Do I need to replace my PSU?

[Shahmatt]

I recently repurposed my 10 year old PC into an UNRAID server. The specs as follows with associated age:

i3-2100 + Biostar TZ68A+ : 10 years
Crucial M4 64GB : 8 years
Kingston 1x4GB DDR3: 10 years
2x1TB WD Red WD10EFRX: 7 years (checks say they are good)
1x4TB Toshiba S300 HDWT740: New
FSP Aurum 400W Gold PSU: 10 years

As the server is on for most of the day I have been trying to optimize power. Currently I have whittled it down to around 28W idle, 50W server load. At boot the system ramps up to around 60W.

Looking at the mobo carefully I don't see any bloated capacitors. I think they are mostly in good condition.

I don't know what the insides of the PSU looks like, but I guess there can be some efficiency loss. What kind of loss could I be expecting for such an old PSU, especially if I am idling at 28W?

If I want to replace the PSU is there anything I can choose that gives me good efficiency for a power envelope of up to say, 90W.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Edit: To be clear, the purpose of a new PSU would be to try to reduce idle power even more.

 

[obichacha]

i think your system quite old already, should change the whole system.
no point to change PSU and the rest still keep as 10 yrs ago stuff.

 

[NightRaven49]

I don't know what the insides of the PSU looks like, but I guess there can be some efficiency loss. What kind of loss could I be expecting for such an old PSU, especially if I am idling at 28W?

at such a low power usage (<10% of rated full power), psu does have substantially lower efficiency in percentage terms compared to load efficiency. however, this is true of most psus; high efficiency at 10% load is only guaranteed under the 80+ titanium spec, which tend to be high power units that are overkill for ur use case and will probably cost more than the rest of the system combined. anyway u probably arent losing a whole lot from inefficiency in absolute terms at this kind of power usage (single digit watts), and swapping ur psu might see some improvement but i would imagine not enough to justify the cost. if anything, ur drives are probably accounting for about half of that idle usage before losses.

 

[Shahmatt]

at such a low power usage (<10% of rated full power), psu does have substantially lower efficiency in percentage terms compared to load efficiency. however, this is true of most psus; high efficiency at 10% load is only guaranteed under the 80+ titanium spec, which tend to be high power units that are overkill for ur use case and will probably cost more than the rest of the system combined. anyway u probably arent losing a whole lot from inefficiency in absolute terms at this kind of power usage, and swapping ur psu would yield nothing more than hole in ur wallet. if anything, ur drives are probably accounting for about half of that idle usage before losses.

Thanks for your reply. The idle power is for CPU + mono + cache drive (SSD). The HDDs are spun down in this measurement. For most of the day this will be the power consumption.

I am looking at some of those low watt (e.g. 120 to 150W) DC-ATX PSUs available from China. They advertise 85% efficiency but not sure how true.

 

[Goodshot]

This system is so old already just let it go ba

 

[Shahmatt]

This system is so old already just let it go ba

Why? It is perfect for a NAS system.

 

[jtjt00]

Why? It is perfect for a NAS system.

Because any time going forward, it can refuse to boot.

 

[86technie]

A cheap NAS system can cost around $2XX (Without hard disk).
Overhaul will be better as such a old system eventually it will die out.

 

[Shahmatt]

Because any time going forward, it can refuse to boot.

A cheap NAS system can cost around $2XX (Without hard disk).
Overhaul will be better as such a old system eventually it will die out.

The only real weakpoint is the PSU, which I want to replace. Other things just replace when they fail. It will only be a minor inconvenience. Data will still all be preserved in HDDs with redundancy. NAS ROM is loaded from USB stick so no problem.

 

[86technie]

The only real weakpoint is the PSU, which I want to replace. Other things just replace when they fail. It will only be a minor inconvenience. Data will still all be preserved in HDDs with redundancy. NAS ROM is loaded from USB stick so no problem.

Err... problem is given the age even if you replace the PSU other components can fail.
You really have to ask what you want to acheive or do.
If Low wattage NAS than get a proper NAS but if you feel $200
is a lot than look for second hand.

Unless is this type of desktop than it is energy efficient since the CPU it uses is Intel T series.

Average desktop usually draw around 200 watt including all the components not just the CPU.
A proper nas can consume as low as 20 watt so you have to ask yourself what do you want to achieve.

 

[Shahmatt]

Err... problem is given the age even if you replace the PSU other components can fail.
You really have to ask what you want to acheive or do.
If Low wattage NAS than get a proper NAS but if you feel $200
is a lot than look for second hand.

