Quick Compatibility Question....

[F1N3ST]

My stock eMachines PSU is made by "Bestec" and it has 15A on the +12v Rail. Should that be sufficient to run a X1300PCI, i have been running a overclocked 5500FX on it for a while, and i think its starting to crap out on me. How can i test the voltages?

 

[Tedster]

with a voltmeter. And Emachines are absolute garbage computers. Sorry to break the news to you. The power supplies are very poorly made and it definately doesn't produce enough power for a high end card like the X1300. Emachines are notorious for poor quality. https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?t=58076&highlight=emachines

 

[F1N3ST]

Lol, I have heard so many bad things about eMachines. But sorry to break the news to you is that in my experiences, nothing on my emachines, my dads emachines, or mysisters emachines has ever crapped out, or had any kind of problem. I am guessing you dont own an emachine, and if you do or did, that might just be your own experience. And i have like 3 volt meters, i just dont know how to test it, or what to hook it up to or w/e.

 

[i_am_a_newbie]

Lol, I have heard so many bad things about eMachines. But sorry to break the news to you is that in my experiences, nothing on my emachines, my dads emachines, or mysisters emachines has ever crapped out, or had any kind of problem. I am guessing you dont own an emachine, and if you do or did, that might just be your own experience. And i have like 3 volt meters, i just dont know how to test it, or what to hook it up to or w/e.

I believe you do have that backwards.

Many people also have no problems with ASPIRE(one of THE worst PSU brands i've heard) PSU's for the longest amounts of times, it doesn't change the fact that most of them are absolute junk.

However, even if that power supply were of good quality, 15A on the +12V rail is simply too weak.

 

[F1N3ST]

Im getting a core 2 duo system for X-mas, im going to use this X1300 in this emachines, then that system. So i just need to know how to know if it will work. Im just gonna unhook my CD-RW DVD-Read drive because i added an all in one dvd burner reader and cd reader, and it should hold till christmas.

 

[wolfram]

15A is way too low. Even though that a X1300 isn't a power-hungry beast, 15A simply won't be enough.

You can buy a better, cheap PSU like THIS one. It is way more powerful than your "Bestec" PSU.

 

[F1N3ST]

Umm, we'll see, because i dont have 30$ after buying that card, i have 9$, and im gonna unhook both my optical drives, because i dont need them right now at all. Except for driver CD's, which ill prolly download.

 

[wolfram]

Just be careful with that PSU. It might work fine under Windows, but when gaming, since the card needs more juice, it may fail, and you'd get BSOD's, random reboots, etc.

But it could work Ok, if you don't overclock your CPU, and not overloading too much your PSU.

You should really change it, when you have the bucks.

 

[F1N3ST]

Yeah i know, but if it is sufficient, it will do. Because i know when i go to sell my computer, ill say yeah, its got a quality PSU in it thats why its more expensive, they'll go to the other guy with the piece of crap PSU. But, now that i think about it, i can sell my current 5500FX card and get a decent PSU.

 

[wolfram]

Good luck mate!

I'm sure the PSU I linked to, is a great one. I had the 300W version, and it was able to power a X800GTO.

Regards

 

[JimShady23]

Testing the psu

Easy to do, with a multimeter to test the 12v and 5v rail(s). Take your meter and set it to VDC 20 and find a molex 4 pin connector not in use. The black connectors are -12 and -5v the Yellow wire is +12v and the Red is +5v. To test the 12v take the black test lead from your meter and apply it to the black wire next the Yellow, then take the red lead from your meter and apply it to the Yellow. Your meter should give you a reading of anywhere from 11.97-12.03 these are all acceptable ranges for the +12v and you should expect a fluctuation of .1v or so up and down while the system is running. It is a concern however if it constantly dips below 11.95 or lower.

My suggestion is to hook up your meter within view and do on your system as you normally would and watch the meter periodically for any major fluctuations. Try this in games specifically as more system resources are used during play.

Test the +5v in the same manor. Acceptable ranges are 4.97-5.03

If the voltage consistantly drops below the above listed tollerances then its a good chance it will not last very long.

 

[Sharkfood]

You might also want to download Speedfan and see if it can identify or find your BIOS/firmware voltage rails and fan speeds.

I'm not sure if your mainboard has them, nor are they the most accurate things in the world if they do, but it's a start to see if it reports anything seriously wrong with your voltages.

 

[dmill89]

Yeah i know, but if it is sufficient, it will do. Because i know when i go to sell my computer, ill say yeah, its got a quality PSU in it thats why its more expensive, they'll go to the other guy with the piece of crap PSU. But, now that i think about it, i can sell my current 5500FX card and get a decent PSU.

I would also like to note that the Bestec PSUs that Emachines uses have no overvoltage/overload protection so if your new video card does overload it and the PSU spikes it will likely fry the motherboad and possibly the processer, ram, and expansion cards that are attached to the motherboard. it could also fry drives but that is rare because they usually have high enough tolerences that they will survive a spike.

 

[F1N3ST]

0.o Thats not very good.... Ill reconsider lol.

 

[F1N3ST]

It goes between 11.95, and 11.97 on the +12v, this should be sufficient and for a card that only requires 250W yes?

 

[dmill89]

It goes between 11.95, and 11.97 on the +12v, this should be sufficient and for a card that only requires 250W yes?

Personally I wouldn't take the chance. My uncle's Emachines was a similar situation. He upgraded th video to a geforce 6600 which appeared to be campatible with (but pushing the limits of) the stock PSU. The system ran fine for about 5 weeks and then the PSU spiked frying the Motherboard,ram,cpu,and video card. It even arced two pins on the 4 pin motherboard connetor.Bottom line I wold rather Pay $25- $35 for a good PSU(or $20 for a cheep one with overload protection) than take the chance of doing a few hundred dollers of damage to the system If the poorly made Emachines powersupply spikes.

for your situiation I recomend one of these PSUs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103463
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104901
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104952

If you have a real tight budget the one below atleast has short/overload protection. Hipro is not my first choice for PSUs but if it does fail(unlikely with a400w with 27 A on the 12v rail in that system) it atleast won't take other components with it. However I recomend one of the units above If you can afford them as they are much better units from reputable brands.

Here it is the cheapest PSU you can find with protection circuicts.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817174022