Dual PSU How-Tos

1stOVERCLOCKER said:

can you buy a splitter that allows you to connect two psus rto one mobo

Click to expand...

Not a splitter, but if you follow the "Burning Issues" method its close to the same thing. Only problem I see, I haven't tried it with a 24-pin PSU, so I can't testify as to operability.

Slmhofy; if you leave both PSUs on, can, you fire up and shut down?

Just a fast note, MicroCenter is selling the Ultra Series 400 ATX (ult-31840) for a cheap $19.95 right now, no rebate, no limit.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1273331&Tab=11&NoMapp=0

http://www.microcenter.com/byos/byos_single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0206118

I know the mail order says $39.95 but at least the MicroCenter in Santa Clara has a huge stack of them for $19.95 - I just bought two. I think the sale is untill June 3 or something.


Seems a decent enough supply on its own and it has a 120cm Fan so its not to noisy I guess (mine are still in the box).

Hooking up two of these should be more then enough for any system, at a dirt cheap $40 lol ...

Honestly, if we can't get them online for the price, they aren't worth a thing. Not trying to be insulting, but this is quite often a thread about "run what you brung", meaning folks trying to get the most mileage out of what they already have. To be honest, anyone who can afford 550w-or-up PSU probably doesn't need this thread, unless you are doing some extreme cooling.

OLD psu with new?

Hi,

I found a rather old computer on my attic. It's for a lot of people a useless system. It has 48 mb of ram, a vga card, a HDD of 1 GB, ...

I think this system may be of use to play music on.
I tried to plugin some scsi HDD's and I hear them running. However, the system has not enough power to boot.

The psu is a very old one.
It has 2 plugs of each 6 lines.
The colours are the following:
Black, Black, Blue, Yellow, Red, Orange
Red, Red, Red, White, Black, Black


Power scheme:
VOLTAGE MAX CURRENT COLOUR
+5v ---------- 18A ---------- RED
+12V --------- 4.5V --------- Yellow
-5V ----------- 0.1A --------- White
-12V --------- 0.3A ---------- Blue
GND -------------------------- Black
Power good ------------------ Orange

I want to additionally use an ATX psu.
Is this possible? anybody has any idea's?


Kind regards

I always was wondering how people set up dual PSUs. this is a great guide, maybe I'll try it once I get a bigger case.

Hi, first post so best make it a good one

I'm looking to run two PSU's in my system some time in the near future, I was wondering if anyone could put me straight on a worry i have about going ahead with it ?

System would be DFI NF4 SLI-DR, X1900XT, SD4000+
PSU's are Tagan 480's 28a on the 12v rail "single rail each"

I know you can make a relay to turn the 2nd PSU on when the 1st PSU is started via the power on switch on your case, which is what i intend to do by following the guide in this thread, thx.

Important question now,

If PSU1 powers the motherboard,CPU and drives, will it be safe to power the X1900XT via the PCI-E power connector from PSU2 ?

My concern is that the vid card will draw power from the PCI-E slot on the motherboard via PSU1 and it will also be drawing power from PSU2 via the vid card power connector, is this safe to do or are the electrical circuits independent of each other?

I've now seen VGA only Drive size PSUs for sale that are just made to power your SLI vid cards, I think all i will be doing in essance is making one of these, but it will be 480w with a 28a 12v rail.

Cheers if anyone can answer this.

If you have adequate power from one, a second PSU is gravy. While running a PCIE-16, assume at least 250w. If you properly configure a dual-setup, at this stage, with existing power requirements, at a bare minimum you need at least 500w or up. The rig I ran was 1 300W and 1 450W, so use that as a beginning.

Jumpstarting eps12v and converting 6pin to 4 pin atx12v

I use a paper clip to jumpstart my old atx 20 pin power supplies, can I jump a eps12v 24 pin connector using the same guide on speedy3d?

Also there cables available to convert the 6pin atx12v connector to a 4pin?

Not sure on the conversion cables, but check here;
http://search.ncix.com/search.php?q=cable

I believe(although I haven't tried this yet) that you should be able to jumper a 24-pin PSU if you use pin 14 with a ground.

Ok did burning iossues method and now have
PSU 1 = Mobo/CPU/GFX
PSU 2 = TEC

That burning issues link isn't working for me at the moment ("403 Forbidden" message) I had a look at it the other day and it seemed a relatively simply setup to do. Trouble is I didn't write down the process or save it so I can't remeber which pins to link. Can anyone tell?

The Ultra Dual PSU 24-Pin Adapter Cable

Hi Guys,

I recently purchased a new system, that is proving quite a burden on my old 450W PSU, so I am thinking of going for Dual PSU Setup, since I don't have much cash left for purchase of high end PSU, after the purchase of new system...
I came across this product while searching for Dual PSUs :

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21193

Its a pre-made Dual PSU 24-Pin Adapter cable from Ultra meant for Daisy Chaining two 24-Pin PSUs...
So I have a couple of questions regarding it:

1.Will this cable mean I don't have to do any *dirty work* of cutting, striping, slicing PSU wires to make adapter, as mentioned in the guides of the first page of this thread..

2.Somewhere in this thread its mentioned that you have to load 5V rail of PSUs too, in order for them to properly feed 12V rail...so if I put my PATA hdd on a PSU it will sorta create a load on 5V rail, 'cause HDD feeds on 5v line, right

3.Can I use a 20-PIN PSU for the slave and 24-PIN for the Master...
The Master PSU is supposed to power motherboard(having 24-PIN supply),
while slave PSU would used to video card, hdds and case fans...

Well that proved to be quite a big post, but I will appreciate any sort of help regarding it as all this stuff is quite new for me...
Rig is mentioned in Sig, for any refrence..

Regards,

hi guys, I'm thinking of going dual PSU myself since I have 2 Antec Phantom 500

i ran into this:

http://www.pccasegear.com/prod2100.htm

i was really excited when i saw this product but then I saw the quote

The RC-ATXPS is a refit item for an addition power supply. No responsibility will be taken for any damage to your PC system due to the fitting of the RC-ATXPS

Click to expand...

what do u guys think? :/

They're just covering their arse. For example, if the cable fails, and the second psu doesn't turn on, and none of your fans spin up, overheating the system, they don't want to be held responsible.

Looks like they've been reading this thread--because that's the exact same alternative relay design I diagrammed years back:




Personally I'd just make sure everything is working appropriately every time you turn on the system. The relay will usually make a very audible click when it fires.

what are the chances of the cable actually failing? i mean after all it's just a cable right? it's no different to other molex cables.

This might sound stupid, but in this pic:

How would I get 3 power supplies to connect all at once on start up? Buy a relay with 6 pins? Also, all I need to buy is a 50 Ohms resistor and put it on a +5V rail to get all the voltages from the 12V rail ?

The simplest would be to just buy 2 relay units and hook them up to 2 different 4pin molex plugs on the master. Or if you must conserve 4pin plugs, buy a 4 pin Y adaptor.

Or you could use a single unit, and just create a 2nd set of lines branching off the lines leading to the slave psu.

Is my diagram correct for 3 power supplies set up ?

Check out the pic attached.

Some extra details on my plans:

PSU #1 - Computer -- MOBO/CPU/RAM.. drives... everything EXCEPT video card.
PSU #2 - Video Card and Water Pump -- Additional fans maybe.
PSU #3 - 80W TEC.

Question...are you using very low-watt PSU's? Seems a dual would be able to cover what you have listed.