# SSD Power Usage



## cornemuse (Jan 10, 2019)

I recently bought some SSD's to use as usb storage media for my media player. 'Wall wart' power supply is 5v 2 amps. Looking at specs, the SSD's power consumption is (for three of 'em) 1.5, (2), & 1.65 amps. All that power going through the player, (Micca) seems a lot. I dont think the ssd's use any power till they are accessed, but videos are accessed continously while viewing. Could this be a problem?

2½" hdds use around 0.5 amps ±, 1/3 less.

I am now considering using them as 'C:\' - 'os' drives. They are 250 ± gig drives, WD, Patriot, & Sandisk.
I have several identical computers, & installed os & software on a 120g hdd, which I used to clone to 500g hdds,whenever one system crashes or hdd dies I have simply cloned the 120 to a larger drive, multiple times I might add.
Would this work with an ssd if all files graphic & video be on a D or E (etc.) drive? As I understand it, ssds die from being written to much more than simply being read from. Is this so?

People here seem to know much more than me, so, I ask, , , ,

-corne-

(I be 72 in 2 weeks! cranky old man!)


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## Sasqui (Jan 10, 2019)

First, Happy Birthday in advance 

Second, I'm surprised that SSD's use more power than HDD's, I never looked up specs, just assumed they used less!

Third, I know there are a limited number of read-write cycles in an SSD, but what I don't know... is if there is a limited number of read-only cycles.  That's to your question about accessing video files.

Fourth... an SSD is great for an OS drive due to it's speed.  Booting is so much faster.  If I read correctly, you're planning the opposite?


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## silentbogo (Jan 10, 2019)

It depends on the capacity and number of NAND flash chips, but usually it's no more than 700mA max for intensive write operations (that's for very-very old SSDs). 
Intensive multi-GB reads are only around half that, and normal low-intensity use keeps the SSD under 1W average (or almost 0W for modern disks). 
There's a good chart for reference:
https://us.hardware.info/reviews/77...s-guide-69-sata-ssds-review-power-consumption

With HDDs you use power when spindle is spinning, so regardless of the workload intensity you'll be using approximately the same amount of power from the time your disk spins up to the time it goes idle (not idle per-se, but put to sleep/standby by your media player). Random reads will add a bit more to that.
Modern laptop HDDs have a moderate power draw, which usually sits around 400-500mA, but you have to remember that this is going to be essentially a continuous draw. Variable speed drives and SSHDs are a bit more efficient, but still cannot beat SSDs in overall power consumption.

Either way, generic 5V 2A chargers are crap, so just in case I'd replace it with a beefier 5V 4A power supply, or replace it with a mediocre QuickCharge adapter (cause those can normally handle 2A or more at 5V without exploding). The rest shouldn't be that bad. If that media player is built to spec, it should handle 500mA per USB port no problem which should be enough for either HDDs or SSDs.
Back in a day I bought an old linear 5V 4A PSU (just a wall plug with transformer, bridge and filter ) for my cubieboard 3 w/ SATA drive. Right now it powers my OrangePi and an old ASUS router 24/7.


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## cornemuse (Jan 11, 2019)

Sasqui, I too was surprised about the power usage. The Sandisk power spec is printed on back, 1.6 a. I emailed them & they said their drives are not intended to be used as usb cased drives. They did say 'no read/write', no power usage.

I want to use it/them (ssds) as operating sys (C:\) drives. I use graphics software with this computer, almost exclusivly. I wondered if the software should be installed on the second, hard disk drive instead of installed on the ssd. On some s/w, there is/was an option of where to install it. I dont know how much writing gets done with the s/w whether on C or working (E-F-whatever,) hdd drive. 

I do know that WD 2½" hdds use less than most other brands, toshiba fujitsu etc. 

silentbogo,
WD Blue 2½" hdds have (or had) built in, after 7 (or around 7) seconds of inactivity, they spin down, & no power usage then, used to annoy me. On the WD usb drives there is/was s/w to turn this off, but not on internals.

My issue is not with the power supply, but if the ssd _did_ use 1.6 a, that would go through the player to supply power to it, (ssd). The Micca is about 2" x 2" sq & ½" thick. That 1.6 a goes through it. I would hate to _fry_ it!  

