Tell me when i'm pushing it (power supply)

[Techno]

K,

I have 3 brand new systems. The 3 motherboards are Micro ATX and the cases are Micro ATX w/ 200w power supply (highest one for the MATX standard i guess)

The three systems are:

System 1 - Sound System

Athlon MP 1800+
512MB PC2100 (samsung)
EPoX EP-8KMM+
ProSavage DDR 8 (Onboard Video)
Hercules GTXP 7.1
40GB Maxtor D740X-6L
Directron Casper II w/ 200w PS.
Internal 40x TDK CDRW

System 2 - Game system

Athlon MP 1800+
512MB PC2100 (Crucial)
EPoX EP-8KMM+
Radeon 8500 (128MB)
Audigy Platinum EX
40GB Maxtor D740X-6L
Lineon 48x CDRW
Directron Casper II w/ 200w PS

3rd System - general system but would like more things added!

AthlonXP 1700+
256MB PC2100 (Crucial)
EPoX-EP-8KMM+
ProSavage DDR 8 (onboard Video)
AC97 Sound card (onboard sound)
80GB Maxtor DiamondMax 9
Directron Casper II w/ 200w PS.

Now I my qestion is, I have an Sigma Designs X-Card, a 16X DVD, a USB 2.0 PCI card and i have been thinking about buyng a Extigy and maybe a Radeon 9500 or Gainward Ti4200 video card for the Last system. My qeuestion is, Is the X-Card, DVD, USB 2.0 Add on, Extigy AND newer video card to much for the 3rd system to handle (w/ the 200w ps)???????????????

 

[BentValve]

What are the specs of that PS? How long have you been running them and have you had any stability issues?

 

[Lord Evermore]

If the PSU's can put out 10A to 12A on the +12V line, then you're probably safe. Even decked out Dell systems only use a 200W to 250W PSU. You can get 250W MicroATX PSUs though.

Compare it to this, which is inside a Shuttle SS51 which supports P4's up to 2.53GHz.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
If the PSU's can put out 10A to 12A on the +12V line, then you're probably safe. Even decked out Dell systems only use a 200W to 250W PSU. You can get 250W MicroATX PSUs though.

Compare it to this, which is inside a Shuttle SS51 which supports P4's up to 2.53GHz.

10-12amps would not cut it if you were running this system,
per AMD

 

[element]

Originally posted by: BentValve

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
If the PSU's can put out 10A to 12A on the +12V line, then you're probably safe. Even decked out Dell systems only use a 200W to 250W PSU. You can get 250W MicroATX PSUs though.

Compare it to this, which is inside a Shuttle SS51 which supports P4's up to 2.53GHz.

10-12amps would not cut it if you were running this system,
per AMD

That is not per AMD, that is per some tard that can't even do simple math. Look at the 12 current column, now add up all the devices' currents. They do not add up to 6.7 amps.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: element®

Originally posted by: BentValve

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
If the PSU's can put out 10A to 12A on the +12V line, then you're probably safe. Even decked out Dell systems only use a 200W to 250W PSU. You can get 250W MicroATX PSUs though.

Compare it to this, which is inside a Shuttle SS51 which supports P4's up to 2.53GHz.

10-12amps would not cut it if you were running this system,
per AMD

That is not per AMD, that is per some tard that can't even do simple math. Look at the 12 current column, now add up all the devices' currents. They do not add up to 6.7 amps.

Tard? I got that from AMDs system builders guide?

You are the "tard" my friend , those totals are "power" aka wattage.

 

[BentValve]

Oh I see what you are looking at.....look again pal.

 

[element]

First of all, you don't need to get defensive, no one called you a tard. Just the person that made that chart. Secondly, I stand by my argument that those are in fact current levels as indicated on the chart itself, and also discernable through common sense, as that Athlon processor would use approx 7 amps and not 7 watts. But that is ok that you did not possess that knowledge regarding AMD CPUs, as not everyone does.

What I do consider common knowledge however is adding up decimal numbers, which most people learn in grade school. Therefore I consider an adult who is imcapable of this task as incompetent. Retard, which has a similar meaning, while a tad harsh is not exactly incorrect.

If you would direct your attention to the 12 volt column, as I stated earlier, but apparently you were unable to grasp, that column does not add up to his Total Current For Devices figure.

 

[BentValve]

Originally posted by: element®
First of all, you don't need to get defensive, no one called you a tard. Just the person that made that chart. Secondly, I stand by my argument that those are in fact current levels as indicated on the chart itself, and also discernable through common sense, as that Athlon processor would use approx 7 amps and not 7 watts. But that is ok that you did not possess that knowledge regarding AMD CPUs, as not everyone does.

What I do consider common knowledge however is adding up decimal numbers, which most people learn in grade school. Therefore I consider an adult who is imcapable of this task as incompetent. Retard, which has a similar meaning, while a tad harsh is not exactly incorrect.

If you would direct your attention to the 12 volt column, as I stated earlier, but apparently you were unable to grasp, that column does not add up to his Total Current For Devices figure.

I am well aware that an Athlon takes 7amps .. at first I though you were refering to the wattage line not the 12V line. While I amy not be an electrical expert I am at least ASE certifed in automobile electrical as well as drivability.

You are wrong, you must be pretty out of it or something because even if I was drunk I could add that column up just fine.

Man if you cannot figure out that simple chart.....ah forget it. I am outta this thread.

