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zestforlife
n00b
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2007
- Messages
- 2
I've been a long time lurker of this forum, and this is my first post hoping to find some answers to resolve the giant headache that has resulted from trying to install an EVGA 8800GT into my girlfriend's Dell Precision 470 workstation.
To my dismay, whenever the computer boots Nvidia Sentinel gives the dreaded "insufficient power" message. After reading hundreds of posts on this subject, it seems some of these are caused by mb issues, while others are caused by faulty psu's, and yet others are caused by mb/and psu compatibility issues and so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, this computer has a proprietary non-ATX "rack mount" type Dell PSU so I can't easily replace it with anything that doesn't come from Dell. After reading another forum and a success story of someone using one of these
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/PurePower/w0099/w0099.asp
while he awaited a replacement for his incompatible antec 850 W, I decided to order one to see if I could hotwire it to work with the proprietary Dell connections.
From what I can see the Thermaltake Express 250 uses a 4 pin "signal cable" to sync with the main PSU. It appears to simply tap off the green, purple, and black wires from the ATX motherboard connector.
Having read the tutorials on how to use a relay to sync two power supplies, and how to hardwire them together (like what this adapter seems to do) my questions are:
1) Any idea what the purple wire on the signal cable is for? I understand it's for 5v standby according to the ATX spec, but is it necessary to jump the Thermaltake express? Newegg has a user that says they never used the signal cable, but didn't mention if they used something else in it's place.
2) Will jumping green and black via a relay be sufficient you think? In the worst case scenario would jumping the two with a jumper and using the switch on the PSU to turn it on and off be detrimental? I know there's gonna be a problem if the card doesn't get power during boot, but if the card psu is on before hand that shouldn't be an issue right?
2) What's the easiest most non intrusive way to get this ThermalTake to fire up with the stock PSU? I really don't want to hack up any of the Dell harnesses if I don't have to. I'm thinking activating it via 4 pin molex and relay to jump the green and black is the best.. but again, I dunno what the purple wire does on this PSU.
I ask here because Thermaltake simply says this thing won't work with a non-ATX power supply or board, but I'm pretty sure that it can with minor mods. Also, if I can get this to work I can avoid having to rebuild her entire computer for at least a couple months. Finally, I know this is kinda hack.. I normally build my computers, but this Dell would actually be pretty decent if I could get this damn card to work.
Thanks for any and all help in advance.
To my dismay, whenever the computer boots Nvidia Sentinel gives the dreaded "insufficient power" message. After reading hundreds of posts on this subject, it seems some of these are caused by mb issues, while others are caused by faulty psu's, and yet others are caused by mb/and psu compatibility issues and so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, this computer has a proprietary non-ATX "rack mount" type Dell PSU so I can't easily replace it with anything that doesn't come from Dell. After reading another forum and a success story of someone using one of these
http://www.thermaltake.com/product/Power/PurePower/w0099/w0099.asp
while he awaited a replacement for his incompatible antec 850 W, I decided to order one to see if I could hotwire it to work with the proprietary Dell connections.
From what I can see the Thermaltake Express 250 uses a 4 pin "signal cable" to sync with the main PSU. It appears to simply tap off the green, purple, and black wires from the ATX motherboard connector.
Having read the tutorials on how to use a relay to sync two power supplies, and how to hardwire them together (like what this adapter seems to do) my questions are:
1) Any idea what the purple wire on the signal cable is for? I understand it's for 5v standby according to the ATX spec, but is it necessary to jump the Thermaltake express? Newegg has a user that says they never used the signal cable, but didn't mention if they used something else in it's place.
2) Will jumping green and black via a relay be sufficient you think? In the worst case scenario would jumping the two with a jumper and using the switch on the PSU to turn it on and off be detrimental? I know there's gonna be a problem if the card doesn't get power during boot, but if the card psu is on before hand that shouldn't be an issue right?
2) What's the easiest most non intrusive way to get this ThermalTake to fire up with the stock PSU? I really don't want to hack up any of the Dell harnesses if I don't have to. I'm thinking activating it via 4 pin molex and relay to jump the green and black is the best.. but again, I dunno what the purple wire does on this PSU.
I ask here because Thermaltake simply says this thing won't work with a non-ATX power supply or board, but I'm pretty sure that it can with minor mods. Also, if I can get this to work I can avoid having to rebuild her entire computer for at least a couple months. Finally, I know this is kinda hack.. I normally build my computers, but this Dell would actually be pretty decent if I could get this damn card to work.
Thanks for any and all help in advance.