Power supply question

[Robert H]

I'm new here and somewhat unsure that this is the right forum for this question. If this is the wrong place, please correct me.

I've been having some mysterious crashes in my computer. I ran innumerable tests and ruled out just about everything but power supply or capacitor issues. I'm fairly convinced that the power supply may be the culprit because 1) it's 5 years old and 2) it turns out it has probably been run every so slightly above capacity for some time now. It's a 250 wat (max) power supply, and per the calculator at www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply , I am using 242 wats at maximum usage. Since I understand that PSUs generally don't output the max rating all the time, I assume that I have been occasionally running it above capacity these last few years.

The current PSU is a 250 wat Newton Power 250cb. I did some searching and found this page, which tells me that a ATX12V PSU would be what I am looking for.

A trip to Newegg came up with this SPARKLE FSP300GLCR-B204 300W Power Supply. I noticed Sparkle was listed in the list of good PSUs in the sticky post, and this model happened to be one of the more expensive 300 wat models of that type. From reading some of the other posts, I get the impression that it's a good thing to spring for a quality PSU.

My question is: Would this be an appropriate power supply? Are the type, brand, wattage, etc. correct? I should point out that I am never going to upgrade this box anymore (and thus will not need to ration power for future expansion), but I would like it to operate more or less as is (well, minus the crashes) for at least a few more years.

Thanks in advance.

[moistmule]

that PSU looks ok.

your problem could also be heat, or bad RAM (but i guess you've already tested that)

[Robert H]

Thanks for the reply.

My system is hanging even in bios occasionally at this point, however, I was able to run memtest86+ for 49 minutes. In that time two complete cycles of tests completed with no errors found in ram. I'll try to get some more testing in though, just to be on the safe side.

I tried the method of removing the side panel of the comptuer and training a heavy duty room fan on the mother board with the room as cold as I can possibly make it. There was no difference at all; the system would still mysteriously hang or reboot just as frequently.

I'll run a few more tests in cany case.

[Cricket]

Please post the complete system specs of this computer. List the parts by brand and model.

Also, what operating system are you using?

And what kind of background programs are running?

Do you scan for viruses and malware regularly?

Check the motherboard capacitors to see if they are bulging or leaking.

Cricket

[glc]

If it's a Newton, it sounds like a Gateway computer, and we need to know the exact model to find you a compatible unit. It may have proprietary wiring and/or form factor (fit in the case).

[Robert H]

Full system specs:

Gateway Performance P4-1300 system circa march 2001

Gateway St. Francis Mid-tower Case Revision 1 manufactured by Axxion
250 Wat Newton Power NPS - 250CB A Rev: 00
Intel (Monterrey) D850GB motherboard
1.3 gHz Pentium 4 CPU
2 sticks of Samsung 256 MB PC800 RAM
Seagate 20-GB 5400-RPM Hard Disk Drive
Lite-On 52x CD-ROM
Sony 16x DVD-ROM DDU1622
Mitsumi 3.5-inch Floppy Disk Drive Revision 1
nVidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200
Sound Blaster Live! Value Sound Card
Realtek RTL8139/810x 10/100 PCI NIC


I regularly run avast and adaware for virus and malware scanning respectively. I re-ran both last night and got a clean bill of health. I also keep up with windows update, and I hide behind a hardware router/firewall.

I'm still running windows ME on this machine.

I'm not really running much of anything in the background. Besides operating system features, I only have nVidia's settings program and Creative's AudioHQ program running. Adaware reports 14 runing processes when I scan.

That I have had a similar system hang in bios as I have been having in windows is a big reason I suspect a hardware issue.

As for the capacitors, I can't seem to find anything out of place. I found badcaps.net while I was trying to find a solution to my problem. None of my capacitors really looked like the pictures there, but I will admit I have really never payed too close attention to capacitors until now. While I personally can't find anything, I can't rule it out.

In some older posts about Newton power supplies, there was some discussion of models with a built in fan that blew down towards the CPU. The power supply I have fits this description, if that helps any.

Thanks for the help.

[glc]

That one is a standard ATX, you can replace it with anything. I'd recommend this one which has the internal blowing fan:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103486

Nvidia recommends a 300 watt unit for that video card - and you are under that. Very good chance that your power supply is getting flaky running close to the edge like that. The Sparkle is 350 watts, this is an adequate cushion and Sparkles are quality units.

EDIT: The Sparkle you chose is a good unit, but you do not need the dual rail and 20+4 pin connector, and it doesn't have the internal fan.

[larrymoencurly]

Newton isn't overrated junk, so it's unlikely to be at fault unless one of its electrolytic capacitors has gone bad (and the ones I've seen contained Nichicons and Rubycons, two of the best brands). Also that power calculator, like almost all others, tends to give estimates that are way too high, and in two cases even my Kill-A-Watt read quite a bit lower.

If you replace the PSU (I'd prefer to just change any marginal caps), Fortron/Sparkle is a great choice, but beware that newer models are made to put out lots of power on the +12V and not so much on the +5.0V and +3.3V. That's fine if your mobo has both the regular 20-pin power connector and also the square 4-pin power connector, but if it has only one power connector, you may want to get something that emphasizes high +5.0V and +3.3V combined power (probably at least 175W for a 300W PSU).

[glc]

That Gateway is an original socket 423 P4, so it has the auxiliary connector.

In fact.......before buying a power supply, you need to look at something - there may be 2 auxiliary connectors - the 2x2 we all know, *and* a 1x6 that looks like an old AT style motherboard connector. If it has one of those, make sure the replacement has one. The Sparkle I linked in my last post *appears* to have one. It also has a ton of +5 and +3.3 power.

I agree - a Newton is a good unit, but 250 watts is too low for a socket 423 P4 *and* a video card of that caliber.

[Robert H]

Thank you for the suggestion.

My board has three connections to the PSU: the main power, a 1x6 connector near that, and a 2x2 close to the processor. From the connector specs of the PSU you linked:

1 x Main connector (20 pin) 1 x 12V (P4) 5 x peripheral 2 x Floppy 1 x AUX Power

Am I right in thinking that the ATX 12v is the 2x2, and the AUX is the 1X6?

[glc]

I believe so - I think I saw a 1x6 in the picture.

[Robert H]

Thanks again for the help. Hopefully this will do the trick.