Am I asking too much of my PSU?
Hi I guess that what I am about to ask amounts to common sense really, but I thought I would canvas a few opinions anyway. Essentially, I have a PowerMan (Sparkle) 250W PSU powering my system, and a very good PSU it is too.
Hi
I guess that what I am about to ask amounts to common sense really, but I thought I would canvas a few opinions anyway. Essentially, I have a PowerMan (Sparkle) 250W PSU powering my system, and a very good PSU it is too. Problem is, I’ve been making a few additions recently and I am mildly concerned about possible overload.
Ok, my system isn’t exactly overwhelmed with gadgets, so this is the essential setup:
1GHZ Athlon T-Bird
Gigabyte GA-7ZX Motherboard with onboard sound
60GB Maxtor 7200 HDD
Lite-On 16/12/40 CD-RW
LG 48X CD-ROM
Asus Geforce 2 MX400 Pro 32MB AGP Video
Diamond SupraSST 56K PCI Modem
1024MB PC-133 SDRAM (It’s so darn cheap now, why not?)
Floppy, 1 exhaust fan etc etc
Running Windows XP Professional
At present the system seems perfectly stable and isn’t showing any signs of strain and/or overheating. It’s been in this current state for about a month. Thing is, I have the option of plugging in a 30GB IBM 75GXP 7200rpm HDD that’s just sitting idle. I suspect that this would be the straw that breaks the camels back and that its time for a 300w PSU at minimum. However, what are the symptoms of PSU overload? How would I be able to tell that my system is approaching critical mass, or worse, imminent meltdown? (Apart from it blowing up, of course.)
BTW, the monitor is running off it’s own power supply.
Any opinions would be appreciated. Am I within safe parameters at the moment, and would I be asking for serious trouble if I plugged that IBM in?
Pikey
I guess that what I am about to ask amounts to common sense really, but I thought I would canvas a few opinions anyway. Essentially, I have a PowerMan (Sparkle) 250W PSU powering my system, and a very good PSU it is too. Problem is, I’ve been making a few additions recently and I am mildly concerned about possible overload.
Ok, my system isn’t exactly overwhelmed with gadgets, so this is the essential setup:
1GHZ Athlon T-Bird
Gigabyte GA-7ZX Motherboard with onboard sound
60GB Maxtor 7200 HDD
Lite-On 16/12/40 CD-RW
LG 48X CD-ROM
Asus Geforce 2 MX400 Pro 32MB AGP Video
Diamond SupraSST 56K PCI Modem
1024MB PC-133 SDRAM (It’s so darn cheap now, why not?)
Floppy, 1 exhaust fan etc etc
Running Windows XP Professional
At present the system seems perfectly stable and isn’t showing any signs of strain and/or overheating. It’s been in this current state for about a month. Thing is, I have the option of plugging in a 30GB IBM 75GXP 7200rpm HDD that’s just sitting idle. I suspect that this would be the straw that breaks the camels back and that its time for a 300w PSU at minimum. However, what are the symptoms of PSU overload? How would I be able to tell that my system is approaching critical mass, or worse, imminent meltdown? (Apart from it blowing up, of course.)
BTW, the monitor is running off it’s own power supply.
Any opinions would be appreciated. Am I within safe parameters at the moment, and would I be asking for serious trouble if I plugged that IBM in?
Pikey
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Responses to this topic
If you want to know how close you are to your PS limit then run a motherboard monitor program.
Enable it to log the results for voltages as fast it will let you set it. Then start opening and closing cd trays, copying files, burn a cd , play games , etc.
See how far the 3.3v, 5.0v and 12.0v drop.
Specifications are that they should remain within 10% tolerance.
3.3v = 2.97 - 3.63
5.0v = 4.95 - 5.5
12.0V = 10.8 - 13.2
If its slightly over the limits I wouldn't worry, below them and I would be concerned.
Enable it to log the results for voltages as fast it will let you set it. Then start opening and closing cd trays, copying files, burn a cd , play games , etc.
See how far the 3.3v, 5.0v and 12.0v drop.
Specifications are that they should remain within 10% tolerance.
3.3v = 2.97 - 3.63
5.0v = 4.95 - 5.5
12.0V = 10.8 - 13.2
If its slightly over the limits I wouldn't worry, below them and I would be concerned.
If you do overload your PSU, it is highly unlikely that you will do any physical damage to the system. If it can't supply enough power, it will just make your system behave strangely and/or lock up entirely. Actually, if it's overloaded, it probably won't even boot. Bottom line is: while your system may crash (possible data loss), you are unlikely to do any permanent to your system.
From what I can see, I think you have enough power. You are only running a GeForce 2 MX which consumes less power than a GTS or Ultra or GF3, etc. You also don't have a RAID array too and you are not overclocking. I have a power hungry 750 Mhz SLOT A Athlon running on 250 watt generic power supply and all is well.
Yeah, you're pretty boarderline. Add a faster graphics card, more ram, another drive...that's asking for trouble, IMO. Personally, you'd be cutting it close for my tastes.
Hi
Thanks for the feedback. Despite numerous assurances that the PowerMan can handle the load (on this site and others) i've decided to err on the side of caution and installed a Macron 300w that a friend kindly donated, and slapped the IBM in there as well.
Everything seems a little cooler in the case suprisingly, and although i'm not sure that i'll be sticking with the Macron, MBM 5 is reporting a clean bill of system health.
I'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the input.
Pikey
Thanks for the feedback. Despite numerous assurances that the PowerMan can handle the load (on this site and others) i've decided to err on the side of caution and installed a Macron 300w that a friend kindly donated, and slapped the IBM in there as well.
Everything seems a little cooler in the case suprisingly, and although i'm not sure that i'll be sticking with the Macron, MBM 5 is reporting a clean bill of system health.
I'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the input.
Pikey