Anyways 12 Amps on the 12+ is not good enough for todays power sucking systems..in my opinion of course.

Good Day.

 

[BentValve]

Hey Element , why don't you email AMD and tell those dumbasses to learn how to add! That will show em!! Tell em how it is!!

 

[element]

Someone shoot me now.

I didn't see there were 2 of each for the hard drives. I just added up the column as it was. Well that 2 should be in parentheses right in that same column dammit....lol

Ok ok I sorry...I am teh t4rd joo 4re teh leetness. But hey at least I knew it was current and not power hehe.

 

[BentValve]

he he he! At least you can admit it, that says something about you. 🙂

Well I don't know what happened to the thread starter but I think we all will agree that using 200 watts is pushing it and adding a power pig like a Radeon 9500 or 9700 is going to be pretty much out of the question. Even though you might have enough you need some headroom, PSs are not made to run at their maximum or near maximum load for extended periods.

 

[Techno]

Thanks for writing. Here are a few questions.

1, does the Ti4200 (128MB version) take less power to run then the Radeons?
2, If i didn't add any video card and left the onboard one alone, would i still have enough power for the DVD Drive, X-Card (dvd decoder), USB card, and Extigy??

 

[JKing76]

Would the 300W Nexus NX-3000 PSU be enough to power:

ASUS P4PE w/ Gigabit LAN, SATA, Firewire, RAID, and SoundMAX audio
P4 2.4B
512 MB Samsung CAS2.5 PC-2700 DDR
ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro
Adaptec 29160
2 x 18GB 15K-RPM Seagate Cheetahs
180 GB DeskStar 180GXP
Samsung 32x10x12 CDRW / 12X DVD-ROM Combo

?

How do you go about adding up power requirements?

Stats for the Nexus at: Silicon Acoustics

+3.3V: 28A
+5V: 30A
(+3.3, +3 total => 200W)
+12V: 15A

 

[DannyBoy]

Originally posted by: JKing76
Would the 300W Nexus NX-3000 PSU be enough to power:

ASUS P4PE w/ Gigabit LAN, SATA, Firewire, RAID, and SoundMAX audio
P4 2.4B
512 MB Samsung CAS2.5 PC-2700 DDR
ATI All-in-Wonder 9700 Pro
Adaptec 29160
2 x 18GB 15K-RPM Seagate Cheetahs
180 GB DeskStar 180GXP
Samsung 32x10x12 CDRW / 12X DVD-ROM Combo

?

How do you go about adding up power requirements?

Stats for the Nexus at: Silicon Acoustics

+3.3V: 28A
+5V: 30A
(+3.3, +3 total => 200W)
+12V: 15A

Should be, although you say there are two 15k rpm drives? If this is the case then im pressuming you have a SCSI Controller card too?
Depending on what one you have they can take alot of power.

Generally i would imagine from a reasonable guess that everything should be ok...

No doubt i am wrong though, i cannot tell you myself because im not that good with Power Drain.
Personally my final say would be yes though, or at least i would imagine so.

Regards
Dan 🙂

 

[JKing76]

Yeah, the Adaptec 29160 is the SCSI adapter.

And I figure, if one of those tiny Shuttle SB51s can handle a P4 3.06, an AIW 9700 Pro, a wireless PCI card, a CDRW, one or two IDE harddrives, and a bunch of USB and Firewire devices all on a 1U 200W PSU, this machine shouldn't have a problem with a quality 300W.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I only see one hard drive in the list of components, no CD drive and an XP1700+ not a 2100+.

They also specify a motherboard with onboard devices, but then have a PCI sound card, network card, modem and video added in. How much does not having the onboard devices enabled reduce the motherboard power consumption? From the total you could either reduce the power the mobo takes, or remove some of the PCI devices.

The X-Card of course and the USB card are additional power draws, but not on the 12V line (and where power is an issue, there's not much need for the X-card anyway). The Extigy also doesn't run on USB power, and I see no mention of other USB devices (and 500mA output is the MAX draw for a USB root hub, most devices that use that much power use a power adapter). And of course no mention of Firewire devices. A GF4 Ti4600 according to Tom uses about 6A on the +3.3V line (I'm not sure why he has it drawing 5V as well, don't know why it would). He's also only got one DIMM installed instead of the 3 in that list.

Removing at least the power consumption of devices he doesn't have cuts it down by 2.8A at least on +12V, minus perhaps half an amp conservatively for the lower speed processor, and being that it's a micro-atx case, remove that system fan for another quarter amp. Which brings the total +12V draw to 10.64A. The PSU with the Casper II case appears to be this one which has 13A on the +12V line and says it's good for P4's and Athlons but doesn't clarify any speeds. It says "combined load 95W" which I assume is on the +5V and +3.3V lines and is plenty for this system.
By my count:
9A on +3.3V for 29.7W (counting 6A on the video card)
7.3A on +5V for 43.8W
10.64A on +12V for 127.68W

Total is 201.18W. Of course a Ti4200 will use less power than a 4600 (considerably less, given the differences in power design of the cards), and these are all maximum current draws which don't happen very much (how often is your floppy drive in use?).

I think it will work, you'll just be very much on the edge of what that PSU is capable of, and you may want to consider a 250W. When you look at it, other than the video card, the devices being put in aren't even all that much beyond the normal components of a small form factor system. If you get another PSU though, be very careful what you get. Directron has 250W PSU's that only put out 10A or even less on the +12V line, which just shows you do have a damn good PSU for a 200W.