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The P4 requires a new power supply.... Or does it?

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I don't know, I think a technical forum should be open to everyone...just as long as the flame wars and troubleshooting/how-to/product advice questions stay out. I think a technical forum could be open to basic discussions of computer architecture as well as highly techical stuff.

Also, keeping the forum closed to non-elites would negate the possibility of newly subscribed members who are computer/electrical engineers from adding their valueble input. We all could have something to add...I'm close to finishing a CS/comp architecture major so I know a lot about computer engineering, but I know nothing about electrical engineering/VLSI design stuff.

Sorry for going off-topic Wingz 🙂
 
First of all, we dont know that it will be an elite only forum. I dont know exactly they will make the highly technical forum different. Like I said, though: a forum that only allows elite members to post will miss out on a lot of good threads. Plenty of people that have been here for a while are just as willing to get into the zealot wars as newbies, though admittly nowhere near as high of a percentage.
 
I don't think an Elite only forum is necessary...I would love a Forum where you can discuss the technical merits of an Athlon vs a P4 without having a bunch of 12 year old flamers ruin the thread.

I too think Wingznut PEZ should be elevated to Elite status, but there are plenty of people that have lots of good technical detail that aren't and shouldn't be.

Remember Elite status is based on your contribution to the Forums,k it has nothing to do with what you know, nor your maturity level (of course knowledgable mature people are more likely to attain elite eventually)

For exmaple, lets pretend one of Wingz's co-workers joined the forum (Wingz works at an Intel fab for those that don't know), he would be a Junior member, but would still have a lot to contribute to a technical discussion.

A highly technical forum would be extremely interesting I think. And I think most flameys would stay away from that forum altogether because they don't have the technical knowledge to participate. No need to make it Elite only.
 
Oh, I apologize for being a major party to the thread hijack. Sorry Wingznut PEZ. I dont think it really deserves its own topic unless/until Anand gives us solid info on how the technical forum will be different (ie if he says that anyone can post, most of this side arguement becomes pointless)
 
Who said anything about elite only? 🙂 This would be a Highly Technical forum that would be heavily moderated, no questions asked. It would help keep posts out like "how do I install _____" etc... and it would definitely be very on-topic.

It would be open to the public but like I said before, it will be heavily moderated so watch what you post.

Take care,
Anand
 
Thank you Anand. The "elite only" idea was first brought up by Madrat about 2/3 of the way into the thread. In his defense, he did only mention it as an idea, not fact. I just really didnt want to see "institutional elitism" in the forums (no pun intended). Now that the facts are out, I definitely support the new forum. Heavily moderated is fine by me. And making Wingznut PEZ elite is certainly an idea worth consideration. Now, about my question regarding viewing your profile...
Also, thank you for making the speculation pointless (facts tend to do that)
 
Getting back on topic...🙂

<< I think there is some truth to that, my motherboard (MSi K7 Master) is an AMD board and it has the 2x2 12V connector, and my manual refers to it as &quot;AGP Power&quot;.

I'm sure that's not the only thing that gets powered of this plug, but I think it's one thing. The AGP Pro standard uses some more juice
>>

I finally found it again after I caught this a while ago. The following is from the Intel website..

The new 4-pin +12V power connector has been added to enable the delivery of more +12VDC current to the desktop board. This connector is used by the board to power the processor's voltage regulator module (VRM).

The 6-pin Aux. Power connector provides additional current to meet the board's +3.3VDC and +5VDC requirements.
 
LOL...was wondering why a simple question about the power supply req's for a P4 had 31 replies in. Now I see why. 😀
 
Awww, shucks guys! 😱

Thanks for all the kind words. I too was surprised when I logged on to find 30+ posts in here. Made me laugh after a boring morning of required class. 🙂

As for a High Tech forum, there is a thread going (over 100 replies) in Forum Issues. I'd really, really like to see it happen. It's real good to know that ALS (can I call you ALS? Hmmm... maybe not, as I think that's also an acronym for a disease.)... Ok, let me start over. It's real good to know that Anand pays attention to these forums. 😀

Guys, don't judge people by their &quot;member status&quot;. There are plenty of very bright &quot;juniors&quot; and plenty of, well... the opposite. 😉
 
Wingz forwarded this thread to me. And, yes, this is my first post since I 'left' a month or two ago. And, since I didn't do so at that time, let me say thanks for all the kind words in my departure thread.

