Is it bad to run a power supply at 100% load?

[lauxenburg]

Okay,

So I've loaded up a old machine with a bunch of salvaged hardware. It's lightning fast now, but I was wondering if all of this new stuff is going to kill my machine's PSU in time.

After doing a couple calculations it appears that I am probably running my 8 year old power supply at about 90% of its rated values. Is this going to hurt the unit or is it designed to be able to run at its peak all the time.

I am running a Dell Slim Power Supply Model 1N405.

Thanks.

 

[Timop]

Yeah its pretty bad, even a quality PSU would see a decrease in life.

What parts though?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Your 8 year old psu is going to die.........
and possibly take other components with it
its old and tired, and your ramping it up to 90%,
do you make pensioners run ironman triathlons as well?
I'd be very wary and dont have anything valuable on that system mate
Moto

 

[lauxenburg]

Well its a 180W PSU that I am running this off of:

2.8GHz Pentium 4 Northwood
1280MB DDR1 (2 Sticks)
Nvidia GeForce 6200 AGP
Maxtor 60GB 7200RPM
CD Drive
SoundBlaster Live! Card

Oh an the whole 90% number is sort of made up...but I think the power requirements would be pretty close to 180W.

I mean these things aren't too demanding but I can't find that much on their power requirements....

 

[Timop]

For the 12v rail, its just the CPU, so 70W.
The 6200 and drives should run off the +3.3V rail IIRC, so about 50W there;
Then the Mobo should draw off the +5v rail, so another 30W there.

Check the specs of the PSU, you shouldn't be loading it @100%.

 

[lauxenburg]

Power Supply Specs:

Wattage: 180W
3.3V:10A
5V: 12A
5VFP: 2A <<---What is that?
12V: 10A
-12V: 0.5A

Max 80W for 5V/3.3V.

 

[Timop]

Power Supply Specs:

Wattage: 180W
3.3V:10A
5V: 12A
5VFP: 2A <<---What is that?
12V: 10A
-12V: 0.5A

Max 80W for 5V/3.3V.

The 5VFP is for the USB power i think.

You should be fine and still have a little headroom even with capacitor deterioration factored in given the PSU wasn't abused. 120W on the 12v rail is enough for a P4, the 3.3v rail looks a bit tight, but molex do carry both 12v and 3.3v power, so it could be offloaded to your 12v rail, and the 5v is perfectly enough.

 

[WR2]

5VFP is probably the 'standby' 5V source. Gives the computer some power even when it's turned 'off'.

HDDs use both 5v (drive electronics) and 12v (mechanical parts).

Is the PSU pushing out really hot air at idle? Thats a first sign you're pushing it really hard. Can you tell a difference in PSU exhaust heat when you put a heavy work load on the computer?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

go on this site,
http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/
put your system specs in and it will let you what you require,
Consider removing the psu, and cleaning it, after 8 years theres going to be some dust in there which wont be helping its performance one bit
Moto

 

[lauxenburg]

5VFP is probably the 'standby' 5V source. Gives the computer some power even when it's turned 'off'.

HDDs use both 5v (drive electronics) and 12v (mechanical parts).

Is the PSU pushing out really hot air at idle? Thats a first sign you're pushing it really hard. Can you tell a difference in PSU exhaust heat when you put a heavy work load on the computer?

Good point. Maybe I should have tested to see how hot it was at idle. Well I really don't have an actual exhaust in this case because its a small form factor, meaning a lot of the hot air is exhausted through the power supply...so it might be a bit misleading.

Maybe if I opened up the PSU and gave it a good dusting, it would run cooler...

 

[lauxenburg]

Outervision says 221W recommended...........Did I just screw myself?

Oh and if I reverted back to a setup that I was running for a while now, it says 207W recommended.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Lower quality psu's rarely put out what they're rated for irl,
yup, as advised previously, get into that tin box and clear it out lol, it will make things easier for your psu to run efficiently,and enable better cooling too
Moto

 

[WR2]

Outervision says 221W recommended...........Did I just screw myself?

That recommendation is to help the PSU run at it's most efficient range (usually 40%-80% range) and allow for 'average' PSUs that aren't as good as the high quality units. It's probably a good sign that you might be pushing the 180W limit. Of course not all your parts (like your DVD burner) will be drawing peak power at the same time, so you might continue to squeak by.

 

[lauxenburg]

Well, I might have one option but that will bring the total cost of this computer to over $150 which is still pretty good considering how well it should perform in theory.
Seasonic SS-250SU

I can get it shipped for like $30 but I mean its just one more thing to buy and add to the basket.

 

[shovenose]

lets put it this way: if you ran prime95 on the cpu, furmark on the gpu, a hdd benchmark, and burned a dvd at the same time, it would probably either blow up or shut down...

 

[shovenose]

pentium 4s suck. pentium ds suck even more. lol. i still use one simply becuase i am selling all my dualcores

 

[lauxenburg]

pentium 4s suck. pentium ds suck even more. lol. i still use one simply becuase i am selling all my dualcores

You confuse me dude. If you can get me a $150 system that can match mine, be my guest.

 

[shovenose]

check out #4 on my website. its like yours. then for $200 you can get a dualcore amd which is #3
http://lilatech.weebly.com/computers-for-sale.html

 

[lauxenburg]

check out #4 on my website. its like yours. then for $200 you can get a dualcore amd which is #3
http://lilatech.weebly.com/computers-for-sale.html

Ahem, the point is I don't need a new PC. I have this old one that cost me only $120. And you should def lower the price on that computer. Like $75 is reasonable.

 

[shovenose]

lol i know its overpriced...but hey i work at a place where we sell p4s for $175 and 17" lcds for 65 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
but anyhow enjoy ur p4

 

[lauxenburg]

lol i know its overpriced...but hey i work at a place where we sell p4s for $175 and 17" lcds for 65 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
but anyhow enjoy ur p4

I will. Especially with mah new 1U Seasonic PSU!