Power supply size question for P4

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

I don't see any good places to size power supplies; maybe I missed them.
I would like some advice on power supply size.

I'm upgrading a server to use an MSI motherboard, 865G chipset, built-in
LAN, built-in VGA.

Pentium 4 (478-pin) 2.4A GHz, 533 bus, 512 MB DDR ram (if that matters).

It's going to run 4 internal IDE disk drives, they are newer drives, 2
are 80 GB and 2 are 160 GB. I think they are 7200 RPM, I know they are
not 10,000.

One standard CD-Rom (read-only), floppy drive, plus one IDE card for
additional IDE ports to run the CD-Rom.

Oh yeah, there's also an Iomega Rev 35GB internal IDE disk drive that
will also run off the IDE card. These are cool, 35 GB with disks a
little smaller than the old Zip drives.

No additional boards since VGA and LAN are both built-in.

The server currently has a 400W power supply, but that one doesn't have
the 4-pin P4 connector (the current mobo uses AMD). I could get an
adapter to handle the 4-pin power that needs to go to the new board, but
I wanted to get advice on whether 400W is enough to power a P4 and four
IDE disk drives.

Thanks for any advice.

David Walker

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"DWalker" <none@none.com> wrote in message
news:43387c90$1@nntp.zianet.com...
>I don't see any good places to size power supplies; maybe I missed them.
> I would like some advice on power supply size.
>
> I'm upgrading a server to use an MSI motherboard, 865G chipset, built-in
> LAN, built-in VGA.
>
> Pentium 4 (478-pin) 2.4A GHz, 533 bus, 512 MB DDR ram (if that matters).
>
> It's going to run 4 internal IDE disk drives, they are newer drives, 2
> are 80 GB and 2 are 160 GB. I think they are 7200 RPM, I know they are
> not 10,000.
>
> One standard CD-Rom (read-only), floppy drive, plus one IDE card for
> additional IDE ports to run the CD-Rom.
>
> Oh yeah, there's also an Iomega Rev 35GB internal IDE disk drive that
> will also run off the IDE card. These are cool, 35 GB with disks a
> little smaller than the old Zip drives.
>
> No additional boards since VGA and LAN are both built-in.
>
> The server currently has a 400W power supply, but that one doesn't have
> the 4-pin P4 connector (the current mobo uses AMD). I could get an
> adapter to handle the 4-pin power that needs to go to the new board, but
> I wanted to get advice on whether 400W is enough to power a P4 and four
> IDE disk drives.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> David Walker

Have you tried:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"DCA" <dca860MAPS@ntlworld.com> wrote in news:604_e.46$9l4.23@newsfe4-
win.ntli.net:

Have you tried:
> http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

I'll look there.

--- It says I need about 300 watts for a Pentium 4, 478-pin system with my
4 disk drives. Although I'm not sure if the chip is Northwood, Prescott,
or what.... This would indicate that 400 is enough.

Thanks.

David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

DWalker wrote:

> I'm upgrading a server to use an MSI motherboard, 865G chipset, built-in
> LAN, built-in VGA.
>
> Pentium 4 (478-pin) 2.4A GHz, 533 bus, 512 MB DDR ram (if that matters).
>
> It's going to run 4 internal IDE disk drives, they are newer drives, 2
> are 80 GB and 2 are 160 GB. I think they are 7200 RPM,

> One standard CD-Rom (read-only), floppy drive, plus one IDE card for
> additional IDE ports to run the CD-Rom.
>
> Oh yeah, there's also an Iomega Rev 35GB internal IDE disk drive that
> will also run off the IDE card.

> The server currently has a 400W power supply, but that one doesn't have
> the 4-pin P4 connector (the current mobo uses AMD). I could get an
> adapter to handle the 4-pin power that needs to go to the new board,

The best PSU sizer I've seen is at http://takaman.jp because it not
only gives the total watts but also the amps for each voltage rail. It
seems to be more accurate than others, including the one at
JSCustomcomputers.com, but it too overestimates the power, although for
some reason it lowballs the 3.3V amps by a factor of 2-3. Also
www.silentpcreview.com has, in its power supply section, actual
measurements of what various computer setups need. BTW this is one of
the very few websites that does good PSU reviews, some others being
www.slcentral.com, www.tomshardware.com, and www.xbitlabs.com.
95% of the other websites don't even apply a full load (100% of the
rated power) in their full load tests.

