OT; Power Supply Units, question

[Lionheart]

Hey guys,


I had purchased a hp Media Center. I seem to have a low end PSU in it. Can I purchase say a 500 or even a 800 watt unit? Do Mobo's automatically run the power at proper levels, etc?

I know nothing about this end of computers. My 'theory' is, what if I get a PSU that is too powerful? Can I cook my computer? Or do they all work the same basically...?

Bill

[Henry]

as far a i know there's no problem with getting a larger one
just uses more juice
H

[txnetcop]

Bill check with HP and see if their PSU is proprietary. Many HP have the polarity reversed so that you have to buy from HP
Ted

[Henry]

Bill check with HP and see if their PSU is proprietary. Many HP have the polarity reversed so that you have to buy from HP
Ted
dang i did not know that :banghead:
appreciate the info
H

[gigabyte]

Bill, I have an HP Pavillion 7760 Media Center, I had some pus issues a while back and I purchased an off the shelf PSU and oher than a ODA unit first time around when I got a good unit it worked great, I went to a 650 watt unit and I am glad I did I have added a higher end GPU and it made a big difference. Most of the Pavillions I have worked on use a standard unit, although you may find the bolt holes are slightly tricky to get lined up.

[Moparmike]

I haven't noticed any proprietary PSUs in HP for several years either...last time I saw that was in one of the early "slimline" cases.
Gateway & Dell are still good for using proprietary ones though. And some real oddball sizes to boot!

Doesn't hurt to check the pinouts before you power it up though.

[Dangerousdave26]

Bill

Each wire on the connector to the motherboard is a certain color. Each color has a voltage meaning. You can google it or maybe Ted has a link he can provide but if you compare the colors on your PSU and your new PSU and they are the same you will not have a problem with power supply. If you want to use a volt meter to check voltages go ahead or just by a power supply tester. The last one I bought was $10. I think I used it once.

You can not have too much or too large a power supply it will only deliver what it can and up to the computers needs.

[Lionheart]

Many thanks guys. Thats what I needed to know.



Bill

[Tako_Kichi]

In addition to what all the others have said a larger PSU than you need will sit at 'idle' most of the time and stay relatively cool. A PSU that is too small (or is barely adequate for your needs) will be running at 'full throttle' most of the time and thus generating unwanted heat in the case or in the worst case will fail to provide enough 'juice' and will shut down the system (or burn itself out in a very short time period).

With PSU's bigger IS better! :costumes:

Watts = Power, so if you have a system drawing say 350 Watts from a 400W PSU it is going to run much hotter than a system with a 500 or 600 Watt PSU. You always need some headroom above your system requirements for safety.

[Tako_Kichi]

as far a i know there's no problem with getting a larger one
just uses more juice
Well not really ;) .

A system can only draw as much current (juice) as it is designed for (unless there is a fault somewhere of course). A PSU with a rating of 600W does not draw 600W of power on it's own. That wattage rating is just indicating the maximum sustained power it can produce if required to do so. A 600W PSU on a system that requires 350W will only draw 350W from the grid (or possibly a tad more as the PSU's own power consumption value needs to be factored in there). In terms of running costs a 600W PSU should be no more expensive to run than a 350W PSU (on the SAME system) but it will run cooler and it should last longer as it is not running flat out all the time.

[Dangerousdave26]

All good points Tako_Kichi you are spot on the mark.

One more thing to beware of

Choose a good name brand. The off brands may say 500 Watt power supply when they barely if at all can produce the power they say.

I will stand behind the Antec power supply I bought for this PC and others can give you an idea of PSU's they have purchased that are providing their needs.

[txnetcop]

I might add that amps upfront is also very important. Anything less than 18AMPs is not going to make for a great gaming experience. 80+ efficiency at peak power

Ted

An informative read:
http://www.pcpower.com/technology/myths/

[EasyEd]

Hey All,


Gigabyte wrote... Bill, I have an HP Pavillion 7760 Media Center, I had some pus issues a while back and I purchased an off the shelf PSU...

EW Yuck didn't know a power supply solved these kinds of issues... :costumes: Are they common with HP computers? :costumes:

Couldn't Resist! Sorry

-Ed-