Dual power supply adapter...will it work?

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devil_trigger

Gawd
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Jan 24, 2007
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I know this has been asked before but it isnt in any recent threads and I didnt want to revive an old one, so here we go. Right now my PSU is doing just fine, but I will eventually go crossfire with some R600s(if they ever come out:p ) and was pondering something. I will be upgrading my case to a Lian-Li PC-G70 very soon and since it has room for 2 power supplies, I was wondering if when I do eventually crossfire, would I be able to keep my current PSU(in sig) to power my mobo, cpu, hard drives, fans, optical drives, etc, and then use one of these to "daisy chain" a second oh say 500 or 600 watt psu for just the video cards? Would there be any concern of different amp ratings for 2 different PSUs? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. Anything else that needs to be said that I didnt already say just let me know.
 
Ok kool. Thanks guys. I was only asking because I've seen some people say that if the power supplies werent identical there would be issues with power draw, or if the load wasnt evenly distributed or things like that. All I want to do is use it for my video cards, and seems like that will work.:) Thanks again guys.
 
devil_trigger said:
...some people says that if the power supplies werent identical there would be issues with power draw, or if the load wasnt evenly distributed or things like that.
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That doesn't make sense.
 
Sorry...say...happy now?:p

Its still early for me.:)

And even if you werent talking about my typo, thats just what I've seen in my bit of researching this.
 
devil_trigger that item you were referring to looks a lot like the dual PSU adapter that Coolermaster bundled with certain cases. It should work, get back to us on how it works. Maybe I would like one too.
 
devil_trigger said:
Sorry...say...happy now?:p

Its still early for me.:)

And even if you werent talking about my typo, thats just what I've seen in my bit of researching this.
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It wasn't the typo. It was the theory. Amperage is something that's delivered on demand. And if the voltages are slightly different, you'll just get something in between.

amdfan25 said:
devil_trigger that item you were referring to looks a lot like the dual PSU adapter that Coolermaster bundled with certain cases. It should work, get back to us on how it works. Maybe I would like one too.
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Actually, the one in the link is an Ultra part. I think the only thing Cooler Master bundled with a case was a manual switch for PSU #2.
 
Oh ok, yeah I wasnt sure about what I read before so thats why I asked about it, and thanks for clearing that up.
 
Well here you are I am doing the exact same thing! I have a Hiper Type R 580 Watt and a TypeR 730W and have them linked together.

I am using them to power quite a lot of stuff.

3.7Ghz cpu
8800GTX SLI - (overclocked 675/2100)
Raptor RAID 0 + 1 more Sata Disk
3 DDC Pumps for a 3 loop watercooling
12 120cm Fans
4 80 Fans etc etc lots of lights high end controllers...

I am even powering the video cards from different PSUs and also tried the main card off 2 different and all worked fine so no balancing issues here.

Finally you do not even need an adapter just wire the green (+ a black) cables from the main M/B connector to the corresponding (green/black) on the secondary psu and you are set.
 
jonnyGURU said:
It wasn't the typo. It was the theory. Amperage is something that's delivered on demand. And if the voltages are slightly different, you'll just get something in between.



Actually, the one in the link is an Ultra part. I think the only thing Cooler Master bundled with a case was a manual switch for PSU #2.
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Nope. The original Stacker came with the adapter cable for a second PSU. It does work, but just really consider if the drawbacks are worth the extra current (to OP, I know Johnny knows this info since he helpeed me with it).
 
Good to hear Jargon, thanks for the info.

Kil, what kind of drawbacks are you talking about? I havent seen anyone say anything negative about it yet, care to enlighten me?
 
Bump.

Anyone know what Kil was talking about with the drawbacks? I'm going to be ordering my second psu soon so I kinda need to know of anything I need to look out for. Unless I can go by what Jargon said and everything will be fine I'll be a happy camper.
 
Two PSU's: lower efficiency, more noise.
 
jonnyGURU said:
Two PSU's: lower efficiency, more noise.
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More noise, yes. Lower efficiency, no. If one is 78% efficient and the other is 78% efficient, the net effect is also 78%. The only difference is if one is below its ideal curve, for example how most PSU's are only around 70% efficient below 200W. Even this is insignificant though, because you are only talking about losing 8% on a sub-200W load; that's 16W max, besides which 200W doesn't warrant a second PSU. If you are in a situation where you need two, they will both be operating with their peak efficiency ranges.

Oh:
And I have one of those CM adapters as well, they were kind enough to ship me one a couple of weeks back. :) It works well, but I want to find a match for my NeoHE. I don't want two mismatched supplies, both in wattage and in fan layout.
 
