Total computer nerd question for Lopaw.

avatar for AbbieNormal
AbbieNormal
Maryland
Sorry for the off topic post, but knowing that lopaw likes to build computers I have an upgrade question she may be able to help me with. Any of you that think this will be hot talk with a lesbian, well unless power loads turn you on, you'll be disappointed.

Lopaw, forgive the imposition, but perhaps you can help me. I'm upgrading my old G4 Mac and I am running into some power issues (I think). I've replaced the old drives with a Seagate 120GB and a WD 80GB in the built in ATA bay. No problems, runs great. I replaced the old optical drive with a new Dual layer. Again, runs fine. I have two PCI cards, one a Firewire (2 ports) the other a USB-2 (4 ports). I will probably upgrade the processor to a 1.3GHz, but I don't think that presents a power issue since it runs off the motherboard (correct?). Now, my last planned upgrades are for a new video card and a PCI ATA controller to run two additional 320GB WD drives in auxilary bays in the computer. The video card will be an older model, like an ATI Radeon 8500, so I shouldn't tap more than the AGP bus for that, which is about 40W. Are those last two drives going to make my power supply (200W) go poof? I looked up the specs on the drives and most are around 10W for continual seek, and the optical is 12W. However from what I've heard, the startup on drives can be nearly 30W! Being an EE, do you know where I can get some specs on these things? I wasn't able to confirm that looking at the manufacturers info on the web. When I add things up I get about 180 Watts as the load with everything running, but if the drives are going to draw 120W at startup rather than the 40ish I figure on, I'm looking at a new power supply aren't I?

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avatar for lopaw
lopaw
19 years ago
Lesbian porn?
Roll up those sleeves, and dust off that soldering iron! You've got work to do, son!!!!
avatar for AbbieNormal
AbbieNormal
19 years ago
I can always count on you Lopaw. Fortunately from what I've seen I only need to clip and solder two wires from what seems to be a standard 20 wire harness. E-mail me if you want a dvd or two, I'm learning... Although I'm not really sure all the girls in the porn I have are really lesbians, I think I've seen them with guys too.
avatar for AbbieNormal
AbbieNormal
19 years ago
Lopaw, thanks for the info. I was hoping to avoid the major surgery option of a power source, but alas it seems that the cheapest way I can figure out how to put drives on the network is to have them as part of a machine (as opposed to an external firewire or USB) and I may need to break out the solder gun. I almost feel odd adding all that space to an older machine, but it still works great and is the only one I have that is so expandable. I guess it's worth it. I gotta have somewhere to keep all my lesbian porn.
avatar for lopaw
lopaw
19 years ago
AN,

Wow...that's a lot of HD's! You are right about the additional HD power draw on startup. Although it lasts for only a few seconds (and usually drops down to 5W - 7W), it can heavily tax the +12V line of a less studly power supply. Your AGP bus & processor voltage requirements should not be an issue,but those large auxillary drives could pose a problem. My recommendation is to just go ahead and get a beefier PS for your system now (rather than later), since you shouldn't be always worrying that your 200W might crap out at any time. I assume that the 200W supply that you have is an older one, and less likely to have a peak rating that will handle 4 HD's being powered on simultaneously.Another option might be a HD power sequencer, but for under $50 you can get a new 400W PS...why bother with a sequencer?

As far as those specs...getting that kind of info from venders can be like pulling teeth. Alot of them never list it, figuring that no one cares & that most PS nowadays are robust enough to handle power startup peaks & a ton of peripherals.I have rarely seen those specs listed...sorry I can't help with this one.


Although it's pretty rudimentary, here are some links that offer some info on the power issues that you are facing:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/spinPo…
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/out…

lopaw
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