[DIY] AllCoinMiner's Power Supply Sizing Guide

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[allcoinminer]

AllCoinMiner's Power Supply Sizing Guide

This will guide you through the process of sizing a correct power supply as per the requirement of your device.
Here we will take Antminer S3 as a reference device but this is applicable for any DC device.
A little bit of over sizing or margin is considered in the sizing for safety or regulatory reasons.

Step 01: Note down the maximum rated power consumption from the dc device or mining hardware. In the case of Antminer S3 it 340Watts.

Step 02: Add a safety margin of 20% to 25% in to the maximum power consumption. So 340W will become 425W.

Step 03: Now coming to the power supply, you need 425W from it. Do not rush to a power supply that just gives 425W.
             First you should go to its specifications and look for +12V Rails.
             Normally power supplies have a single +12V rails but some have upto 6 +12V Rails.
             So, look at a single +12V rails and check how much power it gives.
             Come manufacturers specify it in Amps an some in Watts.
             So if its specified as Watts make sure its above 425W.
             If its specified in Amps its should be rated at 35A in a single +12 rail. This 35A is we got by 425W/12V.

Step 04: Since we are running the hardware 24hrs every day, the efficiency of the power supply matters.
             I will not recommend going for a power supply which rated for below 80% efficiency.
             So select one giving at least 80% to 85% or above efficiency. The calculations are same for all.

Step 05: Now we got a psu for running a single S3. If you want to connect more than one DC Device, just add all the devices power consumption and do the Step 03.
             Even though Single +12V Rails is recommended, if your power supply have two +12V rails you can run two devices if each +12 rail is giving what is
             enough for the single device.

[allcoinminer]

Actual Sizing for BitMainTech Antminer S3:
Above we did a conservative calculation for S3. We are looking into it again.
The below is the tech specifications of Antminer S3. This 340 is at wall in a highly efficient psu.
So for in our calculation we may not need to give the 25% margin of safety.
We can assume the efficiency the company says is 90-95% and so the actual at PSU power consumption can be calculated as 340W*95% = 323W.
Then we go to the steps in the above post,

323W + 323W*25% = =403.75. So, 404W is our safe calculation for S3 at Stock clock of 218.75Mhz.
404W/12V = Roughly 32 to 35A can be considered depending on availability.
We here calculated the max power requirement. Now we will go to the sizing of PSU.

Specifications of Antminer S3:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2k0Gc4r98pzRzZSZUV6WllkeHM/edit?usp=sharing


We are taking Corsair Power Supply CX 500

Specifications of Corsair Power Supply CX 500:
http://www.corsair.com/en-in/cx500-80-plus-bronze-certified-power-supply
Price is $30 after rebate card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
Above 82%@110V and 85%@220V efficiency at full load.
Fan Noice ~35bB at full load.
Two PCI-E(6+2 Pin) Power Cables.

This power supply have a +12V Rail capable of handling upto 38A and so we can load upto 456W.
Which is more than enough for an S3 running at stock clock of 218.75Mhz.

If S3 is overclocked to 250Mhz to get 504Ghs speed, as it will roughly consume 390W as per manufacturer.
Then on our calculations like above,
390*95% = 351W at Psu level
Adding safety margin = 351 + 351*25% = Roughly 439Watts.
So even if the S3 is overclocked to 250Mhz this CX500 Power supply can easily handle the load..
Fo more than oneS3s or other DC Devices do your own calculations.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2k0Gc4r98pzUXJFRHFmaGlvdUk/edit?usp=sharing

[booradlly]

Two PCI-E(6+2 Pin) Power Cables.

This is a very detailed guide, that is very awesome. Seriously I'm impressed.

However, under your own recommended power supply, there are only TWO PCIE cables. So you apparently you disagree with EVERYONE on the overclocking thread the you need 4 pcie cables to power the S3.

This is the issue we keep harping on, not the power draw, not the 12V rails, its the wires. Everyone says you need 4, then everyone suggests you buy a power supply with 2. I fully expect that I'm missing something here, but so far, people just keep acting like they don't understand why I'm not getting this. But when you tell me I need 4, then you give me 2, I'm going to ask questions.

[allcoinminer]

Two PCI-E(6+2 Pin) Power Cables.

