Too many internal hardware? Power shortage? Please help

[wilwil320]

I am suspecting that I have install too many hardware to my compute
causing power shortage

My original computer feature
Abit Motherboar
Power supply rating, Max ATX-450
One casing fa
Pentium 4, 2.41GH
256 RA
Maxtor IDE H
BenQ CD WR RO

Later, I upgraded a few things
Add in a DVD ROM. Now, I have one CD RW ROM and a DVD RO
Add Graphic/video card, XFX nVidia 128MB memor
And other 512MB RAM, now, plus the old one, I have 768MB RAM in tota
Change HD to WD IDE 250G
Add in a HD fan, 5V (no sure) (power supply come from the same suppl
to my 250GB HD above
An external HD enclosure with WD IDE HD 160GB, US

Since the external HD enclosure come with a internal power suppl
cable, I plug the cable to the same power supply to my CD and DV
ROM

Now I have 2 problems or actually, 2 question

(1) Whenever I use the internal power supply to start my external H
enclosure, my 160GB HD will spin but keep getting stucked whil
running. USB detection is damn slow, sometimes doesn’t even detect
And even if I can open the G: drive, I will hear a constant ‘ticking
sound from my external HD. But…., if I use externa
power supply for the HD enclosure, (also come with an external powe
plug), everything seems to work just fine.

(2) Actually, I have another HD fan and another Seagate HD which no
I unplugged. I notice that when I plug in the second HD fan (Seagat
unplugged). My master HD, 250GB [b:1bb7f64e67]won’t run properly
Even if it start, it prompt to reboot,[/b:1bb7f64e67] especially, i
I was playing Need for Speed- Most Wanted. (2 HD fan running, 1 H
250GB running from a same power source.

So my question is, [b:1bb7f64e67]Is it possible that both problems ar
caused by power shortage?[/b:1bb7f64e67] It seems to me that thin
only goes wrong when I plug in too many internal power supply usage
Notice that, on same power supply (for secondary) will have t
support my CD RW ROM, DVD ROM and internal power for my external H
enclosure. And, another power (for primary) will have to support bot
my 250GB and seagate HD and the two HD fans (4 peripherals at the sam
time if I am going to use my seagate HD, problem occurred even onl
with three peripherals at the same time

Please help. I wish to build a powerful computer (not hyper yet). Bu
it seems that I still have too many things to learn

 

[Rod Speed]

I am suspecting that I have install too many
hardware to my computer causing power shortage!
Unlikely.

My original computer features
Abit Motherboard
Power supply rating, Max ATX-450W

What is the brand of that ?

One casing fan
Pentium 4, 2.41GHz
256 RAM
Maxtor IDE HD
BenQ CD WR ROM

Later, I upgraded a few things,
Add in a DVD ROM. Now, I have one CD RW ROM and a DVD ROM
Add Graphic/video card, XFX nVidia 128MB memory
And other 512MB RAM, now, plus the old one, I have 768MB RAM in total
Change HD to WD IDE 250GB
Add in a HD fan, 5V (no sure) (power supply come from the same supply
to my 250GB HD above)
An external HD enclosure with WD IDE HD 160GB, USB

None of that should be any problem with the exception of the video card.

Since the external HD enclosure come with a
internal power supply cable, I plug the cable to
the same power supply to my CD and DVD ROM.

Now I have 2 problems or actually, 2 questions

(1) Whenever I use the internal power supply to start my external HD
enclosure, my 160GB HD will spin but keep getting stucked while
running. USB detection is damn slow, sometimes doesn’t even detect.
And even if I can open the G: drive, I will hear a constant ‘ticking’
sound from my external HD. But…., if I use external
power supply for the HD enclosure, (also come with an
external power plug), everything seems to work just fine.

The obvious thing to do is to use the external power plug.

Whatever you have done to get the power from the CD and DVD
may well be the problem. Those Y adapters arent always that good.

(2) Actually, I have another HD fan and another Seagate HD which now
I unplugged. I notice that when I plug in the second HD fan (Seagate
unplugged). My master HD, 250GB [b:1bb7f64e67]won’t run properly.
Even if it start, it prompt to reboot,[/b:1bb7f64e67] especially, if
I was playing Need for Speed- Most Wanted. (2 HD fan running,
1 HD 250GB running from a same power source.)

That may not have anything to do with power.

So my question is, [b:1bb7f64e67]Is it possible that both
problems are caused by power shortage?[/b:1bb7f64e67]

Possible, but rather unlikely.

It seems to me that thing only goes wrong when
I plug in too many internal power supply usage.

Sure, but that may not actually be due to a lack of power.

Notice that, on same power supply (for secondary) will have to
support my CD RW ROM, DVD ROM and internal power for my
external HD enclosure. And, another power (for primary) will have
to support both my 250GB and seagate HD and the two HD fans
(4 peripherals at the same time if I am going to use my seagate HD,
problem occurred even only with three peripherals at the same time)

Not clear what you mean there, presumably you mean that there
are just two wired out of the power supply with molex connectors
on them for the drives etc. That can be a problem if you end up
with quite a few of those Y adapaters on each power supply output.

Please help. I wish to build a powerful computer (not hyper yet).
But it seems that I still have too many things to learn.

Yeah, it looks likely that the problem is the Y adapters not the power supply.

Corse the power supply could be marginal too, a separate issue to its rating.

A decent power supply with more drive power lines wouldnt cost much.