Enermax 475w power supply problem.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Clif
  • Start date Start date
C

Clif

In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
1800rpm. I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just running
WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies? and is
the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that it's
going bad?
 
Clif said:
In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
1800rpm. I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just
running
WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies? and
is
the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that it's
going bad?
Click to expand...


You should go here and check if your power supply putting out power.
http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp


Hope this helps
Ken'
 
In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
1800rpm.
Click to expand...

That's normal for some power supply fans and isn't anything to
worry about. The most important fan in a system is the one
for the CPU.

I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just running
WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies? and
is
the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that it's
going bad?
Click to expand...

From our experience as a dealer, artifacts tend to be the result of a flaky
or overheating video card. Your Enermax 475W power supply is powerful
and high quality enough. I recommend trying a different video card
(such as your old one) to see what happens.
 
In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
1800rpm. I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just running
WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies? and is
the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that it's
going bad?
Click to expand...

The first thing to do, is check the power supply voltages,
either using the hardware monitor in the BIOS, or when you
are booted into Windows, install and use Asus Probe to
measure the voltages. ATX supplies are supposed to regulate to
within 5%, and should do better than that normally. By
checking the voltages, you'll get a good idea as to whether
it is the power supply, or perhaps the video card is flaky.

When it comes to selecting a power supply, the total watts is
not the only parameter to use. The reason this is the case,
is because some supplies put all their effort into the +5V
rail, leaving a pathetically inadequate output level on the
+12V rail. Some of the old Powmax 500W supplies, had 12V@10A
and even though the supply was "500W", that supply could not
run even a stripped down P4 system.

You really need a calculator that works out the current
required for each rail. The heavily loaded rails are
+3.3V, +5.0V, and +12V. The other rails, -5V and -12V are
used for tiny currents or not at all. The +5VSB is used to
power the sleeping computer, keep the contents of RAM, and
power parts of chips used for "wakeup" functions like
Wake On LAN.

This site contains a calculator. It attempts to work out the
current required for each of the heavily loaded rails. Unlike
other sites, it has more realistic number for RAM current (a
DDR DIMM is closer to 5 watts, rather than the overestimates
on other sites).

http://takaman.jp/D/?english

What these calculators cannot do, is get the balance exactly
right on all three rails. Most modern motherboards now use
the ATX12V 2x2 connector to power the processor, and the
calculation of the +12V requirement will be the most accurate
of the three. The currents required of +3.3V and +5V are
generally small enough, that once you've bought a power supply
that meets the +12V requirement, there is enough current for
the other rails. (In the table below, all the supplies listed
have plenty of +3.3 and +5V.)

If your motherboard doesn't use the ATX12V connector, then some
fiddling of the calculated numbers will be needed to gauge the
power supply. (For example, my A7N8X-E draws heavily from the
+5V supply, and with a good video card, somewhere between 20 and
25A are needed. The motherboard draws very little +12V, and the
disk drives draw most of the small amount of +12V needed.)

So, armed with your calculated +3.3V, +5V, and +12V current
requirements, you can go shopping. Good brands will specify
the current available on each rail, and each brand has
different characteristics (either just barely skimping by,
or having more total output than the wattage rating would
suggest). If a cheap power supply just lists the total wattage,
and provides no details, look for another brand that does give
the necessary information. Here is a typical table from a
reputable brand of supply.

VOLTAGE +5V +12V +3.3V -5V -12V +5VSB
TRUE330 30A  17A  28A  0.5A 1.0A 2.0A
TRUE380 35A  18A  28A  0.5A 1.0A 2.0A <--- $65 US
TRUE430 36A  20A  28A  0.5A 1.0A 2.0A
TRUE480 38A  22A  30A  1.5A 1.0A 2.0A
TRUE550 40A  24A  32A  0.5A 1.0A 2.0A <--- $95 US

HTH,
Paul
 
I came up with 473 watts. Thanks for the link.


