current system power usage

[greyskull]

hello everyone,
well this is my first post so here goes:
i was wondering if there was a way to find out how much power from my psu that my system is currently using. i hav a 250W ps and i wanted to add some fans and coolers etc. I kno they don't draw that much power but i just wanted to be sure of how much i could add without exceeding the limit. my system is:

asus a7v
amd 800 TB
geforce 2 gts 64M
IBM deskstar 30gxp 30GB (system drive)
Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB (storage drive)
1 plextor 12x10x32 CDRW
1 toshiba 32x cdrom
Sound blaster car (i forgot which one, i think 512 if that exists)
ethernet card

now the thing is that i only hav one more free 4 pin connector to my psu and a couple 3 pin. so i was wondering if it was ok if i just bought a couple 4 pin y- cable splitters so i could add a bottom hdd cooler to my system drive, a front intake fan and maybe change the hsf to a golden gate 4 and add a quieter fan. right now my hdds run at about 38-39C (they used to be on top of each other but i moved my floppy drive in between them to give them some space) and my cpu runs at around 60C with only an outake fan from the psu so i wanted to cool things down. so to sum things up, i had two questions: is there a way to see how much more power my psu can put out? and can i just add more 4 pin splitter/y-connectors to get more connections? thanx guys, any advice would help

ps. is there any way to replace the fan to my geforce 2 gts? and where can i get one or get a better one, i think mine's about to die.

 

[greyskull]

come on guys help me out!

 

[mastay]

If you have mbm, run Prime95 and watch your voltage lines. If your voltage lines continuously fall when looping Prime, you PSU is not powerful enough to handle the stuff. As for new Geforce2 fan, look for VGA/northbridge coolers. I imagine a blue orb would suffice. Also, hold back on cooling your harddrive. If your case gets enough air flow, your harddrives are fine. If your case doesn't, most harddrive coolers would only be circulating the hot air in your case, which loses point. If your are replacing your HSF with something quieter, you will probably draw less voltage. If your current config is fine while looping Prime like described above, then your PSU can handle the two extra fans. It will only draw something like 5W, which is insignificant overall.

 

[greyskull]

thanks for the help mastay, anyone else got some tips?

 

[BoomAM]

hi,
i`d upgrade ure PSU anyway. at least to 300W. many problems with your PC can be put down to your PSU not being powerful enough.
most people dont think of the PSU as the Problem. and so upgrade another component unnessisarily.
Hope this helps.

 

[fast_eddie]

Take a look here How stuff works and add up the power consumption of each device and then add 25 percent additional for start-up current.

 

[BigJ]

its true, the power supply is one of the most overlooked parts of a computer, almost always better to spend the extra cash on a beefier one now instead of forking it out in the long run for a new one anyway