This Micca is pretty nifty!:

https://www.miccatron.com/micca-mplay-hd-mini-1080p-digital-media-player/


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## silentbogo (Jan 11, 2019)

cornemuse said:


> silentbogo,
> WD Blue 2½" hdds have (or had) built in, after 7 (or around 7) seconds of inactivity, they spin down, & no power usage then, used to annoy me. On the WD usb drives there is/was s/w to turn this off, but not on internals.


Which SSD model(s) do you have? Is it Ultra or Extreme that has 1.6A, I don't remember...


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## cornemuse (Jan 12, 2019)

The 120's are 'WD1200BEVS-08US'  "5VDC----0.55A"  (label)

I bought 2 lots of 5 from ebay for $6 each, they were from Lenovo laptops.

Also bought: 'WD800BEVT-75ZCT2 80 gig  5VDC : 0.55A' (label). ebay $5 ea for a lot of 8. Dont know where these came from.

These drives are much faster to clone to larger drives & simple to resize partition to make use of all of larger drives.


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## cornemuse (Jan 13, 2019)

I cloned my ssd.
(What I have first! desktop, 4 sata ports 0-1-2-3, sata 1 is cdrom, 3 sata ports connected to external [swappable] drive bay trays, XP 64 bit)
The ssd works fine! Like a rocket! I am impressed!
Some wierd things tho. Always, the _hdd's will boot from any sata port/tray_, the ssd _only will boot from one port_/tray. Additionally, the ssd does _not_ show up in bios. Ssd does _not_ show up in boot menu either.
Bios boot order only lists hdd-cdrom-removeable storage [usb], does not specify any particular hdd in boot order. (I think the ssd boots only from port 3)
Hdd in_ any_ tray _always_ shows up in bios _&_ boot menu.

What would cause these anomolies/issues?

I prefer ssd to be in a particular tray, I could/prolly will switch sata cables on the mobo to get what I want, but, what is going on?

-c-


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## girdap (Apr 19, 2019)

I have a different issue, I just bought a sandisk ssda240g for replacing my notebook drive. I was surprised when I see the back label power consumption is 1.5A. I have cloned original drive then problems start. My notebook's  original drive has only 700mah consumption.(back label).  SSD speed is impressive and makes my notebook fly but I realized my usb ports not working anymore.   I have several external usb drives (getting their power from usb port) now none of them working. When I connect them to ports they first seen on explorer then 2 seconds later disconnected, 2 seconds later reconnect.... There is no end.... I have to disconnect usb drives for avoiding further damage. Now I returned my old drive and there is no problem. I have read so many articles but  nobody  seems to be faced such a problem.


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## newtekie1 (Apr 19, 2019)

It is obviously going to depend a lot on what drive you use.  But I have an SSD in an enclosure, and a 2.5" HDD in the same model enclosure.  The SSD when idle only use 0.13A, and when in use copying files uses 0.33A.  The HDD idle uses 0.46A, copying files it goes up to 0.60A with spikes as high as 0.70A.

I think the HDD actually uses way more than that when it initially spins up, but my power meter is not fast enough to catch it.  I say this, because I plug the drives into a mini-PC that I use as an HTPC when I'm traveling.  The mini-PC has a 3A@5v wallwort.  When I plug the SSD in, everything is fine.  However, when I plug the HDD in, the initial spin up draws so much power that the PC instantly powers off.  Oddly, the USB ports still get power, so the drive stays spun up and I can power the computer right back on and it works fine, even with the HDD plugged in and being accessed.


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## stuartiannaylor (Aug 14, 2019)

Does anyone know what ampage they pull from the 5v & 12v lines?

I have a 12v RockPro64 where I have used 3amp tiny 5v buck regulators to power a string of 4 as hoping it will not pull solely from 5v.


			https://integralmemory.com/sites/default/files/products/specifcations/Integral_P_Series_5_Performance_2.5_SATA_SSD_6Gbps_0.pdf
		


POWER CONSUMPTION
 Power Management 5V Power Consumption (mW)
120GB - Read 1,265, Write 1,705, Idle 320 
240GB - Read 1,280, Write 2,680, Idle 315 
480GB - Read 1,270, Write 2,570, Idle 315 
960GB - Read 1,620, Write 1,750, Idle 340

It would seem all from 5v and maybe a tad more than many expect.
SSD don't spin up and that was where HD had massive power pull so its true that SSD take much less power but in read/write might actually take more.


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