[mythtv-users] Getting OT: What size power supply for this backend...

[Stroller]

On 13 Dec 2006, at 13:40, jack snodgrass wrote:
> ...
> I agree. I had a good ( $60 ) 350 watt power supply with a
> 'silent' fan.. I ran it with a P4 3.0ghz board and 5 3.5" drives
> and a DVD... no issues what so ever. Drives use 10 watts max
> when they are really busy.  ... this was on a server so I didn't  
> have a
> 'fast' graphic's card... not sure how much juice those things draw.
>
> if you system is flaky... I'd look at other things before I looked
> at the power supply.

It depends on the quality of the PSU already installed - in the off- 
the-shelf PCs that I see when called to my customers' homes the power  
supply is the FIRST thing I look at when seeing non-specific hardware  
flakiness (ie: Windows XP crashing randomly for no apparent reason).

I'm talking here particularly about the PSUs shipped in the likes of  
eMachines & Packard Hells - prolly anything else bought at the UK  
chain of stores "PC World" - so it may not widely affect users of  
this list.

I have seen a number of PCs in the last few months that do not power  
on and are not fixed by replacing the PSU. Often when a replacement  
PSU is connected to the motherboard its fan spins up immediately a  
kettle lead is connected; pressing the power-button on the front of  
the case may cause the PSU's fan to spin faster but nothing else. My  
theory has been that the PSU has taken the motherboard out when it  
has died, and this seems to be confirmed by this post I stumbled  
across this week <http://tinyurl.com/yysxsu>.

You don't have to spend much on a PSU that's better than the ones  
shipped in the kinds of PCs I describe - I'm quite happy with the Q- 
Tek "brand" ones for which I pay about £12.50 ($25) for a 450 watt  
model. These seem fine for PCs that see only domestic usage (so may  
be unsuitable for MythTV machines with multiple tuners & demanding  
graphics cards) but my theory is that a better PSU gives a more  
stable & reliable DC supply without spikes & surges.

Stroller.