This is a very detailed guide, that is very awesome. Seriously I'm impressed.

However, under your own recommended power supply, there are only TWO PCIE cables. So you apparently you disagree with EVERYONE on the overclocking thread the you need 4 pcie cables to power the S3.

This is the issue we keep harping on, not the power draw, not the 12V rails, its the wires. Everyone says you need 4, then everyone suggests you buy a power supply with 2. I fully expect that I'm missing something here, but so far, people just keep acting like they don't understand why I'm not getting this. But when you tell me I need 4, then you give me 2, I'm going to ask questions.

These days I always recommend using 4 cables for S3 even if not overclocking.
But if we go for a PSUs considering the PCI power connector cable numbers, there is no meaning in it.
In the above suggested power supply as already said there are only 2 PCI-E(6+2) power cables.
So you can plug them into your S3. Additionally for the other two cables you can easily buy,
two Molex->PCI connector cable from ebay or other sites for less than a dollar.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-Dual-4-Pin-Molex-to-6-Pin-PCI-Express-PCI-E-Video-Card-Power-Cable-ca4-/251594807495?pt=US_Power_Cables_Connectors&hash=item3a943818c7

Molex to PCI (Y branch connector) is with low power carrying cable, so use only it as your secondary cable with the PCI power cable. That means 1 PCI Power connector + 1 Molex->PCI connector.

[booradlly]

Two PCI-E(6+2 Pin) Power Cables.

This is a very detailed guide, that is very awesome. Seriously I'm impressed.

However, under your own recommended power supply, there are only TWO PCIE cables. So you apparently you disagree with EVERYONE on the overclocking thread the you need 4 pcie cables to power the S3.

This is the issue we keep harping on, not the power draw, not the 12V rails, its the wires. Everyone says you need 4, then everyone suggests you buy a power supply with 2. I fully expect that I'm missing something here, but so far, people just keep acting like they don't understand why I'm not getting this. But when you tell me I need 4, then you give me 2, I'm going to ask questions.

These days I always recommend using 4 cables for S3 even if not overclocking.
But if we go for a PSUs considering the PCI power connector cable numbers, there is no meaning in it.
In the above suggested power supply as already said there are only 2 PCI-E(6+2) power cables.
So you can plug them into your S3. Additionally for the other two cables you can easily buy,
two Molex->PCI connector cable from ebay or other sites for less than a dollar.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-Dual-4-Pin-Molex-to-6-Pin-PCI-Express-PCI-E-Video-Card-Power-Cable-ca4-/251594807495?pt=US_Power_Cables_Connectors&hash=item3a943818c7

Going with the molex to pcie idea, I was under the impression that would pull from the +5V@20A, NOT the +12V@38A. I was also under the impression we had to pull from the +12V rail? Putting these together would imply to me it's a bad idea to use the molex to pcie idea?

This does make a lot of sense though, and does deal with the incongruencey I was dealing with. I was under the impression that you can't do the molex idea, but it at least explains the needing 4 wires, and being handed 2 wires, so thank you.

Other people have been saying two pcie connectors on one pcie cable is the same as two pcie cables, which makes no sense to me. If you are going to plug in two pcie connectors per blade from one pcie cable, you might as well plug in one pcie connector per blade.

[allcoinminer]

Two PCI-E(6+2 Pin) Power Cables.

This is a very detailed guide, that is very awesome. Seriously I'm impressed.

However, under your own recommended power supply, there are only TWO PCIE cables. So you apparently you disagree with EVERYONE on the overclocking thread the you need 4 pcie cables to power the S3.

This is the issue we keep harping on, not the power draw, not the 12V rails, its the wires. Everyone says you need 4, then everyone suggests you buy a power supply with 2. I fully expect that I'm missing something here, but so far, people just keep acting like they don't understand why I'm not getting this. But when you tell me I need 4, then you give me 2, I'm going to ask questions.

