do I need a larger psu for this overclock?

G

grenadier

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 5, 2002
Messages
494
Right now I'm running this setup on a 300W Fortron (P300-60PN) w/120mm exhaust fan:

2.8 LGA775 520 @ 3.5
ABIT AA8 DuraMax
1GB (2x 512mb) Corsair Value Select DDR2-4200
Gigabyte 128mb 6600
160GB Hitachi hard disk
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7
NEC-3500 DVD+/-RW
Audigy 2

It's totally stable under full load at this speed, but if I put the fsb up to 260 from the 250 it's at right now it will give me random reboots every once in a while that don't appear to be related to whether the processor is under load or not. I've been thinking about picking up a coolmax cr-450b from newegg to see if this would help. These new p4's take a lot of wattage, but if things are stable at 3.5 is there any reason for me to get a bigger power supply? Does anyone think that my overclock being limited by my puny 300W power supply?
 
Would anyone recommend just getting a new E0/J P4 that uses less wattage over the purchase of a brand new power supply if I am having power problems?
 
You would be better off keeping your Fortron 300w over a 450w Coolmax. I would recommend going for a bigger PSU for your OC, but get a quality one.
 
dariob said:
You would be better off keeping your Fortron 300w over a 450w Coolmax. I would recommend going for a bigger PSU for your OC, but get a quality one.
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So you're saying that coolmax doesn't make good power supplies? They have good reviews on newegg...
 
grenadier said:
So you're saying that coolmax doesn't make good power supplies? They have good reviews on newegg...
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Newegg clearly states on thier page that you are not to use the reviews as a basis for a buying decision. Its OK if you are trying to decide on one part versus another and already have a good background on said parts, but its not good for deciding whether or not a brand is crap. 99% of people write newegg reviews within a few weeks of getting thier product. If the PSU blows up 6 months later and is no longer carried, where is the review gonna go? Coolmax is not a good PSU. Check the sticky at the top of the PSU forum for some good suggestions.
 
fortron is a good brand, you just need more wattage if you want to get another from them.

antec is good. nice stable voltages, and the output is about what they rate them at.

enermax is also good. mine puts out voltages that are as stable as my antec was, and theirs have lots of overkill factor on their ratings.
 
Why I was excited about the coolmax is cause it won't break the bank at $49 shipped from e-wiz and it has a massive 14cm fan that should provide enough airflow to lower all of my temps a few degrees. Even a 400w fortron runs $70+ shipped.with a 400w fortron blue storm with the 24 pin connector I want running a whopping $84.50.

If I'm going to have to spend more than $50 on a decent power supply I might as well just wait for the Sonata II to come out and just buy a whole new case.

One other thing... Newegg is running a rebate right now on the seasonic power supplies to make way for the new seasonic s12 units that should be appearing in larger volume soon. Is there a chance that getting a more efficient power supply like the seasonic super tornado at the same wattage rating would fix my problem since less power would be lost in the conversion from AC to DC?
 
grenadier said:
Why I was excited about the coolmax is cause it won't break the bank at $49 shipped from e-wiz and it has a massive 14cm fan that should provide enough airflow to lower all of my temps a few degrees. Even a 400w fortron runs $70+ shipped.with a 400w fortron blue storm with the 24 pin connector I want running a whopping $84.50.

If I'm going to have to spend more than $50 on a decent power supply I might as well just wait for the Sonata II to come out and just buy a whole new case.
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You get what you pay for. I paid $100 at the time for the top Enermax 350watt. This was back in the P3 era. It's lasted me through 3 upgrades, and from what's projected, it will last me at least for the next two upgrades (S939, and DUal core). It's worth it to buy a quality PSU.
 
and then there is the peice of wisdom that most overclockers already know: overclocking hardware is seldom cheap hardware.

i look at a quality PSU as extra insurance, since if your PSU dies, it often can take other things with it. a quality PSU is less likely to die during it's lifetime than a "happy kitty" brand supply.
 
heres a good one...
zippy6701.jpg
 
I just did the math and switching my 70% efficient psu out for an 80% efficient seasonic psu would, at a full 300W AC draw, be able to supply my computer with 240W of power instead of 210W, effectively giving me a free 30W at the same power rating. Sweet....

Anyone know about how much power draw a large hard drive has?
 
the draw of a HDD is written on the HDD lable.

the efficiency rating does not refer to what it puts out to your computer. the efficiency rating refers to how much power the PSU is radiating away as heat, as compared to what it is feeding you computer. the PSU takes 120 V AC from the wall, does a bunch of stuff(highly technical term, i know) to make it into various voltages of DC for you computer, and there is some loss in the conversion. the efficiency rating is referring to the eficiency of the conversion.

the wattage of a PSU refers to what it feeds the computer. different companies break that wattage up differently, between the 12 V rail, the 3.3 V rail and the 5 V rail, however that wattage always refers to what it is feeding the computer, not what it is taking from the wall. not many PSUs can do their rated maximum with reasonable stability, though.

note the use of what appears to be whiteout on the PSU lable, over the serial number, and the lack of english on the lable. that PSU most likely fell off the back of a truck, in china, was kicked around, then stuffed into a box and sent here, kicked around some more and then sold to someone looking for a beefy PSU for cheap.
 
