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help to replace PSU

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First post, by Robhalfordfan

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hello all

i am needing to replace my PSU for my Win98 pc as the old one died because the transformer died

the old PSU i used was

Enermax EG465AX-VE(G) 460W ATX

wondering if this PSU will work ok as not sure if the 5v rail has be higher than the 12v rail

https://www.newegg.com/global/uk-en/thermalta … N82E16817153023

the specs of this build is

Motherboard - Jetway V600DAP
CPU - AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Ram - 512mb (2x 256mb)
Graphics -ATI Radeon 9800 SE (256mb)
HDD - Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB
Drives - 1x AOpen IDE 52X32X Combo CD-RW+DVD-Rom Drive Model COM5232/AAH PRO
- 1x 1.44mb Floppy Drive
Sound - Soundblaster PCI 512
Fans - 2x 80mm Case Fans

Last edited by Robhalfordfan on 2019-07-13, 13:43. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 2 of 44, by ODwilly

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Robhalfordfan wrote:
hello all […]
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hello all

i am needing to replace my PSU for my Win98 pc as the old one died because the transformer died

the old PSU i used was

Enermax EG465AX-VE(G) 460W ATX

wondering if this PSU will work ok as not sure if the 5v rail has be higher than the 12v rail

https://www.newegg.com/global/uk-en/thermalta … N82E16817153023

the specs of this build is

Motherboard - Jetway V600DAP
CPU - AMD Althon XP 3200+
Ram - 512mb (2x 256mb)
Graphics -ATI Radeon 9800 SE (256mb)
HDD - Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB
Drives - 1x AOpen IDE 52X32X Combo CD-RW+DVD-Rom Drive Model COM5232/AAH PRO
- 1x 1.44mb Floppy Drive
Sound - Soundblaster PCI 512
Fans - 2x 80mm Case Fans

Stay far, far away from the non 80 plus certified Thermaltake TR2 psu's. They are god awful.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 3 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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ODwilly wrote:
Robhalfordfan wrote:
hello all […]
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hello all

i am needing to replace my PSU for my Win98 pc as the old one died because the transformer died

the old PSU i used was

Enermax EG465AX-VE(G) 460W ATX

wondering if this PSU will work ok as not sure if the 5v rail has be higher than the 12v rail

https://www.newegg.com/global/uk-en/thermalta … N82E16817153023

the specs of this build is

Motherboard - Jetway V600DAP
CPU - AMD Althon XP 3200+
Ram - 512mb (2x 256mb)
Graphics -ATI Radeon 9800 SE (256mb)
HDD - Maxtor 6Y120L0 120GB
Drives - 1x AOpen IDE 52X32X Combo CD-RW+DVD-Rom Drive Model COM5232/AAH PRO
- 1x 1.44mb Floppy Drive
Sound - Soundblaster PCI 512
Fans - 2x 80mm Case Fans

Stay far, far away from the non 80 plus certified Thermaltake TR2 psu's. They are god awful.

ok, i looking for psu that has 2 floppy connecters
one for floppy drive and another for graphic card

i am not using any pci-e or sata

so far i am been trying to find 80 plus certified psu but having a hard time finding with 2x floppy connecters and at least 4x 4-pin molex

again not sure if the 5v rail needs to be higher that the 12v rail

Reply 4 of 44, by ODwilly

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https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16817707005?Item … N82E16817707005 here is pretty good fit for your PC. Plenty of 12v power for your 9800 and lots of 3.3v/5v amperage for your Athlon XP/ peripherals. EDIT: Just to add, my family friend's Dimension 4600 ran with a 9800 pro and a 2.8ghz Prescott P4 on it's dodgy OEM 250watt psu for about 8 years of daily usage.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 5 of 44, by retardware

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ODwilly wrote:

Agreed. And it causes far less shivers running over my back.
Though, I have difficulties understanding why people use budget PSU for that hard-to-replace retro stuff.
Imho top quality brand PSU is a must, to avoid unnecessary meltdowns.
The savings just don't weigh up the risk.

Reply 6 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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ODwilly wrote:

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16817707005?Item … N82E16817707005 here is pretty good fit for your PC. Plenty of 12v power for your 9800 and lots of 3.3v/5v amperage for your Athlon XP/ peripherals. EDIT: Just to add, my family friend's Dimension 4600 ran with a 9800 pro and a 2.8ghz Prescott P4 on it's dodgy OEM 250watt psu for about 8 years of daily usage.

thank you

is that brand new or used

would 300w be enough to power my win98 rig as some psu calculators say somewhere between 365w and 400w

Last edited by Robhalfordfan on 2019-07-13, 14:24. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 7 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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retardware wrote:
Agreed. And it causes far less shivers running over my back. Though, I have difficulties understanding why people use budget PSU […]
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ODwilly wrote:

Agreed. And it causes far less shivers running over my back.
Though, I have difficulties understanding why people use budget PSU for that hard-to-replace retro stuff.
Imho top quality brand PSU is a must, to avoid unnecessary meltdowns.
The savings just don't weigh up the risk.

looking around online and thinking why some people buy budget psu to replace retro stuff

most common modern psu are designed for modern computers etc and considering most power pc gamer will use higher psu than what was used before late 90s - mid 2000s

like most people power pc gamer
-most good quality brands are expensive (paying more for the brand name)
-will most likely have high end power hungry graphic card or sli or crossfire (full HD/4K gaming) (bitcoin mining)
-faster most powerful cpu with more than one core/threads (full HD/4K gaming with 60fps all the time)
-most if not all modern components use 12v a lot more than 5v (could be wrong or getting mixed up) and have more than 12v rail (most older devices eg. floppy drive, PCI/AGP no longer used or supported)(some people don't use disc drives, sound cards or mechanical HDD and opt for SSD, onboard sound, streaming/Downloading)

i could be wrong but these are rough ideas why psu can be expensive or hard to replace for retro system

Last edited by Robhalfordfan on 2019-07-17, 15:14. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 8 of 44, by retardware

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Yup, this is why I ended up refurbishing old but good PSUs that pass my ATX specifications compliance tests.
As from the used power supplies that I got into my hands which are >10 yrs old, far less than 20% pass these specs, I just pick these with the best design and refurbish (recap etc) them.
I do not use PSUs that have no working overcurrent protection, to protect blowing up mobos etc, in case should a tantalum etc decide to short out.

