How to make a Dual PSU setup?

How can you make a Dual PSU setup so they share the load 50/50 - In my case 2x PCP&C-1200W?

I have read this http://www.burningissues.net/how_to/power/psu.htm but it only shows how to take the +12V from the second PSU and as far as I know, you need to put a load on all rails for a modern PSU to work optimal, so how can you connect two PSU's - Is it as simple as just to connect the two (24-pin ATX-PowerConnectores (reverse Y-splitter) or is it much more complicated? If it's more complicated than just the reverse Y-splitter, how can it be done?

Why on EARTH would you ever need 2x1200 watt power supplies????

For my new XF-Machine (XtremeFolder):
ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution Motherboard
Intel Core i7-965 CPU
6GB DDR3-1600
6x GTX-280 (SingleSlot WaterCooled)

I can modify my SuperMicro ServerCase to take 2x PCP&C-1200 PSU's where the HD-bay's are and make space in the top for a GTX480 Radiator. 6x GTX280's use about 1500W/125A, so I need around 1800W total.

As far as I know the power of the GTX 280 comes from the two PCI-E power plugs and not from the 24-pin ATX. So you can just put 3 GTX 280's on each one and put your ATX plug on one and your CPU on the other. But you should get a killawatt and balance it.

BTW: Please tell us if this 6 x GTX 280 works out, very interesting. :)

The 2nd PSU doesn't need a load on it. All PSU have a dummy load built in so all you need to do is tie in the green and one of the black wires from the 24pin connector of one unit to the same wires on the other. This way when you turn the system on both PSUs come on at the same time. You may be able to find an adapter for that.

Other options include the FSP Booster PSUs which are PSUs that sit in a 5.25" bay and can power 2 video cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104054

A PSU like the one in the below mentioned link can handle 4 GTX280s.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=90

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mpilchfamily

The 2nd PSU doesn't need a load on it. All PSU have a dummy load built in so all you need to do is tie in the green and one of the black wires from the 24pin connector of one unit to the same wires on the other. This way when you turn the system on both PSUs come on at the same time. You may be able to find an adapter for that.

Other options include the FSP Booster PSUs which are PSUs that sit in a 5.25" bay and can power 2 video cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104054

A PSU like the one in the below mentioned link can handle 4 GTX280s.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php...=Story&reid=90

---

No, not all PSU's have a "dummy load" built in, in fact so many do not that you have given extremely poor information which could lead to failure of a unit and possibly external damage including but not limited to the rest of the system attached and even the house and life of the individual in question if sparks came out causing a fire.

Attach the system and two 280GTX's to one PSU>

Attach the remainder of the 280GTX's to the second PSU. You will probably need to modify the connectors..

Go to an electronics shop and get some resistors with heatsinks attached. Put them on the +5v and +3.3v rail with a total of about 20 watts of load on each rail.

sound dangerous .. why don't you get a even larger PSU wattage?
not just cracking the PSU voids the warranty ... and working with electric at that wattage is really dangerous (careful of that capacitor)
.. should ask an electrician to assist

Dont need to open it with what I have suggested.

Thanks for the info STEvil ! Why not attach the Pri. PSU to the system & 3x GPU's and Sec. PSU to the last 3x GPU's? - Will a SATA HD and a DVD-Burner be OK as load for the 5V-rail?

I can do electric-work myself - I done electronics in school, 220V house-install's and 380V engine-install's before, but I haven't "played" with PSU's before......

I would be happy to use only one PSU if I could fine one, so if anybody know a 80%+ PSU that comply with "ATX 12V 2.3" and "EPS 2.91" standards and can deliver min. +3.3V/30A, +5V/30A, +5Vsb/4A, -12V/0.8A & +12V/175A (one large rail or multi-rail (7x25A, 25/75/75A, 25/50/50/50A) and don't use more space than 2x PCP&C-1200, then I'm very interested!

I was looking into these modules, but I don't know how to wire them together and if it's possible at all......:
2x http://www.unipowercorp.com/pdf/pcp-tpcp-ds.pdf
1x http://www.unipowercorp.com/pdf/pchs-tpchs-quickset.pdf
giving
2x +5Vsb/0.25A, +12V/66.7A (Dedicated to GPU's)
1x +5Vsb/0.25A, +12V/10A, -12V/3A, +5V/50A, +3.3V/70A (Model# CDFGO)
but I don't know if +12V/10A is enough for the motherboard.

