What PSU you use for your antminer S3?

[CryptoPanda]

It says it needs 340W at the wall, so what PSU we should use at least to be safe?

Also seems like a lot of manufacturers are setting their W rates really freely. I see chinese 500W PSUs for $15 and other more brand ones for like $70?!

[jonnybravo0311]

It says it needs 340W at the wall, so what PSU we should use at least to be safe?

Also seems like a lot of manufacturers are setting their W rates really freely. I see chinese 500W PSUs for $15 and other more brand ones for like $70?!

Most would recommend using at least an 80+ rated, single rail PSU with at least 500W deliverable to that rail.  Obviously at least 2 PCI-e connectors are necessary.  As for the PSUs I use for mine?  I have an EVGA 1300 G2 that drives 3, and a Corsair HX1050 that drives 2.

[CryptoPanda]

It says it needs 340W at the wall, so what PSU we should use at least to be safe?

Also seems like a lot of manufacturers are setting their W rates really freely. I see chinese 500W PSUs for $15 and other more brand ones for like $70?!

Most would recommend using at least an 80+ rated, single rail PSU with at least 500W deliverable to that rail.  Obviously at least 2 PCI-e connectors are necessary.  As for the PSUs I use for mine?  I have an EVGA 1300 G2 that drives 3, and a Corsair HX1050 that drives 2.

sorry I don't know what single rail means here?

Any chance I could fit 2 on a quality 630W one that I have laying around?

[jonnybravo0311]

It says it needs 340W at the wall, so what PSU we should use at least to be safe?

Also seems like a lot of manufacturers are setting their W rates really freely. I see chinese 500W PSUs for $15 and other more brand ones for like $70?!

Most would recommend using at least an 80+ rated, single rail PSU with at least 500W deliverable to that rail.  Obviously at least 2 PCI-e connectors are necessary.  As for the PSUs I use for mine?  I have an EVGA 1300 G2 that drives 3, and a Corsair HX1050 that drives 2.

sorry I don't know what single rail means here?

Any chance I could fit 2 on a quality 630W one that I have laying around?

A rail in this context is really the distribution of power and over current protection in a PSU.  Literally, a single rail means there is effectively 1 copper trace that handles all of the power requirements to all connectors (PCI-e, ATX, Molex, etc).  Therefore, in a single rail system, the entirety of the power and amperage is drawn through that one rail.  Now, while this may not be beneficial when powering a CPU - you might want to have separate rails to ensure your PSU shuts down should one particular component be causing problems - it is really effective for mining applications.  You want all of the amperage/power down that 12V path to your PCI-e connectors.

Truth be told, most modern power supplies (i.e. those made after like 2009 or so) can effectively manage the power distribution across multiple rails; however, what's the point in this application?  You're only dealing with the 12V PCI-e connectors, so there's no need to have multiple rails controlling the 12V, 5V, 3V, etc.

You have a 630W PSU and you're asking if it's OK to pull 680W through it.  Let me ask you a question.  I'm going to give you a gallon jug and I want you to put 1.5 gallons of water into it.  What happens when the gallon jug gets filled and you still have half a gallon to go?  Here's another fun analogy for you.  A balloon will hold 10 in³ of air.  Put in 20.  What happens?

The short answer is don't do it.  While the PSU *might* be able to actually handle the load, you're just asking for trouble.  The components are rated for a given load.  When you go over that rating, you get lots of extra heat that the components were never designed to handle.  This leads to nasty things like fires.

[CryptoPanda]

That's was great explanation, thank you for that!

I wasn't aware that I have to consider how much power actually goes to the pci-e as well.
Is there a way to check if it has that dynamic management or if not how much goes to the pci-e?
I mean what's the point of having 1000W PSU if only 200W go to the pci-e i'm gonna use right?

[jonnybravo0311]

That's was great explanation, thank you for that!

I wasn't aware that I have to consider how much power actually goes to the pci-e as well.
Is there a way to check if it has that dynamic management or if not how much goes to the pci-e?
I mean what's the point of having 1000W PSU if only 200W go to the pci-e i'm gonna use right?

That's kind of why most here would state it's better to use a single rail PSU.  Let me give you a couple examples:

The Cooler Master Elite V2 550W PSU is a multi-rail unit (2 12V rails) that has 2 6+2 PCI-e connectors.
The EVGA 500B 500W PSU is a single-rail unit (1 12V rail) that also has 2 6+2 PCI-e connectors.

