PSU only has 4 SATA power, what to do if you have 5 or more drives?

Toddskins

Distinguished
Feb 14, 2012
51
0
18,640
I'm doing my first build and while looking at the back of my new PSU (EVGA Supernova 850 G2), I see that it has only 4 SATA power connections.

How do people supply power to systems having 5 or more drives?

I'll have an SSD, 3 Hard drives, an Optical drive (that's 5 total) and a couple devices I am planning on getting (fan controller, LED lighting with controller) these devices require power, too.

What do people do who have Raid control and other numerous drives do?

Here is an image of the labeled, modular connections of the EVGA PSU, if it helps at all:

http://

I'm only connecting one Video card and there's power supply enough for 4. Can any of those extra 8-pin VGA connectors be used?
 
Solution
Your power supply has 10 SATA connectors and 4 Molex connectors, the SATA connectors are going to be used for your drives, the molex for fans and front panel controllers. While the PSU can easily support far more there isn't a reason to put the connectors on. Very few cases support even 10 drives, let alone more, and if you do need to run more drives you will hook them together with one of the SATA chains so you don't have a mess of wiring.

If you have more than 10 drives you are running a very special setup and should know what you need to do to make it work before you start, that includes a RAID setup and staggered spinup of the drives.



Ahhhhh, okay. I forgot about that. Thanks!


But while I'm at it, suppose a system needed more than 8 drives and various front panel controls? Do they then need to add another PSU?
 
Your power supply has 10 SATA connectors and 4 Molex connectors, the SATA connectors are going to be used for your drives, the molex for fans and front panel controllers. While the PSU can easily support far more there isn't a reason to put the connectors on. Very few cases support even 10 drives, let alone more, and if you do need to run more drives you will hook them together with one of the SATA chains so you don't have a mess of wiring.

If you have more than 10 drives you are running a very special setup and should know what you need to do to make it work before you start, that includes a RAID setup and staggered spinup of the drives.
 
Solution