How to figure out power usage?

[slayer202]

I have been having trouble hooking up a 2nd DVD-RW drive for a longgg time (see thread here)

I never really thought about it, but maybe it could be a power issue? any utilities out there that guage power usage?

I have a 450w smartpower.

epox 9npa+ultra
amd x2 3800+
2 gigs corsair value select
geforce 7800 gt+ OC
DVD-rw drive(working)
sata 300gb hd

 

[ColemontHD]

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Scroll down towards the bottom for the download

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: ColemontHD
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Scroll down towards the bottom for the download

Perhaps I'm missing something? I don't see a wattage monitoring software download in that link...

 

[Navid]

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-HG.html

 

[nomadh]

Originally posted by: Navid
http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-HG.html

I have 1 too. Best way I know of to get a real number. Look for peak, average an sleep power usage. Also leave it plugged in for a week of usage to a total of power used.

 

[dBTelos]

I doubt it's a power issue, you have penty of power.

 

[Varun]

Originally posted by: dBTelos
I doubt it's a power issue, you have penty of power.

I agree - DVD drives take very little power to operate. An easy way to tell is check your 12V and 5V lines with a multimeter.

Have you tried the DVD drive on another computer, or on yours with your old one unconnected? Be sure one is set to Master and the other to Slave, and make sure they are detected by the BIOS at bootup - if your BIOS has a splash screen you will need to disable it to see the startup checks.