Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

**momaka** · 10-21-2016, 01:31 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by batmreload

My question is, for the following system, what are my options for buying new?

Not sure about buying new, as the -5V rail has been phased out on new power supplies for a long time now.

Your best bet is to buy an old, used power supply and recap it. If you don't want to mess with recapping, an old Astec from the Pentium II/3 era should fit that bill, since they often used Japanese capacitors only.

I think this is what I have in my Gateway Select 750 PC (old slot A Athlon CPU):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASTEC-200wat...3D222285959997
Well, I'll have to check the model number and get back to you... but the unit above looks very similar to mine. I know it's goofy-looking with that 90 mm fan on top (and also a little loud in my opinion), but it's built very solid inside with all-Japanese capacitors.

Also, I think you are over-stating the power requirements of your hardware quite a bit. The Voodoo 3 is probably no more than 10-15 Watts with that heatsink size, if even that. The Yamaha DS2416: I see no heatsinks on any of the chips, so probably another 10 Watts max (and by the way, that is a VERY NICE piece of audio hardware - I love older Yamaha audio stuff). And the 4-port Rosewill USB 2.0 card: I doubt the thing uses more than 2 Watts. Probably that when you plug in some stuff in the USB ports, like flash drives, printers, etc.

The Pentium II/3 CPU is another 30-40 Watts max... so really, even a 100 Watt power supply will have you covered. Though, if you have more than one HDD, maybe try to go for something a bit higher. 150-200 Watts should definitely do. Something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASTEC-200wat...3D172379284570

Or these oldschool Delta (which are also likely to have Japanese capacitors):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPAQ-145wa...3D172379284570
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPAQ-200wa...3D142137787037

**jiroy** · 10-21-2016, 05:16 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Any new PSU can be used for the 440 bx2 . Instead of the 24 pins , only 20 will be used and you can't put it anything in reverse or in a faulty way , due to the intended special plastic shaping .
Even more most of the new PSUs still include the old power input for Ide devices as well as satas , so all the choices are yours ..

**momaka** · 10-21-2016, 10:03 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by jiroy

Any new PSU can be used for the 440 bx2 .

Not exactly.

Many group-regulated PSUs designed for today's modern 12V-heavy power draw will tend to cross-load quite badly with a stronger 5V load. I personally have seen quite a few go out of spec on the 12V rail (i.e. over 12.6V), precisely because of this.

If you really want a new PSU design that can power an old PC, then you need to look independent regulation design. Something like the Corsair VX550 might do. But then again, getting a 550 Watt power supply to power an old Pentium II/3 PC seems really pointless.

Also, the lack of -5V rail on these newer PSUs may be a show-stopper, depending on what hardware you plant to use with those older Pentium II/3 PCs. If I remember correctly, ISA hardware is the one that needs a -5V rail.

And no, a lot of new PSUs don't come with that many old standard drive connectors, unless you are talking about cheap/low-end PSUs. But then again, those would be the ones that probably will need a recap down the road, so I say don't bother with that. The old reliable Astec, Delta, and LiteOn units from that era is what you should be using, since those PSUs really were made for those PCs, and like I said, they often used Japanese capacitors back then.

**jiroy** · 10-22-2016, 01:44 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Not exactly.

Many group-regulated PSUs designed for today's modern 12V-heavy power draw will tend to cross-load quite badly with a stronger 5V load. I personally have seen quite a few go out of spec on the 12V rail (i.e. over 12.6V), precisely because of this.

It's the old question of price vs. quality , the recommended vs the un-recommended , but the basic is yet the same , Any new PSU can fit an Intel 440 bx2 . That's up to the customer .

If you really want a new PSU design that can power an old PC, then you need to look independent regulation design. Something like the Corsair VX550 might do. But then again, getting a 550 Watt power supply to power an old Pentium II/3 PC seems really pointless.

Having an old Pentium 3 doesn't mean consumption of power will be less than a I7 desktop , doesn't mean he can't put 4 ide hard-disks or 3 Dvd writers and equip the PC with a creative x live sound card bay, and then put an internal Pci DVR , and probably to finish his built in studio , equip it with a TV card ..
Those were the criteria of an older time , when such things were not yet introduced , so a 600 watts Boardx is even better ..

