Overload a 230W power supply

[Mistr2]

Can a 230W power supply handle this much stuff?
4 fans
3 hard drives
24X CD-ROM
modem
sound card
network card
video card
floppy drive

[Ed_S]

I'm not sure if it was load or age, but I killed a 230 running:
3 HD
3 CD drives
1 floppy
1 tapedrive
MB
1 oversize CPU fan

sound, net, modem, parallel, & video cards

When I put in the last CD drive, it said no. Hasn't spoken since.

Put in an extra 250 I had, working so far, but I've got a 300 just waiting...
Actually have two, figure that 600 watts will run anything, and ought to make the electric co. happy!

[Roy]

I use the rule of thumb that each drive draws 30 watts for starters. A Pentium dissipates 40W. Video cards run pretty hot, allow another 30W. Maybe 30W more for the mobo and miscellaneous cards. Fans take 1-2W, unless you have a 50CFM tornado like mine that runs 5W.

So your system adds up to about 225W. Of course all the drives don't usually run at the same time, but a larger safty margin would be a good idea with all those drives.

Ed_S ~ Switching power supplies are very efficient and draw very little more than the actual load. 2 300s would not necessarily draw 600.

[kwai]

i've got a similar setup, and even added another cd drive temporarily and my 235W handles it fine.

[krusty]

I have the following on a 200 W PS.

CD
CDR
FLOPPY
LS 120
1 X HD
VOODOO 2
2D VIDEO
SND BLASTER
2 FANS
I was worried about installing the CDR but all has been ok for a few months now.




[This message has been edited by krusty (edited 06-16-99).]

[cobain1crt]

200W ps=2 hd, 1 dvd, 1 CD, video card, mobo, P3, NIC, Sound, TV card, 2 fans (one is 120mm), duel fan CPU cooler, cooling fan for video card, never had a problem.

[desert]

Guys... how do you connect two power supplys to a pc? I have a machine running with a 300 watt supply but i need to add another 300. The first is ofcourse connected to the motherboards ATX socket, but how do i connect the other one? It is a standard 300 watt supply but in order to power it up it needs to get the signal from the motherboard right? Is there any kind of Y cables for power supplys?

Thanks.

/d

[Brangwen]

desert:

Interesting question about "needing a signal from mobo" to run a PSU. Are you sure? I've had a box with a dead PSU, and I needed to pop a Zip out or open a drive drawer and the paper clip trick wasn't working. I simply plugged the IDE device into a 4-prong cable on a box with no mobo and it's PSU powered the IDE device I had hooked it to and I popped the Zip or opened the drive. Hmm.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

In answer to your question, I read a post here a few weeks ago where a member was adding a second PSU: one would power her components, the second her fans. I don't recall that being an issue, i.e., signal from board. The issue centered around installing the thing in the computer case.

[Brangwen]

Mistr2:

If the 230W is what you have, try it. It's not hugely shy of the "standard" 250W. More informed members can tell you of damaging effects of doing this if you're under powered, but I can only think your system will not perform properly. Will it ruin components? I haven't heard of that during my brief comp-career.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Brangwen (edited 05-20-2001).]

[club_med]

Is there a way to test how much the power box is handling ?.

cm

[madfish]

club-med: I use a Gemline TC620 Analyzer, it tells me my total watt/amp/volt load of my system.. cheers

[DanU]

The simple way is to use an AC ammeter or an amp clamp to find out how many amps you are pulling. Multiply that by your nominal mains voltage (120 or 240) and that's how many watts you are using. This method is NOT the correct way, but sometimes it's close enough.

The correct way is to use a wattmeter. Unfortunately, these are nearly impossible to find.

The reason the simple method doesn't work all the time is because of the "power factor". A full explanation of power factor is probably best found by doing an internet search.

[Timbob505]

Mistr2 - It should be able to handle that stuff. I built a tbird 800, fic az11, v3 3500, cdr, dvd, hd, zip, soundcard, modem and nic on a 235 and didn't have any problems.


desert - I once heard of putting 2 power supplies in the same box - you had to splice the wires going into the mobo to get it working. I don't recall if I saw it here or at maximumpc.com I'll look around and see if i can find where the diagram is, otherwise, just do a search here and at other places and you should come up with something.

Good luck everyone!

Timbob