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Overstressed PSU?

B

BaronVonOwn

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 23, 2002
Messages
107
I just got a lot of new Christmas toys and the thought occured to me, with all these new (most likely power-hungry) components, my PSU might not be able to handle them all. It's a 350W Antec SmartPower.

I added up the wattages on some of the devices (as they were listed on the labelling), and added the power usage of my CPU (as found on the internet), and it came out to a measly 120W. This does not include my GeForce 4 MX and GeForce 4 Ti4200, since they did not have this information. According to this site, my system should be pushing 400W, yet it seemed to be extremely exaggerating the wattages of these devices compared to what (some of) mine were actually labelled.

Here's my complete system specs:

Athlon XP 2400+
A7N8X Deluxe
GeForce 4 Ti4200
GeForce 4 MX440 (dual monitor setup)
2x256 PC3200 Corsair XMS
200 GB EIDE HDD (12V x 960 mA = 11W)
160 GB SATA HDD (also 11 W according to labeling)
80 GB EIDE (11W)
48x24x48 CD-RW (18W)
4x2.4x12x DVD+-RW (7.2W)
Leadtek 2000XP TV tuner
SB Live sound card
350W Antec SmartPower PSU
2x120mm case fans

I'm concerned that an overstressed PSU might let voltages shrink occasionally, and if an HDD is under load, that could cause it to crash.

Any ideas?
 
Check out this FAQ/Guide sticky in the Power Supply forums. Very good read from Ice Czar, whom I should say is the ultimate bad ass when it comes to this stuff. :D
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=779582

In there, he provides a link to this nifty little tool. I went through and put in what you posted and came up with this... Your Power Needs... Roughly.

Now, I'll admit, this is the second time I've used it, so it's still new to me. So, go through and correct anything that may be wrong. Esp take note of HDD, Drives, and Video. Add in floppy and other things that I didn't do as well. HDD and drive manufacturers weren't specified so look through there. Anywhoo, just go through and change it to fit your needs. If you don't see your hardware listed on there, look on the label and input it's specs. You'll figure it out.

Anywhoo, went on neweeg and searched for your PSU and come up with this PSU and this other PSU . Not sure which one you have, but I'm sure it doesn't matter as both carry similar amperage on all rails. According to the calculation that I did of your system, you'll need 6.5A on the 12V and 25A on the 5V. I'd say your safe in both areas here (newegg lists 35A and 16A on the 5V and 12V rail, respectively).

Again, I am by no means an expert in this area, I only know what Ice Czar has shown me and from the FAQ. I'd also try asking this in the Power Supply forum. You'll get a better answer in there. Again, go through and double check the info I put in and add anything I missed/got wrong.

I hope this helps.

~PW
 
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