Measurements taken by people with systems similar to yours have shown
that the actual power consumption will rarely exceed 250W, but that
doesn't necessarily mean you can use just a 250W PSU because most PSUs
are rated at 25C rather than the 35-40C more common inside computer
cases, and at the higher temperatures the maximum output may drop by a
third (PC Power & Cooling found this of a 550W Enermax @ 40C). But
many cheapo PSUs are overrated even for 25C (a cheapo 500W may look no
heavier inside than a normal 300W). So if you have to buy a new PSU,
stick with a really good brand, like Fortron-Source, AKA Sparkle, Hi-Q,
Trend, PowerQ, Powertech, and a few other brands with model nos.
starting with "FSP". These are not only among the best but are also
cheaper than other quality products, $30-50 for 300-450W at
www.newegg.com or www.directron.com.

I don't know if a 4-pin 12V adapter cable will let your 400W PSU be
used reliably with a mobo that requires the 4-pin connector because
many PSUs not built for that connector were designed to emphasize the
+3.3V and +5.0V rails, for mobos that power the CPU from the +5.0V
(through a voltage regulator) rather than the +12V used by newer mobos.
But not all P4 mobos use the 4-pin 12V power connector (mine doesn't),
just as some AMD mobos do (the last one I bought did).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in
news:1127905120.883591.47310@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

>
> DWalker wrote:
>
>> I'm upgrading a server to use an MSI motherboard, 865G chipset,
built-in
>> LAN, built-in VGA.
>>
>> Pentium 4 (478-pin) 2.4A GHz, 533 bus, 512 MB DDR ram (if that
matters).
>>
>> It's going to run 4 internal IDE disk drives, they are newer drives,
2
>> are 80 GB and 2 are 160 GB. I think they are 7200 RPM,
>
>> One standard CD-Rom (read-only), floppy drive, plus one IDE card for
>> additional IDE ports to run the CD-Rom.
>>
>> Oh yeah, there's also an Iomega Rev 35GB internal IDE disk drive that
>> will also run off the IDE card.
>
>> The server currently has a 400W power supply, but that one doesn't
have
>> the 4-pin P4 connector (the current mobo uses AMD). I could get an
>> adapter to handle the 4-pin power that needs to go to the new board,
>
> The best PSU sizer I've seen is at http://takaman.jp because it not
> only gives the total watts but also the amps for each voltage rail.
It
> seems to be more accurate than others, including the one at
> JSCustomcomputers.com, but it too overestimates the power, although
for
> some reason it lowballs the 3.3V amps by a factor of 2-3. Also
> www.silentpcreview.com has, in its power supply section, actual
> measurements of what various computer setups need. BTW this is one of
> the very few websites that does good PSU reviews, some others being
> www.slcentral.com, www.tomshardware.com, and www.xbitlabs.com.
> 95% of the other websites don't even apply a full load (100% of the
> rated power) in their full load tests.
>
> Measurements taken by people with systems similar to yours have shown
> that the actual power consumption will rarely exceed 250W, but that
> doesn't necessarily mean you can use just a 250W PSU because most PSUs
> are rated at 25C rather than the 35-40C more common inside computer
> cases, and at the higher temperatures the maximum output may drop by a
> third (PC Power & Cooling found this of a 550W Enermax @ 40C). But
> many cheapo PSUs are overrated even for 25C (a cheapo 500W may look no
> heavier inside than a normal 300W). So if you have to buy a new PSU,
> stick with a really good brand, like Fortron-Source, AKA Sparkle, Hi-
Q,
> Trend, PowerQ, Powertech, and a few other brands with model nos.
> starting with "FSP". These are not only among the best but are also
> cheaper than other quality products, $30-50 for 300-450W at
> www.newegg.com or www.directron.com.
>
> I don't know if a 4-pin 12V adapter cable will let your 400W PSU be
> used reliably with a mobo that requires the 4-pin connector because
> many PSUs not built for that connector were designed to emphasize the
> +3.3V and +5.0V rails, for mobos that power the CPU from the +5.0V
> (through a voltage regulator) rather than the +12V used by newer
mobos.
> But not all P4 mobos use the 4-pin 12V power connector (mine
doesn't),
> just as some AMD mobos do (the last one I bought did).
>

Thanks for the answers, that helps a lot. I ended up buying a Coolmax
500W from MWave, I hope that's a good brand (I remember reading some
good reviews about it).

I'll keep your list of sites. Thanks.


