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Thread: Do I need a new PSU?

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    Unhappy Do I need a new PSU?

    I have an InWin P250A3-1 power supply which is only 250W, and I am running P4, a DVD-+RW, DVD-Rom, two hard drives. and two case fans.
    I don;t think 250W is enough and what are the dangers (in any) of running a PSU wiht low voltage?

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    instability would be the main danger .. if it is running perfectly stable now I wouldn't worry - if you upgraded the gfx to something more power-hungry you might find the system getting less stable, but maybe not.

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    Might be spreading it a bit thin, but (as has been rightly said), if it's stable, leave it be.
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    Yeh, I've been running it for a year now and I haven't really had any problems. But I thinking of upgrading my card to a 9800 Pro. Is that power hungry? (I've got a Gefroce MX440 atm)

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    Yeah. 9800 pro requires a secondary power supply (4 pin molex)
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    yup a 9800pro would eat a heck of a lot more than a gf4mx, u really need at least a 350wt, 420 preferably

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    Does the PSU have any overcurrent protection? If not then stability might not be your only problem.

    You could (not saying you are) be putting an unsustainable load on the PSU, and might burn it out/blow it up.

    That probably won't happen, but keep an eye on voltages, if nothing else.
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    Yeh id highly recommend keeping an eye on things and running Prime95 Torture Test and see if system restarts or anything.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kez
    Does the PSU have any overcurrent protection? If not then stability might not be your only problem.

    You could (not saying you are) be putting an unsustainable load on the PSU, and might burn it out/blow it up.

    That probably won't happen, but keep an eye on voltages, if nothing else.
    Yeh, I've got ASUSprobe running and the voltage seems fine, 12V is at ~12.24, 5 ~ 5.2, 3.3 ~3.3 and VCore is at ~1.55. Are these ok?

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    Looks fine. But if it alters a lot under load then you could get probs. My readings a lower than they should but they dont fluctuate so things are ok.
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    Quote Originally Posted by 0iD
    Yeah. 9800 pro requires a secondary power supply (4 pin molex)
    My gf4mx is already connected to a 4 pin molex, well the fan on it anyway. This is because the oringinal fan broke. So will there still be much difference?

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    Yeah, the 9800 is a power hungry beastie.
    [
    Quote Originally Posted by Blitzen
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    O ok. Reading some other threads I think I might go for the Tagan 480W as it seems to be higly recommended by many.

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    It is, I have one myself & it's a monster. Maybe major overkill for your needs, but it's BX compatable, so pretty futureproof.
    [
    Quote Originally Posted by Blitzen
    When I say go, both walk in the opposite direction for 10 paces, draw handbags, then bitch-slap each other!

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    They are infact better geared towards BTX IIRC. Somebody posted complaining about the side the wires came out of - they come out at a side that's better for BTX, unless I'm mistaken.

    Still, a good PSU from what I hear.
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    The +5V is occasionally jumping to around 6.2V. Is this OK? It goes back after a few seconds but its still quite scary to sse that and when the moniter keeps beeping.
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