These days I always recommend using 4 cables for S3 even if not overclocking.
But if we go for a PSUs considering the PCI power connector cable numbers, there is no meaning in it.
In the above suggested power supply as already said there are only 2 PCI-E(6+2) power cables.
So you can plug them into your S3. Additionally for the other two cables you can easily buy,
two Molex->PCI connector cable from ebay or other sites for less than a dollar.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-10-Dual-4-Pin-Molex-to-6-Pin-PCI-Express-PCI-E-Video-Card-Power-Cable-ca4-/251594807495?pt=US_Power_Cables_Connectors&hash=item3a943818c7

Going with the molex to pcie idea, I was under the impression that would pull from the +5V@20A, NOT the +12V@38A. I was also under the impression we had to pull from the +12V rail? Putting these together would imply to me it's a bad idea to use the molex to pcie idea?

This does make a lot of sense though, and does deal with the incongruencey I was dealing with. I was under the impression that you can't do the molex idea, but it at least explains the needing 4 wires, and being handed 2 wires, so thank you.

Other people have been saying two pcie connectors on one pcie cable is the same as two pcie cables, which makes no sense to me. If you are going to plug in two pcie connectors per blade from one pcie cable, you might as well plug in one pcie connector per blade.

The two black lines in the 4 lines is COM, the yellow is +12VDC(pin 1) and the red is +5VDC.
There is no problem in using them as your second PCI power cable to S3 blades.
The double PCI power connectors on a single PCI cable will not serve the purpose.
For this CX500 power supply connect the PCI power cable(6+2) to each blade.
And if you want to connect all the four PCI power ports, use 2 molex to pci to connect one each blade as secondary.

[jimmothy]

The two black lines in the 4 lines is COM, the yellow is +12VDC(pin 1) and the red is +5VDC.
There is no problem in using them as your second PCI power cable to S3 blades.
The double PCI power connectors on a single PCI cable will not serve the purpose.
For this CX500 power supply connect the PCI power cable(6+2) to each blade.
And if you want to connect all the four PCI power ports, use 2 molex to pci to connect one each blade as secondary.

Using molex as pci-e cables is a great way to get melted wires.

Also I don't think there is anything wrong with buying a PSU without an extra 25% safety margin.

[allcoinminer]

The two black lines in the 4 lines is COM, the yellow is +12VDC(pin 1) and the red is +5VDC.
There is no problem in using them as your second PCI power cable to S3 blades.
The double PCI power connectors on a single PCI cable will not serve the purpose.
For this CX500 power supply connect the PCI power cable(6+2) to each blade.
And if you want to connect all the four PCI power ports, use 2 molex to pci to connect one each blade as secondary.

Using molex as pci-e cables is a great way to get melted wires.

Also I don't think there is anything wrong with buying a PSU without an extra 25% safety margin.

Take a second look, Its auxiliary for the second. I wonder whats wrong with it.
My Sapphire GPUs even came with this kind of molex->PCI-E for the second power slot.
I'm using it since last 4 months for ASICs and earlier for GPUs. They will not even get hot.
Wonder how to add extra safety margin by buying a new PSU.
No PSU will give enough PCI Slots enough to connect 4 ports of S3.

[booradlly]

The two black lines in the 4 lines is COM, the yellow is +12VDC(pin 1) and the red is +5VDC.
There is no problem in using them as your second PCI power cable to S3 blades.
The double PCI power connectors on a single PCI cable will not serve the purpose.
For this CX500 power supply connect the PCI power cable(6+2) to each blade.
And if you want to connect all the four PCI power ports, use 2 molex to pci to connect one each blade as secondary.

Using molex as pci-e cables is a great way to get melted wires.

Also I don't think there is anything wrong with buying a PSU without an extra 25% safety margin.

Take a second look, Its auxiliary for the second. I wonder whats wrong with it.
My Sapphire GPUs even came with this kind of molex->PCI-E for the second power slot.
I'm using it since last 4 months for ASICs and earlier for GPUs. They will not even get hot.
Wonder how to add extra safety margin by buying a new PSU.
No PSU will give enough PCI Slots enough to connect 4 ports of S3.

EVGA Supernova says hi.
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-G2-0750-XR

Also, not disagreeing or agreeing with you, but just because there is a cable available doesn't mean the cable should be used. Only reason I mention this, is because you seem to be implying it, and I don't think you mean that.