Between a 300 Watts and 550 watts , I always opt for a 600 Watts , lol ..

Also, the lack of -5V rail on these newer PSUs may be a show-stopper, depending on what hardware you plant to use with those older Pentium II/3 PCs. If I remember correctly, ISA hardware is the one that needs a -5V rail.

Yes and no ..The -5volts was designed to be used with some ISA peripherals , some very older ones , i doubt they still exist today .. In fact , they were never used by the motherboard ..

And no, a lot of new PSUs don't come with that many old standard drive connectors, unless you are talking about cheap/low-end PSUs. But then again, those would be the ones that probably will need a recap down the road, so I say don't bother with that. The old reliable Astec, Delta, and LiteOn units from that era is what you should be using, since those PSUs really were made for those PCs, and like I said, they often used Japanese capacitors back then.

If he reached such dead end , all what he has to do is the do it yourself ..the same input of a sata device voltages will be connected to an ide ones ..meaning the red is 5 volts , the yellow is 12 volts and the black is th common ..

I tend to like the Boardx as i seen such units live 15 years without problems , but still , it's up to the user decide what is best for him .

**momaka** · 10-22-2016, 10:52 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by jiroy

It's the old question of price vs. quality , the recommended vs the un-recommended , but the basic is yet the same , Any new PSU can fit an Intel 440 bx2 . That's up to the customer .

But again, just because it fits doesn't mean that it's right for it.

Something tells me you haven't tried cross-loading a new PSU with an old 5V-heavy PC. I have, and I will tell you the results: the 12V rail can easily go out of spec on many new group-regulated units. If you are looking for independent 3.3V and 5V regulation, then you have to go to the much more expensive PSUs (not to mention read a ton of PSU reviews/teardowns, because many PSUs don't mention this on the box). But why all this, when you can get an old unit that was designed for the system in the first place anyways.

And then there is the lack of old-type drive connectors. Most typical modern PSUs have no more than 3 to 4 of those. The rest is much all SATA power connectors. With 4 old-type drive connectors, the best you can do is 4 HDDs and no optical drives or 2 HDDs and 2 optical drives, or something like that. That doesn't look very good to me, though.

Originally posted by jiroy

Having an old Pentium 3 doesn't mean consumption of power will be less than a I7 desktop , doesn't mean he can't put 4 ide hard-disks or 3 Dvd writers and equip the PC with a creative x live sound card bay, and then put an internal Pci DVR , and probably to finish his built in studio , equip it with a TV card ..
Those were the criteria of an older time , when such things were not yet introduced , so a 600 watts Boardx is even better ..

Between a 300 Watts and 550 watts , I always opt for a 600 Watts , lol ..

You're kidding!

Look up the TDP specs of a Pentium 3. No, actually I can just tell you that: it's 33 Watts, with a max of 35 to 40 Watts, depending on CPU model, and this for the high-end P3s. Now, I'll let you look up the TDP specs of an i7, and you tell what you find.

Ok, ok, I'll give you some credit... new CPUs tend to throttle down quite a bit, so perhaps some of the newest i7's may actually use less power than a Pentium 3 CPU *in idle mode*. But at full load, don't expect that at all!

Also, just because you fill all your motherboard's PCI slots and add a bunch of peripherals doesn't mean your power draw will increase dramatically. If it doesn't have a heatsink, chances are it draws no more than 5 Watts.

As for HDDs: yes those *could* add up to the power consumption significantly relative to what those Pentium 3 CPUs use, if the HDDs are 10k/15k server type (which typically means 1-2 Amps from the 12V rail). But even then, you won't be bucking more than 200-250 Watts total from your system, unless you have more than 4 HDDs and dual Pentium 3 CPUs.

