HD and fans slowing down with Cold Cathodes (lights) on.

[SLX]

Kind of an unusual problem.

Hi I have a Modded case with a Oval window. And I light every thing with 2 Cold Cathodes on a switch. Recently I discovered that when I turn the lights off my side fan starts to spin faster and noiser and the fan is connected to a MB header. But the biggist thing that gets me is I was running virus scan and it was scanning the files, when i turn the cathodes off the HD started to read the files faster a very noticeable diffrence. :eek:

Now im pretty sure that I have enouth power its 420 watt PSU. I have 5 80mm case fans, not inc. the cpu and psu and vidcard. Is it how every thing is connected? How can I fix this, besides leaving the power off?

Before I had a 300 watt psu and I blew it while OC the computer not sure does my system use or need that much power?

p4 2.0a alpha pal 8900 80mm fan with variable thermal resistor.
8500 128mb ram
80gb 7500 hd maxtor ata133
40x12x48 verbatum cdrw
vpsd via p4pb motherboard.
420 watt psu
2 12 inch cold cathodes powered by a dual inverter.
512 mb geil ram pc3000

Also, the side fan also has a thermal variable resistor attached to the vid card, these fans go up to 4200rpm. But I doubt the vid card heats up that much in a matter of 1 second.

Thanks for ne help given.

[Bovon]

I would suggest that you have greatly overloaded your psu. Sure...450 watts is good...but only for the normal computer... yours is anything but normal.

I would recommend you get a tester...digital volt meters are pretty cheap...test your 12 and 5 volts under full load...you are probably gonna find your 12 volts, and possibly the 5 volts is being reduced a lot.

The answer to this will be a second psu, either running separately or connected to the main psu/computer so that it comes on when the computer comes on.

[SLX]

Thanks for the help, I dont know how I ever got my self into this kinda mess. So, do you think 520 watts would be ok? Or can anyone point me to psu that can ne installed like in a 5 inch bay?

[BipolarBill]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16817103910

[jrb420]

The problem I found with power supplies is that the power ratings are wrong. Example: I had, in my computer, a 400W PSU from Comp-USA. Printed on the label on the side, the max load was 340W. I ended up frying my motherboard because it was overloaded and shorted out.
I would recommend one of the True-Power or Pure-Power PSU's from Enermax or Thermaltake. I bought a 420W Thermaltake and it is actually 420W.

[Bovon]

Most folks who add a buncha doo-dads that consume extra electrons, also add a second psu if the case area will support it somewhere. A high wattage psu will work usually, but will be more costly than two 300 - 400 watt supplies.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=633263