Has anybody ever heard of a computer having "too much" power?
June 19, 2004 3:50 AM Subscribe
I was going to post in my original posts regarding my stupid HP computer but they have been archived. Has anybody ever heard of a computer having "too much" power? We resolved the problem to a power supply issue but now I'm being told that the new power supply I purchased was too much for the motherboard.
True? False? Wishful thinking?
True? False? Wishful thinking?
Response by poster: That's what I thought. So now the question is, why is this guy lying to me? I guess it doesn't matter as long as he fixes the problem...
posted by ajpresto at 5:09 AM on June 19, 2004
posted by ajpresto at 5:09 AM on June 19, 2004
I guess it doesn't matter as long as he fixes the problem...
You're way more trusting than I am. If I were in your place, I would just buy a quality power supply (the Staples near my house just started carrying Antec power supplies) and install it myself. The power supply should be as easy to install as the CD burner was, and you won't be paying somebody who doesn't have a clue to "fix" you computer.
posted by Sirius at 5:41 AM on June 19, 2004
You're way more trusting than I am. If I were in your place, I would just buy a quality power supply (the Staples near my house just started carrying Antec power supplies) and install it myself. The power supply should be as easy to install as the CD burner was, and you won't be paying somebody who doesn't have a clue to "fix" you computer.
posted by Sirius at 5:41 AM on June 19, 2004
Yeah, definitely false... It's like a car with a big engine. Sure, it will do 140mph, but you're not going to damage it pottering around at 50... And yes, power supplies are pretty easy to install, as long as you don't mind opening up your computer and unplugging things. Just remember which leads were in use.
posted by humuhumu at 6:06 AM on June 19, 2004
posted by humuhumu at 6:06 AM on June 19, 2004
Response by poster: Well, I did replace the power supply. It is an Antec with 350 Watts or whatever the units are. He said it was overpowering the motherboard.
Perhaps humuhumu has it right. Maybe he means that I plugged in too many leads to the motherboard and the power supply was feeding it too much...?
Anyway, after I replaced the power supply, I continued to have the same problem. I figured it was time to call in the big guns. Turns out the big gun was a pea-shooter. Oops.
posted by ajpresto at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2004
Perhaps humuhumu has it right. Maybe he means that I plugged in too many leads to the motherboard and the power supply was feeding it too much...?
Anyway, after I replaced the power supply, I continued to have the same problem. I figured it was time to call in the big guns. Turns out the big gun was a pea-shooter. Oops.
posted by ajpresto at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2004
Possilby true. A computer's power supply is more like a turbo system than an engine. If you don't get enough pressure into the turbo, it won't spin fast enough to do anything.
Similarly, some power supplies won't turn on if there is not sufficient load and/or grounding on all of the outputs.
References:
The AT standard power supplies do not have any special signalto stay on. They are designed to work on certain power load range correctly. If they are loaded less or more than they are designed to work they will shut down themselves.
A power supply with a minimum load of 0.3 A at 3.3 V and 0.1 A at 5V
a 400 W power supply that needs a 2A load on the 5 V output. You might need several hard drives to keep this one happy.
Google
posted by Kwantsar at 11:21 AM on June 19, 2004
Similarly, some power supplies won't turn on if there is not sufficient load and/or grounding on all of the outputs.
References:
The AT standard power supplies do not have any special signalto stay on. They are designed to work on certain power load range correctly. If they are loaded less or more than they are designed to work they will shut down themselves.
A power supply with a minimum load of 0.3 A at 3.3 V and 0.1 A at 5V
a 400 W power supply that needs a 2A load on the 5 V output. You might need several hard drives to keep this one happy.
posted by Kwantsar at 11:21 AM on June 19, 2004
Lots of power supplies, including PC supplies, have a minimum load, below which they'll misbehave. But I kind of doubt that was ajpresto's problem. The power supply linked to in the question has a minimum load of 1.5A on its 5v output (and 0.1A on its 3.3v output). That's only 7 watts. Unless you have a particularly low power motherboard, I think the tech was just talking out of a more speculative orifice.
posted by hattifattener at 6:23 PM on June 19, 2004
posted by hattifattener at 6:23 PM on June 19, 2004
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The power supply doesn't shove unneeded electricity into your motherboard, it just supplies what the motherboard is asking for. The only reason computer builders use smaller wattage rated power supplies is because they save money compared to using larger wattage rated power supplies.
posted by Sirius at 4:59 AM on June 19, 2004