Your computer’s PSU (Power Supply Unit) is at its peak performance during the boot-up phase. This is due to the power requirements for various purposes like spinning the hard drives, initiating the motherboard or powering up the peripherals. This can take a toll on the performance your system in the long run, so it’s better to spin the hard drives even before the motherboard starts-up. [Linux-works] built a device called SPINmaster to take a chunk of load off your computer’s PSU.
The device holds the motherboard in reset position (when your start your PC) by using a relay, which is indicated by the red LED light. SPINmaster then spins the hard drives (using the relay) and when the hard drives are fully spun the green LED illuminates. Once all the LEDs are green the relay shuts of and the BIOS starts up.
The device is very useful for under-powered as well as standard PSU set-ups, so you can check out the firmware and schematic for SPINmaster.
Via: Hack A Day
