• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Using 2 PSUs on one PC...

R

retardedchicken

2[H]4U
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
3,081
with the NV40/x800 being launched soon, im scared that my PSU might now have enough juice for whichever i decide to purchase

its a generic 420W that puts...
28A on the 3.3+
40A on the 5+
18A on the12+

if the need arises, will i be able to put a separate PSU in my rig that JUST supplies the video card with power and nothing else? I really dont want to spend the 50-60 dollars on a new one and then spend the multiple hours of wiring again that i did on mine so if there any easy way to achieve a separate PSU for the video card?
 
you want to have two whole PSUs powering your system, because you're worried about the wiring on one?:confused:

It can be done...but really, I suggest either being happy with your 420 (heck, my system with 9800 pro, 2 HDDs, 768MB RAM, overclocking, fans, all that good stuff runs on an Antec 350..), or getting a better PSU when you upgrade.

Where will you mount the other PSU, anyway?
 
im worried that mine wont have enough power for the 6800/x800

i wou ld probably just sit in on the bottom of my case because im lazy like that:) since its just going to be like a 150W ONLY for the video card i will probably only be one fan, and i can take those PCI slot covers out to vent

will this work though?
 
relax you dont need 2 psu's lol im sure a 450watt is enough, i got my psu from silenx its dead silent, i love it.
 
i think that im just gonna buy it(the video card and if it(the PSU) wacks out on me ill upgrade to a better name brand PSU
 
Video card makers have no business telling people what PSU they will need for the card to run. They always take the speed they actually need and add like 300w to it so nobody has any trouble lol.

350-400w will be more then enough even for the new NV40. You definitely dont need dual PSU's but you need a new name brand PSU. I wouldn't want to be running all that expensive hardware on a shitty ass PSU. Your risking losing any and all of it each time you boot the machine.
 
...to answer the original question about using two supplies on one PC.....I wouldn't do it on a dare.

Say, for example, that the Vcc 5.0 on the supply plugged into the MoBo is about 250 mV lower in voltage than the supply plugged into the video card? Guess what - you'll source current backwards through the video card, back through the AGP connector and back into your motherboard. Very, very bad; then, the supply on the MoBo tries to regulate the voltage, and the supply on the card fights back, etc., etc.......nope. Smoke leaks out and all is bad.

IMHO - If you are worried about this and want to do something about it, A quality replacement supply is the only safe way to go.

FWIW - B.B.S.
 
You would spend more money/ more work modding your case and/or buying a separate PSU than it would be to buy a nice Antec one
 
a job would really help me out right now:( being 14 has it's downsides...

cheap ripoffs of chenming also have their downsides, like PSU's with a name as shady as the name "Chenming"

BBS you scared me enough i think ill just upgrade my 420W is the need arises

well it seems i might not be getting the card for awhile now anyway, my friend who is supplying me with the money (buying my 9600XT and paying me for building him a rig) got his $900 stolen:(

well the good thing is my stratocaster will finally have an amp to be played on:D


EDIT:I just re-thought my economis situiation and i might get one sooner than i thought

how would this work for me?
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Video card makers have no business telling people what PSU they will need for the card to run. They always take the speed they actually need and add like 300w to it so nobody has any trouble lol.

350-400w will be more then enough even for the new NV40. You definitely dont need dual PSU's but you need a new name brand PSU. I wouldn't want to be running all that expensive hardware on a shitty ass PSU. Your risking losing any and all of it each time you boot the machine.
Click to expand...
On the contrary, I do think that video card makers have the right to require certain PSUs for proper operation. Why do I say that?

CPUs are now dissipating over 100 watts of power. Now we have GPUs which have more transistors than the CPUs running alongside it, and ever-increasing clock frequencies, and you think they will dissipate an insignificant amount of power? Granted, it may be less than a CPU by a small margin, but the power draw is high enough to be a MAJOR consideration in power supply selection. Right behind the CPU, this is by far the next highest power dissipator.

And who are you to judge what kind of power supply will be acceptable? Even doing a rough sum of the components of a new system, we have 100 watts for the CPU, and roughly 100 watts for drives and peripherals. It wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that the next gerenation of videocards will draw 80+ watts, bringing the total up to a conservative figure of 280 watts. Now this is uncomfortably encroaching on the MAX output range of a 350 watt supply, even a good one.
 
Originally posted by retardedchicken
BBS you scared me enough i think ill just upgrade my 420W is the need arises
Click to expand...
...I can think of a couple of possible power delivery schematics where it woudn't make any difference at all. I can imagine several very common ways to hook stuff up where it would make a lot of difference, if you had slightly different Vcc's. Personally, I wouldn't risk it.

This is far different, of course, than the modules I've seen for doing redundant power supplies for a common PC. Whole different application / topology.

A plug for the Thermaltake supply I have (sig). Rails are on the money, under load, measured with my trusty Fluke DVM, the dual thermostatically controlled fans are nice and quiet, and the egg has 'em for $44.00 with free shipping. I'd buy another one, tomorrow.

Rock On - B.B.S.
 
Originally posted by xonik
On the contrary, I do think that video card makers have the right to require certain PSUs for proper operation. Why do I say that?

CPUs are now dissipating over 100 watts of power. Now we have GPUs which have more transistors than the CPUs running alongside it, and ever-increasing clock frequencies, and you think they will dissipate an insignificant amount of power? Granted, it may be less than a CPU by a small margin, but the power draw is high enough to be a MAJOR consideration in power supply selection. Right behind the CPU, this is by far the next highest power dissipator.

And who are you to judge what kind of power supply will be acceptable? Even doing a rough sum of the components of a new system, we have 100 watts for the CPU, and roughly 100 watts for drives and peripherals. It wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that the next gerenation of videocards will draw 80+ watts, bringing the total up to a conservative figure of 280 watts. Now this is uncomfortably encroaching on the MAX output range of a 350 watt supply, even a good one.
Click to expand...

I've seen countless systems running on 300 and 350w PSU's and they all had high end Pentium 4's and Athlon XP's along with the fastest video card, 4-6 Hard drives in which usually several were in a RAID array which would cause them all to start simultaneously at bootup and the system ran fine because they were using quality name brand PSU's.

There have been several people on Hard that have simply monitered their UPS to see how much power their system is actually drawing and most of the time even a high end system rarely draws over 300w.

I dont put smaller then 400w PSU's in any of my systems but i also dont go overboard with 550w PSU's ither. Larger PSU's are less efficient and are almost always louder. The rails usually aren't as perfect as the 400-450w range ither.

Going off what i've seen and actually tested i dont think a NV40 is going to possibly need more then a name brand 350w PSU.

I would suggest getting the Antec True Power 430w. The True Powers have rock solid voltages, are very quiet, run cool, and are used by thousands.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-908&depa=1
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top