[mythtv-users] Capture Card Power Requirements

[James Crow]

Greetings all,


Short question: Does anyone know what the power requirements for PCI 
capture cards are?

Long version with background:
I am having some problems with my Myth backend. My initial thought is 
PSU related, but I wanted to tap some of the smart minds here.

I have an AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+ (89W TDP) on an ASUS nForce 4 based 
motherboard. The system has 5 hard drives, two Pinnacle 800i ATSC/QAM 
tuners as well as a PVR-500 tuner. The PSU is an Antec 430 watt with 28A 
on the 3.3V, 36A on 5V, and 26A on 12V.

Everything was working fine until I added a 500GB Seagate drive and the 
PVR-500. Both components were working fine in another system, but I 
wanted to consolidate both my BE machines into a single system. Once I 
added those two components I booted back up and walked out the door for 
four days. The system ran fine and recorded during that period.

When I returned the system started experiencing hard locks quite 
frequently. The system will boot sometimes and others it will hard lock. 
If the system boots all the way the first FE that tries to connect hard 
locks the BE. I first thought that the 12V rail might be overloaded. The 
Seagate drives need 2.8A on 12V so I should need only 15A for all 5 hard 
drives. That should leave plenty left over for the rest of the system.

That leaves the 5V and 3.3V rails. The CPU should pull from the 3.3V 
rail and the PCI cards may as well. I am not sure how to tell which rail 
they pull from and how much power they need.

If anyone knows the power requirements of the Pinnacle 800i PCI 
ATSC/QAM/NTSC capture card I would like to know. I also want to know how 
much power the PVR-500 needs.

Of course I may be chasing a ghost with the PSU. The system is plugged 
into a APC battery backup that should filter any power spikes or other 
power issues. The cable input is not filtered, but is grounded (multiple 
places). I could have gotten a surge through it, but all recorders work. 
Two weeks ago lightning struck a tree ten feet away from the house, but 
I have seen no issues with any electronics inside the house.

Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks,
James