Would this power supply be adequate for an XP?

[styrafoam]

I have a 250 watt power supply from Deep, they are on the amd approved list. My specific power supply is on this page, it is the DP-ATX725B. Anybody have a second to look at the voltage numbers and tell me if I should bother to try to run an athlon XP?

 

[Ilmater]

AMD recommends AT LEAST 30A on the +5V line, so no, I wouldn't use that with an Athlon. If you do, you could very easily ruin your processor because of power fluctuations. I really wouldn't mess with this.

 

[styrafoam]

Thanks man, thats what I was looking for. A minimum number to make the call on, I just wasnt sure which to go off of.

 

[Lord Evermore]

The amperage needed for the +5V line to run the system is dependent on exactly what you're putting in the system. If you've got only a hard drive and CD drive and integrated components on the motherboard, 30A is more than you need. In fact they have a chart of recommended system specs somewhere (was linked in another post about PSUs) which only came up to 17.3A total for a system with multiple drives, USB and Firewire devices drawing power.

More importantly though, that PSU only has 10A on the +12V rail, which isn't recommended for the faster speed processors, especially if you've got multiple hard drives or optical drives. 12A would be a minimum recommendation, 14 or 15 would be better. Plenty of basic systems though work just fine with 250W PSUs or even less, even with only 10A +12V.

 

[styrafoam]

The power supply in question is currently pushing two 7200rmp HDDs, burner, cd-rom, 2 case fans and no integrated components(GF4ti4200, sblive, nic, and 2nd usb bracket). Very stable, the whole setup goes months without a hard crash, and when it does it is always a disagreeable game. The current processor however is a celeron 1100.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Celeron uses considerably less power than an AthlonXP.

Due to the 12V rail on that PSU, it's likely you'd have stability issues using it with an AthlonXP. The 5V rail would be perfectly fine though.

 

[styrafoam]

Thanks for the replys, it does help me. Now that I know what to look for as far as minimums on the ratings, a power supply in a second system of mine can be used. The second is listed as amd compatible by the manufacturer, but its nice to know which properties make that a fact.

 

[bozo1]

"Compatible" can mean many things but usually is just marketing. AMD no longer recommends specific powersupplies. They used to recommend specific supplies but in the case of lower powered ones, they were only recommended up to a specific processor speed.

What AMD wants now is 30A on the 5-volt line and 180-watts combined on the 3.3 and 5-volt lines. Many people get away with lower rated supplies but that is what AMD recommends for anything above the 1.4GHz Athlon.

 

[Budman]

I myself would try it out before buying a new psu,you never know it might work fine.

And if it doesnt work or is very unstable then buy a new one,you got nothing to lose by trying it first.