Question Use of separate psu

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You can, technically, but the complexity and steps required in order to do so with a second PSU are not worth the effort or expense. Just buy a better PSU that has the same form factor as your current one, There are plenty of them out there unless you have a proprietary system in which case it's just a big hassle and you should consider a different path. These proprietary units that can't use different motherboards, or move the motherboards to a different case that will support a standard PSU, or motherboards that don't use standard ATX connections, are just not very good candidates for use as a gaming system.
 
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USAFRet said:
Done improperly, sparks can absolutely result. Sparks could result in anything from minorily dead parts, to catching the carpet on fire.

The OP does not yet know how to do this.

Therefore, it would be on you to give him a full, clear, detailed description of exactly how.
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Anything done improperly results in bad things. You could improperly fill your car with petrol and blow up.
So does your normal PSU produce sparks inside your computer and catch the computer on fire? If it does, then you need a new psu.
 
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ElectrO_90 said:
Anything done improperly results in bad things. You could improperly fill your car with petrol and blow up.
So does your normal PSU produce sparks inside your computer and catch the computer on fire? If it does, then you need a new psu.
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Seeing as the OP does not know how to do this, and you apparently do...

This would seem to be a teaching moment. If you choose to accept it.
 
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ElectrO_90 said:
I guess you don't understand how modern decent PSU's work. I will not be explaining this to you, because you can do your own research on this. My entire back ground for the last 20+years is Electronics/Electrical.
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Because servers and workstations with multiple PSUs just use power distribution boards for the hell of it. You don't even know what PSUs the OP has. Lets say the unit powering the GPU is an older group regulated design, most of which are not good at handling abnormal crossloads. Powering just the GPU would put a large 12v load with little to no 3.3v and 5v load which will cause large voltage swings. If you are lucky the GPU will just shut itself down out of self preservation, otherwise the VRMs release the magic smoke and possibly catch fire.
 
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Cables are available to do specifically what you ask. IT is always better to use a single power supply where available, but the option is available.

Items such as:

Amazon.com: New Dual 24-Pin ATX Power Supply Motherboard Adapter Cable for Using Two PSU's by Cryptosaur Gear : Electronics

Buy New Dual 24-Pin ATX Power Supply Motherboard Adapter Cable for Using Two PSU's by Cryptosaur Gear: Internal Power Supplies - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com

or

Amazon.com: Thermaltake Dual 24-Pin Mining Adapter Cable (AC-005-CNONAN-P1): Computers & Accessories

Buy Thermaltake Dual 24-Pin Mining Adapter Cable (AC-005-CNONAN-P1): Connectors & Adapters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
 
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While cables are available to do this, it is not advisable until you have nulled the delta between the two PSUs 12V outputs.

Servers with power distribution boards accomplish this by other means, but the goal is the same. You can't have 12.0 volts being supplied to the MB, and have 12.15V supplied to the GPU, and expect everything to function flawlessly.

Nulling the 12V differential between the two PSUs involves opening up one, or both, PSUs while in operation, and adjusting the VRs on the regulator board.

For somebody who is not experienced with working inside such devices, it is an ill-advised procedure.

The best recommendation to the OP would be to replace the PSU with one designed to service the loads in his/her system.
 
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Which is EXACTLY what I said to start with. And exactly WHY I said that. Sure it can be done. Sure, you CAN get lucky, sometimes. But you know what, chances are good if I tell somebody to do this THEY will be the one who doesn't get lucky, and ruins their hardware or burns down their bedroom. No thanks.

Anybody who SHOULD do this, already knows HOW to do it, and wouldn't do it ANYHOW, because they know it's a much poorer way OF doing it.

Also, I know people who've been framing houses, or running pipe, or fixing cars, for more than 20 years, and still don't do crap the right way or adhere to code, or skip putting stud guards over places where they pass wiring through because they are lazy and in a hurry, or fifty other things that show that they are shoddy and unprofessional. I'm not saying YOU or anybody in particular is, just that there are a lot of people with a lot of experience that STILL do dumb crap even though they know better or worse, don't know better when they should.
 
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And I agree with you 100%.

Were it my situation to deal with, despite it being a trivial matter to zero the delta between two PSU outputs, I would still opt for using a single PSU to do the job.

On the other hand, mentioning the nature of the task that has to be accomplished is sometimes sufficient to encourage somebody not to attempt it.

As to doing dumb crap...from my own experience of a few years ago, allow me to advise against attempting to light a charcoal grill, using anhydrous alcohol as an accelerant--particularly if you have facial hair.
 
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Once upon a time, not too long ago, PSU manufacturers provided PSUs that fit into your 5.25" bay to provide extra power to the graphics card:

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16817104054

Didn't matter if the voltage was slightly different. The voltage at the board is just going to be somewhere between the two PSUs. As long as the second PSU gets a turn on signal from the motherboard.

You can do this yourself with any second PSU as long as the PSU isn't group regulated (you can use a group regulatetd PSU, but you'd want to put a dummy load on the rails you don't use. WAY TOO MUCH WORK and is beyond "noob level", so just get a PSU that advertises that it has DC to DC for the +3.3V and +5V rails (which would mean it's NOT group regulated, like a Corsair CX series or a Seasonic Focus and you're golden).

I then use a "fog light relay":

https://www.amazon.com/Support-Relay-Spst-4pin-Pack/dp/B00RV6CDOC

I would get my relays from the junkyard. Old German cars like VW, Audi, etc. are chock full of good Bosch brand ones.

Have a +12V lead from the Dell PSU energize the relay. This will then close the connection between the green wire of the second PSU to ground which tells the second PSU to turn on:

http://jongerow.com/PSU_relay/
 
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It's a good thing. Too many people make recommendations assuming that what is easy for them is easy for everybody, when not only is it not easy for everybody, it's dangerous for newbies that are clueless in most regards. So yeah, that was giving props to you for not doing that.
 
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Darkbreeze said:
...it's dangerous for newbies that are clueless in most regards.
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Gone are the days when it was an accurate baseline assumption that, anyone who was messing-around with MBs, PSUs, et al, had at least a first-year background in electronics, and some sort of passing acquaintance with programming of one dialect or another--along with enough common sense to know when they were in over their head.
 
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AllanGH said:
Gone are the days when it was an accurate baseline assumption that, anyone who was messing-around with MBs, PSUs, et al, had at least a first-year background in electronics, and some sort of passing acquaintance with programming of one dialect or another--along with enough common sense to know when they were in over their head.
Click to expand...

I will agree with this assessment. The lower common denominator has gotten..... lower. I used to do tech support about 15 to 20 years ago. Don't know if I could do it today. And the media people that used to be how people would learn has completely changed too. People don't want to READ to learn. They want to watch a video that SHOWS THEM. And real reviews aren't reviews anymore... They're unboxings and they're all sponsored, so even if you unbox something you don't like, you can't say why you don't like it.

And get off my lawn.
 
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