Need update on current PSU's

GreatWaves

GreatWaves

GreatWaves

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9 Dec 2008
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387
I haven't been building since the P4 and Athlon Barton days. Since then I have only bought laptops, so I don't know if anything has changed with the current desktop PSU's in terms of the connectors-to-mobo.

I have a couple of old mobo's (a P4 and a Socket A mobo) that need PSU's. I am going to set them up for DC crunching. Do the currently available PSU's have the same connectors compatible with that generation of mobo's?

Thanks
 
Ok thanks. My old mobo's have the big connection with 20 pins and then the small connection with 4 pins, so 20+4. Ok I'm almost totally back up to speed. Dusting off a bunch of old hardware to get a crunching farm up and running again :)

Cheers
 
Um you meant 24+4 or 20+4? But yes the 4 pin is separate from the larger 20 pin on my mobo's.

I hope that's still the same because I'll need to buy two new PSU's and I would like to get good quality ones. Normally the "old used pile" at the store only has cheap stock ones.

I think the standard is called "ATX" or something?

Thanks
 
Ok good, so I'll be able to choose from a selection of good quality stable rail PSU's. These are 24/7 crunchers and some or all will be OC'd. I have one of them up and crunching again. Two or three more on the way :)

Thanks
 
Hi again,
I looked at some new PSU's. Most of my PSU's when I was OC'ing and crunching years ago were Antec TruePower 380's. I found another Antec that looks appropriate and has the removable 4-pin feature. It's the Antec "EA-380D Green". It says it has a "80 Plus Bronze" certification. Many of them were "green" models. Are these new "Green" models appropriate for an OC'ing application?

Here is the overall spec:
ea380d.jpg


In the description on the Antec website it boasts "very stable rails". From my experience years ago this has always held true with Antec PSU's.

So should an OC'er consider anything rated "80 Plus Bronze"? This PSU will be powering either an OC'd Athlon XP-M 2500+ or an OC'd P4 2.8 or 3.0.

We didn't have green rated PSU's when I was OC'ing before, so I'm not sure.

Thanks!
 
beejjacobs said:
The 80 plus bronze refers to the efficiency, where obviously silver and then gold is better.
This doesn't affect the power output, you want the most efficient PSU you can get :)
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Ok thanks. Just wanted to check that just in case. Seems these green ratings are getting more common on PSU's now.

beejjacobs said:
I'd recommend this:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-238-CM&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

For the price you can't beat it. Review here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=231
It has all the pins you need and will run those systems no problem. It's only when you have graphics cards and things that you need more power.
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Regarding quality of the PSU, I'm mainly referring to stability of the volts (for OC'd system) and not so much the capacity.

I'll have a look at the cooler master as well.

Cheers
 
beejjacobs said:
I don't think stability of volts is any more important for an OC'd system? Any PSU recommended on here will do the job well and will be within the specifications.
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I've never tried OC'ing on a stock/generic PSU, but I've heard that a 800W stock PSU won't cut it for an OC'd system. I know that no Antec or Cooler Master is a "stock" PSU, but I've seen the occasional complaint over the years about this or that model. But yeah I guess at least 95% of them are probably plenty stable enough.
 
beejjacobs said:
If by stock you mean one that comes with a case or something, then yes it doesnt matter what power it is it will be terrible.

Get a good branded one like Antec, CM, Corsair, OCZ or XFX and you will be fine :)
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I just today spotted some Corsair CX430 PSU's in a general home electronics store. I was surprised to see that brand in that store. Was good price and easy for me to pick up a couple if it's a good one.
 
stulid said:
V1 or V2?

V1's are poor compared to the CX400 they replaced, the V2's are improved over the V1 nicely.
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Do you know any specifics about how v2 was improved over v1? I'm wondering because the JonnyGuru review linked-to above mentioned that there were notably cheaper capacitors and "grouped regulation" in the CX430. The CX430 that I saw in the store appears to be v2 (an ID code on the ID label on the box contains within it "v2").

Thanks
 
Another question about these newer PSU's:

Years ago I used Antec TruePower 380 PSU's in most of my rigs. They have 35 amps on the 5.5v circuit.

The currently produced Antec EA-380D (quality wise in about the same range as above) has 20 amps on the 5.5v circuit.

I've noticed the same on other similar level PSU's currently available. Is this because of changed power requirements from current mobo's? Could that be a problem for a mobo from the Athlon XP/P4 days?

Thanks
 
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beejjacobs said:
So it'll be plenty. Honestly nothing to worry about. HDDs use 10Ws or so, you've got enough power for probably 10 :P
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Cool. Yeah I guess they have to go with the assumption that some might have arrays of HDD's. But makes sense that the overall on the 5.5v circuit would be less now since HDD's are becoming more efficient.

Thanks for help.
 
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