Can i use two PSU's to decrease load?

Soldato
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Yesturday i recieved my new x1950 Pro 512. However, i only have a 400W X-Pro PSU with 20amps on the 12v rail. It says on the box "450W+ and 24amps on 12v rail or more recommended"

At the moment i have my processor (which i want to overclock quite a bit back up to 2.6ghz), 2 standard IDE DVD-RW and CD-ROM drives, 1xIDE 40GB Hard Drive, 1x250GB SATA Hard Drive and a floppy.

This has me worried that the PSU could blow at any minute, so i was wondering if i could use and older PSU (X-Pro 350W) to power the 2 CD-Drives and the one hard drive (or both if i can find the sata power adapted for the PSU). My only concern is that these items of hardware will take a risk with them not being connected to the main motherboard and could be dangerous and have little protection if anything does go wrong.

Can it be done safely? :)

Many Thanks.
 
OzZie said:
My only concern is that these items of hardware will take a risk with them not being connected to the main motherboard and could be dangerous and have little protection if anything does go wrong.

That's the only reason I can think for not doing it... But at the end of the day if your PSU's gonna blow then components won't have a lot of protection regardless of what else is plugged into the PSU :-\

OzZie said:
Can it be done safely? :)

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it, but I'd probably feel more comfortable doing that than running the whole lot on the 400w PSU :p Never tried it myself, but as a temporary solution I can't think of any reason not to :confused:

EDIT: Actually, the second PSU won't turn on will it..? Unless it's plugged into a mobo with an on switch you could press? It's starting to sound like too much of a bodge job tbh :p Just get another PSU and don't put the computer under too much load in the meantime imo!
 
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CM_Stacker_dual_psu_cable450.jpg


You want one of those.
 
You can get a Y splitter cable that plugs into the mobo and the 2 psu's i have had a quick google for them but can't find one anywhere but i KNOW they exist, this would make both psu's power up when the power button is pressed on the case.

Might be easier to buy a beefier psu though :confused:


Edit yup thats what i was looking for :p
 
i run 2 psu's, more for braggin rights that anything else.

what i did to get the second psu to power up and down with the system was to put a relay onto the 5v line of the primary psu and "power on" line of the secondary.

works like a dream by using the relay the 2 power supplys are electrically isolated from each other. therefore the 2 psu's are acting as independant power supplies.
 
Concorde Rules said:
Is it stable at stock? If it is then try overclocking again.

Because tbh that PSU is enough IMO.

And if it isn't then one larger PSU > multiple PSUs

Yup, perfectly stable so far, but clocking the CPU is my main concern as i know that draws out more power. I think ill get a new PSU then asap :)

Thanks for the help anyway :cool:
 
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