New member, new i3 build with power usage readings

Caution lurker decloaking.....

First I'd like to thank everyone on this board for all of the great info on unRAID.

I'm a WHS refugee that has jumped over to unRAID. I had intended to build a new WHS when Vail was released but since Microsoft has screwed the pooch once more I have moved on and I'm glad I did.

I had been collecting parts for the WHS build when the "Vail fail" announcement was made and decided to try to build my own unRaid server with what I already had and ended up with a  build that looks pretty much like roastdawgg's in the pimp my rig thread except his wiring is neater and he's a better photographer.

Antec Three Hundred

Biostar TH55B

Intel Core i3540

Corsair 430cx

3x WD 1TB EADS

2x WD 2TB EARS one of which is my parity drive.

1x 1.5TB Samsung EcoGreen F3

After copying over about 5TB and testing the server over a few weeks it is now our main video server and can supply 2 HD feeds and 1 SD feed simultaneously with no problem(one of the players can't play HD but I think the server could handle 3 HD.) I will now move the rest of our videos over move the drives into the un RAID box and the WHS will be  just for PC/Mac backups and redundant photo storage and other miscellaneous digital files that need a home.

Anyway unRaid is great and I though some forum readers would appreciate power usage information for an i3-540 system with the above drives.

Idle with all drives spun down-              43 watts

Idle with all drives spun up-                  65 watts

Parity check                                      90 watts

1 HD movie stream(1 drive spun up)      46 watts

Copying file to server(2 drives spun up)  68 watts

The i3 is very efficient and basically idles all of the time. After I become more comfortable I may set up handbreak and transcoding to use some of the processors capability but I am very happy with the setup as is. The server is almost silent.

Thanks again to all of the forum posters that have shared their knowledge and made my build possible.

Looks great. Nice low power consumption numbers.

I would be curious to see what your "peak watts" at boot would be - if you have a chance to check

Are you using the stock tri-cool fans that come with the 300 case?  If so, what speed do you have them set to and what temps do you see on your drives during a parity check?

Next time I replace a drive and boot up I'll post the power draw peak. It will probably be next week.

I am using the stock fans set on their lowest setting. 2 Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm(800rpm) in the lower 2 slots up front. An Antec drive bay adapter in the top bays with it's fan set on low. Only one drive up top right now. The highest temp I have seen during a parity check was 37C.

I may replace the S-Flex fans with the 1200 rpm models since It gets hot here in the summer. I also haven't made up my mind about putting a fan in the side opening. Right now it is blocked off. I used what I had on hand to get up and running so I could see how I liked unRaid. The Antec drive insert is for the Nine Hundred and while it fits and works fine you can't remove the filter while it's installed. I usually just use the Dyson to clean them but since I'm loving unRaid so much I may move over to another case.