[tenketsu]

I'm not an expert on PSUs, but as I understand it, older PSUs that had most of the amps on the 5v rail don't play well with modern systems/mobos that use most of their power from the 12v rail, and vice versa. I have an older system that was using one of those older PSUs and the PSU died--how do I replace that? Are there even PSUs designed to that specification still manufactured and sold? Or do I have to look for an old, used one?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Shub]

If it's that old of a system, even a modern PSU should be able to provide the required amperage to the 5V rail. It's not like those old things had massive power requirements anyway. If the motherboard it's going to be connected to has an AT power connector (instead of ATX), make sure that the power connector of the PSU you'll be getting can be connected to an AT plug.

 

[DuckieHo]

Agreed, your older system power requires are probably low compared to today's PCs. Any ATX PSU should do.... just make sure your PSU is an ATX unit.

 

[infernoRS]

I assume the ATX plug goes to AT too, it just leaves couple pins hanging?

 

[Phaedrus2129]

When using a modern PSU to power an old system make sure that it uses independent voltage regulation, rather than group, or you'll have cross-loading issues. Also make sure that it has at least 130W for combined 5V+3.3V wattage, more if you're going to be putting in a high-end (for the time) graphics card.

 

[obsidian86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenketsu I'm not an expert on PSUs, but as I understand it, older PSUs that had most of the amps on the 5v rail don't play well with modern systems/mobos that use most of their power from the 12v rail, and vice versa. I have an older system that was using one of those older PSUs and the PSU died--how do I replace that? Are there even PSUs designed to that specification still manufactured and sold? Or do I have to look for an old, used one? Thanks in advance.

there are new ones who can power it you have to look carefully. but i think the only company still making them to that spec is zippy emacs

 

[Phaedrus2129]

Actually, no. Consider this:

https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...rchResultsView

One of the highest quality ATX PSUs available.

 

[tenketsu]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. It's for a low-end HTPC, if it helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phaedrus2129 When using a modern PSU to power an old system make sure that it uses independent voltage regulation, rather than group, or you'll have cross-loading issues. Also make sure that it has at least 130W for combined 5V+3.3V wattage, more if you're going to be putting in a high-end (for the time) graphics card.

How do I find that level of detail? As I said, I'm not an expert on power supplies, and I haven't really been looking for that sort of thing before... Now that I am, I don't see it listed on Newegg, TigerDirect, or Fry's. For example, I'd like to go with something like this, but I don't see any mention of what sort of voltage regulation it uses at all. Unless I'm missing something (always pretty likely), it has 66W on the 3.3V and 100W on the 5V, though, which does meet your recommendations. The GPU is either a Radeon 4350 or a 4450, something like that--it would be a bit of a hassle to check for sure, so unless someone asks I probably won't, heh.

 

[Shub]

Without opening the PSU and knowing what to look for, or looking for reviews of your PSU written by knowledgeable people, the type of voltage regulation is not something that is mentioned in power supply specifications because people don't care about what they don't understand anyway. People already don't understand a lot of what IS published in a power supply's specifications

Don't get the PSU you linked to though. Horrible.

 

[Phaedrus2129]

The Elite 460W is identical to the Elite 400W; they upgraded one component (the bridge rectifier), which does not turn a 400W PSU into a 460W one.

One of these two:
https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...rchResultsView
Higher quality, but very low +12V current, so if the system is using a modern GPU (Radeon X1000 series or GeForce 6 or later) you'll want to go with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-023-_-Product
Which isn't as nice, but is fairly reliable.

These are ATX PSUs, rather than ATX12V, meaning they're designed for +5V output instead of +12V.

 

[Zap]

How about one of those cheap Thermaltake TR2 430W units? Those are ATX 1.3 and probably dates back to when the old system was made.

 

[tenketsu]

I really don't need it to provide all that much power--I'm sure 300W would be more than sufficient for the machine. The reason I pointed out the Cooler Master is because it was cheap, from a brand I generally like, and had the flexibility of 20+4 and 4+4 connectors. I'm certainly very open to other suggestions though.

I would very much like to get a modern PSU for this that can handle the older hardware, though, as it's not all that unlikely that one day I'll need to replace the MB and CPU with modern components anyway.

If you could recommend a cheap but reliable PSU (it can be low wattage, like I said I'm sure 300 is more than enough) that can power both ATX and ATX12V decently, has independent voltage regulation, and preferably has a 20+4 MB (this board requires 24, but I like the flexibility) and 4+4 CPU (this board requires 4, but again, I like my options open), I would be grateful. Apologies if I've been difficult to help.

EDIT: A couple SATA power connectors would be nice as well, but I'm 99% certain this rig would never need any PCI-E connectors. Thought I should toss that out there also.

 

[tenketsu]

Thanks for the help, I of course did end up discovering that my base assumptions were wrong. So I feel foolish. In any case, I've learned more things about power supplies, so, uh, yay.