The solution with the 3x UniPower-modules would be optimal for me, because then I have enough space over them to for my 2x Laing D5 pumps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr.Nosmo

I would be happy to use only one PSU if I could fine one, so if anybody know a 80%+ PSU that comply with "ATX 12V 2.3" and "EPS 2.91" standards and can deliver min. +3.3V/30A, +5V/30A, +5Vsb/4A, -12V/0.8A & +12V/175A (one large rail or multi-rail (7x25A, 25/75/75A, 25/50/50/50A) and don't use more space than 2x PCP&C-1200, then I'm very interested!

---

Not going to happen. If you do the math, 175A at 12V works out to 2100W, which is not going to run on anything less than a 220V outlet in North America. In fact, even if six of those cards needed that much power (and they won't), you still wouldn't be able to power them all off of one household 110V circuit.

Personally, I'd wager one Ultra X3 1600W would still run all that. Still not sure the six 280's are the ideal solution though.

I won't have problems with the wall sockets, because I'm in Spain and we have 220V/16A = ~3500W breakers. The GTX280 uses up to 236W and HD4870X2 up to 286W, so I'm facing 6x236W or 6x286W = 1416W or 1716W for the GPU's alone, then add 2x25W (Pumps), 4x10W (UltraKaze3000 Fans), 1x 150W (Core i7-965@4500MHz), Motherboard (~50W) & RAM (~25W) - Giving about 2000W.....

I do think about down-clocking the boards, so I can get below the magic 1750W/system and this way be able to build systems.....

blue: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=23350
green: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=24134
orange: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=24137
UV: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=23833

DarthBeavis not only delivers the goods but in high style ;) Keepin the pimp hand strong . . .

Thanks "DathBeavis" for the links - I looked at this one http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21193 but I must say your links looks much better - My only concern is that there is no "Load-Share"-logic present - Can I just link the 24-pin connectores and they share the load or do I need loads on the +3.3V & +5V rails on the 2th PSU?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr.Nosmo

Thanks for the info STEvil ! Why not attach the Pri. PSU to the system & 3x GPU's and Sec. PSU to the last 3x GPU's? - Will a SATA HD and a DVD-Burner be OK as load for the 5V-rail?

I can do electric-work myself - I done electronics in school, 220V house-install's and 380V engine-install's before, but I haven't "played" with PSU's before......

I would be happy to use only one PSU if I could fine one, so if anybody know a 80%+ PSU that comply with "ATX 12V 2.3" and "EPS 2.91" standards and can deliver min. +3.3V/30A, +5V/30A, +5Vsb/4A, -12V/0.8A & +12V/175A (one large rail or multi-rail (7x25A, 25/75/75A, 25/50/50/50A) and don't use more space than 2x PCP&C-1200, then I'm very interested!

I was looking into these modules, but I don't know how to wire them together and if it's possible at all......:
2x http://www.unipowercorp.com/pdf/pcp-tpcp-ds.pdf
1x http://www.unipowercorp.com/pdf/pchs-tpchs-quickset.pdf
giving
2x +5Vsb/0.25A, +12V/66.7A (Dedicated to GPU's)
1x +5Vsb/0.25A, +12V/10A, -12V/3A, +5V/50A, +3.3V/70A (Model# CDFGO)
but I don't know if +12V/10A is enough for the motherboard.

The solution with the 3x UniPower-modules would be optimal for me, because then I have enough space over them to for my 2x Laing D5 pumps.

---

I suggested two on the main psu and 4 on the secondary for load balancing issues.

Any updates on this? I'm thinking about doing a dual PSU setup myself but with cheaper seasonic M12 units. I'm still not sure if a 3.3v load is required if the 5v is loaded?

I think that folding only supports 4 gpus per system so the 6 280's wouldn't work for that...

there is no need to create a relay
http://www.speedy3d.com/articles/cas...p3/index.shtml

i read this and well the final option is basically this http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21193
i going to be using a dual psu because of my fan system/lighting

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ILikeCosmosS

there is no need to create a relay
http://www.speedy3d.com/articles/cas...p3/index.shtml

---

The best option of the 3 uses a relay.

the reason why?

one you have to flip another switch while starting your pc, the other you have to splice wires, and that looks like crap unless you are good at wiring...

why not just build 2 separate computers?

isnt that why we have that adaptor i posted? to power dual psu's?

