Power Supply

Apokarteron said:
my power supply says 115/230V- on it, can it hold my rig (in sig) and firewire, USB 2.0 and the fan on my GPU?
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Thats just the voltage, it has nothing to do with whether it can support your system. Dont ever change it unless you know what you're doing. If you do, be prepared for a nice bang :)
 
elmarcorulz said:
Thats just the voltage, it has nothing to do with whether it can support your system. Dont ever change it unless you know what you're doing. If you do, be prepared for a nice bang :)
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What will "bang" my power supply, or the rest of my (expensive) hardware?
 
In answer to the original point, you need to be looking for the size of the DC output, not the mains input, which is all the 115/230V means.

psu_side.jpg


It's the AMPS for each of the rails that determines how well it can handle a system.

And changing the voltage would give you an electrical explosion, similar to that of lightning but less intense obviously. Actually, in reality, it would probably just trip the fusebox in your house. But not recommended and not an issue if you're just plugging it into the household mains.
 
After I bought my ready-made PC I added 1GB of RAM, upgraded AGP GPU from nVidia GeForce 5200 to nVidia GeForce 6600 (which also has a fan and needs an extra cable to be plugged into power), from one DVD drive and one CD-RW drive to two DVD-RW, upgraded sound card and added firewire and an extra HDD (80GB).
Do I need to do something to my Power Supply Unit?
 
Post the number of amps on each of the 12V, 5V and 3.3V rails as you read it from the power supply, and we'll be able to find out. But there's nothing really that you can 'do' to the power supply. If it's underpowered then you'll have to invest in a new one.
 
magicman said:
Post the number of amps on each of the 12V, 5V and 3.3V rails as you read it from the power supply, and we'll be able to find out. But there's nothing really that you can 'do' to the power supply. If it's underpowered then you'll have to invest in a new one.
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Mine has the same numbers with the one in the picture
 
Really? That's a coincidence! Well in that case, I'd say the power supply is only just managing, but may struggle if you say for example are copying a home-movie dvd while playing a top-of-the-range game. A struggling PSU is less likely to give a steady regulation of power, meaning possible component damage.

Personally I'd be looking to upgrade it. But I'm just one opinion, see what others say.
 
yes the watts dont tell u if it can support ur system or not...its the amps that count...i dont think much of generic power supplies that come with a prebuilt pc so i would get a new one or save for a new one which will support ur system adaquately
 
Apokarteron said:
If I get another one what volts should I be looking at?
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Ignore the volts, all the volts tell you (115/230) is the type of power it accepts, which is standard household power. Ignore the watts, as well, ALL you are interested in is the amps.

Dual 12v rails is good, with 15 amps on each minimum.
 
Apokarteron said:
If I get another one what volts should I be looking at?
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*Face Palm* Not volts. Here read the PSU 101 It's watts that good to have, but even better, lots of amps for the 12V (All PSU give 3.3V, 5V 12V, that should be constant)
 
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Ignore the watts, as well, ALL you are interested in is the am
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Thats not entirely true. Whilst the amps are the most important thing, you still need a PSU with sufficient Wattage. Especially with modern upgrades which require alot more power then the older components.
 
elmarcorulz said:
Thats not entirely true. Whilst the amps are the most important thing, you still need a PSU with sufficient Wattage. Especially with modern upgrades which require alot more power then the older components.
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True, I was trying to make it as simple as I could. Most often psu's with enough amps are usually rated at enough watts. Generally speaking (I just know you're going to find an example to disprove that... :P )
 
magicman said:
True, I was trying to make it as simple as I could. Most often psu's with enough amps are usually rated at enough watts. Generally speaking (I just know you're going to find an example to disprove that... :P )
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Lol, no agree with you there ;)
 
magicman said:
In answer to the original point, you need to be looking for the size of the DC output, not the mains input, which is all the 115/230V means.

psu_side.jpg


It's the AMPS for each of the rails that determines how well it can handle a system.

And changing the voltage would give you an electrical explosion, similar to that of lightning but less intense obviously. Actually, in reality, it would probably just trip the fusebox in your house. But not recommended and not an issue if you're just plugging it into the household mains.
Click to expand...

Mine's not entirely the same, take a look:
psu7rj.jpg
 
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