Is there really a difference in Intel and AMD approved power supplies

[Alistair Smythe]

I put a power supply that I had lying around the shop in my computer ( My
400w started to act funny ) When I bought the last one I made sure that it
was AMD approved and It worked well in my system till it gave out. Needless
to say I did not make sure this 350w was AMD approved and sometimes when the
system boot up it stops when counting up the memory and freezes. I am 99%
sure that the power supply is the problem but just for personal knowledge
what is the difference ?

 

[Overlord]

Generally, current. More specifically the current (amperage) ratings on the 3.3v and 5v
rails. When the Athlon came along there was a rush to get higher rated power supplies.
I ran 6 or 7 hard drives on a 220watt PC Power & Cooling power supply when my system
had an AMD K6-450 in it. When I upgraded to a 1gig Athlon, even running 1 drive, it
was dead in the water. A lot of cheap power supplies running around are really
anemic. They might run a halfway decent CPU and a drive, a fan or two and a low end
video card but anything more and they'll crap out. Also, as opposed to completely
crapping out, sucking too much current on any one rail will drop the voltage on that
rail below what the CPU needs to run reliably, resulting in reboots, corrupted data,
crashes, blue screens. You don't necessarily have to go with AMD approved power
supplies but you do need to keep an eye on the rail amperage and reviews.
Reviews generally will load down a system and check the voltages. Cheap power
supplies won't be able to keep within spec, will have AC ripples in the DC output,
or noise on the rails, may not shut down when shorted, and a host of other problems.

I put a power supply that I had lying around the shop in my computer ( My
400w started to act funny ) When I bought the last one I made sure that it
was AMD approved and It worked well in my system till it gave out. Needless
to say I did not make sure this 350w was AMD approved and sometimes when the
system boot up it stops when counting up the memory and freezes. I am 99%
sure that the power supply is the problem but just for personal knowledge
what is the difference ?

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[AJ]

I put a power supply that I had lying around the shop in my computer ( My
400w started to act funny ) When I bought the last one I made sure that it
was AMD approved and It worked well in my system till it gave out. Needless
to say I did not make sure this 350w was AMD approved and sometimes when the
system boot up it stops when counting up the memory and freezes. I am 99%
sure that the power supply is the problem but just for personal knowledge
what is the difference ?

Approved only means it has the second fan that draws heat off the CPU.
I run eight Barton's 2500+ @ 3200+. On 200W unapproved PSU. These run
24/7 at 100% CPU load and with zero problems. Kill-a-watt shows that
most are using around 104 watts, -after- startup.

 

[larrymoencurly]

When I bought the last one I made sure that it was AMD
approved and It worked well in my system till it gave out.
Needless to say I did not make sure this 350w was AMD
approved and sometimes when the system boot up it stops
when counting up the memory and freezes. I am 99% sure
that the power supply is the problem but just for personal
knowledge what is the difference ?

Are you sure that it's not approved by either company? Because they
quit listing individual PSUs and now list only manufacturers.

All I know is that a lot of very bad PSUs are approved by AMD, Intel,
or both, including Deer's (Codegen, Allied, Logic, L&C, and about any
brand with an animal name), and Deer makes some of the worst PSUs you
can buy.

I've also learned that you can't trust mobo voltage reporting at all
and must check voltages with an accurate meter (digital) to know if a
PSU is working well or not.

 

[sparks]

I run eight Barton's 2500+ @ 3200+. On 200W unapproved PSU. These run
24/7 at 100% CPU load and with zero problems. Kill-a-watt shows that
most are using around 104 watts, -after- startup.

Yeah, well, start up is when you need the power

 

[-Alby Hewlet]

I've also learned that you can't trust mobo voltage reporting at all

and must check voltages with an accurate meter (digital) to know i>f a >

PSU is working well or not.

Even then you may be up the creek. I just finished working on a system
where the problem was the power supply. Had 350 wt ps in it. All voltages,
measured at the molex connector, when it was plugged into the motherboard
and turned on, measured within specs, yet it couldn't boot the system. A
cheap 250 wt spare I had in the parts bin booted it perfectly every, so you
can't tell just by measuring the voltages either. Well, you can if you get
a bad reading, but all good readings don't mean the ps is good.
If I have it figured out correctly, thanks to Ric in another NG, the RC
circuit regulating the power ready voltage wasn't rising fast enough. With
out a scope you can't detect that. If it comes up too slowly, the system
won't boot.

Alby