I found another pic that shows the power supply pretty good. any ideas?

Found this ... https://www.atxpowersupplies.com/newton-power-supplies.php

If it's just audio that sounded better, it was likely the (stability) of the -12v power rail ...doubt you can buy them anymore.

Ok. I can't seem to find a photo that matches the cable side of the power supply. Can you explain about the -12v power rail stability? I would really like to know any info about that. Were power supply's built better back then or something? I recently swapped my corsair cx400 for an older year 2000 (it says ''00'') 300w Summit Power ipx (very rare) power supply and the look is very similar. So i guess its the closest I can get at least for now. My ultimate goal though is to figure out the exact model I was using. The computer was purchased in fall 2005 at ''Doc's Computers'' in Penticton Bc but they are long gone so possibly if I can track down some of the original staff they might remember what supplies they were buying at the time (long shot).

djsabreblade wrote on 2023-12-13, 07:14:

I found another pic that shows the power supply pretty good. any ideas?

JNC/Deer. Don't bother finding one, they're crap.

It was a Newton Power supply for sure I remember reading the label. But what model it was is anyone's guess. I should have saved the power supply instead of tossing it in the dump. I might have even got it repaired (possibly).

The one in your picture is 100% a JNC/Deer. I own at least 3-4 PSUs with that same grille and wire placement.

Wow..I suppose after all these years I could have confused what I thought I read. Btw any chance you could send me a few photos of your power supply's with the same grill? I'd definitely be interested in buying one off you.

Trust me, you do not want any of those near retro machines. Especially near anything more powerful than a 9550 at most.

The few I own are mainly for parts - some have missing caps, rectifiers and at least one is missing the fan. I'll have to dig them out from my balcony sometime soon.

Interesting! so its definitely possible that I blew a capacitor while running the power hungry hd 3850 agp? It was probably too powerful of a card for a 250w psu? Interestingly enough I just bought a 9550 xl on ebay a week ago (its still in the mail) but if you can find one in working condition with the exact same grill I'm still interested.

djsabreblade wrote on 2023-12-13, 15:47:

Can you explain about the -12v power rail stability? I would really like to know any info about that. Were power supply's built better back then or something?

Sure, may not apply to your scenario ..but .. a lot of audio (sound devices) in older computers, utilized (discrete) op-amps to process the audio signal, and these chips used a dual rail power supply (-12v / 0v / +12). If you had a 'good' PSU, the circuit would ensure the -12v rail was properly regulated ~ cheaper 'bad' PSUs did not. In a typical (bad) case scenario, the op-amp might have +12v on that rail, and -11.3v on the other. This shifts the zero crossover point of the ac audio signal, and strange things happen thereafter at your audio amplifier/speakers -- this can affect the overall quality of the sound. Not only computers, m'kay... (I used to repair industrial electronics) .. anything that used something like the venerable TL-07x op-amps would behave badly if the negative voltage rail sagged wrt the positive rail... mind you, ppl's memory regarding how things sounded with younger ears is polemical ...ie; your ears may not be able to hear 'that good' anymore, and what you heard 'back then' may have been dependent on the tonal response of your ears...ie; time machine, go back to then with today's ears and it all sounds like crap =)

BTW... you should remove your email address from open forum in above post ; bad practice ... now the world and every bot/spider out there has it now.

Ok cool! thx 4 tha info.

djsabreblade wrote on 2023-12-13, 21:55:

Interesting! so its definitely possible that I blew a capacitor while running the power hungry hd 3850 agp? It was probably too powerful of a card for a 250w psu? Interestingly enough I just bought a 9550 xl on ebay a week ago (its still in the mail) but if you can find one in working condition with the exact same grill I'm still interested.

They can fail for a myriad of reasons ~ most all have over current protection ; it's more than likely just capacitor failure, that may have caused other damage as a result.

Any good, (new) reputable branded PSU will outperform what the Newton 250w PSU was capable of, at a voltage accuracy/noise ripple level ~ this is just due to the advances in the electronic components themselves. If you were after machine/period accuracy wrt the case design, then ok... but even so, changing out the PSU board for something newer is common practice.

i'm after period accurate. i'm beginning to think that the power supply's we used back then were designed ''better'' even if the tech nowadays is supposedly ''better ''. so if anyone has one exactly the same as my pictures let me know and i'll buy it.

I'm afraid your quest can only end in disappointment and disbelief, but who am I to judge. The urge to complete it is probably too strong and having been through similar things, I can only understand.

Still, after several years of getting back into the hobby, I can only tell you one thing I'm absolutely sure of: memories suck. They are tainted with emotion, subjective in essence. That stuff you remember that was awesome, looked awesome, sounded awesome, tasted awesome? The chances that re-experiencing that stuff today (after you go through the first excitement phase and get able to look at it objectively) will make you realize that yeah...you were fooled by your happy memories about it and it just *isn't that amazing*, are very very high.

Good luck with your quest to find that cheap bottom shelf PSU that failed on you and almost killed your hardware. It was most probably designed and built like shit, but your memories are tricking you because they are tied with happy feelings of younger, easier times. But again, I so very much understand the urge. Again, good luck and I mean it, not trying to dissuade you - in this hobby the journey is often more important than the destination. I was merely commenting and sharing stuff I've also been through and my personal take on it.

thanks i totally get it. what i'm semi-worried about now is the power supply i swapped for my corsair cx400 may not last too long as its from the year 2000 and has had quite a bit of use in another computer which now has the cx400. I suppose if i can't find an old school power supply i like, i may have to just buy another cx400 (or something similar) if my Summit Power psu fails at some point. the money just fly's out the window trying to maintain old hardware these days doesn't it? anyway, its all good.