400w Psu

[xane]

This is really a FYI post, problem already solved.

Earlier this year I started getting problems with a Athlon "C" 1.3Ghz and Epox 8K7A (AMD761) mobo, it had run fine for a number of months then suddenly started cutting out, in fact it was acting as though it overheated and I'd have to reconnect the PSU from the mobo to reset it.

Eventually I traced the problem to my Enermax 300W PSU, apparently the +5V line drops to around +4.7V on a high load, and as this particular mobo had "three phase" voltage detection it is very volatile to voltage variation and the cutout is triggered quite easily. Apparently the +5V failure is common particularly on Enermax PSUs, and the Athlons are notorious for loading it up.

The only solution was a 400W PSU which did not get as loaded, however, by the time I got round to this I had purchased another mobo, an Abit KR7, which worked absolutely fine on the 300W PSU, +5V loaded or not, nevertheless I upgraded to a 400W PSU to be sure.

Recently I re-used the Epox mobo in another PC, this time I decided to use a lower rated CPU, a Duron 850Mhz, but I got the same +5V load problem again and had to upgrade that one to 400W (only £22 from eBuyer) as well, it has worked fine since.

The bottom line is to always get a 400W PSU or better, regardless of the rating of the CPU, as mobos like the Epox may have this sensitivity to the +5V line. You can check the +5V using the BIOS Setup, or under load using something like Motherboard Monitor

 

[Wilier]

Just wanted to add, erm, no........never mind. Sorry.

 

[tris-]

I thought, aslong as you got an approved PSU, and it was over 300w rating, then its gonna work for anything over 1GHZ, with high spec AGP cards, etc.. and shouldnt really fuck up at all, at least thats what the man in the shop told me

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

Well.. My p3 500 only has 250 watt psu, and I've had issues with it, ever since I had it.. like the computer locking up halfway through copying a cd

Recently I've had to start using it again, while I save up to replace my broken kt7a & duron 850, my own fault, some superglue spread on to the cpu & fitting, when I broke a bit of plastic removing my old fan, to put a better one on, I officially b0rked it trying to remove my cpu, it wouldn't come out, the shop got it out by leveraging it out with a screwdriver, but cpu took a bit of the motherboard with it.

Any way.. now I've added a 2nd harddrive & windows 2k to my old p3 500( can't go into stanby ) and the computer reboots automatically sometimes when left on for a long time, or some wierd error's when trying to shutdown, nothing serious but enough for me to want to upgrade the psu to 300w , I've done it now but I had to nudge my slot 1 cpu, and I think I've unseated it , the computer won't boot now, the last time this happened is when I added extra ram, but I got it working by pushing the cpu back in, but that won't work now ,

there's no way I've gonna remove the slot1 cpu and put it back, which sounds well complicated according to the manual, and after last time , I'll let the shop do it

 

[Wilier]

I think it depends on what stuff youve got in your box.

I got 3 ide hdds, dvd, cdrw, scsi drive etc, so its pretty power hungry, so a better psu has to be a bonus.

 

[.Cask]

Didn't have any problems with my AMD 1.3gHz, 2 HG'd etc with my 300W PSU.

And I certainly don't play any problems with my 350W PSU. I found anything over 300W for a home PC to be a marketing scam tbh.

*Edit* Poor spelling, grammar. Very drunk, please excuse.

 

[Dimebag]

I had an athlon 1.2, 6 pci cards, 9 case fans, 4 hdds, 2 scsi cd roms and an ls 120 running off my 300W PSU for ages, it was fine.

Just another FYI there. Then again it was an abit board not an epox. I've got a 550W now because some retard bought it over the 400W that i actually wanted. Nevermind.

Dime