Antminer S5 power suply

[Rabinovitch]

Now I am choosing between Chieftec GPM-850C (850 W, 80+ Gold, single 12V rail, but only 2 PCI-E power cables with 2 connectors each, totally 4, just what we need for S5) and Chieftec APS-850CB (same 850 W, 80+ Bronze, 2 12V rails, but it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Both has the same price. I would like to combine them and buy a PSU with 850 W, 80+ Gold, Single 12V rail and 4 separate PCI-E power cables. For same price... But we are living in non-ideal world...

So the question is: will it be OK to use Chieftec GPM-850C with S5, keeping in mind that it has 2 PCI-E cables instead of 4?.. Cables looks solid, but...

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[Duce]

Now I am choosing between Chieftec GPM-850C (850 W, 80+ Gold, single 12V rail, but only 2 PCI-E power cables with 2 connectors each, totally 4, just what we need for S5) and Chieftec APS-850CB (same 850 W, 80+ Bronze, 2 12V rails, but it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Both has the same price. I would like to combine them and buy a PSU with 850 W, 80+ Gold, Single 12V rail and 4 separate PCI-E power cables. For same price... But we are living in non-ideal world...

So the question is: will it be OK to use Chieftec GPM-850C with S5, keeping in mind that it has 2 PCI-E cables instead of 4?.. Cables looks solid, but...

Are you limited to what you can get at a decent cost there? I ask this because of information I read from a review that Chieftec does not manufacture the power supplies and they refer to this as a medium grade unit at best. I found some pictures of the circuit board and some of the capacitors look like they want to blow just sitting there. You don't want the power supply to takeout the miners so if you could find something a little better I would go that route. To answer your question though, the cables look adequate to handle the load but I could not find the specification of the wire gauge to verify this.

[Rabinovitch]

No, any other PSUs of corresponding power capabilities are too expensive (because of falling of RUB/USD ratio...) or are available only for order with delivery date 14th Jan and later, but I need a PSU today. )

Anyway most (if not all) PSU manufacturers "use" third-party platforms, so in a certain sense many of PSUs are "similar". Sure you already know it.

My experience of using Chieftec APS-1000CB in the rig with two R9290 is positive, it's working under load for about 1 year. So it looks that I haven't very wide choice, especially now...

OK, I've ordered that PSU with 4 separate PCI-E cables. It's safer I gues.  

[mrc_spot]

My two S5 will arrive on Wednesday so I was thinking as using my one "Cooler Master Silent Pro 1200W Gold PSU" for both. Will that work? Also whats the difference between Gold & Bronze i.e. which one draws less power?

I don't think that will work. OgNasty review stated that with default setting the power consumption is about 661 watt.

the 661W number must be at the wall - the S5 spec indicates a draw of about 560-600W on 12V DC. I pushed a unit to 287.5MHz before it tripped my CS650M (gold ATX with 612.5W 12V rail - trips somewhere around 630W) and ran at 362.5MHz 24/7 for several days without issue, indicating about a 600-610W load on the 12V rail

a 1200W (GOLD - most are when over 1200W) PSU should be able to run two S5 units at stock, or if necessary slightly below. A bit of overhead is better (<95% load is a good target for the PSU), so a 1300W PSU would give you that overhead and likely allow a bit of overclocking to achieve 1.21TH/S5

dont o for a PSU any less than gold. The difference between gold and bronze at 90% load is about a 3-5% difference in efficiency (or ~50W on a 1200W draw) If this is ~$3/month more for electricity the savings will cover the higher PSU cost within a year or two, and the supply will be better quality and resale value

Thanks for the reply.
I already bought Corsair CX750M for each, its cheap but I will go for the gold next time.

I don't know for some reason one of them gets tripped even at 350 frequency (May be it was heat). Now testing with updated firmware.

[MrTeal]

Now I am choosing between Chieftec GPM-850C (850 W, 80+ Gold, single 12V rail, but only 2 PCI-E power cables with 2 connectors each, totally 4, just what we need for S5) and Chieftec APS-850CB (same 850 W, 80+ Bronze, 2 12V rails, but it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Both has the same price. I would like to combine them and buy a PSU with 850 W, 80+ Gold, Single 12V rail and 4 separate PCI-E power cables. For same price... But we are living in non-ideal world...

So the question is: will it be OK to use Chieftec GPM-850C with S5, keeping in mind that it has 2 PCI-E cables instead of 4?.. Cables looks solid, but...

Definitely go with the 850C should be fine. It would be better to have four full cables, but the S5 is relatively low draw anyway and the connector is the weakest point of the system. Go for the higher efficiency single rail supply.

Also, I don't speak Russian, but this seems to indicate that one rail on the CB series feeds the PCIe plugs and the other feeds the MB and EPS plug. The 850CB is 40A/rail, but depending on the overcurrent protection on each rail you might need to butcher cables if you want the extra margin on top of 480W DC.

[pak13]

Generally want 21% more watts than what it pulls at the wall and only if you don't plan on overclocking or volting.
Very efficient PSUs may need less margin but for the price not a bad idea as it will run cooler and more stable with 21% overhead.