Yes, but it is more expensive than a relay that can be found almost anywhere, and running the psu with no load on the 5 and 3.3 volt lines will cause it to die eventually...

what uses the 5 and 3.3 volt rails? i was thinking hard drives/ dvd drives

but it is more cleaner then a relay

Oh, then you won't be using the 3.3 volt rail, regardless, having no load on one rail isn't good for the power supply, I used a really nice one to power my watercooling pump overnight to get the bubbles out of the system and it died, but didn't kill my pump.

but what devices use the 3.3 and 5 volt rails?

not much uses the 3.3 anymore, but the motherboard does, and 5 volt is used by drives and the motherboard...

how long would it take for the slave psu to fail if the 3.3 rail isnt used?

does this include cpu power?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [486]

Oh, then you won't be using the 3.3 volt rail, regardless, having no load on one rail isn't good for the power supply, I used a really nice one to power my watercooling pump overnight to get the bubbles out of the system and it died, but didn't kill my pump.

---

I do not know much about electricity but, what if he uses one 4 pin ATX from each PSU to fire up the mobo that would clear two things the load share and the uses of 5v and 3.3v.

That of course if its the board needs 8 pin ATX to be fired up and than again he could also uses 2 X 4pin molex to 8pin ATX power adapter and fire up the mobo with the two 4 pin ATX therefore sharing the load after is just a question of plugging the same amount of GPU on each PSU.


Considering he would use the Bitspower X-Station Multi-PSU Active Module

http://pcpartscollection.stores.yaho...suto8atxm.html

Couldn't that be done?????

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ILikeCosmosS

how long would it take for the slave psu to fail if the 3.3 rail isnt used?

does this include cpu power?

---

The +3.3V primarily powers the RAM.

And it all depends upon the "minimum load requirements" of that specific PSU.

For example the BFG ES-800 does not require any loading on the secondary voltages, just the +12V.

what about the enermax modu 82+ 425 watt?
good idea about using to 4 pin cpu power to fire up the cpu, i will use a enermax revolution and a enermax modu

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sn@ke:~

I do not know much about electricity but, what if he uses one 4 pin ATX from each PSU to fire up the mobo that would clear two things the load share and the uses of 5v and 3.3v.

That of course if its the board needs 8 pin ATX to be fired up and than again he could also uses 2 X 4pin molex to 8pin ATX power adapter and fire up the mobo with the two 4 pin ATX therefore sharing the load after is just a question of plugging the same amount of GPU on each PSU.


Considering he would use the Bitspower X-Station Multi-PSU Active Module

http://pcpartscollection.stores.yaho...suto8atxm.html

Couldn't that be done?????

---

That is what I have been wondering myself. I have a motherboard that uses two 8pin 12v connectors for the CPU and I am wondering if I use a 24 pin adapter that I can hook up a Ultax3 1600w & OCZ 800w PSU and use the 8 pin connectors from both PSU's in order to fill both 8 pin connections....I would rather spend the $10 then go out and get a new PSU that has two 8 pin connectors.

Is this possible?
(It would be for benching sessions and not a 24/7 rig)

I've got one of those Bits Power PSU adapter thingies on order but then I tripped across this.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=23845

If I can unload 2 4870X2's onto this, my Antec 1000 should be in the clear for running all the other stuff I have hooked up on my bench rig. Doesn't seem to be available in Europe yet but this looks like a solution to my power supply worries. Anybody have one of these yet and care to pass on your findings?

the thermaltake express is design to run as supplementry due to that it has only 12volt rail

i gonna buy this to run 1 4890 or 2 but the point is that the thermaltake express will not fail even though it may fall 78% efficeny at full load its still pretty good then keep replacing failing psu's

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian y.

That is what I have been wondering myself. I have a motherboard that uses two 8pin 12v connectors for the CPU and I am wondering if I use a 24 pin adapter that I can hook up a Ultax3 1600w & OCZ 800w PSU and use the 8 pin connectors from both PSU's in order to fill both 8 pin connections....I would rather spend the $10 then go out and get a new PSU that has two 8 pin connectors.