In case I would not have good spares, I'd try some good modern PSU with modular cabling (just an example, there are probably more suitable ones in the 400W range), and return them if they do not comply with ATX spec at high load with 3.3/5V. These use quality components, are no gutless wonders, and offer all sorts of protections.

Reply 9 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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retardware wrote:
Yup, this is why I ended up refurbishing old but good PSUs that pass my ATX specifications compliance tests. As from the used po […]
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Yup, this is why I ended up refurbishing old but good PSUs that pass my ATX specifications compliance tests.
As from the used power supplies that I got into my hands which are >10 yrs old, far less than 20% pass these specs, I just pick these with the best design and refurbish (recap etc) them.
I do not use PSUs that have no working overcurrent protection, to protect blowing up mobos etc, in case should a tantalum etc decide to short out.

In case I would not have good spares, I'd try some good modern PSU with modular cabling (just an example, there are probably more suitable ones in the 400W range), and return them if they do not comply with ATX spec at high load with 3.3/5V. These use quality components, are no gutless wonders, and offer all sorts of protections.

it good you can do that

i would a bit scared to do that and mess about with power supply and also have no clue 🤣

Reply 10 of 44, by retardware

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Then in your place I'd use that Startech which ODwilly suggested.
Maybe make some photos that show the insides as good as possible, search the thread "A Tale of Two PSU", post them and let the experts judge it.
With a $1 multimeter you also can check whether the voltages are good with your load distribution.

Reply 11 of 44, by gdjacobs

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You can find working Delta and Zippy OEM PSUs with appropriate power distribution online. Most sellers show the label with rail capacities. They don't look fancy and aren't necessarily the quietest, but they're built like a tank. If you want something a little nicer than the Startech PSU (which is perfectly fine if not flashy) and you need a heavier 5V supply or one of the minor rails deleted from the ATX spec, they can be a viable option.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 13 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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would this work if i am trouble finding a decent psu with heavy 5v rail and only one floppy connector

https://www.cabledepot.co.uk/17.5cm-pin-molex … ble-p-2352.html

would this psu be good, as not sure about brand

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/380w-antec-ea … 0mm-fan-atx-psu

Reply 14 of 44, by gdjacobs

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Robhalfordfan wrote:

how can i tell if a heavy 5v rail is needed

i am guessing my old psu was overkill for this rig

Athlon boards were most notorious for being 5V heavy as their power consumption was quite a bit more than even high clocked Coppermine P3s. However, 30A+ is really only required for loftier experiments in overclocking and the highest clocked Barton CPUs.

Last edited by gdjacobs on 2019-07-18, 23:50. Edited 1 time in total.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 15 of 44, by SirNickity

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You don't really know. Most of it is reasonable guesses. P4 era and onward use 12V more than 5V. PII era and before use 5V. The stuff in between is a crapshoot. If you really want to know, slap in a monster PSU, use those inductive clamp current meters, and measure what your particular board is drawing from each rail. Or, install a mousey PSU and see if it copes. Just don't ever use a poorly-built PSU.

Reply 16 of 44, by ODwilly

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Those Molex to Floppy adapters work great. In fact iv made a few of them up out of dead fan cables and dead PSU floppy connectors. As far as powersupplies go an older OEM PSU with a good 5v rail and about 350watts should do the trick.The 300watt Startech is just a bit close wattage wise. I think a user or two here took them apart and posted their guts in that Tale of Two PSU thread, can't remember. From the wattage calculator online it looks like you need about 31 amps on the 5v rail, 13amps on the 3.3 and a measly 10amps on the 12v rain. Give or take a bit.

From my experience with a P4/Athlon64 era 450watt Startech they seem pretty solid, OK capacitors, good components and it is still running in a friend's FX-6300 machine with a 750ti.EDIT: Just to clairfy, that 450 had a overkill like 35amp 5v rail, and great 25 amp rated split 12v rail design. And a solid 3.3v rail.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 17 of 44, by Robhalfordfan

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ODwilly wrote:

Those Molex to Floppy adapters work great. In fact iv made a few of them up out of dead fan cables and dead PSU floppy connectors. As far as powersupplies go an older OEM PSU with a good 5v rail and about 350watts should do the trick.The 300watt Startech is just a bit close wattage wise. I think a user or two here took them apart and posted their guts in that Tale of Two PSU thread, can't remember. From the wattage calculator online it looks like you need about 31 amps on the 5v rail, 13amps on the 3.3 and a measly 10amps on the 12v rain. Give or take a bit.

From my experience with a P4/Athlon64 era 450watt Startech they seem pretty solid, OK capacitors, good components and it is still running in a friend's FX-6300 machine with a 750ti.EDIT: Just to clairfy, that 450 had a overkill like 35amp 5v rail, and great 25 amp rated split 12v rail design. And a solid 3.3v rail.

ok kl, thank you for your help, i will keep an eye out as still havent found a good/decnet one that i am looking for that i dont need to import