disable power to PCI cards

[Bfavre444]

My power supply died, and I'm going to use a smaller watt back up power supply. I don't need some PCI cards, so for power to not go through, can I simply disable those PCI devices in Window's device manager, or must I have to physically pull the cards out for power to not go through them?

I'm worried disabling them in Windows won't shut off power to them.

 

[EeyoreX]

I am fairly sure that you need to remove the cards. The PCI cards are detected, and therefore powered, before Windows starts. The only thing disabling them in Windows does, is keep Windows from using them. They are still getting power.

\Dan

 

[boyRacer]

Some motherboards let you disable slots that are idle... at least some Abit's do at least.

 

[Insidious]

The ABit MoBos only disable the clock to unused PCI and unused RAM slots. This is an EMI reduction feature and will not significantly reduce power consumption.

I'm pretty sure that "unused" in this context means the card is removed. (BIOS) has no way to know if the software that could drive them is disabled or enabled.

-Sid

 

[boyRacer]

Yeah you're right... it's mainly used for EMI... but perhaps it may slightly reduce power consumption...

From Adrian's rojakpot

Details

When the motherboard's clock generator pulses, the extreme values (spikes) of the pulses creates EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). This causes interference with other electronics in the area. To reduce this problem, the BIOS can either modulate the pulses (to make them flatter) or turn off the unused clock signals.

This feature is a subset of the Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk feature. If you enable it, the BIOS will monitor the PCI slots for activity. The clock signals of unoccupied slots are automatically turned off.. The clock signals to occupied PCI slots will also be turned off whenever there's no activity.

Theoretically, EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) can be reduced this way without compromising system stability. This also allows the computer to reduce power consumption because only components that are running will use power and then only when they are actually doing work.

The choice of whether to enable or disable this feature is really up to your personal preference. But since this feature reduces EMI and power consumption without compromising system stability, it is recommended that you enable it.

 

[Insidious]

Thanks BR!

I didn't know there was that much to it.

-Sid

 

[Bfavre444]

Thanks guys.