:
: : > In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
: > 1800rpm. I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just
: > running
: > WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
: > drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
: > video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
: > brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies?
and
: > is
: > the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that
it's
: > going bad?
: >
: >
:
:
: You should go here and check if your power supply putting out power.
: http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp
:
:
: Hope this helps
: Ken'
:
:
 
I put the old card back in which is a leadtek geforce ti 4400. I did notice
when I removed the 6800GT that there was dust filled in all around it so I
blew it out with compressed air. I wonder if it was overheating so I'm going
to throw it back in tomorrow and see what happens.


:> In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
: > 1800rpm.
:
: That's normal for some power supply fans and isn't anything to
: worry about. The most important fan in a system is the one
: for the CPU.
:
:
: > I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just running
: > WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
: > drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
: > video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
: > brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies?
and
: > is
: > the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that
it's
: > going bad?
:
: From our experience as a dealer, artifacts tend to be the result of a
flaky
: or overheating video card. Your Enermax 475W power supply is powerful
: and high quality enough. I recommend trying a different video card
: (such as your old one) to see what happens.
:
:
: ---
: Kevin Chalker, Owner (KC COMPUTERS)
: E-mail: (e-mail address removed) Web: www.kc-computers.com
: Internet dealer since 1991!!! See WWW.RESELLERRATINGS.COM!!!
:
:
 
If you see in my other replies I'm going to try some simpler things first,
but thanks for the tutorial and the link.


: In article <[email protected]>, "Clif" <[email protected]>
wrote:
:
: > In my bios the fan speed has started showing in red when it goes below
: > 1800rpm. I am also occasionally getting artifacts on the screen just
running
: > WinXP, no games. I've got a fully loaded system. 3 DVD writers, 6 hard
: > drives, quite a few case fans and a, recently added, XFX geforce 6800 GT
: > video card. I thought this power supply would do the trick being a good
: > brand. Do you think I need to go to 500 and something power supplies?
and is
: > the fan speed in the bios telling me the supply is over taxed or that
it's
: > going bad?
:
: The first thing to do, is check the power supply voltages,
: either using the hardware monitor in the BIOS, or when you
: are booted into Windows, install and use Asus Probe to
: measure the voltages. ATX supplies are supposed to regulate to
: within 5%, and should do better than that normally. By
: checking the voltages, you'll get a good idea as to whether
: it is the power supply, or perhaps the video card is flaky.
:
: When it comes to selecting a power supply, the total watts is
: not the only parameter to use. The reason this is the case,
: is because some supplies put all their effort into the +5V
: rail, leaving a pathetically inadequate output level on the
: +12V rail. Some of the old Powmax 500W supplies, had 12V@10A
: and even though the supply was "500W", that supply could not
: run even a stripped down P4 system.
:
: You really need a calculator that works out the current
: required for each rail. The heavily loaded rails are
: +3.3V, +5.0V, and +12V. The other rails, -5V and -12V are
: used for tiny currents or not at all. The +5VSB is used to
: power the sleeping computer, keep the contents of RAM, and
: power parts of chips used for "wakeup" functions like
: Wake On LAN.
:
: This site contains a calculator. It attempts to work out the
: current required for each of the heavily loaded rails. Unlike
: other sites, it has more realistic number for RAM current (a
: DDR DIMM is closer to 5 watts, rather than the overestimates
: on other sites).
:
: http://takaman.jp/D/?english
:
: What these calculators cannot do, is get the balance exactly
: right on all three rails. Most modern motherboards now use
: the ATX12V 2x2 connector to power the processor, and the
: calculation of the +12V requirement will be the most accurate
: of the three. The currents required of +3.3V and +5V are
: generally small enough, that once you've bought a power supply
: that meets the +12V requirement, there is enough current for
: the other rails. (In the table below, all the supplies listed
: have plenty of +3.3 and +5V.)
:
: If your motherboard doesn't use the ATX12V connector, then some
: fiddling of the calculated numbers will be needed to gauge the
: power supply. (For example, my A7N8X-E draws heavily from the
: +5V supply, and with a good video card, somewhere between 20 and
: 25A are needed. The motherboard draws very little +12V, and the
: disk drives draw most of the small amount of +12V needed.)
:
: So, armed with your calculated +3.3V, +5V, and +12V current
: requirements, you can go shopping. Good brands will specify
: the current available on each rail, and each brand has
: different characteristics (either just barely skimping by,
: or having more total output than the wattage rating would
: suggest). If a cheap power supply just lists the total wattage,
: and provides no details, look for another brand that does give
: the necessary information. Here is a typical table from a
: reputable brand of supply.
:
: VOLTAGE +5V +12V +3.3V -5V -12V +5VSB
: TRUE330 30A 17A 28A 0.5A 1.0A 2.0A
: TRUE380 35A 18A 28A 0.5A 1.0A 2.0A <--- $65 US
: TRUE430 36A 20A 28A 0.5A 1.0A 2.0A
: TRUE480 38A 22A 30A 1.5A 1.0A 2.0A
: TRUE550 40A 24A 32A 0.5A 1.0A 2.0A <--- $95 US
:
: HTH,
: Paul
 