Just from what I wrote, you would think the Cooler Master is the better PSU... higher wattage, multi-rails.  You'd be incorrect.  That Cooler Master can only draw a max of 384W and 23A from rail 1, OR 384W and 20A from rail 2.  That's right.  You've got 384W of useable power.

The EVGA 500B on the other hand gives you a full 480W and 40A off that single rail.  All of that is useable.

So... which would you choose now?  The one that will give you 480W of useable power at 40A... or the other one?

By the way, did I mention that the EVGA is also $15 cheaper on newegg.com (after rebate), and it's bronze-rated (higher efficiency)?

[DrG]

If it needs 340W I would recommend a PSU capable of putting out 400W on a single rail or if you're running 2, you would need 800-850 depending on manufacturer.  If it's a Seasonic Platinum you could get away with a 750 and probably be OK for a year or 2.

Dogie's PSU guide is your friend:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=486121.0

[Klubknuckle]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

[DrG]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

[jonnybravo0311]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

[squashpile]

Corsair CX750M's that I was using with S1's. They have been great.

[bobsav2121]

Use these cheap and SUPER dependable.

Put DIP SWITCH 1 to " ON " and they are almost silent.

http://www.gekkoscience.com/products/D750_supply_breakout_board.html

[DrG]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

You won't trip the breaker at 80% of max load.  The general rule is for continuous applications, like mining, is that the load is not to exceed 80% of the maximum.  Short term items like microwaves can still use the max for a couple of minutes without tripping.

1/3 to 1/2 the households have 20A wiring now, so the 1600W isolated is usable - of course you could always use 240V.

[mjk79]

I don't have my Ant's just yet, but I'll be getting them hopefully in batch 5. Just ordered a Corsair RM1000 that should be good to power them both. I chose this one because it's fully modular, has 8 PCI-Express connectors and at the time I was able to get $20 off, plus a $20 rebate card. So it was essentially $140.00 for a $180.00 psu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

[jonnybravo0311]

I don't have my Ant's just yet, but I'll be getting them hopefully in batch 5. Just ordered a Corsair RM1000 that should be good to power them both. I chose this one because it's fully modular, has 8 PCI-Express connectors and at the time I was able to get $20 off, plus a $20 rebate card. So it was essentially $140.00 for a $180.00 psu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139057

The RM1000 is a good, solid choice.  I have had luck with the Corsair products, having owned a CX600M (sold it to a friend to use with his S1), and an HX1050 which powered 2 S1s for 4 months and is now powering 2 S3s.

[jonnybravo0311]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

You won't trip the breaker at 80% of max load.  The general rule is for continuous applications, like mining, is that the load is not to exceed 80% of the maximum.  Short term items like microwaves can still use the max for a couple of minutes without tripping.

1/3 to 1/2 the households have 20A wiring now, so the 1600W isolated is usable - of course you could always use 240V.

We're on the same page regarding the circuit load.  Pulling the full - or close to full - load from a circuit is certainly supported for "bursts".  The microwave is a good example of this kind of load - pulling a lot of power for short periods.  What is not supported is continued and constant draw over 80%.  Your mining gear is a good example of this kind of load.

240V is always a better option simply because higher volts means less amps for the same power requirements.  Your PSUs will be happier.

[fivejonnyfive]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

You won't trip the breaker at 80% of max load.  The general rule is for continuous applications, like mining, is that the load is not to exceed 80% of the maximum.  Short term items like microwaves can still use the max for a couple of minutes without tripping.

1/3 to 1/2 the households have 20A wiring now, so the 1600W isolated is usable - of course you could always use 240V.

We're on the same page regarding the circuit load.  Pulling the full - or close to full - load from a circuit is certainly supported for "bursts".  The microwave is a good example of this kind of load - pulling a lot of power for short periods.  What is not supported is continued and constant draw over 80%.  Your mining gear is a good example of this kind of load.

240V is always a better option simply because higher volts means less amps for the same power requirements.  Your PSUs will be happier.

Meh, I mean the 1600w psu might be theoretically useless in that it would never be used to it's maximum output, but, by having that overhead efficiency would be higher? that's the only benefit.

