What would happen if....

[MAS]

I'm having problems at the mo with my computer rebooting randomly when I'm playing games. It only seems to be when I'm playing the latest games, and putting the card under a fair amount of strain. I've ruled out the CPU and graphics card, and I think it might actually be the power. I'm running a Shuttle 200w enhance PSU and my case is full of stuff.

I might need to upgrade the PSU. But before I rush out and pay a fortune for a Silent X one, I'd like to do some more testing. So....what would happen if I plugged a standard 380w PSU from a normal case into my Shuttle's mobo? Would it melt it? Or would it work fine, as the mobo just draws however much power it needs from the PSU and no more?

Oh also, when the system reboots, I opened the case up and the PSU was absolutely red hot....much hotter than it usually runs.

Specs:

Shuttle SN41G2
AMD Barton 2.6+
512mb TwinMOS
Seagate Barracuda 160gb
Seagate Barracuda 80gb
Samsung CD-RW
Leadtek Winfast Expert PCI TV Tuner
Geforce 4 Ti4200 128mb (although I've just changed it for a Rad 9800 Pro - I doubt that will help if it's a power problem, heh)

[Swafe]

maybe you got too much stuff in a small space and not enuff airflow ?

why not stick a more powerful fan in, i mean if its getting ridiculously hot then it could be overheating and shutting down and/or restarting

[Swafe]

btw : think the psu would probably be fine, but why? it wudnt fit in your shuttle case so it would just look a mess and be hard to plug everything in

[MAS]

Yeah but I was thinking that for a mod I could build an external PSU Sort of like a power brick, it would give me more space inside the Shuttle and take a lot of heat out of the case. Of course, it could also be dangerous and look ugly, but I'd find somewhere to hide it on my desk

It might be getting too hot and overheating...but I've taken the temps and they dont seem to be quite that high. The problem with shuttles is that there IS no airspace or room for cooling. I've got a meaty 80mm fan cooling the CPU radiator, and thats all I can get in. I was thinking about cutting a 120mm blowhole in the case, but even then it's a struggle finding enough space for the fan

Anyway I've changed some of the PSU wiring around at it seems to have stopped....

Still be interested to hear people's view on whether a normal PSU would screw the Shuttle. I think it would be ok but the reason I ask is because last time I was tinkering with a PSU I blew the motherboard

[Tom]

id guess no because i have used a shuttle PSU to power a normal desktop PC :]

but other than testing WHY? just sell ur shuttle and buy a normal form factor pc

[MAS]

Well the problem seems to be sorted now :S

Other than testing, no reason. I just didnt want to have to go out and pay £40 for a better Shuttle PSU if it wasnt necessary.

[iMc]

My computer has this problem I have never worked it out, has got a lot worse recently.

I think my mobo is crap at regulating voltage fluctuations and craps out. Its done it with two psu's now and ive replaced RAM, heatsink (cpu=<46), and I only have a 9600pro.

[MAS]

Hah, it can be done! Check it out!

http://gallery.sfftech.com/index.cfm...FA161ADD05C856

[iMc]

looks snazzy, but kinda ruins what an sff is all about tbh.

[Rave]

Yeah, you can plug a power supply from a normal comp into a shuttle or any other SFF with normal ATX connections and it'll be fine. A general rule of powersupplies* is that you can use one as powerful as you like to power a component, but it'll only take as much power as it needs. A 550W power rating on a power supply just means that that's how much it can supply if needed, not that it'll be supplying that much all the time. This applies to pretty much any piece of electrical or electronic equiptment, not just computers.

* the exception is unregulated supplies, but only the cheapest plugpack type power supplies are unregulated nowadays.

Rich :¬)