You should go here and check if your power supply putting out power.
http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp
Click to expand...
Not really, it just confirms that the place that sold me this machine scrimped
on BOTH power supplies. the 1st 300 they installed, and the now the 2nd 400
they replaced it with.
I came up with a need for 326. And if you toss in my error factor, maybe 25%,
that would explain why this machines eaten 2 DVD recorders in one year.

400 would be bare minimum.
 
Seagate 7200.7 looks to only use +12V
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/personal/family/0,1085,613,00.html
Seagate 7200.8 use +12V and +5V
Click to expand...
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/personal/family/0,1085,627,00.html

I'm holding a 7200.7 80GB in my hand (it isn't the "plus" version),
and on the label it says "+5V 0.72A +12V 0.35A". That is roughly
consistent with the idle power rating of 7.5 watts on the web page.

To get closer to the product page you are using there, this is
a picture of the ST3120026A I found in an image search. It has
the same power numbers printed on its label, as I found on my
80GB 7200.7 380011A model. In the upper right hand corner.

http://www.mediafoundry.gr.jp/~to-s/img/mypc/3120026.jpg

I guess Seagate doesn't have any proof readers. Looking at
the circuit board, all four power connector pins have tracks
leading to them (but I'm not taking the drive apart to see
where they go :-) ) .

At least in this case, the numbers look like "real" numbers.
If you try and research optical disk drive numbers, if you
can even find a spec, all the drives list 5V 1.5A 12V 1.5A
regardless of functionality, which is obviously a load of
crap. I guess the practice in the ODD industry is, they
just don't care what the power is.

Paul
 
Ken' said:
You should go here and check if your power supply putting out power.
http://extreme.outervision.com/index.jsp
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link. I noticed they failed to provide options for
motherboards with built in video and ethernet(s). I had put together two
uATX systems with semperons for some friends and was wondering if the power
supply I picked was appropriate. I assume that even if you add a video
board you would still have to add in something for the on-board video chips.

One should always check the listed output against the claimed power
capabilities. Here is a claimed 320 watt
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AP320W-MICRO&cat=PWR
If you add up the listed outputs (voltage * current = power) you only get
230 watts. Definatly a poor choice compared to this one from the same
seller
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ESTAR-325-N
which adds up to 340 watts and is sold (out) as a claimed 325 watt supply.
 
Not really, it just confirms that the place that sold me this machine scrimped
on BOTH power supplies. the 1st 300 they installed, and the now the 2nd 400
they replaced it with.
I came up with a need for 326. And if you toss in my error factor, maybe 25%,
that would explain why this machines eaten 2 DVD recorders in one year.
Click to expand...

Well, one of your DVD recorders was "eaten" because some combination
of very-high rotational velocity and media-integrity problem led to
the CD platter failing catastrophically. That clearly had nothing to
do with your PSU, although I agree with you, from your description of
the problem on your other post that your "machine scrimped on BOTH
power supplies."
400 would be bare minimum.
Click to expand...

And not only "400 watts," but 400 watts from a reputable PSU that can
actually deliver the power that its marketing department labeled it
with. As you've already discovered, just because a PSU has "400W"
stamped on it does NOT mean that it can deliver anywhere close to that
under actual operating conditions.


Ron
 
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