....

[Man In Black]

I have a Dell 5150. It came with...3GH P4, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD. I have since upgraded to 1.5GB RAM, a 256MB GeForce 6800, and will soon be adding a second hard drive (320GB), and replacing the CD-RW drive with a DVD-RW drive (or maybe just adding it as a second optical drive).

Anyway, I'm concerned about overloading the PSU by accident or something and frying my computer. The Dell Model l305N-00 PSU that is in my PC says its a 305W. Should I be worried?

Thanks

[Mysteryman]

I have a Dell 5150. It came with...3GH P4, 512MB RAM, 80GB HD. I have since upgraded to 1.5GB RAM, a 256MB GeForce 6800, and will soon be adding a second hard drive (320GB), and replacing the CD-RW drive with a DVD-RW drive (or maybe just adding it as a second optical drive).

Anyway, I'm concerned about overloading the PSU by accident or something and frying my computer. The Dell Model l305N-00 PSU that is in my PC says its a 305W. Should I be worried?

Thanks

PCs use whats called a switching power supply. Essentially it allows it to turn itself MORE on to provide more juice when you need it. If it cannot provide enough for what you're asking it to do, it will shut off. You can also see this if you add a new device and the PC will come on for a second, then immediately shut down again.

Basically, you can't overload it and cause harm, you'll just be without use of your computer until you remove a device that takes power (dropping your load) or put a larger PS in.


P.S. Would a subject line for this thread kill ya? ;)

[Gus]

Dell uses the same power supply whether you order a machine with one hard drive and one optical drive or you load it up with two hard drives, two optical drives, a memory card reader, and whatever other stuff you can put in a machine. I have 2GB RAM, two 250GB drives, two optical drives, a card reader, 256MB GeForce, a bunch of USB devices, and no free slots in my 5100 and the 305W power supply has no problem with it. You have nothing to worry about.

[trojanrabbit]

PCs use whats called a switching power supply. Essentially it allows it to turn itself MORE on to provide more juice when you need it. If it cannot provide enough for what you're asking it to do, it will shut off. You can also see this if you add a new device and the PC will come on for a second, then immediately shut down again.

Basically, you can't overload it and cause harm, you'll just be without use of your computer until you remove a device that takes power (dropping your load) or put a larger PS in.


P.S. Would a subject line for this thread kill ya? ;)

Not necessarily. In general, as you draw more power, many components (the power transformer, filtering inductors, possibly the capacitors as well) will be subject to more stress and heating, because you will always have efficiency losses. I'd say if you stressed a power supply continuously to just below the point where it shuts down, you are going to reduce its life. Not that a PC is a stable load by any means.

As far as the OP goes, if you're really concerned you can either borrow or in some way get an AC wattmeter to actually see how much you're drawing.

[Mysteryman]

Not necessarily. In general, as you draw more power, many components (the power transformer, filtering inductors, possibly the capacitors as well) will be subject to more stress and heating, because you will always have efficiency losses. I'd say if you stressed a power supply continuously to just below the point where it shuts down, you are going to reduce its life. Not that a PC is a stable load by any means.


Heat, I'll agree with you on. He kills electronics. Either a slow death from a mild rise above its optimal, or a quick death from WAY above its optimal.

For MiB here, it doesn't really matter. If he's running that close to the envelope that its not tripping the PS off and it leads to a pre-mature death of the PS, he must then buy a new PS when his fails.

If he's running close and doesn't want his PS to die pre-maturely, he'll have to buy a new PS. The result is the same either way. At least in the first scenario you know you're spending money where you need it, instead of possible replacing a PS that might serve you fine long after the PC its in dies of something else. :)

[Man In Black]

Thanks guys. Very helpful info :up:

And to whoever crapped on my reputation with a negative about the thread title, I gave it a title for crying out loud. It just didnt show up for some reason.

BTW, to whoever gave me that rep, are you the same dude whos been giving me negative rep for niggling things like spelling, photos you find offensive, and other niggling things? Its annoying, especially when I'm trying to build my rep up to where I can have full access againPlease just send me a PM if you feel it necessary to reprimand me. Thanks.

[stevel]

FWIW, PC Power and Cooling sells upgrade power supplies for Dell PCs - apparently Dell sometimes uses a non-standard connector and spec for the power supplies.

[JYoung]

Thanks guys. Very helpful info :up:

And to whoever crapped on my reputation with a negative about the thread title, I gave it a title for crying out loud. It just didnt show up for some reason.

BTW, to whoever gave me that rep, are you the same dude whos been giving me negative rep for niggling things like spelling, photos you find offensive, and other niggling things? Its annoying, especially when I'm trying to build my rep up to where I can have full access again. Just send me a PM if you feel it necessary to reprimand me. Thanks.

Oh, this is going to end well.

FWIW, PC Power and Cooling sells upgrade power supplies for Dell PCs - apparently Dell sometimes uses a non-standard connector and spec for the power supplies.

Thanks for the tip. I have an Optiplex GX 150 with a blown power supply and I was wondering about the cost of swapping it out.
You like their service.

[geko29]

Depending on how honest the rating is, you might be right on the edge. Some power supplies can actually put out what's on the label, while others are overrated by as much as 30% I have an Antec 380w (so it's really 380 watts) that's just started to fail two weeks ago after several years carrying the following load:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+
256MB Radeon 9600SE
1GB PC3200
3 opticals (52x CD-R, combo CD-R/DVD-ROM, DVD+/-RW)
4 HDDs (2x120GB IDE, 2x300GB SATA)

What happens now is that when the processor is pegged and one or two of the opticals is going (ripping CDs, for example), the voltage on the 5V rail (which is a little weak to begin with) drops too low and my PC just locks up. There's no problem as long as I don't tax it too much, but as soon as I do, bam, it's done. If the dell is really a 305w and it's still healthy, you might not have any problems. However, if you start to notice mysterious lockups or resets when you're doing a few things at once, It'd be my first suspect. Regardless, as others have mentioned, nothing in your PC (except your PSU) will die because your PSU is overloaded.