[DrG]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

You won't trip the breaker at 80% of max load.  The general rule is for continuous applications, like mining, is that the load is not to exceed 80% of the maximum.  Short term items like microwaves can still use the max for a couple of minutes without tripping.

1/3 to 1/2 the households have 20A wiring now, so the 1600W isolated is usable - of course you could always use 240V.

We're on the same page regarding the circuit load.  Pulling the full - or close to full - load from a circuit is certainly supported for "bursts".  The microwave is a good example of this kind of load - pulling a lot of power for short periods.  What is not supported is continued and constant draw over 80%.  Your mining gear is a good example of this kind of load.

240V is always a better option simply because higher volts means less amps for the same power requirements.  Your PSUs will be happier.

Meh, I mean the 1600w psu might be theoretically useless in that it would never be used to it's maximum output, but, by having that overhead efficiency would be higher? that's the only benefit.

Once you start spending over $150 for some decent PSUs the majority of the GOLD and PLATINUM PSUs will be within 1 or 2% of the maximal efficiency even at maximum load.  The only issue is more heat generation and stressing of components.  The more important question would be how well the PSU handles higher ambient temps since some PSUs don't do as well with high ambients - see JohnnyGuru's Hotbox test.

[chaosknight]

It says it needs 340W at the wall, so what PSU we should use at least to be safe?

Also seems like a lot of manufacturers are setting their W rates really freely. I see chinese 500W PSUs for $15 and other more brand ones for like $70?!

Buy the one that have at least 5 years warranty, and is gold rated and above..

[philipma1957]

Get a 1500 watt psu and hook like 4 to it... Save a lot of space and trouble..

There are a lot of people who would never even be able to order a 1500W PSU due to it being out of stock or not even available in their area of the world.  It might be reasonable to get an 800W or 1200W and hook up 2 or 3 respectively, but 1500/1600W PSUs are sometimes hard to come by.

Besides the availability of such PSUs, the prices they command are unreasonable.  An EVGA 1300 G2 can be had for about $175 on Amazon.  The EVGA 1600W PSU is about $350.  I'm pretty sure I'd rather have 2 of the 1300W units for the same cost as one of the 1600W units.

Another thing to consider is the power from the wall.  If you're in the US and plugging it into your typical wall outlet, and there's nothing else at all on that circuit, you can pull a max constant load of 1440W before tripping your breaker (80% of 120V/15A), which renders the 1600W PSU a worthless investment.

You won't trip the breaker at 80% of max load.  The general rule is for continuous applications, like mining, is that the load is not to exceed 80% of the maximum.  Short term items like microwaves can still use the max for a couple of minutes without tripping.

1/3 to 1/2 the households have 20A wiring now, so the 1600W isolated is usable - of course you could always use 240V.

We're on the same page regarding the circuit load.  Pulling the full - or close to full - load from a circuit is certainly supported for "bursts".  The microwave is a good example of this kind of load - pulling a lot of power for short periods.  What is not supported is continued and constant draw over 80%.  Your mining gear is a good example of this kind of load.

240V is always a better option simply because higher volts means less amps for the same power requirements.  Your PSUs will be happier.

Meh, I mean the 1600w psu might be theoretically useless in that it would never be used to it's maximum output, but, by having that overhead efficiency would be higher? that's the only benefit.

I have an evga 1300 watt psu it runs 3 antminers set at freq 231.25 + 231.25 + 237.5  watt total is 1110 of 1300 watts.  two pcie wires per miner.

I purchased an evga 1600 watt psu it should allow 4 s-3's at 231.25 and total out to 1481 watts

but here is the deal  the evga 1300 at amazon

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-1300G2-ATX12V-120-G2-1300-XR/dp/B00COIZTZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408798821&sr=8-1&keywords=evga+1300

price is  189 and a 15 usd rebate makes it 174



the evga 1600 at amazon


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MMLUIE8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

price is 349


so 174 for 3 s-3's

vs 349 for 4 s-3's

choice is easy get the 1300 watter.

I have yet to test the 1600 watter.  I purchased it for  curiosity and to do some testing for this site.

it has only 1 advantage if you have 12 s-3's   you need 3 of these  you would need 4 1300's

so it would save a little space.  at a big price premium.