Cooler Master did indeed bundle a cable to let you run two PSU's together, it came with the original Stacker. I have one, and use it with two dissimilar Enermaxes, worked great for about , ohh, two years so far.
 
Well my main power supply that will be powering my cpu, mobo, ram, hard drives and fans will be my current one, this, which has an efficiency rating of 76%, and then I plan on adding this for the video cards and maybe a couple other little things, which it says up to 86% efficiency. I know that seems like alot of power but I'm giving myself some headroom since video cards are only getting more power hungry, and since I might do a watercooling loop down the road. Anyone foresee any problems with those 2 PSUs?

EDIT: Lol you must have posted as I was typing my post Gerle, so thanks for the info. I think I'm gonna go ahead and order that second psu, since my Li-Li is scheduled to be here friday.:) Thanks guys.
 
I cant use the Hiper for the video cards(if thats what you mean) since it only has 1 actual PCI-E connector, and another is a molex to PCI-E adapter, which leaves me with only 2. I wanted the 850 watt for just the video cards for the 4x PCI-E connectors.
 
devil_trigger said:
I cant use the Hiper for the video cards(if thats what you mean) since it only has 1 actual PCI-E connector, and another is a molex to PCI-E adapter, which leaves me with only 2. I wanted the 850 watt for just the video cards for the 4x PCI-E connectors.
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No, I meant main rig (CPU/Mobo, most drives and one video card) off the 850, second video and any extra stuff off the Hiper. If you have a DC pump, it's up to you which PSU to power it off of- I'd go with the primary.
 
Hmm, that never came to my mind. Would that be significantly better in some way? Cuz I mean that Hiper is powering everything in my sig just fine, although probably pushing it a little, so I figured I could take the load of a video card off it and make it work a little less hard.
 
devil_trigger said:
Hmm, that never came to my mind. Would that be significantly better in some way? Cuz I mean that Hiper is powering everything in my sig just fine, although probably pushing it a little, so I figured I could take the load of a video card off it and make it work a little less hard.
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Better power distribution. You don't want one power supply under-utilized (poor efficiency) while the other is near its limit. Better to put more of the load (motherboard and video) on the beefier supply, with whatever's left (second video card and extra drives) on the "weakling." :p
 
mavalpha said:
Better power distribution. You don't want one power supply under-utilized (poor efficiency) while the other is near its limit. Better to put more of the load (motherboard and video) on the beefier supply, with whatever's left on the "weakling." :p
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Hmm, very good point. I think I might just take your advice. Thanks again, now I'm off to order that psu! :)

Although, I dont think the hiper would be near its limit anymore with no video card, since thats like ~170 watts less under load that isnt put on the psu.

Either way, I'll still prolly go your way.:p
 
Wouldn't two psu's linked together have the possibility of over drawing from the wall and tripping a circuit breaker?
 
davidm71 said:
Wouldn't two psu's linked together have the possibility of over drawing from the wall and tripping a circuit breaker?
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I suppose If both PSUs were outputting 800W each and they were only 80% efficient at that load...meaning they were both pulling 1000W of AC power a piece and you are on a 120v 15A circuirt. But the OP's computer is hardly going to be drawing 1600W
 
davidm71 said:
Wouldn't two psu's linked together have the possibility of over drawing from the wall and tripping a circuit breaker?
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No more risk than there would be with a single high-wattage PSU assuming they all have the same efficiency.
 
devil_trigger said:
Ok kool. Thanks guys. I was only asking because I've seen some people say that if the power supplies werent identical there would be issues with power draw, or if the load wasnt evenly distributed or things like that. All I want to do is use it for my video cards, and seems like that will work.:) Thanks again guys.
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jonnyGURU said:
That doesn't make sense.
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They don't need to be identical, but since the motherboard power will essentially go unused on the secondary supply, some PSU's have minimum load requirements. Also if you've got two smaller supplies, you'll want to try and load the 12v rails on each one as evenly as possible. However, so long as you aren't maxing out either one and you meet the minimum load requirements for each, (if there are any) you won't have any issues, though it won't necessarily be ideal. It doesn't make much sense to load one down to 85% output 100% of the time and leave the other at 20% load.
 
Wow lol, this thread is like 2 years old and it got some more hits. Well I've actually been running it like this for about 2 years and never had a problem just in case anyone is wondering.:p
 
devil_trigger said:
Wow lol, this thread is like 2 years old and it got some more hits. Well I've actually been running it like this for about 2 years and never had a problem just in case anyone is wondering.:p
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I ran a dual Antec Neo HE 550 setup for awhile on my dual Opteron 254 setup. Worked great for quite a while.
 
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