DFI Daishi said:
note the use of what appears to be whiteout on the PSU lable, over the serial number, and the lack of english on the lable. that PSU most likely fell off the back of a truck, in china, was kicked around, then stuffed into a box and sent here, kicked around some more and then sold to someone looking for a beefy PSU for cheap.
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That is my psu. Newegg have it for$300http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-714&depa=0 . With 'your name/DFI ultra-B' and this psu heres what I got..and what system you have? DFI? Seems like you know what youre talkin' ;)
3465.jpg
 
And for your info... most of 'brand name' psus actually are REBRANDED psu manucfactured somewhere in China 'tech zones'...OCZ, For'freakin'tron and even pcp used EMACS as theirs...
 
1) i am NOT happy with this board. some people get WICKED overclocks with their lanparty and infinity NF 2 boards, however mine will not even hit stock speed at stock voltage. i did not know that until it was too late for me to RMA it.

2) your info may very well be accurate, regarding that PSU and other companies using re-braned materials.

3) i did not mean to cast doubt on chinese equipment. i was meaning to comment on the how that PSU made it's way to north america (assuming that you live here)

4) i do not deny that it has VERY beefy output rating. HOWEVER, in the area that i live in, i can find all sorts of things that have good ratings and the serial numbers covered up. usually, they are CRAP that failed QC testing, or have otherwise been abused.

5) if you have genuine equipment, and it works to spec, good for you.

6) if that serial number was blotted out before you got the PSU, then you probably cannot get warrenty service on it, if you need it.

7) if the blur over the serial number is done post-production, then my appologies for doubting you.

as for my system:

lanparty NF 2 ultra B.
2 x 512 mushkin PC 4400 (uses samsung TCCD rev. F chips on a brainpowered PCB) @ dual channel 2-2-2-11 @ 2.7 volts.
athalon XP 2600 Mobile 200 x 13 @ 1.95 volts.
240 x 120 black ice xtreame 2 rev 2 rad.
2 x 120 mm panaflo U1A fans.
700 GPH supreme magdrive pump.
quite a bit of tygon R-3603 1/2 inch ID tubing.
3 x heavy duty brass ball valves.
dangerden maze 4-1 CPU block with 226 watt peltier and customized with 5/8 inch OD barbs and custom 1/2 inch thick cold plate.
dangerden maze 4-1 GPU waterblock with 80 watt peltier, stock cold plate and custom 5/8 inch barbs.
swiftech MCX 159 chipset heatsink.
stock NB cooler on the SB.
cut up A7N8X cooler on my CPU mosfets.
tweakmonster copper BGA ramsinks on my VGA ram and other mosfets.
Radeon 9800 pro @ 460/380
2x WD raptor 36 GB, raid 0.
1 x WD cavier 200 GB
1 x maxtor 80 GB.
plextor PX-712 optical drive.
adaptec 1210 raid control card.
and an enermax 550 watt 3-in-1 PSU feeding it all.

wrapped up in a lian-li PC-6077 with side window.

now, i WANT to upgrade to A64, but i built this system while i was employed full time and i am now a student again. i hope to upgrade this summer, if i am lucky.
 
i also have a meanwell 320 watt dedicated 12 volt PSU, recently modded to accept an 80mm fan, in there. those peltiers are a bit too hungry to feed with even your PSU, with everything else running as well.

of course, you vapochill DOES still trump that centvalny, but you're not talking about someone running a system that he might as well have just gotten from dell.
 
DFI Daishi said:
i also have a meanwell 320 watt dedicated 12 volt PSU, recently modded to accept an 80mm fan, in there. those peltiers are a bit too hungry to feed with even your PSU, with everything else running as well.

of course, you vapochill DOES still trump that centvalny, but you're not talking about someone running a system that he might as well have just gotten from dell.
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Thats a nice setup :D ..Hows that peltiers work for you? No problem w/ condensation? I'm thinkin to slap it on my vid. card...
 
the peltiers work fine, now that i have had time to work out all of the kinks that came up along the way.

as for condensation: waterproofing, waterproofing waterproofing.

you can never be sure that you won't have any of it, so plan for a lot of it, just to be safe.

mask off the pins ram and core, along with anything else you will need to sink after you are done waterproofing the thing, and spray it with many thin coatings of spray-on conformal coating.

neoprene gaskets are a must, around your coldplate and core.

smear dielectric grease on pins and use a bead of it between gaskets and the vid card PCB, as well as filling the gap around your peltier, between the waterblock and the coldplate.

the last little detail, that i suspect many people overlook, is that you need to take all of those measures on the slots and cards located underneath your vid card as well. if condensation DOES form, then it might also drip down onto other things.

what block and pelt are you thinking of using? i don't think that one like mine, with only an 80 watt pelt is going to be enough. even with my previous gen 9800 pro, i still get up to 20 C under load, and these current gen vid cards put out a LOT more heat than mine does. if the pelt can't even get your card below ambiant, then what is the point?
 
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