Power supply need advice

P

philo

Anthony said:
Okay I think it time for a new power suppy and my antec 400w isnt getting
me enough amps for my 12 v how about this one:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=20330


if not got a better recomondation? That one gives 28amps more then enough
for my 2 hard drives 1 dvd-rw (wanna put my other cdrw back in to) and my
6600 leadtek card.
Click to expand...

you need to state what your problem really is...
if a 400 watt supply can't run two harddrives and a dvd-burner...
putting in a 330 watt supply is not terribly likely to improve anything
 
A

Anthony

The problem is the ampage mainly the 400 w one i have is an antec but only
provides 12amps. Ever since i added in my new 6600 AGP card I've been
having stability problems and I rand motherboard probe and got these reults



+5 = 4.87
3.3v = 3.18 used
+12v= 11.84 used
-5v= -3.70 used
-12v= 8.29 used


so my guess is when I run the game and the computer crashes its casue the
video card begins to use the extra power i had to connect to it bringing me
over the 12 v total. so figured if I got more ampage it would handle it
better as the 400w is an antec but total output is only 380 here is the link
to the one I got

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=25400

go to specifications and it shows my total output at 380 but only 12amps to
the 12volt which I need for the hardrives CDroms and the video card.

Anthony
 
W

w_tom

Motherboard probes are only monitors. First you must
calibrate them with a 3.5 digit multimeter. In the meantime,
+12 volts is well within specs. 3.3 is marginal. From those
numbers, if is possible that 3.3 volts is suffering from too
much ripple voltage - an indication that power supply will
fail in the future. But still we cannot say anything for sure
because 1) monitor on motherboard typically is not calibrated
by factory, and 2) numbers for some voltages (ie 3.3.) are
within gray area.

Those peripherals draw almost no power. But video card does
draw significant current. What are the numbers only when
original video card is restored?

Don't guess anything. This is computers. Everything has
specific numbers. Always first have the numbers before making
a decision. For example, what were the old and new numbers -
during old and new video card.
 
W

w_tom

Motherboard probes are only monitors. First calibrate them
with a 3.5 digit multimeter. In the meantime, +12 volts is
well within specs. 3.3 is marginal. From those numbers, if
is possible that 3.3 volts is suffering from too much ripple
voltage - an indication that power supply will fail in the
future. But still we cannot say anything for sure because 1)
monitor on motherboard typically is not calibrated by factory,
and 2) numbers for some voltages (ie 3.3.) are within gray
area.

Those peripherals draw almost no power. But video card does
draw significant current. What are the numbers only when
original video card is restored?

Don't guess anything. This is computers. Everything has
specific numbers. Always first have the numbers before making
a decision. For example, what were the old and new numbers -
during old and new video card.
 
A

Anthony

I will put the older card in when I get back from work tongiht and test it
again and see what I get.
 
M

Matt

Anthony said:
Okay I think it time for a new power suppy and my antec 400w isnt getting me
enough amps for my 12 v how about this one:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=20330


if not got a better recomondation? That one gives 28amps more then enough
for my 2 hard drives 1 dvd-rw (wanna put my other cdrw back in to) and my
6600 leadtek card.
Click to expand...

Oh I think going from 400 to 330 may not get you what you want. I would
try going to 250 or even 200 if you can afford it.
 
D

Derek Baker

Matt said:
Oh I think going from 400 to 330 may not get you what you want. I would
try going to 250 or even 200 if you can afford it.
Click to expand...

:)

Of course, just because a PSU has a lower overall rating doesn't necessarily
mean any individual line is less.

Having said that the link takes me to a page that says 22amps for the 12v -
28 is for 3.3v.
 
K

kony

The problem is the ampage mainly the 400 w one i have is an antec but only
provides 12amps. Ever since i added in my new 6600 AGP card I've been
having stability problems and I rand motherboard probe and got these reults



+5 = 4.87
3.3v = 3.18 used
+12v= 11.84 used
-5v= -3.70 used
-12v= 8.29 used


so my guess is when I run the game and the computer crashes its casue the
video card begins to use the extra power i had to connect to it bringing me
over the 12 v total. so figured if I got more ampage it would handle it
better as the 400w is an antec but total output is only 380 here is the link
to the one I got

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=25400

go to specifications and it shows my total output at 380 but only 12amps to
the 12volt which I need for the hardrives CDroms and the video card.
Click to expand...

You need to use a multimeter to check voltage. It is
completely normal for the 12V reading from a motherboard
sensor to be @ 11.84, even on a PSU with 10,000 amps that
will not change the fact that most motherboard's trace
resistance results in lower 12V reading.

There are a number of possible reasons your system has
problems now. Could be power, could be overheating, could
be drivers, or something else. You can't judge the PSU's
output except by reading from it's connectors at the load,
that is, at the motherboard and/or video card socket.

You do not need 28A of 12V for the parts you've described,
not even with a high-end Prescott CPU. 12A does seem too
low for good margin though, if you want another PSU, if it
does end up being necessary, seek at least 18A of sustained
power... peak ratings are often deceptive, if you're not
willing to spend in excess of $120 you're not going to get
28A of clean, sustained 12V power.
 

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