Unless is this type of desktop than it is energy efficient since the CPU it uses is Intel T series.

Average desktop usually draw around 200 watt including all the components not just the CPU.
A proper nas can consume as low as 20 watt so you have to ask yourself what do you want to achieve.

Nothing that can fail is vital. If mobo, CPU or RAM fails I will just buy a replacement. Until then why not use?

As mentioned in first post, current power consumption is 28W idle from the wall. Maybe new PSU will cut it further. Cut more if I can find a passive heatsink.

 

[wtfh4x]

I wouldn't bother changing the PSU, I doubt the few watts in efficiency is worth the cost of buying a new PSU for. The difference in efficiency is usually negligible at such a low load and the power drawn is so little that even a 10% efficiency improvement on 28W is just 2.8W. If the improvement is 2.8W, you'll have to run the PSU for 300 hours or almost 2 weeks 24/7 before it saves you 30 cents or 1kWh on the electricity bill. Looks like you'll have to run it for 6-8 years 24/7 to break even on the cost of a passive DC PSU + power brick.

 

[Shahmatt]

I wouldn't bother changing the PSU, I doubt the few watts in efficiency is worth the cost of buying a new PSU for. The difference in efficiency is usually negligible at such a low load and the power drawn is so little that even a 10% efficiency improvement on 28W is just 2.8W. If the improvement is 2.8W, you'll have to run the PSU for 300 hours or almost 2 weeks 24/7 before it saves you 30 cents or 1kWh on the electricity bill. Looks like you'll have to run it for 6-8 years 24/7 to break even on the cost of a passive DC PSU + power brick.

Main reason behind buying a new PSU is to have reliable power sent to all components including new drives. Efficiency gains could be a nice to have secondary benefit.

 

[wtfh4x]

Main reason behind buying a new PSU is to have reliable power sent to all components including new drives. Efficiency gains could be a nice to have secondary benefit.

Yeah you didn't mention that at any point. I still wouldn't bother replacing it though, with that little power drawn the PSU is barely at 10% load and is thus unlikely to fail because it's not under any significant load, even though it may be getting a little bit old. Even if it does fail, given that it's a quality unit, it shouldn't break anything and you can simply get a lower wattage PSU then.

 

[Shahmatt]

Yeah you didn't mention that at any point. I still wouldn't bother replacing it though, with that little power drawn the PSU is barely at 10% load and is thus unlikely to fail because it's not under any significant load, even though it may be getting a little bit old. Even if it does fail, given that it's a quality unit, it shouldn't break anything and you can simply get a lower wattage PSU then.

Sorry I realize I should have said that after talking about bloated capacitors on mobo. My mistake.

How do I tell that this PSU won't cause damage? Failing capacitors can cause unstable voltage on the drives. Is it worth the risk?

 

[86technie]

Sorry I realize I should have said that after talking about bloated capacitors on mobo. My mistake.

How do I tell that this PSU won't cause damage? Failing capacitors can cause unstable voltage on the drives. Is it worth the risk?

Put it simple what you wish to do:

- Save this desktop than change the PSU
- Setup a NAS than get a proper NAS.
Many here don't recommend changing the PSU so you can use it as NAS.
Cuz you say by changing PSU will reduce power consumption which is not true.
A real NAS than can consume as little as 20 watt but not a desktop.

 

[wtfh4x]

Sorry I realize I should have said that after talking about bloated capacitors on mobo. My mistake.

How do I tell that this PSU won't cause damage? Failing capacitors can cause unstable voltage on the drives. Is it worth the risk?

No worries. Any half-decent PSU will shutdown to prevent damage as soon as voltage goes out of whack. You can also check the voltages in BIOS. IMO worries about PSUs are highly exaggerated, especially in this scenario where the PSU is really under no strain at all. OEM PCs run PSUs much worse quality than this for their lifetimes, since they are not power-hungry systems there is rarely any problem at all.

 

[Shahmatt]

No worries. Any half-decent PSU will shutdown to prevent damage as soon as voltage goes out of whack. You can also check the voltages in BIOS. IMO worries about PSUs are highly exaggerated, especially in this scenario where the PSU is really under no strain at all. OEM PCs run PSUs much worse quality than this for their lifetimes, since they are not power-hungry systems there is rarely any problem at all.

Thanks for the advice. It is good to know I don't have to change the PSU.