVa UPS then that's fine

 

[TheBay]

How many Molex extensions did you need to use and what length?, I need to run 2x to the Backplane and will the existing ones reach the 5.25 bay with a Molex to Sata cable?

 

[Stanza]

Gday all,

Sorryto drag this back from the dead but.......


I just received 3 of these PWS-361-1H psu's

Actually mine are labeled PWS-361-P-1H (eg has a sticker over the end part with the P-1H on it)

Looking here
Super Micro Computer, Inc. - Products | Chassis | 1U | SC111LT-360CB

it lists both
PWS-361-1H
PWS-361P-1H << guess it's the same as the three I received ??

anyone know the difference?

Mine won't fire up the motherboard...... Motherboard / fans etc start, but then shutoff straight away.
Motherboard is an ASROCK FM2A88X Extreme6+

Motherboard works fine with a PWS-521-1H psu

Only difference I can see are that the PWS-361-P-1H has an extra white wire on pin 20 which I believe from looking at 24pin specs is a -5V line
And the PWS-521 has a brown wire pairing with the orange wire of pin 13 and is without the white wire on pin 20

PSU fires up fine and seems correct using one of those cheapo ebay PSU tester/things
eg 20 24 PIN PSU ATX Sata HDD Power Supply Tester FOR PC Computer BK K2MA | eBay

Get all green light on RHS of it apart from the -5V Led
Which does the same for the PWS-521 PSU

PWS-361-P-1H also has an P8 plug (white wire + with with green trace) that I don't know what it's for? (but has same 4pin connector as most supermicro psu's/motherboards to monitor the psu "smbus?"
looking here http://www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/files/power_supply/PSU_cableList.pdf I gather my guess is correct?
Does this NEED to be hooked up?

That PDF also states the PWS-361-1H is standard ATX24pin

Failing all the above... I tried unplugging the white -5V line, but still she won't fire up.

Any ideas? or have I just purchased 3 door stops?

 

[OBasel]

Does it work on another motherboard? Usually smbus only provides sensor info to mobos?

 

[Stanza]

Does it work on another motherboard? Usually smbus only provides sensor info to mobos?

Have not tried anything else as yet.....

hmmm have to see what I have here, that I don't mind frying just in case

 

[Stanza]

So tried it in another machine

Supermicro SUPER SERVER 6015V-MT
Fires up fine.
So both PSU's 361 and 521 work fine in it

but only the 521 works properly with the ASROCK board?

Emailed support @ supermicro and they said
PWS-361-1H
PWS-361P-1H

are the same.

So whats going on here? some incompatibility with the ASROCK board and the 361 PSU but what?

 

[Stanza]

Anyone got an idea?

This is driving me mad.... I can only think it's maybe something to do with the power good section? and the ASROCK board thinks or doesn't see the power good from psu and shuts it back off?

 

[MikeC]

The only thing I can think of is the power good timing as referenced here

Power good signal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In particular "Power good values are often considered abnormal if detected lower than 100ms or higher than 900ms" It's a long shot, I know but having been considering this since your original post, it's all I can think of!
The only way I know of checking this is with one of these

ATX Power Supply Tester 20 24 Pin Sata LCD PSU HD ATX BTX Voltage Test Source UK | eBay

Unfortunately that's a UK only listing but that might give you an idea of what to look for. It's also the only tester I've seen that does test the power good timing.
By the way pin 20 is supposedly not connected according to the Wikipedia ATX spec!

HTH