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Power supply LED

R

rickys

n00b
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
6
Hi guys, I use a 350W power supply in my desktop pc. I have 1 case fan, 1 cpu fan, 1 power supply fan, 2 fans for HD, 1 PCI slot fan, 1 CD-RW, 1 DVD-RW and 2 hard-drives. Today I added an NVidia 6600 GT graphics board which has its own fan and requires one of the connecters from the power supply. On the graphics board's manual it says that it requires a minimum of a 350W P/S. Now whenever I turn on my pc, the power LED in the front is always blinking once every second. Could these mean that my P/S is having a hard time supplying power? Or is it due to some other error. Shall I buy a new P/S. If so, what capacity? Please help.

Thanks in advance
 
more info please...
What brand is the psu (I'm guessing generic)
What are your other system specs?

generally I'd say that no, 350w isn't enough for that many drives and that card (assuming the psu is some nameless crappy brand)
 
It is just a generic p/s that came with my case. My pc specs are: AMD Sempron 2600 333FSB, 512 RAM, 2 HDD (120GB and 80GB), DVD-RW, CD-RW, ASUS A7N8X-E MOBO, MSI Nvidia 6600GT video card.
 
It's a good idea to upgrade the PSU, not just to provide enough power for your system but to provide the stability that generic PSUs often lack.

This forum's stickies should help you out.
 
generics tend to exaggerate their capacity and protection capabilities to the point where its very easy to put your system at risk

saving a few bucks on the PSU but risking hundreds of dollars in components isnt a good idea ;)

I'll workup your amp requirements here in a bit
need to take the dogs for a walk ;)
 
used the figures for a 6800GT
http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?src=/images/video/ati-vs-nv-power/6800gt_table-b.gif&1=1


theoretical maximum
http://takaman.jp/D/?M=PbQJQbdHgSCgHIiH3kG5@TDhH7ZAZavXCMZ&english

+3.3V @ 4.5A
+5V @11.7A
+12V @ 19.6A
320W

realworld worsecase senerio
+12V @ 13A
210W

not a horribly power hungry config
never the less ignore the wattage and concentrate on the amps
most supplies you need to deduct about a third of the rated amps for temperature
(they are rated at 21>25C and your operating at 40>50C)
then considerations like load regulation, line regulation & ac ripple impact the overclockability as well
cheap supplies often do a horrible job of protecting components letting overshoots through when they themselves are overtaxed or when thrown a curveball (AC source power is unstable)

watts mean next to nothing these days so the 350 minimum isnt actually a good guide
there are 350W supplies able to out perform many cheap 500W supplies
and then there are 350W supplies that can barely turn 4 fans :p

so I have a few questions
do you want a supply that is just for this rig
or do you plan to use it in the next upgrade to say PCI-E?

How Serious of an overclocker are you?

Are you willing to part with some well invested money for a high quality supply
or are you looking for a good enough budget solution?
 
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