I actually have a Pentium 3 server myself that I use for file storage/backup every once in a while. Right now, it's down to 2 HDDs and a single Pentium 3 CPU. But at one point, I had two 1 GHz P3 CPUs in it and a GeForce 6200 TC PCI video card, just to see how well it did with some older games (it's terrible, lol. It was obviously meant to be a server). Even with all of that, I didn't even get to 150 Watts of DC power draw.

So NO, you don't need a 300 Watt power supply. Using a 600 Watt power supply for an old system like that is just overkill. (And by the way, what's a "Boardx"? A power supply brand?

Originally posted by jiroy

If he reached such dead end , all what he has to do is the do it yourself ..the same input of a sata device voltages will be connected to an ide ones ..meaning the red is 5 volts , the yellow is 12 volts and the black is th common ..

SATA power to regular drive adapters, you mean? Well, that would add up to the system costs unnecessarily. Here, two to four such adapters can cost more than one of the PSUs I suggested above.

**jiroy** · 10-23-2016, 03:59 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

But again, just because it fits doesn't mean that it's right for it.

Something tells me you haven't tried cross-loading a new PSU with an old 5V-heavy PC. I have, and I will tell you the results: the 12V rail can easily go out of spec on many new group-regulated units. If you are looking for independent 3.3V and 5V regulation, then you have to go to the much more expensive PSUs (not to mention read a ton of PSU reviews/teardowns, because many PSUs don't mention this on the box). But why all this, when you can get an old unit that was designed for the system in the first place anyways.

That "Something" telling you , is totally wrong . My shop is one of the most acclaimed and famous in whole Beirut , and my name here is a standard . Many recommend me for the most difficult repairs , the final solution , so take it easy , and concentrate on facts . The PSUs or some of them you're talking about , are low ends fabric , so weird symptoms are expected . Due to a very long experience in all kinds of repairing field , i know what brands to use and what's to avoid .

That's being said , i say , On the contrary momaka , using a solid new PSU is recommended by me to thrive an old Pentium 3 performance , and please do not forget that i have a running active shop that still use 3 of the 440 bx2 equipped with 733 Celerons and when i talk , i talk out of experience , and i see them while i'm talking . I see the DVR's , i see the TV cards and i see even the Teac DVD home theater PL-D2000 hooked to the TV card , and i see also a pair of JBL's hooked to the Teac ..

And then there is the lack of old-type drive connectors. Most typical modern PSUs have no more than 3 to 4 of those. The rest is much all SATA power connectors. With 4 old-type drive connectors, the best you can do is 4 HDDs and no optical drives or 2 HDDs and 2 optical drives, or something like that. That doesn't look very good to me, though.

That's the beauty in a 600 Watts PSU , Take the ide inputs from any of your damaged old PSU , and hook as much ides as you want .
When talking Sata drives , you're missing one fact here , there are PCI to Sata adapters in case you don't know ...

You're kidding!

Am i kidding ? , well , not half a meter from my hand's reach , i grabbed the first DVD writer in my way , and it's a Pioneer .. Let us read its labels if you don't mind ...Ooops , 2 Amperes at 12 volts and 1.6 at 5 volts ..
whose kidding who ? ..

Look up the TDP specs of a Pentium 3. No, actually I can just tell you that: it's 33 Watts, with a max of 35 to 40 Watts, depending on CPU model, and this for the high-end P3s. Now, I'll let you look up the TDP specs of an i7, and you tell what you find.

Ok, ok, I'll give you some credit... new CPUs tend to throttle down quite a bit, so perhaps some of the newest i7's may actually use less power than a Pentium 3 CPU *in idle mode*. But at full load, don't expect that at all!

Also, just because you fill all your motherboard's PCI slots and add a bunch of peripherals doesn't mean your power draw will increase dramatically. If it doesn't have a heatsink, chances are it draws no more than 5 Watts.

Add to that some credit a PCI Nvidia gt 210 , plus a USB desktop's light and a USB for coffee heating , lol , Can i hook an external 2 Tb if you don't mind ? .. Man , some do use these items in case you don't know ... Speaking of which , i have many customers , Doctors , statisticians and Mechanical engineers that still hold tight to their old PC's .. Wanna know why ? ...Simply because their very expensive software run on windows 95 or 98 , but hey , maybe you don't have such customers ... But , I do ..

