Do I need a new power supply?

[Shark Boy]

Hi, I recently got together some old parts lying around to build a
system to play old games. However, the system suddenly reboots every so
often while gaming. I have run memtest to check out the memory but it
seems fine so I'm thinking I may need a more powerful power supply.

System specifications:
P4 1.6A GHz
AOpen AX45-V SiS645 Motherboard
1 Gig of of ram
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
SB Live
Radeon 9600XT
PCI card to add 4 USB2.0 ports
PCI TV Tuner
WinXP Pro SP2

I'm currently running it off of a 300W Antec power supply which ran a
similar system before but with a P3 and a old graphics card. It's specs
are here: http://www.antec.com/specs/p303xp_spe.html

My current voltage values:
Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.47 V
CPU Aux 3.12 V
+3.3 V 3.31 V
+5 V 5.00 V
+12 V 11.86 V
-12 V -12.03 V
-5 V -4.04 V
+5 V Standby 4.95 V

I'm not to knowledgeable about this stuff so I was wondering if I need a
beefier power supply and perhaps you could point me to some sites to
help me calculate all this out. And if it's not the power supply, how do
I go about determining what the problem is?

Also, would I need to reinstall windows as all these reboots may have
messed it up a bit?

Thanks for your time.

 

[djs0302]

Hi, I recently got together some old parts lying around to build a
system to play old games. However, the system suddenly reboots every so
often while gaming. I have run memtest to check out the memory but it

seems fine so I'm thinking I may need a more powerful power supply.

System specifications:
P4 1.6A GHz
AOpen AX45-V SiS645 Motherboard
1 Gig of of ram
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
SB Live
Radeon 9600XT
PCI card to add 4 USB2.0 ports
PCI TV Tuner
WinXP Pro SP2

I'm currently running it off of a 300W Antec power supply which ran a

similar system before but with a P3 and a old graphics card. It's specs
are here: http://www.antec.com/specs/p303xp_spe.html

My current voltage values:
Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.47 V
CPU Aux 3.12 V
+3.3 V 3.31 V
+5 V 5.00 V
+12 V 11.86 V
-12 V -12.03 V
-5 V -4.04 V
+5 V Standby 4.95 V

I'm not to knowledgeable about this stuff so I was wondering if I need a
beefier power supply and perhaps you could point me to some sites to
help me calculate all this out. And if it's not the power supply, how do
I go about determining what the problem is?

Also, would I need to reinstall windows as all these reboots may have

messed it up a bit?

Thanks for your time.

You most definitely need to get a bigger power supply. Here is a link
that will show you just how much power you need
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

I would definitely stick with a reliable brand such as Antec. Make
sure the maximum current available on the 12 volt rail is absolutely no
less than 15 amps, 18 or higher would be better though.

 

[spodosaurus]

Hi, I recently got together some old parts lying around to build a
system to play old games. However, the system suddenly reboots every so
often while gaming. I have run memtest to check out the memory but it
seems fine so I'm thinking I may need a more powerful power supply.

System specifications:
P4 1.6A GHz
AOpen AX45-V SiS645 Motherboard
1 Gig of of ram
2 hard drives
2 optical drives
SB Live
Radeon 9600XT
PCI card to add 4 USB2.0 ports
PCI TV Tuner
WinXP Pro SP2

I'm currently running it off of a 300W Antec power supply which ran a
similar system before but with a P3 and a old graphics card. It's specs
are here: http://www.antec.com/specs/p303xp_spe.html

My current voltage values:
Voltage Values:
CPU Core 1.47 V
CPU Aux 3.12 V
+3.3 V 3.31 V
+5 V 5.00 V
+12 V 11.86 V
-12 V -12.03 V
-5 V -4.04 V
+5 V Standby 4.95 V

I'm not to knowledgeable about this stuff so I was wondering if I need a
beefier power supply and perhaps you could point me to some sites to
help me calculate all this out. And if it's not the power supply, how do
I go about determining what the problem is?

Also, would I need to reinstall windows as all these reboots may have
messed it up a bit?

Thanks for your time.

Guessing at some of the details, this site suggests that you're pushing
that supply a bit:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL
It indicates (remember I had to do some guessing at what's in your
system) that you're using about 282W.

Also keep in mind that I'm tired and haven't reviewed your voltages.

Finally, with my 9600XT video card, I kept getting reboots until I used
the ATi software/driver to lower my card to AGP 4x. After that, it's
been very smooth, even with my switch to a Zalman heatpipe fanless cooler.

Cheers,

Ari


--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[DaveW]

The Antec part of your system is Great. But 300 Watts is on the low side
for the number of components you are running in your computer. I'd
recommend 400 Watts of Antec power.

 

[Papa]

I think 300 watts is really marginal for your system, and although your
power supply may or may not be the direct cause of your reboots, you should
replace it anyway - with one in the 400 watt range or higher. An Antec brand
is a good choice.

 

[Guest]

Your system doesn't need more than 300W, but many supplies labelled
300W won't run it because they're falsely rated. That shouldn't be the
case with a 300W Antec, but it's possible yours is suffering from
capacitor failure (see www.badcaps.net), a common problem with older
Antecs, and if yours has the +12V rated for only 15-16A @ +12V, then
it's an older one (current versions are rated for 19A).

 

[Shark Boy]

You most definitely need to get a bigger power supply. Here is a link
that will show you just how much power you need
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

I would definitely stick with a reliable brand such as Antec. Make
sure the maximum current available on the 12 volt rail is absolutely no
less than 15 amps, 18 or higher would be better though.

Thanks, I replaced my old (>5 years) Antec power supply with a
ThermalTake Purepower 420W and everything is very smooth now. This old
system has life again!

 

[Shark Boy]

spodosaurus wrote:

Guessing at some of the details, this site suggests that you're pushing
that supply a bit:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL

It indicates (remember I had to do some guessing at what's in your
system) that you're using about 282W.

Also keep in mind that I'm tired and haven't reviewed your voltages.

Finally, with my 9600XT video card, I kept getting reboots until I used
the ATi software/driver to lower my card to AGP 4x. After that, it's
been very smooth, even with my switch to a Zalman heatpipe fanless cooler.

Cheers,

Ari

Thanks, yeah, it seems I neglected to mention the number of case fans
and usb deviced that are attached. The site calculated 320W for my
system so I went out and grabed a Thermaltake Purepower 420W and
everything has been smooth ever since.

Sadly, this old motherboard only isn't capable of AGP8x but I doubt that
makes much of a difference in performance. Besides, it's only going to
be used for old games.

 

[Shark Boy]

The Antec part of your system is Great. But 300 Watts is on the low side
for the number of components you are running in your computer. I'd
recommend 400 Watts of Antec power.

Thanks for the response! Unfortunately, Antec power supplies are a
little pricey at my local shop so I picked up a Thermaltake Purepower
420W and everything has been great since. It's even got active PFC so
perhaps I'll have a smaller electricity bill.