[allcoinminer]

The two black lines in the 4 lines is COM, the yellow is +12VDC(pin 1) and the red is +5VDC.
There is no problem in using them as your second PCI power cable to S3 blades.
The double PCI power connectors on a single PCI cable will not serve the purpose.
For this CX500 power supply connect the PCI power cable(6+2) to each blade.
And if you want to connect all the four PCI power ports, use 2 molex to pci to connect one each blade as secondary.

Using molex as pci-e cables is a great way to get melted wires.

Also I don't think there is anything wrong with buying a PSU without an extra 25% safety margin.

Take a second look, Its auxiliary for the second. I wonder whats wrong with it.
My Sapphire GPUs even came with this kind of molex->PCI-E for the second power slot.
I'm using it since last 4 months for ASICs and earlier for GPUs. They will not even get hot.
Wonder how to add extra safety margin by buying a new PSU.
No PSU will give enough PCI Slots enough to connect 4 ports of S3.

EVGA Supernova says hi.
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-G2-0750-XR

Also, not disagreeing or agreeing with you, but just because there is a cable available doesn't mean the cable should be used. Only reason I mention this, is because you seem to be implying it, and I don't think you mean that.

I don't understand what you exactly meant.
The use of cable is up to the user. If anyone is concerned in using that cable as an auxiliary in S3,
I recommend not to use and go for a power supply unit which provides enough PCI power slots.
The primary aim of this thread is not let others understand how to size a power supply for their DC Devices.

[cloverme]

AllCoinMiner's Power Supply Sizing Guide

This will guide you through the process of sizing a correct power supply as per the requirement of your device.
Here we will take Antminer S3 as a reference device but this is applicable for any DC device.
A little bit of over sizing or margin is considered in the sizing for safety or regulatory reasons.

Step 01: Note down the maximum rated power consumption from the dc device or mining hardware. In the case of Antminer S3 it 340Watts.

Step 02: Add a safety margin of 20% to 25% in to the maximum power consumption. So 340W will become 425W.

Step 03: Now coming to the power supply, you need 425W from it. Do not rush to a power supply that just gives 425W.
             First you should go to its specifications and look for +12V Rails.
             Normally power supplies have a single +12V rails but some have upto 6 +12V Rails.
             So, look at a single +12V rails and check how much power it gives.
             Come manufacturers specify it in Amps an some in Watts.
             So if its specified as Watts make sure its above 425W.
             If its specified in Amps its should be rated at 35A in a single +12 rail. This 35A is we got by 425W/12V.

Step 04: Since we are running the hardware 24hrs every day, the efficiency of the power supply matters.
             I will not recommend going for a power supply which rated for below 80% efficiency.
             So select one giving at least 80% to 85% or above efficiency. The calculations are same for all.

Step 05: Now we got a psu for running a single S3. If you want to connect more than one DC Device, just add all the devices power consumption and do the Step 03.
             Even though Single +12V Rails is recommended, if your power supply have two +12V rails you can run two devices if each +12 rail is giving what is
             enough for the single device.

Hmmmm I think you might be going at this the wrong way as far as a guide is concerned. Most of the newbies that post here for power supply questions want to know the exact make/model of power supply they need for the quantity of miners they are buying.  You might want to develop a table (although I could swear someone already did it, maybe Dogie?) for it with the number of miners that single power supply can support based on actual use and not theory. So, if someone buys 5 antminer S3's, the table should tell them which model of power supply they need and what quantity based on the highest efficiency and most "bang for the buck" as it were.  A bonus would be how many power supplies the casual home miner can run before popping his 15A/20A/30A breaker.

[allcoinminer]

AllCoinMiner's Power Supply Sizing Guide

This will guide you through the process of sizing a correct power supply as per the requirement of your device.
Here we will take Antminer S3 as a reference device but this is applicable for any DC device.
A little bit of over sizing or margin is considered in the sizing for safety or regulatory reasons.

Step 01: Note down the maximum rated power consumption from the dc device or mining hardware. In the case of Antminer S3 it 340Watts.

Step 02: Add a safety margin of 20% to 25% in to the maximum power consumption. So 340W will become 425W.

