No. Don't spend more than 40$ on a PSU for a socket 370 build. It is not impossible for a modern PSU so spontaneously fail.

Socket 370 uses almost exclusively 5v power. Buy a decent enough PSU with 20amps on the 5v rails. That is all you need. That is the best you can do these days.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:38:

No. Don't spend more than 40$ on a PSU for a socket 370 build. It is not impossible for a modern PSU so spontaneously fail.

Socket 370 uses almost exclusively 5v power. Buy a decent enough PSU with 20amps on the 5v rails. That is all you need. That is the best you can do these days.

Even with my Dual CPU, GPU and Dual Soundcard build? Can you recommend me a great modern PSU for this old build?

It's only worth paying extra for a more efficient PSU if you use it enough to recoup the cost in power savings. As long as you have enough on each rail, as mother goose said, that is the most important thing, from the system's point of view.

debs3759 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:44:

It's only worth paying extra for a more efficient PSU if you use it enough to recoup the cost in power savings. As long as you have enough on each rail, as mother goose said, that is the most important thing, from the system's point of view.

So does wattage not matter with Socket 370 builds? What modern psu’s do you recommend? And why did my 80 plus PSU fail?

I doubt anyone can tell you why the PSU failed based on just a text based question. I would say 450W is fine if it has enough on each rail, which I can't comment on. It's what I would aim for on most early ATX build, simply because, 80+ or not, a PSU that is only pushing half what it is capable of should be at its most efficient. Later systems, I go for 600W if not benching GPUs, and minimum of 750 if benching GPUs. That's where 80+ Platinum becomes most cost efficient.

iVirtualZero wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:50:

debs3759 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:44:

It's only worth paying extra for a more efficient PSU if you use it enough to recoup the cost in power savings. As long as you have enough on each rail, as mother goose said, that is the most important thing, from the system's point of view.

So does wattage not matter with Socket 370 builds? What modern psu’s do you recommend? And why did my 80 plus PSU fail?

5v power is all that matters. Modern PSUs are rated for high wattage on the 12 v rails. The 1000 watt units won't do you much better than a 450 watt unit.

iVirtualZero wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:42:

mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:38:

No. Don't spend more than 40$ on a PSU for a socket 370 build. It is not impossible for a modern PSU so spontaneously fail.

Socket 370 uses almost exclusively 5v power. Buy a decent enough PSU with 20amps on the 5v rails. That is all you need. That is the best you can do these days.

Even with my Dual CPU, GPU and Dual Soundcard build? Can you recommend me a great modern PSU for this old build?

The only other option if you want more power is to buy an old stock power supply with more wattage on the 5v rails. They definitely exist, but I wouldn't use them.

Your dual CPUs are rated for about 62 watts put together. 20amps gives you 100 watts of 5v power to work with. With your GPU it's really close.

mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-02-13, 06:40:

5v power is all that matters. Modern PSUs are rated for high wattage on the 12 v rails. The 1000 watt units won't do you much be […]
Show full quote

iVirtualZero wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:50:

debs3759 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:44:

It's only worth paying extra for a more efficient PSU if you use it enough to recoup the cost in power savings. As long as you have enough on each rail, as mother goose said, that is the most important thing, from the system's point of view.

So does wattage not matter with Socket 370 builds? What modern psu’s do you recommend? And why did my 80 plus PSU fail?

5v power is all that matters. Modern PSUs are rated for high wattage on the 12 v rails. The 1000 watt units won't do you much better than a 450 watt unit.

iVirtualZero wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:42:

mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-02-13, 04:38:

No. Don't spend more than 40$ on a PSU for a socket 370 build. It is not impossible for a modern PSU so spontaneously fail.

Socket 370 uses almost exclusively 5v power. Buy a decent enough PSU with 20amps on the 5v rails. That is all you need. That is the best you can do these days.

Even with my Dual CPU, GPU and Dual Soundcard build? Can you recommend me a great modern PSU for this old build?

The only other option if you want more power is to buy an old stock power supply with more wattage on the 5v rails. They definitely exist, but I wouldn't use them.

Your dual CPUs are rated for about 62 watts put together. 20amps gives you 100 watts of 5v power to work with. With your GPU it's really close.

Thanks are there any readily available new psu’s with this spec?

debs3759 wrote on 2021-02-13, 05:26:

I doubt anyone can tell you why the PSU failed based on just a text based question. I would say 450W is fine if it has enough on each rail, which I can't comment on. It's what I would aim for on most early ATX build, simply because, 80+ or not, a PSU that is only pushing half what it is capable of should be at its most efficient. Later systems, I go for 600W if not benching GPUs, and minimum of 750 if benching GPUs. That's where 80+ Platinum becomes most cost efficient.

It’s working again. My PSU is an EVGA 450Watt 450BT 80 Plus Bronze PSU. Is this of the wrong spec?

EVGA's website says the 450 BT can do 18 A on the 5 V rail, with a combined max output of 90 W on 3.3 V and 5 V rails together. With just the pair of 1.4 GHz Tualatins pulling over 60 W at max load by themselves, then adding the consumption of RAM, video cards, sound cards and motherboard components, you're probably pushing the PSU to or beyond its limit for 5 V and 3.3 V rails.

I would recommend either getting a new PSU with a more powerful 5 V rail, or refurbishing an older PSU from the Athlon XP era. I know Corsair's current TX and TX-M series can do 25 A @ 5 V, at least on 600 W+ units, I'm not sure about other brands or models.

frudi wrote on 2021-02-13, 17:24:

EVGA's website says the 450 BT can do 18 A on the 5 V rail, with a combined max output of 90 W on 3.3 V and 5 V rails together. With just the pair of 1.4 GHz Tualatins pulling over 60 W at max load by themselves, then adding the consumption of RAM, video cards, sound cards and motherboard components, you're probably pushing the PSU to or beyond its limit for 5 V and 3.3 V rails.

I would recommend either getting a new PSU with a more powerful 5 V rail, or refurbishing an older PSU from the Athlon XP era. I know Corsair's current TX and TX-M series can do 25 A @ 5 V, at least on 600 W+ units, I'm not sure about other brands or models.

Thanks, i thought i was pushing this beyond what it could do. I’d prefer a modern psu due to it being new with it’s extra safety features. Guess i’m going with the Corsair TX series. Is the Corsair TX850M 80Plus Gold a good choice? Weird how it costs less than the 650watt version.

I think all TX-M models from 650 W and up have the same specifications for the 5 and 3.3 V rails, so go for whichever model you can get for cheapest. Just skip the 550 W and lower models, since those supply only 20 A @ 5 V.

Also try searching this forum for older threads; I remember the topic coming up before so if you find some of the previous discussions some other members might have given more suggestions for other (namely cheaper) models. Not that the TX-M is a bad choice, quite the opposite, it's just not exactly cheap, especially with all the current hardware shortages.

frudi wrote on 2021-02-13, 18:03:

I think all TX-M models from 650 W and up have the same specifications for the 5 and 3.3 V rails, so go for whichever model you can get for cheapest. Just skip the 550 W and lower models, since those supply only 20 A @ 5 V.

Also try searching this forum for older threads; I remember the topic coming up before so if you find some of the previous discussions some other members might have given more suggestions for other (namely cheaper) models. Not that the TX-M is a bad choice, quite the opposite, it's just not exactly cheap, especially with all the current hardware shortages.

Thanks i’m already reading some other threads.