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HOw much power is enough power?

P

Phandalyon

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Joined
Jun 12, 2001
Messages
5,839
Is there an easy and quick way to figure how much power you will need to run a system? I am having some issues with my computer right now and I think they are power related.

I have a 450W PSU running the system right now, it is pushing:

1 DVDRW
1 CDRW
1 DVD ROM
2 SATA HD
1 ATA133HD
1 Internal Zip
1 Fdd
14 USB ports (10 in use full time)
4 firewire ports (0 in use full time)
P4 2.4C CPU
Gigabye GASINXP1394 mobo
4/7 PCI slots
Radeon 9600 256MB
1GB dual channel RAM

My USB devices have been acting up quite a bit lately. It is a chore to unhook and reconnect all of them, I am going to try that in a minute, but is my PSU sufficient for all of that? Is there a rule of thumb for how much power you need to run a given system? I have never thought much about power before I started having issues (Pretty stupid, I know).
 
OH, I unhooked everything. It seems to be my 2 powered hubs that are having issues. I am going to have to play with that. The non-powered hub and the other 6 ports are working fine. I am still a little iffy on my power situation though.

edit: I should note that the powered hub I have been having issues with is a drive bay mount one that hooks up through the computer PSU for its external power source. So it actually draws more from the PSU. But I am also having trouble with a completely externally powered hub. Oh, well. Guess I will keep working at this.
 
It really sounds like you might be surpassing the amperage rating on the 5v line of the PSU.
 
AceGoober said:
It really sounds like you might be surpassing the amperage rating on the 5v line of the PSU.
Click to expand...


Hmmm. Would a different PSU fix these issues?

I should also mention that all of this started occuring when I finally switched to Windows XP Pro. But I installed the bay mount hum at the same time. I have been suspecting power issues.

Its funny though. The bay mount hub will light up when the computer is booting, but when windows starts to load, all of the lights go out and the device does not work.

I need a new case anyway (Cooling issues), so I may just grab a beefier PSU at the same time.

Right now I am running with both sides off of my case and some extra fans zip tied in to keep HDDs cool. :(

Oh yeah, there are 4 80mm fans in the system right now too.

All of that is off of the 5v line. what options do I have?


edit: I should clarivy. Mu current PSU is 450W with +5@50A

I am looking right now at a 500W with +5@61A

Do you think that will make a difference for my purpose? Or am I looking at the wrong numbers?


edits: If I'm on the right track, maybe something like one of these is where I need to go:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-122&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-101-407&depa=0
 
Anyone have any ideas on this one just to double check me?

I am going to order everything in the next week (New case for better cooling and new PSU) so I just want to make sure I am on the right track. I have never dealt with this kind of power issue before.
 
I had a problem with too many USB devices running off my box...so I got an external powered USB hub, plugged everything into it, plugged it into my box. Lets all my externals get their power from the hub instead of my PSU. No issues yet.
 
HTPC Rookie said:
I had a problem with too many USB devices running off my box...so I got an external powered USB hub, plugged everything into it, plugged it into my box. Lets all my externals get their power from the hub instead of my PSU. No issues yet.
Click to expand...

Thats the funny thing. My non-powered hub is working fine. Its my 2 powered hubs that are having issues. I need to try my external powered one on my fileserver today...

edit: Just went and plugged my external hub into my fileserver and everything worked fine. So the hub is good, it just doesn't work on this computer. Even if it is the only usb device connected it will not work. I wonder if my windows XP USB system is somehow messed up. I wonder if it can be reinstalled completely...

I am going to play with that.
 
Yes, now that I'm pretty sure this is a PSU issue and not a USB issue this is a great place for the thread. Thanks mods!

Looks like I have some reading to do. If anyone has any advice for me please feel free to speak up.
 
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