Is this possible?
(It would be for benching sessions and not a 24/7 rig)

---

Ok Did I mention I don't know a whole lot in electricity, but you can always and I suggest you do ask others that can confirm it.

If you use this as DarthBeavis post in here http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=23350

You can plug up to four PSU with it. Any of the fifth plug is the cable you to plug to the mobo just like you would do with a standard PSU that will power both PSU when you start your PC from there you can use any combination of wiring as long as you balance it for each respective PSU spec load and yes you would and your PSU wont die on you because you didn't use the 5v and/or the 3v line.

The one thing you got a be careful with is the wall socket, it can only deliver a maximum of 1200w or so and you certainly don't want to use its full capability. Therefore you might and should want to plug each power supply in a different wall socket for safety and efficiency.

Ooops I had double posted:D

You could always just go for a single 2000w PSU, like for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101033 or this: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/436/1/

so basically the bp x-station can basically divide the power usage on the 5v and 3.3 rails?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ILikeCosmosS

so basically the bp x-station can basically divide the power usage on the 5v and 3.3 rails?

---

No I don't think so. It allow you to use the second PSU. The second PSU need to be power initiated and that is the mobo that does it otherwise you PSU wont power nothing. Once the PSU is up and running you just plug whatever you need to, but you have to make sure that you don't go beyond each and every PSU limits and that you plug the in the wall socket each PSU separately as the wall socket deliver a maximum of 1200watt or so.

Make this test; Plug one PSU in the wall socket that it is not hooked to a motherboard and try to power a 120mm fan. It wont because the power is not being initiated and that is the motherboard 20 pin or 20+4 pin that does it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by IronWarrior

You could always just go for a single 2000w PSU, like for example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817101033 or this: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/436/1/

---

Wall socket electricity is max 1200watt or burn and toast

+ it is cheaper than a new PSU

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ILikeCosmosS

so basically the bp x-station can basically divide the power usage on the 5v and 3.3 rails?

---

No! you just split the power with an adapter like this one
http://pcpartscollection.stores.yaho...suto8atxm.html

that is what is splitting the power.


On second thought I guess it does it for the mobo itself as both PSU are plug in the bp x-station and from there the cable goes into your motherboard. But you still draw power from each individual PSU and you can share power from each to power the CPU or other device using 5v and 3.3v rail without killing your PSU.

There is people saying that if you don't use the 5v or 3.3v of the PSU it will die!! I dunno but if it is true than you can do that.

you know the thermaltake power express is also a alternative to using two psu's
most people get 2 psu's because of the gpu's hence the thermaltake has 2 30 amp 12volt rails which are enough to power two gtx280s
this gets powered with a pin14( green) and a black wire
on the thermaltake unit there is only a 2 pin because it includes a adaptor that just has 2 pins that goes to the power express
hence its safer then getting a regular new psu
so basically thats my suggestion to dual psu's
i reccommend the thermaltake only reason is that your old psu wont go to waste
and that it won't fail on you

Yes it is a good and safe alternative if you don't have a second PSU and that you need extra power.

But, if you already have a second PSU and that you need serious power all together to power like this guy that want to power 6 X 280 + all the other hardware you don't have much alternatives.

The wall socket are limited too you cant use higher than 1200watt and you still need to initiate the second PSU than it is just a matter of having two wall socket relatively close and worst case scenario you can have an electrician to get him to make an extra wall socket close to the other on a separate circuit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sn@ke:~

Yes it is a good and safe alternative if you don't have a second PSU and that you need extra power.

But, if you already have a second PSU and that you need serious power all together to power like this guy that want to power 6 X 280 + all the other hardware you don't have much alternatives.

The wall socket are limited too you cant use higher than 1200watt and you still need to initiate the second PSU than it is just a matter of having two wall socket relatively close and worst case scenario you can have an electrician to get him to make an extra wall socket close to the other on a separate circuit.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sn@ke:~

Wall socket electricity is max 1200watt or burn and toast

+ it is cheaper than a new PSU

---

He's from Spain... he can go higher than 1200watts as already posted which is in this case is 3200watts.

Wall socket isn't restricted at all -.- It's the fuses.. If he's using a 16A fuse he's fine as long as he doesnt draw anything else from the circuit. And provided the cables he's using are meant for high currents. All you need to draw massive amounts from the wall is a good fuse and good cabling...