I have a feeling I'm pushing my luck...

[dac7nco]

Hello,

I have an older system I use as a server. It's a "Top-of-the-Line" HP Pavillion my Wife bought me in 2003. It does it's job quite well (and quickly), with the following: Pentium 4 (Hyperthreaded) 2.6GHz, 4GB DDR, Radeon HD 3850 AGP (This is the fastest AGP card out there), 2x SIIG SATA PCI cards (SATA-1), 1x Sony 16x DVD+/-RW (PATA), 2x 1.5GB Seagate SATA drives (RAID-0), 2x 2.0GB WD Green SATA Drives, and 1x 120GB PATA drive (O.S.)....... The Power Supply is a 300-watt No-name which came with the machine. I have a dark feeling disaster may strike with this PSU. I saw an auxiliary PSU at Newegg, which fits into a 5.25" bay - Should I get that, or just upgrade the main PSU? The PSU is so old that I have to use molex-to-SATA converters for the storage drives, and a molex-to-6pin converter for the video card.

This old computer has sentimental value, and I intend to keep it running as long as possible.

Thanks

 

[Euchrestalin]

I would advise you to upgrade the main PSU. I use PC Power & Cooling in my main rig. They have a single massive 12V rail so u won't have to worry about overloading it and they come with a 5 year warranty.

http://www.pcpower.com/Power_Supply_Selector.html

 

[HOOfan 1]

Originally posted by: Euchrestalin
They have a single massive 12V rail so u won't have to worry about overloading it and they

that is a non-issue with most PSUs....at the power range he is looking at, it is an absolute non-issue.

dac7nco. Auxiliary PSUs are only meant for powering videocards, thus they generally only come with PCI-E connectors and do not have anything other than a 12V output.

I'd just go with something like this

Seasonic 300W

 

[Lunyone]

Originally posted by: HOOfan 1

Originally posted by: Euchrestalin
They have a single massive 12V rail so u won't have to worry about overloading it and they

that is a non-issue with most PSUs....at the power range he is looking at, it is an absolute non-issue.

dac7nco. Auxiliary PSUs are only meant for powering videocards, thus they generally only come with PCI-E connectors and do not have anything other than a 12V output.

I'd just go with something like this

Seasonic 300W

Totally agree on the 12v rail not being any kind of issue. You could also get the Antec Earthwatts 380w PSU for about $1 or so less, since it has free shipping. The Seasonic 300w is good too, so either will work just fine.

P.S. If you want a bit more PSU for possible future upgrades, not that you need it right now, but the Corsair 400cx is a good buy at $53-$10 MIR = $43!!

 

[HOOfan 1]

yeah after shipping the Antec probably would be cheaper

 

[dualsmp]

I have a similar system though I don't have as many drives.

P4 2.6 GHz (478 pin) (oc 3.17 GHz)
2 GB RAM
Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 AGP
1 SATA 400 GB drive
1 PATA DVD-RW
1 PCI NIC
2 80mm fans
1 92mm fan
1 120mm fan
PSU Corsair VX450 (80plus)

I have a kill-a-watt so I can give you ballpark figures on power. At idle under XP sp3 it's ~90 watts, at load under Unreal Tournament 3 it draws 200 watts. If the HD 3850 is overclocked under load it draws 225 watts. Sapphire actually recommends a 450w PSU with 30A 12v rail for HD 3850. Obviously you have been ok running on your 300w so far, but with 5 hard drives you might want to upgrade to something with a little more power. If your not in a rush just wait until there is a sale on PSU's and pick up a 450 watt PSU. Of course I'm partial to the Corsair VX450.

 

[dualsmp]

Originally posted by: Lunyone
P.S. If you want a bit more PSU for possible future upgrades, not that you need it right now, but the Corsair 400cx is a good buy at $53-$10 MIR = $43!!