As for HDDs: yes those *could* add up to the power consumption significantly relative to what those Pentium 3 CPUs use, if the HDDs are 10k/15k server type (which typically means 1-2 Amps from the 12V rail). But even then, you won't be bucking more than 200-250 Watts total from your system, unless you have more than 4 HDDs and dual Pentium 3 CPUs.

Well , we already saw the Pioneer specs , but why someone wanna hook 3 DVD writers ? ... Oh , a big question ? , well , because some want to record on the fly . Now , we're talking 6 Amperes for only the DVD's !! ...
Well , it's a good thing that i usually report specs to customers and not to momaka ,lol ..

I actually have a Pentium 3 server myself that I use for file storage/backup every once in a while. Right now, it's down to 2 HDDs and a single Pentium 3 CPU. But at one point, I had two 1 GHz P3 CPUs in it and a GeForce 6200 TC PCI video card, just to see how well it did with some older games (it's terrible, lol. It was obviously meant to be a server). Even with all of that, I didn't even get to 150 Watts of DC power draw.
So NO, you don't need a 300 Watt power supply. Using a 600 Watt power supply for an old system like that is just overkill. (And by the way, what's a "Boardx"? A power supply brand?
SATA power to regular drive adapters, you mean? Well, that would add up to the system costs unnecessarily. Here, two to four such adapters can cost more than one of the PSUs I suggested above.

It seems if i was momaka , i won't be needing a 600 Watts , i can understand that , but accidentally , i'm jiroy and i have not less than 1000 demanding customers ..Now , the question is , whom to satisfy ? , and the answer is obvious .

BoardX is a brand that sell many PCs accessories , including PSUs and even keyboards ..Not bad at all .

**Behemot** · 10-23-2016, 07:20 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

I've actually recently measured my 15k SAS drives to see what else my PSU can handle and four of them peaked at 3 A from +12 V. Two of them were 2.5" though. Older ones can draw slightly more but never (than maybe at start) 2 A each.

jiroy: we usually tend to use quality real watts, if you prefer paper watts your choice.

**jiroy** · 10-23-2016, 07:53 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by Behemot

I've actually recently measured my 15k SAS drives to see what else my PSU can handle and four of them peaked at 3 A from +12 V. Two of them were 2.5" though. Older ones can draw slightly more but never (than maybe at start) 2 A each.

jiroy: we usually tend to use quality real watts, if you prefer paper watts your choice.

Well , i was very nice not to add the 2A of the 12 volts plus the 1.6A of the 5 volts which equals 3.6 A under a full pressure from a pcmonger like Nero , you know both voltages are used and needed at the same time , which , in case of 3 DVD writers make 3.6 x 3 = 10.8 A under a full pressure . I'm really trying to be nice here

**momaka** · 10-24-2016, 12:00 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Woah, fellas, slow down a bit here. I know we just having PSU discussion here, so nothing to boil over about.

Originally posted by jiroy

and when i talk , i talk out of experience , and i see them while i'm talking .

What a coincidence, then!

I always talk out of experience too. If there is any doubt, guessing, or assumptions on my part, I always try to point it out.

Originally posted by jiroy

That "Something" telling you , is totally wrong . My shop is one of the most acclaimed and famous in whole Beirut , and my name here is a standard . Many recommend me for the most difficult repairs , the final solution , so take it easy , and concentrate on facts .

Just because you operate a large repair shop doesn't mean that you must always be right about everything. I mean, I am not trying to discredit your experience here, okay. But your responses above weren't really that detailed to show me that you knew what you were talking about when it comes to power supplies.

Originally posted by jiroy

That's being said , i say , On the contrary momaka , using a solid new PSU is recommended by me to thrive an old Pentium 3 performance

So please give us some links and some examples then. Brands and models? You know, something tangible. I already did in my posts above. Now it's your turn rather than making a blank statements to just get a "solid new PSU".

Sorry, but Boardx is not a brand I've heard of before, nor is it one that I think I can buy here.

Speaking of which...

