Is it any wonder my system still runs?

[RussianSoldier]

I recently upgraded my system with an AMD Athlon XP 2500, MSI K7N2 mainboard, GeForce FX 5200 256mb video card, and 512mb of ddr 400mhz ram. The only things I didn't update were the case, cd-rw, fans, 2 hard drives, and the power supply.

I was looking over the video card, and it recommends a minimum of a 350watt power supply, and I'm running my entire system on only 235watts.

I noticed that If i try to overclock, even just loading the high performance defaults in the bios, I get a couple nice big blue stop screens and have to reset the bios. I was thinking that this could be caused by my system being underpowered.

What I thought to be extremely wierd is that I recently purchased 80 new motherboards, ram, and processors to upgrade systems throughout the school. Most all of them are old P2 266, all with 235watt PSU's. (I was borrowing one) I put the new motherboard and ram in, and try to turn it on, but get no screen. The processor fan starts spinning, but nothing else works. "Great" I thought, "They sent me a bad mainboard", so I try another one, and neither work.

I plugged in a 300watt power supply and everything starts right up. I just find it hard to believe that the 80 mainboards need a 300watt power supply to do less that what my 235 psu is powering.

I suppose that is why they were only $50 each. I thought about ordering new psu's, but it was cheaper to buy a new case with a 350watt psu than just for the psu alone...

Might there be any hazards to underpowering my system as it is right now?

 

[MichaelD]

Hazards? Of course. Let's see; in no particular order:

It wont' run to begin with (you found that out already)
It'll shut down for "no apparent reason" right in the middle of doing something
Underpowered components can be damaged and get ruined
Data loss

That's just off the top of my head. Wait for the bigger PSUs to arrive.

 

[RussianSoldier]

I've run it approximately 3 months with no problems at all, and I see that as a problem, because something catastrophic is bound to happen.

Those P2 266's run no matter what. I accidently dropped one from a height of 4 feet, but the 22 lb case just had a minor dent, and it started right up.

I'm planning on purchasing a case tomorrow with a big juicy 450 watt psu to ensure that my scsi drives and additional harddrives will be able to operate at full capacity.

 

[Soulkeeper]

yeah for a school computer like your talking about 300 and 350 watt psu's should be good enough

 

[spelletrader]

I have to disagree here. 235 watts is MORE then enough for a PII 266 mhz computer with reasonable peripherals.

My PII 400mhz with 3 hard drives, 3 pci cards, 1 ti200, 2 optical drives, 1 zip, 1 floppy, runs flawlessly on a 200 watt psu.

You are more then likely having a psu quality issue, rather then a quantity issue.

I mean my P4 2.4b @ 3.1ghz, 9800 pro, 2 raid arrays, 2 optical drives, 2 pci cards, usb powered devices etc only runs on a 300 watt psu (Antec), and it runs flawlessly.

So 300-350 watt psu's for those school systems are overkill IMHO!



Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

 

[Chaotic42]

Remember that the wattage is peak, and a 0°C. Multiply it by about .7 to get what it'll do at room temperature under normal circumstances.