Quite correct and power supply efficiency is not typically linear, and most will have their best efficiency way under 100%. If you intend to run at 100% or near, a server based or something with a long warranty would be ideal.

[huffdaddy5]

I like the Rosewill 1300W 80 Plus Gold (92% efficiency) for $179. It has 8 PCI-E cables so you could run 2 S5 on this one PSU. I like the screw on modular cables too and comes with a 7 year warranty. I'm running 2 underclocked SP20s and getting very good efficiency at 90+% load.

 http://amzn.com/B0057JFOKU

[Tupsu]

Now I am choosing between Chieftec GPM-850C (850 W, 80+ Gold, single 12V rail, but only 2 PCI-E power cables with 2 connectors each, totally 4, just what we need for S5) and Chieftec APS-850CB (same 850 W, 80+ Bronze, 2 12V rails, but it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Both has the same price. I would like to combine them and buy a PSU with 850 W, 80+ Gold, Single 12V rail and 4 separate PCI-E power cables. For same price... But we are living in non-ideal world...

So the question is: will it be OK to use Chieftec GPM-850C with S5, keeping in mind that it has 2 PCI-E cables instead of 4?.. Cables looks solid, but...

No. Forget Chieftec.  You  need some single rail PSU.

[mcbiv]

I have a number of PSU from EVGA and have done some testing with powering 2 S5 Antminers from on PSU.  I found that the 80 Plus Gold EVGA 1300 Watt SuperNova does an excellent job powering two miners with fans on front and back of both.  Also the 1300 watt is fairly quiet and does not seem heat up too much.  I have found that the 1600 watt 80 Plus Platinum is a bit overkill and could probably power 3 Antminer S5's, but seems to get excessively hot just powering two.  While the EVGA 1600 watt 80 Plus Titanium runs two Antminer S5's and stays super cool and in ecco mode doesn't even need to power up the fan to stay cool.  What I found very interesting was that the older generation EVGA NEX 1500 Classified watt rated at 80 Plus Gold gave me about 15% to 20% more hashing performance.  The NEX Classified did run a little hotter than the Supernova 1300 watt but not as hot as the 1600 watt Platinum.  Also the dip switches allow you to power up without sticking a paperclip in the mb cable (something that always made me a little uneasy).  Also you can change it to single rails from 8 independent ones and with 220v overclock the psu to 1650 watts.  I don't know if the 20% boost in hashing power makes up for the slight inefficiency in power conversion but for me i always like to see faster hash rates.  Has anyone else seen other PSUs that seem to provide you a boost in hash rates?   

[pmorici]

I have a number of PSU from EVGA and have done some testing with powering 2 S5 Antminers from on PSU.  I found that the 80 Plus Gold EVGA 1300 Watt SuperNova does an excellent job powering two miners with fans on front and back of both.  Also the 1300 watt is fairly quiet and does not seem heat up too much.  I have found that the 1600 watt 80 Plus Platinum is a bit overkill and could probably power 3 Antminer S5's, but seems to get excessively hot just powering two.  While the EVGA 1600 watt 80 Plus Titanium runs two Antminer S5's and stays super cool and in ecco mode doesn't even need to power up the fan to stay cool.  What I found very interesting was that the older generation EVGA NEX 1500 Classified watt rated at 80 Plus Gold gave me about 15% to 20% more hashing performance.  The NEX Classified did run a little hotter than the Supernova 1300 watt but not as hot as the 1600 watt Platinum.  Also the dip switches allow you to power up without sticking a paperclip in the mb cable (something that always made me a little uneasy).  Also you can change it to single rails from 8 independent ones and with 220v overclock the psu to 1650 watts.  I don't know if the 20% boost in hashing power makes up for the slight inefficiency in power conversion but for me i always like to see faster hash rates.  Has anyone else seen other PSUs that seem to provide you a boost in hash rates?   

Intel's DPS-1200TBA Platinum with a Gigampz breakout board for $113 w/shipping is the best deal out there right now.  It's a server grade PSU at substantially less money than any similarly specked ATX PSU out there.  They will probably sell out fast though they only have a limited number of them.

http://www.gigampz.com

[Finksy]

I'm not sure where OP is located, but in Ontario the subsidized tariff for selling rooftop PV-energy back to the supplier is $0.384/kWh (US$0.30).  If you are going to build solar, you are better off selling it to the utility and buying it back at market rate...

And yes, server PSU's are superior to ATX in all regards to bitcoin mining except the ability to install them in a PC afterwards.

[notlist3d]

I'm not sure where OP is located, but in Ontario the subsidized tariff for selling rooftop PV-energy back to the supplier is $0.384/kWh (US$0.30).  If you are going to build solar, you are better off selling it to the utility and buying it back at market rate...

And yes, server PSU's are superior to ATX in all regards to bitcoin mining except the ability to install them in a PC afterwards.

Honestly look into hosting somewhere with much cheaper electricity.  Solar is just to expensive for the gear since with mining you use a lot of watts.

If you send it to a place with low electricity price you will make more profit.  The solar is a long term investment.