Originally posted by jiroy

BoardX is a brand that sell many PCs accessories , including PSUs and even keyboards ..Not bad at all .

Well, so does Keymouse. And if you have ever looked at Keymouse PSUs, they are not all that impressive.

What you are dealing with above is probably a retailer that buys and re-brands various PC hardware. Antec does it, Corsair does it, Thermaltake does it... nothing wrong with that, really. Some of these brands carry decent models.

But what you have to keep in mind is that with re-branding companies, you can have a certain piece of hardware made today from one manufacturer and tomorrow switched to another. And with that, the quality can vary too. So what you get today may not be the same as what you get tomorrow.

Thus, blank statements to stick with this or that brand is not very wise in my opinion.

The PSUs I suggested in my previous posts above (Astec, Delta Electronics, LiteOn, Chicony/HiPro, and Bestec) are not specific to any brand. They are OEMs, meaning they actually *design and make* the parts, not re-brand. And these are pretty much the biggest OEMs around and, in my opinion, of the best quality designs. There's really only a number of models from each of the above brands that should be avoided, like for example, the ATX-250-12E from Bestec, which has a 5VSB circuit that can fail catastrophically over time and damage the PC hardware.

That said, I warmly invite you to post some pictures of your highly recommended BoardX PSU here, in the Power supply build quality pictorial thread, if you think it actually deserves to be there. Only then we can know for sure what it is really made of.

Originally posted by jiroy

Am i kidding ? , well , not half a meter from my hand's reach , i grabbed the first DVD writer in my way , and it's a Pioneer .. Let us read its labels if you don't mind ...Ooops , 2 Amperes at 12 volts and 1.6 at 5 volts ..
whose kidding who ? ..

That's a peak power rating, not continuous. In particular, you may see that peak power draw from the 12V rail only when the disc inside the drive is spooling up. Once it spools to normal speed, the power draw will be a fraction of that. Same goes for HDDs, regardless of what type they are (though, server HDDs typically have higher power draw).

Now, you want to see a funny example? I have an old HP Pavilion 8756c PC that I still use occasionally. It's a Pentium 3 -based system. It uses this power supply:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...postcount=2582

To cut to the chase, that power supply is rated for only 4 Amps on the 12V rail. Yet, that HP PC came with a single HDD and two optical drives: an LG CRD-8483b (rated for 1.5 and 0.9 Amps on the 12V and 5V rails, respectively) and a Mitsumi MTCR-4804e CD-RW drive (rated for 2.9 and 2.0 Amps on the 12V and 5V rails, respectively).

Now, if you add all that 12V current with the HDD's 400 mA @ 12V rating, you get a total of 4.8 Amps power draw from the 12V rail. That's more than what the PSU is rated for! But how did it survive?

... It survived because those are peak values, not continuous. That said, I have ran both drives at the same time, and everything was still okay. Yes, the 12V rail dipped quite low, but it was still in spec. However, it's also worth noting here that the Pentium 3 CPU really doesn't put enough of a load on the 5V rail for the 12V rails to go up. With a mid/high-end Athlon XP CPU (more load on the 5V rail), this PSU will have near perfect 5V and 12V rail regulation.

Another thing worth noting is that the PSU above has a 10 Amp rectifier on the 12V rail. Since the PSU uses STF topology, that means you can pull about 6-7 Amps continuous from the 12V rail without problems. So that rating on the label is actually underrated! And this is exactly why I always recommend these older Pentium II/3 -era PSUs from the big OEMs, because they are built like tanks and very underrated on the label. Not to mention they are quite cheap to buy second hand.

Originally posted by jiroy

I see the DVR's , i see the TV cards and i see even the Teac DVD home theater PL-D2000 hooked to the TV card , and i see also a pair of JBL's hooked to the Teac ..

So?
Like I said, it doesn't matter if it's a PCI, AGP, PCI-E, or any other add-on card. If it does NOT have a heatsink, it probably doesn't consume more than 5 Watts.

