Power supply questions

skube · 05-22-2003, 03:17 PM

Hi folks,

I'm still using a trusty P2-400 with an Asus P2B mobo and Enlight case. At this point, I have 3 HDDs and a CD Burner, as IDE 0 Master/Slave and IDE 1 Master/Slave. I now have a 4th hard drive I wish to add. Some questions follow:

1) When is it "safe" to split the power connectors for multiple devices? I think my power supply is a 230W. In other words, I don't want to tax my power supply and underpower attached devices. The new hard drive came with a controller card, but before I put it in and mount the new HDD, I wanted to know a bit more about power consumption and limits.

2) If you look at the power connectors, they usually have a large one (for HDDs) that has a small one branching off for FDDs. I shorted the connector for the FDD a long time ago. Would this imply that I may have problems with the connectors or could possibly overheat or damage components? Is there a testing kit I can use to determine whether or not the power connectors are operating within spec that branch off of my PC's power supply?

The reason I ask is that I recently experienced problems with a TDK 40x12x48 VeloCD burner, which was otherwise reliable. It began burning CDs with distortion when going from mp3->CDDA. I wonder if possibly the "shorted FDD connector" played a part in maybe damaging the drive over time. I want to be sure before putting in the RMA'd drive, or a new HDD <:

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated,

-S

skube · 05-27-2003, 10:08 AM

Thks for the reply, Dark.

Well, it looks like I'm running a 300W power supply, not a 230W. I was mistaken <: Ripped apart my machine this weekend and reconfigured it with a Promise ATA133 card and a new 200G drive.

Is there any way to test the power connectors coming off of the supply to make sure they are still within spec? (Referring to the shorted out/burned floppy power connector on one of the wires stemming from the power supply).

Yep, I am a cheap bastard. I guess I could just as easily get a new Antec or Enermax power supply for my midtower Enlight case <:

-skube

skube · 05-27-2003, 10:19 AM

Hmm, might be able to answer my own question with this link:

http://www.antec-inc.com/info_DIYArticle1.html

Dark, exactly what you stated is the last line of this page <:

(I may be overloading even the 300W power supply with 1 200G drive, 2 60G drives, and a 40x CDRW, thus reducing its expected lifetime)

-skube

spigidygak · 05-27-2003, 12:26 PM

thats nothing man. . . I had a dell p2 400 for a while loaded up the sheeezy. Had dvd, cd-rw, zip, floppy, scsi boot drive, and 3 7200 rpm hard drives or was it four. . . plus all pci slots were filled up. I think the powersupply it came with was a 235 or 250. Had no problems. . . ran it like that for a good 2 years and after having it for about 5 or 6 years now, still runs great without problems. Of course it lost a lot of weight since then.

05-22-2003, 03:17 PM	#1
skube Ensign Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Columbia, MD USA Posts: 27	Power supply questions Hi folks, I'm still using a trusty P2-400 with an Asus P2B mobo and Enlight case. At this point, I have 3 HDDs and a CD Burner, as IDE 0 Master/Slave and IDE 1 Master/Slave. I now have a 4th hard drive I wish to add. Some questions follow: 1) When is it "safe" to split the power connectors for multiple devices? I think my power supply is a 230W. In other words, I don't want to tax my power supply and underpower attached devices. The new hard drive came with a controller card, but before I put it in and mount the new HDD, I wanted to know a bit more about power consumption and limits. 2) If you look at the power connectors, they usually have a large one (for HDDs) that has a small one branching off for FDDs. I shorted the connector for the FDD a long time ago. Would this imply that I may have problems with the connectors or could possibly overheat or damage components? Is there a testing kit I can use to determine whether or not the power connectors are operating within spec that branch off of my PC's power supply? The reason I ask is that I recently experienced problems with a TDK 40x12x48 VeloCD burner, which was otherwise reliable. It began burning CDs with distortion when going from mp3->CDDA. I wonder if possibly the "shorted FDD connector" played a part in maybe damaging the drive over time. I want to be sure before putting in the RMA'd drive, or a new HDD <: Thoughts and suggestions appreciated, -S

05-27-2003, 10:08 AM	#2
skube Ensign Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Columbia, MD USA Posts: 27	correction: 300W Thks for the reply, Dark. Well, it looks like I'm running a 300W power supply, not a 230W. I was mistaken <: Ripped apart my machine this weekend and reconfigured it with a Promise ATA133 card and a new 200G drive. Is there any way to test the power connectors coming off of the supply to make sure they are still within spec? (Referring to the shorted out/burned floppy power connector on one of the wires stemming from the power supply). Yep, I am a cheap bastard. I guess I could just as easily get a new Antec or Enermax power supply for my midtower Enlight case <: -skube

05-27-2003, 10:19 AM	#3
skube Ensign Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Columbia, MD USA Posts: 27	load testing Hmm, might be able to answer my own question with this link: http://www.antec-inc.com/info_DIYArticle1.html Dark, exactly what you stated is the last line of this page <: (I may be overloading even the 300W power supply with 1 200G drive, 2 60G drives, and a 40x CDRW, thus reducing its expected lifetime) -skube

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05-27-2003, 12:26 PM	#4
spigidygak Admiral Join Date: May 2000 Location: Redlands & San Diego, CA. Posts: 5,882	thats nothing man. . . I had a dell p2 400 for a while loaded up the sheeezy. Had dvd, cd-rw, zip, floppy, scsi boot drive, and 3 7200 rpm hard drives or was it four. . . plus all pci slots were filled up. I think the powersupply it came with was a 235 or 250. Had no problems. . . ran it like that for a good 2 years and after having it for about 5 or 6 years now, still runs great without problems. Of course it lost a lot of weight since then.

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