Time for a new power supply

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 01:19am

I've finally pulled out my broken smart power 450 antec PSU. The machine hasn't been able to turn itself off without starting back up since july, not to mention its difficulty powering up after pulling the plug.

So, I need to know what kind of PSU I should get? The Extreme power supply calculator suggests I need something like 450-475watts.

My current PSU is a no-name 400w (20a on the 12v rail) without a PCIe connector (and for the life of me, I cannot find the molex adapter). When I boot up windows I get a friendly message saying my GPU (upclocked 7800gt) has been downclocked because it doesn't have its PCIe connector in. Since I switched power supplies (did this at the same times as a fresh windows install) games have run like shit, would it be reasonable to assume that the cause of this is the PSU?

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-29 01:34am

The cause of it would be you not having a PCIe connector plugged into the vid card. So, in a sense, yes. If you want a recommendation, the Seasonic S12-430 is pretty nice. Not exactly cheap, but it is quiet.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 02:57am

I'll take louder if its cheaper

Also, shouldn't the exhaust be going out the case, rather than into it? (also, something that isn't out of stock at ZZF would be nice; free and fast shipping plus they'll ship to an address not listed on my debit card)

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-29 03:04am

huh. All the S12s are out of stock at ZZF. They do exhaust out. It's just displayed upside down in the pic, because the fan's prettier that way.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-10-29 03:11am

You could try one of the 400 watt Sparkle Power units at ZZF.
They're good for the price.

You probably are leery of Antec since it was an Antec that failed on you, but the 400 watt Smartpower 2.0* came with my case and I haven't had any problems out of it yet.

Also, if your Antec isn't that old it could still be under warranty as I believe they have a 3 year warranty period.

*It powers the following with no issues:

Asus A8V motherboard w/ 3700+ Athlon 64 overclocked to 2.65Ghz.
ATi Radeon X800 Pro AGP video card.
3 DVD RW drives.
3 Hard drives.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 03:11am

Beowulf wrote:huh. All the S12s are out of stock at ZZF. They do exhaust out. It's just displayed upside down in the pic, because the fan's prettier that way.

Ah, okay. Any other brand suggestions?

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 03:21am

Glocksman wrote:You could try one of the 400 watt Sparkle Power units at ZZF.
They're good for the price.

You probably are leery of Antec since it was an Antec that failed on you, but the 400 watt Smartpower 2.0* came with my case and I haven't had any problems out of it yet.

Also, if your Antec isn't that old it could still be under warranty as I believe they have a 3 year warranty period.

They do, and I plan on RMA'ing it. However I don't really want to wait the weeks it will take to be replaced. Unless... if I managed to get/find myself a molex->PCIe adapter, would this unit (400w, 20a on 12v rail) be able to handle things?

PSU Calculation

Code: Select all

System Type:  Dual Processor  
CPU:  AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2000 MHz 1.35v  
CPU Utilization (TDP):  85% TDP  
RAM:  2 Sticks DDR SDRAM  
Video Card:  NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT 450 MHz  
Video Type:  Single Card  
IDE HDD 7200 rpm:  1 HDD  
SATA HDD:  1 HDD  
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive:  1 Drive  
USB:  1 Device  
Front Bay LCD Display:  Yes  
Fans    
Regular:   1 Fan 80mm;  2 Fans 120mm;    
Motherboard, keyboard and mouse:  Yes  
PSU Utilization:  100 %  
Surge Compensation (+ W %):  20 %  
Capacitor Aging (+ W %):  10 %  
 
Total:  440 Watts

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-29 03:31am

With the addition of the adapter, probably be able to power it. The GPU is underclocking itself to avoid pulling too much power from the 12V through the MB, and possibly causing the MB connector to kill itself.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 03:34am

Beowulf wrote:With the addition of the adapter, probably be able to power it. The GPU is underclocking itself to avoid pulling too much power from the 12V through the MB, and possibly causing the MB connector to kill itself.

The thing suggesting 440 watts is a bit of an over-estimation then?

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-10-29 03:40am

That's iffy because of the low single rail 12v rating.
This 400 Watt Sparkle at newegg puts out 18A on each of its 12v rails.

That older unit might work (especially if its a quality unit), but you also might have a system that's unstable as Hell.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-10-29 03:59am

So, if by some chance I manage to find my molex->pcie adapter, or by some luck the local radio shack has one the worst that would happen is instability; nothing would be damaged?

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-10-29 04:26am

InnocentBystander wrote:So, if by some chance I manage to find my molex->pcie adapter, or by some luck the local radio shack has one the worst that would happen is instability; nothing would be damaged?

Probably, though under certain circumstances system damage can occur.
If it was me, I'd just wait for the RMA'd unit to arrive from Antec or get a new Fortron, Sparkle, or Seasonic now and sell the exchanged Antec when it comes in.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-10-29 09:33am

I would very much doubt that any system damage would occur with a 7800 GT unless you've got an overclocked Prescott as a CPU or something. Even a crappy 400 Watter should be plenty if you're not overclocking.

Glocksman · Post by **Glocksman** » 2006-10-29 10:19am

I doubt it as well, but as soon as I say 'no damage will occur', his PC will catch fire because of a 1 in 10,000 combination of circumstances.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-10-29 10:20am

Glocksman wrote:I doubt it as well, but as soon as I say 'no damage will occur', his PC will catch fire because of a 1 in 10,000 combination of circumstances.

And then he'll sue you?