FYI, I have an old Yamaha YMF-724 sound card in one of my Pentium 3 PCs. It has on-board TEA2025b amplifier, capable of powering stereo bookshelf speakers directly. Guess what, though? The way that TEA2025 amp is wired, it cannot actually supply much over 1 to 1.5 Watts per channel. So with that and amplifier inefficiency accounted for, the card will still draw no more than around 5-6 Watts *peak* from the power supply.

For bookshelf speakers, 1-2 Watts is plenty of power for a small-to-medium sized room.

Originally posted by jiroy

Add to that some credit a PCI Nvidia gt 210 , plus a USB desktop's light and a USB for coffee heating , lol , Can i hook an external 2 Tb if you don't mind ? .. Man , some do use these items in case you don't know ...

PC Nvidia GT 210: without looking at the specs online, I can tell you simply by the heatsink size that this video card draws no more than 20-25 Watts under max load. Any more than that, and with a passive heatsink, the GPU will be desoldering itself.

(well, not quite, but we can agree that 70°C+ temperatures are not good for it.)

As for the USB desktop light, USB coffee heater, and external HDD...
Unless my information is really outdated, last time I checked, USB 1.1/2.0 spec allows for a maximum of 500 mA power draw from the USB, which uses power from the 5V rail (and in rare motherboard cases, 5VSB). So the theoretical limit per USB device is 5V x 0.5 Amps = 2.5 Watts. Four devices = 10 Watts max. And that's assuming those devices are using full power all the time (like the USB coffee heater).

So again, I just don't see where the need comes for that 600 Watts power supply you keep recommending.

Originally posted by jiroy

Well , it's a good thing that i usually report specs to customers and not to momaka ,lol ..

*You* reported specs? Where?!

Look above. I give actual credible numbers and examples. And I suggested PSU OEMs that are known universally. Not some brand that no one has ever heard of.

But I get it, okay. You have a large base of customers and they are satisfied with the work you do. That's fine with me and I am more than happy for you.

But just don't let that get to you that you are a "know-it-all" guru.

Some of us here fix/repair stuff just for fun. But that doesn't mean we can't be as knowledgeable as you or even more. Keep that in mind before discrediting someone next time.

**budm** · 10-24-2016, 12:38 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

"Well , i was very nice not to add the 2A of the 12 volts plus the 1.6A of the 5 volts which equals 3.6 A under a full pressure from a pcmonger like Nero , you know both voltages are used and needed at the same time , which , in case of 3 DVD writers make 3.6 x 3 = 10.8 A under a full pressure . I'm really trying to be nice here "

Sorry to say this but you DO NOT add the to current rating of the two power supplies with different Voltage rating to get total current draw, that is not what you use to get total current draw and how to calculate total power consumption.
So 10.8A at what Voltage?
12V@2A = 24 W
5V@1.6A = 8 W
Total power consumption = 32 W for 1 device.

Continuous Power Vs Peak power at spin up:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/sto...roundup_7.html
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/spinPower-c.html

**budm** · 10-24-2016, 08:24 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

"By that "math" he showed it was finally very clear which one he is"

It is not really the 'Math' problem (since addition is simple), it is about the understanding the relationship between Voltage, Current, Power and how to total the sums.
I wonder how he specs. in the power supply, adding all the current outputs capability together (or the devices currents)?

**vinceroger69** · 10-25-2016, 09:09 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

This is the pdf attachment as the link provided does not work

Attached Files

pioneer_odd_dvr221.pdf (63.5 KB, 9 views)

**Behemot** · 10-25-2016, 11:15 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by budm

"By that "math" he showed it was finally very clear which one he is"

It is not really the 'Math' problem (since addition is simple), it is about the understanding the relationship between Voltage, Current, Power and how to total the sums.
I wonder how he specs. in the power supply, adding all the current outputs capability together (or the devices currents)?

