how to oems do this

[poppasp1ce]

i open up this compaq computer today and this is what it has:

Athlon XP 1800+
DVD-ROM
CD-RW
512MB DDR
nForce motherboard
60GB Seagate
56K modem

the kicker, 200W PSU?! it was generic with no name on it. also the heatsink was a taisol aluminum with a tiny fan (believe it was 60x15, real thin), that spun so low i couldn't even hear it (thats pretty low for a 60mm fan). how in the world do they do this? i've blown two 250W PSU on and athlon that was 20% slower.

 

[tritium4ever]

Well let's analyze this:

Athlon XP 1800+ -- 55W
DVD-ROM -- 10W
CD-RW -- 10W
512MB DDR -- 10W
nForce motherboard -- 40W
60GB Seagate -- 10W
56K modem -- 10W

= 145W

Notice that these (admittedly rough) estimates are very liberal. In fact, the 10W for each of the drives is a maximum, power-on requirement...actual operating power is noticeably less. Higher wattage PSUs ensure that there's enough power at all times, but the actual power requirement at any point in time is quite different from the maximum power requirement.

 

[poppasp1ce]

id say those parts are pretty standard, maybe another drive for raid. why the need for these 350W+ PSUs then?

 

[CubicZirconia]

Originally posted by: poppasp1ce
id say those parts are pretty standard, maybe another drive for raid. why the need for these 350W+ PSUs then?

There isn't really a need all the time. For the most part, people inflate the necessary wattage of psu. However, overclocking often requires a high quality, high wattage psu for the best possible results. Gefore 4 cards usually need a decent quality psu too.

 

[bozo1]

You need to know the actual specs of the powersupply, not just that it is 200 watts. What is important is that it can supply the required wattage on the 3.3 and 5 volt lines. OEM's often use supplies designed to their specs that provide the proper current on those lines but have a much lower capacity on the 12-volt line that standard off the shelf supplies have. Since these are going into prebuilt systems, usually have everything integrated on the mobo (video, nic, sound, etc.), they know that for most people, there won't be much expansion going on that needs the extra juice that larger supplies provide.