David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"DWalker" <none@none.com> wrote in message news:4339536c@nntp.zianet.com...
> "DCA" <dca860MAPS@ntlworld.com> wrote in news:604_e.46$9l4.23@newsfe4-
> win.ntli.net:
>
> Have you tried:
>> http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
>
> I'll look there.
>
> --- It says I need about 300 watts for a Pentium 4, 478-pin system with my
> 4 disk drives. Although I'm not sure if the chip is Northwood, Prescott,
> or what.... This would indicate that 400 is enough.
>
> Thanks.
>
> David

~I'm running a Dell Dimension 8300 P4 478 with DVD-CDRW FDD, 2x HDD, ATI
9800 PRO 256, 1Gb DDR RAM
I use the Std Dell 300W PSU. No issues
D

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

DWalker wrote:

> I ended up buying a Coolmax 500W from MWave, I hope that's
> a good brand (I remember reading some good reviews about it).

The UL file number, E186010, indicates that Coolmax is made by ATNG
Power, which produces decent products

By "good" reviews do you mean favorable ones or properly done ones?
Because I found plenty of the former but none of the latter, i.e., no
amp measurements taken, PSU not loaded to the full rated power. OTOH
the Coolmax looks like it could be built decently, but it wouldn't
surprise me if a $50 450W Fortron/Sparkle could put out more power.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

The only problem with many "good" brands is that they aren't powerful
enough on the +12V rail. PC Power and Cooling is, so far, the only
"good" brand I've seen that offers at least 25amps on the +12V
rail...which is what my Asus P5ND2-SLI requires if I run two nVidia
6800 Ultras..

The problem with PCP&C is that they are so very expensive and worse
than that, do not offer a modular design. I hate worse than anything
having to tuck un-used wires.

So far none of the "good" brands...with the exception of Antec...offer
modular designs. And even Antec only does it half-heartedly.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"DWalker" <none@none.com> wrote in message news:4339536c@nntp.zianet.com...
> "DCA" <dca860MAPS@ntlworld.com> wrote in news:604_e.46$9l4.23@newsfe4-
> win.ntli.net:
>
> Have you tried:
> > http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
>
> I'll look there.
>
> --- It says I need about 300 watts for a Pentium 4, 478-pin system with my
> 4 disk drives. Although I'm not sure if the chip is Northwood, Prescott,
> or what.... This would indicate that 400 is enough.
>
> Thanks.
>
> David
>
Make sure it is a good quality PSU too. The price difference is minimal
between no-names and good supplies for the long run. Many lower quality PSUs
will list the peak power as the PSU wattage level. This can be as much as
100+w over the actual normal operating range.

Ed

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in
news:1127943298.193169.282220@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

>
> DWalker wrote:
>
>> I ended up buying a Coolmax 500W from MWave, I hope that's
>> a good brand (I remember reading some good reviews about it).
>
> The UL file number, E186010, indicates that Coolmax is made by ATNG
> Power, which produces decent products
>
> By "good" reviews do you mean favorable ones or properly done ones?
> Because I found plenty of the former but none of the latter, i.e., no
> amp measurements taken, PSU not loaded to the full rated power. OTOH
> the Coolmax looks like it could be built decently, but it wouldn't
> surprise me if a $50 450W Fortron/Sparkle could put out more power.
>

Good points. Thanks.

David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

MartyLK@sega.net wrote in news:1127947416.907700.157440
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> The only problem with many "good" brands is that they aren't powerful
> enough on the +12V rail. PC Power and Cooling is, so far, the only
> "good" brand I've seen that offers at least 25amps on the +12V
> rail...which is what my Asus P5ND2-SLI requires if I run two nVidia
> 6800 Ultras..
>
> The problem with PCP&C is that they are so very expensive and worse
> than that, do not offer a modular design. I hate worse than anything
> having to tuck un-used wires.
>
> So far none of the "good" brands...with the exception of Antec...offer
> modular designs. And even Antec only does it half-heartedly.
>
>

Yeah, the unused wires can get in the way especially when there are a
lot of them. I will be using all 6 of the disk connectors (disks, CD,
Iomega REV) though.

David

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt (More info?)

"larry moe 'n curly" <larrymoencurly@my-deja.com> wrote in
news:1127943298.193169.282220@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

>
> DWalker wrote:
>
>> I ended up buying a Coolmax 500W from MWave, I hope that's
>> a good brand (I remember reading some good reviews about it).
>
> The UL file number, E186010, indicates that Coolmax is made by ATNG
> Power, which produces decent products
>
> By "good" reviews do you mean favorable ones or properly done ones?
> Because I found plenty of the former but none of the latter, i.e., no
> amp measurements taken, PSU not loaded to the full rated power. OTOH
> the Coolmax looks like it could be built decently, but it wouldn't
> surprise me if a $50 450W Fortron/Sparkle could put out more power.
>

I think the coolmax was only $45 at MWave. We'll see...