Hello everyone... Happy Easter :o)

Last couple days Ive been considering adding a dvdr as prices for drives
and media seem to be very good these days. But I wonder about the power
requirements. P3 w/ 2 HDs, CDRW, zip, & the usual PCI cards. Not alot
really. The video card isnt particularly power hungry. Im pretty sure the
current power supply is 275w, maybe 325. The usual external stuff has their
own power cables. Would adding a dvd be pushing it? Im also thinking about
an ATA card so I can use larger drives.

Thx :o)

Some information below that would interest you. This is for the average
maximum that can be expected.


From:  http://www.devx.com/Intel/Article/21546/2046

Optical disks consume a significant amount of power when active. A typical
DVD/CD spinning up a disc can draw up to 30 watts for the spin-up duration.
After spin-up, the power tapers off to very little usage. Another number to
consider when optimizing for battery life is the drive efficiency: each
drive consumes different amounts of power depending on what is going on. The
following list is representative of drives and power consumption during
different periods of use. The maximum power is typically the power consumed
when the drive is first starting to spin up the DVD/CD. The "Play" power is
after the drive has spun up and is accessing the data. The "Idle" power is
the power used when the drive is idle and not being accessed.
      Max Power  Play Power  Idle Power
      20 watts  2.31 watts  0.17 watts
      25 watts  2.64 watts  0.30 watts
      30 watts  3.35 watts  0.15 watts
      30 watts  3.57 watts  0.15 watts



Hello everyone... Happy Easter :o)

Last couple days Ive been considering adding a dvdr as prices for drives
and media seem to be very good these days. But I wonder about the power
requirements. P3 w/ 2 HDs, CDRW, zip, & the usual PCI cards. Not alot
really. The video card isnt particularly power hungry. Im pretty sure the
current power supply is 275w, maybe 325. The usual external stuff has their
own power cables. Would adding a dvd be pushing it? Im also thinking about
an ATA card so I can use larger drives.

Thx :o)

although a wee more expensive Ive also thought about simply getting a
dvdr/cdrw and removing the one I have. tho it seems like waste of
resources.

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 02:04:46 -0000, Kev
<die_spammers_die@pht.zzz> wrote:

If your PSU is overloaded enough that you'd benefit from
removal of an optical drive, it's still near enough that
state without the 2nd drive, especially if you then use (one
drive or the other) only one drive at a time most often.  I
wouldn't pull one drive and spend more for that reason
alone.  In fact it can be handy to have multiple drives for
situations like apps or games that require the disc, or
difficult-to-read-discs that might read on one drive but not
the other.

If you have a multimeter take voltage readings.  If you
suspected you'd upgrade your system someday soon anyway you
could just go ahead and get a beefy power supply and use it,
then REuse it for the new system, presumably taking some of
the parts from your current system to the new one and then
having lower load on the old system, making it again
suitable for use with the old power supply.

kony <spam@spam.com> wrote in news:35ue415mhov56540nqbt2q8o277ns68ujb@
4ax.com:

I have a software monitor that came with the MB and it has always showed
voltages within the target area. But I never really taxed the system with
everything going at once to see what happens.

On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 05:38:47 -0000, Kev <die_spammers_die@pht.zzz>
wrote:

Intel Pentium 3 1G
Intel D815EPEA2
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 7000 PCI
Netgear FA-310TX
160 GB Hard Drive
CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive
Power Supply: Enhance ATX-1125B
Power (CPU 0 - 1 %): 50 Watts; PF: .66
      (CPU 100 %): 70 Watts; PF: .68


Intel Celeron 1.2G Socket 370
Intel D815EGEW
256 MB RAM
Netgear GA311
160 GB Hard Drive
CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive
Power Supply: Works W365CN4
Power (CPU 0 - 1 %): 53 Watts; PF: .70
      (CPU 100 %): 60 Watts; PF: .70 (DivX 5.2.1: 2 - 3 fps)

Show quoteHide quote

Kev wrote:
Saw these links posted in another newsgroup recently

Power supply calculator
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

This one gives a rough idea how to figure power requirements for yourself
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Power_Supply_Guide_2.html

mrlg <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in news:7E71e.9067$S46.7507
@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:

thank you.

looks like just adding the dvd will make it 250 so getting close. Adding
the ATA card and 3rd drive would hit 270, with little room to spare. And I
could not use USB/Firewire without external power (no USB mouse/keyboard).
Adding a small but modern video card if this one craps out will push it too
far.

Ah well. New power supplies are quite reasonable ;o)

thanks again everyone

Those are just wild estimates.  Best way to tell if the
supply is approaching limits is the ubiquitous 3.5 digit
multimeter.  Simply load programs that run everything
simultaneously (ie repeatedly read directory from each drive
while playing a movie, and using the internet all at the same
time).  Then measure the voltages.  They should remain in the
upper 3/4 region of limits in chart at:  "I think my power
supply is dead"  in alt.comp.hardware  on 5 Feb 2004 at
  http://tinyurl.com/yvbw9

  If voltages remain stable under this full load, then power
supply is more than sufficient for your needs.  No sense
spending $65 retail on another supply you really did not
need.  And no sense spending less money on a supply that is
typically missing other essential functions - can cause
computer damage later.  In but two minutes, you can tell if
the power supply is undersized or is sufficient.

  Again, without specific numbers for each hardware component,
all answers including those estimator programs are nothing
more than speculation.

Kev wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

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