Step 03: Now coming to the power supply, you need 425W from it. Do not rush to a power supply that just gives 425W.
             First you should go to its specifications and look for +12V Rails.
             Normally power supplies have a single +12V rails but some have upto 6 +12V Rails.
             So, look at a single +12V rails and check how much power it gives.
             Come manufacturers specify it in Amps an some in Watts.
             So if its specified as Watts make sure its above 425W.
             If its specified in Amps its should be rated at 35A in a single +12 rail. This 35A is we got by 425W/12V.

Step 04: Since we are running the hardware 24hrs every day, the efficiency of the power supply matters.
             I will not recommend going for a power supply which rated for below 80% efficiency.
             So select one giving at least 80% to 85% or above efficiency. The calculations are same for all.

Step 05: Now we got a psu for running a single S3. If you want to connect more than one DC Device, just add all the devices power consumption and do the Step 03.
             Even though Single +12V Rails is recommended, if your power supply have two +12V rails you can run two devices if each +12 rail is giving what is
             enough for the single device.

Hmmmm I think you might be going at this the wrong way as far as a guide is concerned. Most of the newbies that post here for power supply questions want to know the exact make/model of power supply they need for the quantity of miners they are buying.  You might want to develop a table (although I could swear someone already did it, maybe Dogie?) for it with the number of miners that single power supply can support based on actual use and not theory. So, if someone buys 5 antminer S3's, the table should tell them which model of power supply they need and what quantity based on the highest efficiency and most "bang for the buck" as it were.  A bonus would be how many power supplies the casual home miner can run before popping his 15A/20A/30A breaker.

No I have no intention to do that.
I love to teach how to caught a fish rather than giving them fish.

[cloverme]

No I have no intention to do that.
I love to teach how to caught a fish rather than giving them fish.

Understood... then maybe add overclocking and undervoltage information, that seems to be a hot topic as well when trying to size a power supply.

[Rabinovitch]

I love to teach how to caught a fish rather than giving them fish.

Lazy newbies can ask me to choose a PSU for them. )

[booradlly]

AllCoinMiner's Power Supply Sizing Guide

This will guide you through the process of sizing a correct power supply as per the requirement of your device.
Here we will take Antminer S3 as a reference device but this is applicable for any DC device.
A little bit of over sizing or margin is considered in the sizing for safety or regulatory reasons.

Step 01: Note down the maximum rated power consumption from the dc device or mining hardware. In the case of Antminer S3 it 340Watts.

Step 02: Add a safety margin of 20% to 25% in to the maximum power consumption. So 340W will become 425W.

Step 03: Now coming to the power supply, you need 425W from it. Do not rush to a power supply that just gives 425W.
             First you should go to its specifications and look for +12V Rails.
             Normally power supplies have a single +12V rails but some have upto 6 +12V Rails.
             So, look at a single +12V rails and check how much power it gives.
             Come manufacturers specify it in Amps an some in Watts.
             So if its specified as Watts make sure its above 425W.
             If its specified in Amps its should be rated at 35A in a single +12 rail. This 35A is we got by 425W/12V.

Step 04: Since we are running the hardware 24hrs every day, the efficiency of the power supply matters.
             I will not recommend going for a power supply which rated for below 80% efficiency.
             So select one giving at least 80% to 85% or above efficiency. The calculations are same for all.

Step 05: Now we got a psu for running a single S3. If you want to connect more than one DC Device, just add all the devices power consumption and do the Step 03.
             Even though Single +12V Rails is recommended, if your power supply have two +12V rails you can run two devices if each +12 rail is giving what is
             enough for the single device.

Hmmmm I think you might be going at this the wrong way as far as a guide is concerned. Most of the newbies that post here for power supply questions want to know the exact make/model of power supply they need for the quantity of miners they are buying.  You might want to develop a table (although I could swear someone already did it, maybe Dogie?) for it with the number of miners that single power supply can support based on actual use and not theory. So, if someone buys 5 antminer S3's, the table should tell them which model of power supply they need and what quantity based on the highest efficiency and most "bang for the buck" as it were.  A bonus would be how many power supplies the casual home miner can run before popping his 15A/20A/30A breaker.

No I have no intention to do that.
I love to teach how to caught a fish rather than giving them fish.

I agree completely with this, especially because dogie already did that. This guide very clearly spells out how to calculate all these things in one concise place. If they want the chart that cloverme suggests, they can just go to dogie's guide.