As I mentioned to Anand at that time, I think a highly technical forum is a great idea. I've been posting occassionally to the highly technical forum over at Sharky's and have had some great discussions with people on strained SiGe lattices and other highly technical (but still computing relevant) discussions. The forum at Sharky's is open to anyone and is very tightly moderated to avoid turning into a troubleshooting forum, and I think that is a good model for a similar forum on here. If you AT guys decide to start up a highly technical forum, email me because I'd like to add my $0.02 to the posts on there.

And, lastly, I found the original subject to be very interesting as well. I wouldn't have thought that the system would be stable without the extra power.

Patrick Mahoney
IPF Microprocessor Design
Intel Corp.
patrick.mahoney@intel.com
 
Isn't the 4pin connector the Intel spec for, not designed for the present in mind, but for future use? As in when processors and boards need the extra juice?
Kinda like when my old LX board had USB ports on it, but at the time there was not a single usb device out(that i knew of).

So basically what saying is, is that Intel was trying to make the &quot;standard&quot; now, so they can use it later.
I that my 2 cents..🙂
 
I suspect that while leaving the four pin connector off works OK at the moment, it may not work well at higher clock speeds, as others have suggested, or that it may be overheating the standard atx motherboard connector. I'm not referring to smoking hot, but hotter than one would want in terms of longevity. I don't have an IR heat gun at home or P4 system to test the theory, though.

A few outfits are marketing adapters, PCP&amp;C among them. They allow the four pin header on the board to be powered from a normal molex type plug. Inexpensive, and seemingly worth a try for older high quality PSU's.

The boost in available current on the 5vsb line from the 2.01 to the 2.03 spec is what rules out many older psu's. This holds for some AMD boards, too, there isn't enough current available on that line to &quot;wake up&quot; the computer or to sustain some low power modes, as I understand it.
 
Can somebody direct me to a site or FAQ about power supplies?


<< Guys, don't judge people by their &quot;member status&quot;. There are plenty of very bright &quot;juniors&quot; and plenty of, well... the opposite. >>

Yep.
 


<< A few outfits are marketing adapters, PCP&amp;C among them. They allow the four pin header on the board to be powered from a normal molex type plug. Inexpensive, and seemingly worth a try for older high quality PSU's. >>



I don't think they do anything though. From hearsay it seems that if the PSU will work with the adapter, it will work without as well. If it doesn't work without, it won't work with...again just hearsay.

My experience (several P4 systems built for friends is all):

The Antec 303S which is ATX 2.01 will power the P4T just fine. I had several running with this PSU ranging from 1.4 up to 1.8GHz. I tested each with the adapter and without, no difference...none had a problem in Prime95 Torture Test or SiSoft loader.

I also used an Enermax E451P-VE with both of its special P4 connectors attached, just one, just the other, and none. I could detect no change in performance or stability (Prime95 for 24+ hours and SiSoft Sandra scores.)

The P4T is pretty stable, but it does have some problems. I had a hell of a time getting my PCI cards (SCSI, Sound, Modem) to work in conjunction with each other.

In trying out different cards, I found that version 1.06 will not work with any Matrox G400 card, but Matrox got it to work with 1.07. Asus never responded to my questions about it so I don't know.
 
Going OT again, but I considder it being for a good cause, so bear with me 😉

Anand, this tech forum, would it be a software and hardware forum, or merely hardware?
While I realise AT is a hardware site, I think a forum for more technical software discussions would be very nice as well.
I think this new forum would be big enough for both these worlds to coexist.

I think the OS forum has managed to stay clean from all the... less technically gifted posts more than the Video, GHW, and CPU forums, but its getting flooded now as well, so us software guys need a place to talk too 🙂
 
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