Why do I need a 300/350W PSU for Athlon XP

[Ak]

Guys,
Can someone with good knowlegde iexplain to me why do I need a 300W PSU for Athlon XP 1700/1800 Mhz CPUs. I have several Delta 240W PSUs. Thease PSUs were made for Intel and they are very hign quality. There are 300/350W PSUs in the market that sell for 25/30 dollars. PSU fan noise is very annoying to me. The Deltas I have is very quite. I have several PCs (10 ot them). If necessary with 240W, I can use this as my test PCs, I mean the mobo and HD and a CRR and only onr SCSI HD.

Thanks,
AK

 

[mechBgon]

AthlonXP's draw lots of current and may demand it suddenly. Here is some more info which may help shed light on it all.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

The type of powersupply is also highly dependent on what components are in the system. A K7S5A board with integrated sound and NIC, an Athlon 2100+, stock HSF, two 80-mil case fans, one one CD-RW drive, one 5400RPM HDD, a GF2 MX400, will probably run without any problems on that power supply if you don't overclock the system. I say test it out and see how far that 240W will take you.

 

[Buz2b]

<< . A K7S5A board with integrated sound and NIC, an Athlon 2100+, stock HSF, two 80-mil case fans, one one CD-RW drive, one 5400RPM HDD, a GF2 MX400, will probably run without any problems on that power supply if you don't overclock the system. >>

Not likely I'm afraid. Especially with the K7S5A. That board is notorious about using decent PS's. That PS is only rated to an Athlon 950 on this page of AMD recommended PS's. You'd be pushing the envelope. Part of the problem is the combined 3.3 and 5 volt rating. It is only 145 watts. That is too low. AMD needs those more so than the Intel CPU's. The link that mechBgon gave shows this very well. Yes, you could try it just for giggles and see if it will run. But even if it starts you are looking for trouble. There are people that have gotten theirs to run with a lower powered unit, but those are the exception; not the rule. I wouldn't want to bet my data integrity on those sytems either.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Not likely I'm afraid. Especially with the K7S5A. That board is notorious about using decent PS's

That's a very good point. Something like the ECS K7VZM would be a much better choice. My main point was that integrated features should help to cut down on power consumption when compared to their more powerhungry PCI sisters.

 

[zzzz]

You don't need a high power rated PS but it should be of good quality. I have a PCpower and cooling silencer 275W which I had used to overclock XP1600 to 1900+ without any problems.

 

[Buz2b]

<< You don't need a high power rated PS but it should be of good quality >>

Another excellent point as a good quality PS usually has a cleaner signal and better "line" condition than a larger capacity PS.


<< PCpower and cooling silencer 275W which I had used to overclock XP1600 to 1900+ without any problems >>

The one drawback is that, although one of the best units around, PC Power and cooling is also one of the most expensive units around. You could buy an Enermax 350 watt (another excellent PS) for much less than that particular one. That would also give you more "headroom" with your available power. But, we digress. The question was "Why does the AMD need more power?" Answer has been referred to in mechBgon's post. It simply draws more and different power than the comparable Intel unit. Think of it like two different makes and models of cars. One will run great on regular octane but the other requires premium octane. Different reqirements by different engines. I'm sure the Delta's are good units but they probably just lack the "octane" to run the AMD you desire. As I stated earlier, they might work but even if they did you would be on "borrowed time". Good Luck!