This PSU looks like it could fit the bill as well and is a good price. Has 30A 12v rail and 80 plus. It certainly won't be straining like your 300w is while playing a game. I'm not sure how loud the Antec EW 380w is, but it should be fine too. FWIW I got my Corsair VX450 for $45 AR.

 

[Lunyone]

Originally posted by: dualsmp

Originally posted by: Lunyone
P.S. If you want a bit more PSU for possible future upgrades, not that you need it right now, but the Corsair 400cx is a good buy at $53-$10 MIR = $43!!

This PSU looks like it could fit the bill as well and is a good price. Has 30A 12v rail and 80 plus. It certainly won't be straining like your 300w is while playing a game. I'm not sure how loud the Antec EW 380w is, but it should be fine too. FWIW I got my Corsair VX450 for $45 AR.

I have an Antec 380w EW in a mid-range gaming rig and it is probably quieter than anything that I have in the system. Any of the PSU's that have been recommended (Seasonic, Antec, Corsair) will do for his needs. If he wants a bit of upgrade room, the Antec 380w or the Corsair 400cx will fit that bill quite well (at least for minimal outlay of $).

 

[dac7nco]

I ordered the Corair 400w; it should be here by Tuesday, the 17th. Thank you all; the system is probably 1/50th of my current monster, but closer to my heart.

Semper Fi,
Daimon

...to be precise - THIS: Corsair 450VX

 

[JEDIYoda]

I might bhave the same issue in a year or two.....
I just bought a HP computer for under $400....
before you ask...... I found this at Best Buy and IMO it was underpriced considerably
I was very lucky!
HP Pavilion m9500z AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz 6GB 500GB
AMD Phenom II X4 940 (3.0GHz/6MB L3 Cache)
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
6GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x2048MB and 2x1024MB)
Total memory slots: 4 DIMM
LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVDRW w/Double Layer
onboard video RV730 Pro w/512MB, which I will be getting a video card.
Of course it comes with a keyboard and mouse.


The PSU is Delta brand and it`s 350 watts.
I just added a Gigabyte 4770 video card and it runs like a champ....very queit!!

 

[dualsmp]

Originally posted by: dac7nco
I ordered the Corair 400w; it should be here by Tuesday, the 17th. Thank you all; the system is probably 1/50th of my current monster, but closer to my heart.

Semper Fi,
Daimon

...to be precise - THIS: Corsair 450VX

I didn't even look but newegg did have a good price on VX450 at $50 AR, so if you got it there you did well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817139003

 

[dac7nco]

Damn, JEDIYoda, my wife snatched this old HP from Office Depot, next-door to Best Buy, Santa Rosa (S.F. North-Bay / N.California)

dualsmp, I did indeed buy the PSU from newegg... my only concers with them is that I'll take the day short (I'll go in later). I have waited for hours, watching the UPS tracking number... no help, and suddenly the trtacking number says: ARRIVED: 0530 (Oakland), ARRIVED: 0650: (Santa Rosa), IN TRANSIT: (Santa Rosa), DELIVERED: PORCH..........

U.P.S. will drop a pair of Nehalem Xeon CPUs, Memory, SSDs, HDs, etcetera...... on my front steps over a period of 3-days. The one time I caught the UPS guy, he asks me if I want to sign for the delivery. This was recently, for a $10k build. The only time I catch my UPS delivery guy is when he's dropping-off something heavy. This is a PSU for a 50-buck system. They'll want a signature. The UPS delivery will otherwise say> LOCATION: PORCH.

Sorry for the rant - I love NewEgg - UPS delivery in the North-Bay is hilarious.

Always,
Daimon

P.S. - I'll reply when these bastards put the PSU in my umbrella holder out front.

 

[M0RPH]

You really should get a hot swap rack instead of having all those big storage drives in your computer running 24/7.

I'm talking about something like this or this.

 

[dac7nco]

MORPH, that was error due to misspelling. Those big drives are in RAID-1, not 0... Losing several hundred movies, tons of TV series and a few-hundred GB of mp3s woiuld have my wife kill me in my sleep.

Daimon