WATT a difference

Kevin Farnell · Post by **Kevin Farnell** » 10 Apr 2006, 01:00

Well 200 Watts to be precise.
FS 9 had always struggled on my now ageing PC (Athlon 1.4GHz, 1GB RAM, 128Mb Geforce 4 and SB Audigy sound card - much of which were upgrades).
One of the most annoying symptoms was the system grinding to a near halt for up to minutes at a time. Then the fan on the power supply began to howl like a banshee - indication of imminent failure.
For a small outlay, I obtained a 450W power supply to replace the dying 250W original. To say this has breathed new life into the system is an understatement. Gone are the long pauses and even the lower frame rates (12-15) seem to run more smoothly.
I can only conclude that for too long, the power supply has been insufficient for the components and they have been fighting for power.
This may also explain the death of a second hard drive that I fitted.

Regards

Kevin

Tweek · Post by **Tweek** » 10 Apr 2006, 09:52

I never knew a power supply could make so much difference! I'll have to check it out

OneMacGuru · Post by **OneMacGuru** » 10 Apr 2006, 10:15

Have to agree there Kevin. I built a system last year and stuck in a 520 Watt PSU. After a few more upgrades and many many hours of tweaking I got the system running fairly well. Then one of the chaps suggested that although I had 520 Watts powering the system, it was a fairly inefficient PSU with power fluctuations probably affecting the power draw on specific units and certainly not as energy efficient as some others. So I bit the bullet and purchased a Seasonic S-12 600W Power Supply. The difference - certainly a more stable system which means less glitches when running fs9 and lower electricity bills as well. Oh and the box is much quieter now allowing my souncard and speaker system to enjoy some of the great soundfiles around.

Al

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 10 Apr 2006, 10:24

As part of my rebuild after my major PC crash last year I put a 550W PSU in the system, absolutely tranformed it. It also means I have all the power connections etc for making a future switch to PCI-E.

AndyG

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 10 Apr 2006, 23:15

Just be aware people that the numbers on a PSU aren't everything. A cheap and cheerful 500W psu can be worse than an expensive 350W... it's all to do with the voltage rails within the unit and how stable it is overall.

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 May 2006, 01:11

of course, being an electrician..

I'm always up for more power

lack of power will produce a voltage drop
which will cause the overall current draw to increase

A snowball effect....

It can get very nasty. I've seen computers,
and other electronics run amuck and then start working
on the connections in your wall outlets and other wiring
connections made throughout the network of wiring
in the building
especially, if the electrician installing the system was
a little lazy twisting the joints and applying the connectors

very nasty indeedie

Kevin Farnell · Post by **Kevin Farnell** » 12 May 2006, 01:29

Cheers, Airboatr.

Any 'bought' PC should have a power supply capable of powering it's components.
Once you start upgrading components, you run the risk of out-stripping your power supply.
Replacing the power supply is a cheap and effective way of ensuring that your PC performs at uts best.

Regards

Kevin

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 May 2006, 01:38

and how

alternatively a poor electrical system and loose outlet can damage the equipment plugged into them. sloppy fitted
plugs restrict the flow of electrons. although it be minimal
it can add up.
I've seen it happen many times.

job security

Charlie Bravo · Post by **Charlie Bravo** » 12 May 2006, 04:19

airboatr wrote:and how

alternatively a poor electrical system and loose outlet can damage the equipment plugged into them. sloppy fitted
plugs restrict the flow of electrons. although it be minimal
it can add up.
I've seen it happen many times.
job security

You still talking about power supplies in PCs or have you gone off on one?

airboatr · Post by **airboatr** » 12 May 2006, 05:51

Charlie
yes, I'm refering to the power supply and it's purpose
To supply enough power to the MOBO and it componets
as well as the hardware and peripherals. Although most of these, have there own power supply.
This is what I'm trying to convey.
if you "wire" or plug anything into a electrical system or circuit
that has bad connections, throughout the system or even
just one bad connection, the unit plugged onto that system
will work harder and hotter than it was designed to.
Believe me, I've seen the horrors. many times, I've been
on service calls to replace a burned up receptial (outlet), so
the customer could plug in the newly purchased
equiptment "required when the one they had, went into
thermal meltdown.
Grounding is another very important issue but will digress
Again I understand the gent(Kevin) with the new power supply
is just :yipeee: doing backflips and I'm really glad too.
how could one not. just listen to the bliss in his post

I'd like to just add, "make sure you know what you pluging stuff into". so the stuff last and works without worry.

:think: ..............yep, I kinda ...drove of the runway
:redface: what can I say for myself.....
I beg the Queens forgiveness.