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The inevitable "I need to buy a new PSU" thread

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 17:35
by Woo Elephant Yeah
Well as mentioned elsewhere, I think my new card is crucifying my existing stock 450W power supply that came with my HP Workstation.

Not bothered about noise, quality etc... as long as it's powerful enough to run the card, and it's as cheap as possible then I'm happy, as buying something expensive for my reasonably old system would just be daft, allthough I suppose I could always move it into a new system if I were to build one in the future.

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 17:48
by Dog Pants
I'd say most named 500w+ PSUs would probably be okay. I use a Taigan and while it's only 450w (I think) it runs all the crap in my machine fine.

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 17:49
by Dr. kitteny berk
Lecture coming soon. :)

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 17:53
by FatherJack
Does the card have two power connectors, and are you running them off one connection to the PSU with a splitter?

Just a thought.

Otherwise try disconnecting any USB devices, just to see if it will tip the balance and confirm it's a power issue, rather than a temperature one.

Edit: A decent PSUs always a good investment, regardless, as it can outlast pretty much every other component in your PC.

Re: The inevitable "I need to buy a new PSU" threa

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 17:55
by Dr. kitteny berk
Woo Elephant Yeah wrote:Not bothered about noise, quality etc... as long as it's powerful enough to run the card
WRONG!

We've been over this a hundred times.

PSU quality is directly related to how "powerful" it is.

For example you could buy an ebuyer special 700w psu and put it in your machine. it probably wouldn't last a week (and it could kill your computer along with it)

Then again, you could go out and buy a nice mid/high end 400w PSU that could happily handle your machine.

Also: be careful, HP might use weirdy non-standard connectors, I don't know.

Either way, I've had good experiences with tagan and enermax PSUs, neither are too expensive and (depending which you buy) will service you happily, and most likely your next machine.

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 18:02
by fabyak
I've got a couple of Tagans and im very pleased with them. Quiet, efficient and have a 3 year guarantee on them :)

they am win!

Re: The inevitable "I need to buy a new PSU" threa

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 18:05
by Dog Pants
Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Also: be careful, HP might use weirdy non-standard connectors, I don't know.
Good point. We've got a problem at work whereby they bought a load of shite quality workstations and the PSUs have started going pop because they're cheap and underpowered. They're a weird size (probably why they were cheap) and so we can't get any replacements because the company is now bust and we can't find the freakish things anywhere else.

Posted: February 21st, 2007, 18:29
by deject
what berk said. a quality PSU is something you do not skimp on.

Posted: February 27th, 2007, 22:40
by Woo Elephant Yeah
After a bit of research, it looks like changing my PSU is nigh on impossible in my xw6000 due to the non standard PSU's HP decided to fit into the xw workstation range.

If I were to earth a seperate power supply to the casing, and run a cable into it feeding the graphics card, would that work? (in theory)

I know it's a very dirty solution, but I have a spare power supply that's doing nothing, and wondered if this was possible?

Posted: February 27th, 2007, 22:45
by Dr. kitteny berk

Posted: February 28th, 2007, 0:52
by deject
You could try to find the HP pinout, and then just gank the existing connector and mod it onto the new PSU.


May not be possible.

Posted: February 28th, 2007, 8:22
by Woo Elephant Yeah
Dr. kitteny berk wrote:yes, that'll work.

http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=psumod
Thanks, should I earth the PSU to something though, or are PSU's not earthed because they are fitted to the metal case of the machine?
Basically it would just sit ontop the PC under my desk, so not worried what it looks like narf.

Also suggestions for a good voltage monitor that works with my Intel Based HP XW6000 motherboard would be ace :)

Posted: February 28th, 2007, 8:24
by fabyak
as I understand it, you earth the PSU by screwing it into the case, but it can't hurt to have the earthing bit hooked onto it as well

[edit] It should be able to monitor stuff like that in the BIOS and if your motherboard can do it it may be able to autoshutdown if it goes a bit bonkers

Posted: February 28th, 2007, 8:39
by Dr. kitteny berk
You're close, but wrong.

The case and components are earthed to the PSU which earths using the magical 3rd pin on the IEC power connector.

Posted: February 28th, 2007, 8:41
by fabyak
I stand corrected







said the man in the orthopedic shoes

/DAN!

Posted: March 4th, 2007, 5:14
by Killavodka
I have ordered for my new build a Hiper 580w modular type R, dont know how it will go but im hoping it will be nice (no more web of unused wires in my pc!!!) Also seems to be at a fair price too.

*edit: excellent grammar me*

Posted: March 4th, 2007, 5:49
by deject
Killavodka wrote:*edit: excellent grammar me*
^ case in point :)

Posted: March 4th, 2007, 6:30
by bomberesque
Dog Pants wrote:named 500w+ PSUs
Where's the best place to get tech2? :P

/me :Pod: himself out of here

Posted: March 4th, 2007, 7:57
by Joose
Killavodka wrote:I have ordered for my new build a Hiper 580w modular type R, dont know how it will go but im hoping it will be nice (no more web of unused wires in my pc!!!) Also seems to be at a fair price too.

*edit: excellent grammar me*
zomg! I just ordered one of those for my new machine!

Posted: March 4th, 2007, 9:51
by mrbobbins
Joose wrote:
zomg! I just ordered one of those for my new machine!
ZOMG! I have one, and so does wiggy, they nice, especially the box they come in.