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How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

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    #1

    How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

    I'm thinking of setting up an older 1U server in someone's rack, but he pays for a maximum of 20 amps and I am concerned that it will overloaded.

    OTOH, with two 1U servers already running, the meter is only showing 2A.

    Let's assume there will be five servers with 4 harddrives on each, let's say each server is drawing no more than 300W. All the information I've read so far leads me to believe it should not be a problem, but what concerns me is that with video cards, people suggest there should be two rails that supply at least 15A each. If one high end video card can draw 30 amps, how can these servers be drawing such a minute amount?
    "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

    -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)
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    #2
    Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

    Originally posted by mockingbird View Post
    If one high end video card can draw 30 amps, how can these servers be drawing such a minute amount?
    A server does not have a high-end video card. Actually, some have no video card at all. Also there isn't a whole lot of dissipation capability in a 1U case, so if it's 1U you can bet it's power efficient. Or has some darn noisy fans.
    Originally posted by PeteS in CA
    Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
    A working TV? How boring!

    Comment

      #3
      Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

      So you're telling me that these videocards really draw 30 amps when I'm playing Movie Battles II maxxed out at 1280x1024 and chugging away at 30fps? I have a Radeon 2900XT, the thing is a power hog I hear, though I do have a 750W PSU in that PC.
      "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

      -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

      Comment

        #4
        Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

        12x30=480w. Not too hard to believe. Tho i believe it applies to today's high end, the 2900 is quite old.

        A quick google reveals a consumption of about 350w for the 2900.
        Originally posted by PeteS in CA
        Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
        A working TV? How boring!

        Comment

          #5
          Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

          A Kill A Watt is a cheap way to get an instant answer.
          sig files are for morons

          Comment

            #6
            Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

            WTF? A video card drawing 30A? Holy excrement!
            I'm not a gamer so I normally ignore high end video cards, but 30A?
            A 100W 20 metre HF transmitter barely gets to 20A.
            36 Monitors, 3 TVs, 4 Laptops, 1 motherboard, 1 Printer, 1 iMac, 2 hard drive docks and one IP Phone repaired so far....

            Comment

              #7
              Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

              A thing to mention the Kilawatt meters aren't true RMS.

              They claim to be on the package but when I hooked one up to my modified sine wave (square wave) UPS inverter and pulled the plug it registered 0 volts. I commend it for giving up and not registering some fictional voltage that is too low but I wish they wouldn't have lied on the package.

              Back on topic I believe you're referring to video card current draw from the PSU?

              Yes at full load they can draw up to their max current it depends on how graphics intensive the game is. A graphics card is just a GPU like a CPU the more it's loaded the more current it will draw.

              But servers don't have high end graphics cards they're not designed for that.
              Last edited by Krankshaft; 03-04-2011, 06:34 PM.
              Elements of the past and the future combining to make something not quite as good as either.

              Comment

                #8
                Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

                Originally posted by mockingbird View Post
                So you're telling me that these videocards really draw 30 amps when I'm playing Movie Battles II maxxed out at 1280x1024 and chugging away at 30fps? I have a Radeon 2900XT, the thing is a power hog I hear, though I do have a 750W PSU in that PC.
                No possible way a video card draw 30 Amps, that would be like 500Watts + cpu etc etc = 800Watts. will require a 1000Watts supply or more.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

                  Originally posted by mockingbird View Post
                  I'm thinking of setting up an older 1U server in someone's rack, but he pays for a maximum of 20 amps and I am concerned that it will overloaded.

                  OTOH, with two 1U servers already running, the meter is only showing 2A.

                  Let's assume there will be five servers with 4 harddrives on each, let's say each server is drawing no more than 300W. All the information I've read so far leads me to believe it should not be a problem, but what concerns me is that with video cards, people suggest there should be two rails that supply at least 15A each. If one high end video card can draw 30 amps, how can these servers be drawing such a minute amount?
                  You're getting confused between current drawn from the AC line (at 120 VAC) and current drawn by a video card (at 12VDC). If your video card is drawing 30 Amps, that's 360 Watts. Assuming the power supply is 80% efficient, that's less than 4 Amp from the AC line.

                  PlainBill
                  For a number of reasons, both health and personal, I will no longer be active on this board. Any PMs asking for assistance will be ignored.

                  Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

                    TDP of CPU(s) [in watts] x 1.25 [The 1.25 is for VRM efficiency/losses]
                    +plus+
                    5 to 15 watts/stick of RAM depending on what kind it is. [Google it]
                    +plus+
                    20 watts/HDD [typical watts on spin-up from dead stop]
                    +plus+
                    35 watts for basic mobo power [approximation used in most PSU calculators]
                    +plus+
                    10 watts/add-in card [general slot power is +5v, slots limited to 2 amp on +5v]
                    +plus+
                    5 watts/LAN chip [wild guess]
                    -divided by-
                    PSU effieciency
                    =Equals=
                    Pretty Darned Close [in watts]

                    Skipped Opticals because when in use the HDDs are already spun-up from a dead stop and using much less than the 20 watts.

                    .
                    Last edited by PCBONEZ; 03-16-2011, 08:05 AM.
                    Mann-Made Global Warming.
                    - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                    -
                    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                    - Dr Seuss
                    -
                    You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                    -

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: How many 1U servers can I run with 20 amps?

                      The steady state condition is not what you should look at.
                      Look at what they pull when starting up.....
                      .
                      Mann-Made Global Warming.
                      - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
                      -
                      Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
                      - Dr Seuss
                      -
                      You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.
                      -

                      Comment

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