The PSU debate, how much is enough really???

[Squid]

????????????????????????????????
Ok now a little bit confused, lately i have had alot of crashes through my video card, a TNT2 32meg model 64,
Recently I have added a Pioneer DVD player and another 256 meg ram card.
When i play AoE2 or run 3DMarks at times it crashes and i go back to windows.
So what i tried was disconnecting my Floppy, DVD and CDW then tried the same programs and still got the crashes, hmmmmmm.
Now i have dropped my system back to an A900 and now no problems.
So i guess this points to the need for more power to run my overclocked system, but then why did it not work when i had all the drives disconnected?
And why was it stable before the DVD??
Any Answers?
Still a bit confused, whether to spend the cash on a new PSU, is it really worth it???

[UnseenMenace]

What wattage PSU do you currently have ?

[Squid]

A huge 230 watts????????

########

[The Stickie]

230 watts isn't much indeed...

psu's are highly underestimated factors of stability... it is certainly not bad to have a good and powerfull psu...
It is really difficult to detremine wether your crashes are deown to the psu...but is certainly possible...

[Hoot]

Buy once, for all. Get a quality 400W PSU. Not a cheapo 400W. Above 400W, the price goes up exponentially. I love my Antec 400W PSU. Rock of Gibraltar.

Hoot

[JaY_III]

or you could always just connect 2 PSU together...
250 + 250 = 500 watts of fun in my case :)

[Bender]

A good 400w psu is just fine and dandy if you have the dough. I would recommend an AMD approved 300 wat power supply. Remember that wattage isn't everything, stability in a psu is very important, that's why amd doesn't approve every 300w psu that comes along. Heck if you have lots of money you can get an enermax 650 watt if you are running a small fridge of your box.

[Oni]

I use the default, non-AMD certified 250w ps that came w/ my case. It powers the box in my sig just fine-didily-ine!

[ken257]

It is amazing that the system is stable even at default speed with that 230w psu this could very well be a problem when trying to OC.

I to use Antec 400watt psu's. I have several of them and they do contribute to a very stable overclocked system. When looking for a psu you have to check out the wattage ratings for all the different voltages as well as the combined. Just assuming a 400w unit is going to be good just because of the high # can be misleading. It is hard to go wrong with Antec or Enermax. The reason I went Antec is thay are available locally...comp usa between $90-$99 if memory serves.

[KaHNZa]

Another very possible problem is the new memory you got. It could be defective.

[Squid]

How would the new memory cause my vid card to crash only?? Nothing indicates anything is wrong with it, SiSandra picked no faults......

Its only a base level graphics card, only gets me about 2000 on 3D Marks 2000, when i can i will upgrade to a better one, but for now it will do.

I keep getting different views on power supply, sooooooo

what to do? what to do?

[Hoot]

Keep this in mind:

"A Moose is a Horse designed by Committee". :D

Hoot

[Squid]

lol,

too many hands they say.......

[Taylor]

Anyone have an easy way to determine if a particular PSU is running stable?

[anarki_gr]

i have a quality 300watt psu and no problem at all. i have 2 HDD's, 1 dvd and a burner, 1 120mm fan, 3 60mm fans and 2 80mm fans running and i have had no hang ups so far... oh, the mobo with videoa card, CPU etc is also running from the same supply

[Shadow ÒÓ]

when my system was fully loaded,

933 w/FOP32
VooDoo 5500 w/2 fans
DVD
CDRW
CDRom
3x40gig WD ATA 100 7200 RPM drives
1 15gig WD ATA 100 7200 RPM drive
1 10ggi WD ATA 100 7200 RPM drive
2x90mm fans
1 Northbridge HSF (old Pentium HSF)
and a partridge in a pear tree.

The 300w generic PSU has always done everything I asked it to. (fingers crossed)

[dozier768]

look for voltage fluxuations. thats gereally a good indicator that the psu is no good

[Squid]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well thanks for all the replies, the common theme seems to be to get a bigger power supply, and a quality one as well.

Still would like to hear from anyone who could explain why my video card would crash out sometimes, would not crash windows, or give me the blue screen of death, just quit whatever program i had running, like 3dmarks, HL or AOE2.

For cost reason i may only go 350watts or a good 300 but we will see.

[OpenFriday]

IMO in most cases a good 300W will do, I just picked up an Inwin Q500 and it comes with a 300W, i asked them to take it out so i can put in a 350W enermax, weather they will do that is beyond me but if they do i will be getting a 350W enermax. Ive checked pricewatch and it seems a 350W enermax runs americans around 50$? Can someone confirm this?

[Richard]

This message was posted erroneously.

[Qube]

Quality means having a stable rail voltage among other things. Enough amperage counts also. Wattage isn't the big issue here.

This is like 'kiddies' comparing cars... hey, my car's got 300HP but a ****ty torque that's not worth a damn.

[Richard]

Sounds exactly like the type of problems I was having when I purchased an el cheapo generic case. It came with a 300 watt power supply; so I figured, "Hey, 300watt, cool."

Wrong.

I was getting a lot of system instability. Knowing that the only thing I had changed was the power supply, I swapped it out with my previous 250watt power supply.

Problems vanished. Obviously, wattage isn't the determining factor in good power. A high quality power supply should provide a "clean" signal to the motherboard with little fluctuation in current.

My recommendation is to go with an AMD approved power supply and you'll be in the clear. Granted, these new 1.4 GHz Tbirds generally require a much beefier power supply than previous tbirds, but as long as you go by what AMD recommends you'll be just fine.

Another thing you can do to rectify power woes is to purchase a UPS. Actually, you shouldn't power up a computer without one. Funny how often people neglect the most fundamental component of the computer.

Squid (Jun 12, 2001 06:50 a.m.):
????????????????????????????????
Ok now a little bit confused, lately i have had alot of crashes through my video card, a TNT2 32meg model 64,
Recently I have added a Pioneer DVD player and another 256 meg ram card.
When i play AoE2 or run 3DMarks at times it crashes and i go back to windows.
So what i tried was disconnecting my Floppy, DVD and CDW then tried the same programs and still got the crashes, hmmmmmm.
Now i have dropped my system back to an A900 and now no problems.
So i guess this points to the need for more power to run my overclocked system, but then why did it not work when i had all the drives disconnected?
And why was it stable before the DVD??
Any Answers?
Still a bit confused, whether to spend the cash on a new PSU, is it really worth it???

[Squid]

Interesting

I think i will do some research before sundays swap meet, see what supplies are around, since our Aussie dollar is so f@#&ed i sure the Enermax's will cost a bit, but if its needed then its needed.

Thanks

[GooGobbler]

Yea I have an Antec 400W PSU :)