Old power supplies

Vertigo

Vertigo

Vertigo

Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
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16,713
I'm currently using my trusty old Enermax EG465P PSU to power my machine and it's doing a sterling job. Despite being "only" 465W it's happily powering an overclocked Opty, two hard drives, two optical drives and an 8800 GTS :)

Thing is, I need to move on soon to a C2D platform which I'll also be overclocking. My question is whether I can take the PSU with me.

I'm not fussed by the lack of SATA power connectors and the like as adapters do the job fine, I'm more concerned by the power requirements and the main motherboard power connectors.

On the first point, will an overclocked dual or even quad-core C2D setup require more oomph than my PSU can give? Everyone seems to recommend 600W+ PSUs these days but then my old thing is doing great at the moment. The other issue is the connectors, as I believe the main motherboard power connector has got bigger and there are now a load of secondary ones. I'm using some adapters in my current machine but can I continue to do this or is it time to get a new PSU?

Thanks for any advice.
 
TBH I'm loathe to change it as it's still doing a sterling job.

I'm currently using it with a DFI NF4 LanParty SLI-D S939 board without problems which is only a year or so old, I guess I just wanted to know if the same PSU would also work with an Abit IP35 or whether the power requirements and/or connectors have changed since last year?

I may well change it in the near future anyway but if I can carry on with my current supply for now it would ease the upgrade hit at this precise moment.

Anyone know for sure?
 
C2d's use less power don't they? I'd stick yer current PSU :)

I'm using a tagan 480W that's years old, and is powering my OC'ed c2d fine :cool:

Also, use whatever adaptors you need... it will work. :)
 
That's the thing, don't want to replace it unless I have to.

Just looked at my DFI and it has a 24-pin main ATX power connector which is connected to the 20-pin output from my PSU using an adapter cable, which should work fine in the same manner with the new board.

Both boards also have a standard 4-pin molex connector of the sort fitted to old ATA hard drives, so no problem there either.

Of more concern is that the DFI has an additional 4-pin square connector which there's a corresponding connector for on the power supply, but the Abit IP35 has an 8-pin connector twice the width of this. Can I get (or would the mobo come with) an adapter for this or am I screwed?

EDIT: From my searching, it appears the 4-pin connector I have is called a "P4" connector whereas the new 8-pin one is called an "EPS12V" connector.
 
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it should be fine, and theres probably adapters to make the extra 4 pins but the 8pin is fine with just the 4pin in, the new pc will probably use the same or even less power.
 
I'd say stick with it..

firstly people over estimate the power of psu needed.. ive had 939 rigs running off 250-350watt psu (generic light ones at that)..

But in this case your using a good brand one as well so if it did bite the dust then its unlikely to take anything with it..

but then again if its no skin of your back might be worth the upgrade
 
Ok I'm starting to be convinced :)

Other thing is I will be looking to do a bit of overclocking (20%-ish on the FSB) but hope this still wouldn't be a problem as I'm overclocking my current Opty by 55% without issues.

I could always get the mobo and try it with the Enermax and then only switch if it doesn't work but of course that means I'm looking at another order and delivery charge (and wait!) for the PSU to arrive.

Of course if I do stick with the Enermax I need to find somewhere I can get a P4 4-pin to EPS12V 8-pin adapter from - any ideas (email in trust if necessary)
 
The 4-8pin adapters arent (usually) needed. Ive just got a dual xeon from the MM and it works fine with just the 4pin connector, even though its an 8pin socket.
 
cpu's are as juicy as ever. they put out out less heat per transistor generally. the problem is they'll lower heat and then stuff more transistors in a cpu so the thermal envelope has remained around the same for a fair while now, around the 100w mark upwards.

modern pc's definitely demand more power and with that components and psu's have become more 12v-focused. the higher the supply voltage, the lower the current draw. less current = less energy wasted in heat, so it stands to reason that cpu's and gpu's are now drawing almost exclusively from the 12v rails. psu's run cooler, less energy is wasted, components last longer (or at least should:p)

You can see this looking at the specs of older psu's compared to todays to see this shift in focus. the eg465p-ve for instance:

+3v - 38a
+5v - 44a
+12v - 20a

You can see its pretty obvious the psu is built with the 5v rail in mind, as thays what most components were using back then. it was around the time of the xp1700+'s that board manufactures started to use the 12v rail to power the cpu instead of the 5v.

now take a look at the soon to be released 450w corsair:

+3v - 20a
+5v - 20a
+12v - 33a

definately more geared towards the 12v rail and if you are powering a modern pc, you REALLY should be looking at a new psu.
 
Oh great, I'm in a real dither now :D

Maybe I'll just bite the bullet and get the Corsair 620W jobbie and sell the Enermax while it's still worth something.
 
To be honest mate i dont know your personally situation but unless you know your DEFFINATLY not gonna use it maybe keep it?

PSU are handy things to have laying around.. the amount of times ive needed a psu to boot up some old hardware or test my current psu..

also handy if you ever build a 2nd budget rig for somone becuase psus are quite expensive and on a budget rigs its not money you want to spend!

just a thought anyway


ta

alec
 
i think alllec is spot on tbh, either that or try and sell your current rig whole on an auction site
 
Think I'm just gonna take the opportunity to get the Corsair as it's safer and the modular nature would be nice too.

Will be selling the mobo,cpu,memory,cooler & psu so not quite a complete rig. Probably best selling in bits unless someone wants all except the psu as a "heart-transplant"
 
If you want the detail I've put up a thread in the price checks forum asking for value of the whole caboodle including the case :)
 
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