I know what the problem is (wrong physics understanding which results in wrongly applied math, rather than the math itself), just couldn'd find a better term in that moment. Well, there are the commas after all

BTW the SU450INET UPS is slightly younger, according to its mfg date it was made on janury 29th 1998. On the other hand I guess the board could have been made in late 1997. The caps are all '97. Guess its drawing enough current to impact the CPU and/or other circuits feeding transistors which than manifests as visible changes in output voltage… EDIT// seems that the bulbs draw actally more, measured at over 260 W so with the 260W nominal it was most likely over 280 W…

MixMasta: many modern DC-DCed units have enough power on both +3.3 and +5V rails. On the other hand, as already noted, buying rather expensive 400W unit for such rig is somewhat unnecessary. Though it will have much higher efficiency, unless it's some kind of WS which runs 24/7, it does not make any sense.

**budm** · 10-25-2016, 12:41 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by jiroy

That's very simple , old bud from yahoo groups .. In a DVDwriter , some items like dynamos and some chipset use 12 volts , in the same time when others like digital and other chipsets need 5 volts ..

Frankly , didn't expect such question from a supposed veteran ..

LO, it is clear to me that you do not fully understand the concept of Voltage current, and Power when YOU give the total current draw of the device by adding the current draw of the 12V and the current draw of the 5V together.
Looks like we have another GREEK here.
So based on your math:
One device uses 10A @ 12V and 1A @ 5 so based on your math the total current draw is 11A.
Then the other device uses 1A @ 12V and 10A @5V. based on your math, the total current draw is also 11A.
As you can see, the power consumption are not the same.

"since some didn't like talking Amperes .." we know how to talk about AMP and how to apply them, you just do not understand the concept.

**budm** · 10-25-2016, 09:22 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

P.S. 101.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/power-...-32338-13.html

https://cdn.badcaps-static.com/pdfs/...24410816c1.pdf

**budm** · 10-25-2016, 11:57 PM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by jiroy

Mlo ; Those concepts are light years away inside light years of datas inside my head ... I gave you the response , and you are running away from responding .. When you decide to respond why 12 volts and 5 volts are drawing at the same time from the Dvd writer , unless you think the dynamo function and then stops to let the software record (according to your weird theory ) , then we can discuss who knows and who don't...

It does not matter how the current is drawn at the same time or not, it's your math of adding the total current draw of two power supplies with different Volatge source which something that you simply do not understand.
And nothing can be explained to you further until you learn some basic electronics to understand what you are doing.
Running away from responding? LOL! With all that claimed you made it sounds like you had stop learning when some one already explain to you that your math is wrong. Get it?

**vinceroger69** · 10-26-2016, 01:48 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Copy/paste the URL is fine on Mozilla ..

The link you have provided does not work as you can see its stored on your computer so of course if YOU copy and paste that link it will work for you but does not for us with you knowlage i thought you would know that.
file:///C:/Users/Grace/Downloads/pioneer_odd_dvr221.pdf

**jiroy** · 10-26-2016, 03:50 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Originally posted by vinceroger69

Copy/paste the URL is fine on Mozilla ..

The link you have provided does not work as you can see its stored on your computer so of course if YOU copy and paste that link it will work for you but does not for us with you knowlage i thought you would know that.
file:///C:/Users/Grace/Downloads/pioneer_odd_dvr221.pdf

Yes , i didn't notice that as i was replying from different laptops , sorry .

**batmreload** · 10-26-2016, 04:09 AM

Re: Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Sorry, folks...didn't mean to start a mean-tempered conversation (You can shoot me for the pun)

Thanks for all the input. I will be looking for a PSU that does provide the -5 rail and is compliant with the older specs. As far as drives: I may be swapping this mobo out for a recapped BE6 in the future and adding a sata adapter. I use old IDE drives for backups and I might also be using this station for a HDD tester so that's 2 ide's of various speeds, the OS drive (7200rpm) and a sata drive via pci adapter. The system in question is currently working with a newer Xeon XON-500F8X2-201 500watt PSU, but that's my backup for another system. Should it fail, then i really WILL be out of psu spares, so I'm looking at a couple on ebay. Since I'm a bit of a masochist, i'm looking at a couple of fortrons (same model as in my other post) and the Compaq's that were recommended.

Again, thanks for all the help and I'm sorry for starting a flame war.

Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

Need power supply recommendations for older P2/P3 gaming system

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