The P4 connector only provides 12v. The AU13 has it right by the VRM area. So it certainly looks like it's designed around 12v for the CPU.

it pulls from the 12v power line. Only the very first socket a athlons needed large 5v rails and special power supplies.

your 360w is a bit low in my eyes. check out this calcuator: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

depending on overclocking and your video card, your usage is going to START at ~300W. Find something in the 500W range for good measure.

luckybob wrote:

Depending on overclocking and your video card, your usage is going to START at ~300W. Find something in the 500W range for good measure.

That is insane, his intended 360 watt PSU would cover almost everything possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CPU_powe … gures#Athlon_XP

Well the cpu is going to eat ~70W right out of the box.

An ati 9800 video card is going to eat another 70-80w at full load.

Then memory, the motherboard itself, a single hard drive, 2 basic fans, BAM 300W. I think I forgot to mention my calculation of 300W included a basic setup.

luckybob wrote:

Then memory, the motherboard itself, a single hard drive, 2 basic fans, BAM 300W.

here you are exaggerating, it is bam 200 watts.

Putas wrote:

luckybob wrote:

Then memory, the motherboard itself, a single hard drive, 2 basic fans, BAM 300W.

here you are exaggerating, it is bam 200 watts.

I kinda have to agree here. I won't be using a video card that needs external power (Just dont need that much power graphically), one hard drive, sound card, optical, and a network card.

Thanks for the answers guys!

luckybob wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CPU_powe … gures#Athlon_XP […]
Show full quote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_CPU_powe … gures#Athlon_XP

Well the cpu is going to eat ~70W right out of the box.

An ati 9800 video card is going to eat another 70-80w at full load.

Then memory, the motherboard itself, a single hard drive, 2 basic fans, BAM 300W. I think I forgot to mention my calculation of 300W included a basic setup.

This is heavily exaggerated - Radeon 9800 draws more like 50-60W max under full load (and that's the XT, and we're talking like Furmark kind of loading - 30-50W is far more typical). AthlonXP (nor any other CPU) will consume 100% TDP continuously. My P4 3.2GHz Extreme Edition, 9800XT, 2GB of DDR, etc runs 100% solid on a 220W PSU, and draws around 150W AC side (which means DC draw is around 30% under that). My dual 3.06GHz Gallatin Xeon with 6800 Ultra (which actually does draw around 75W under full load), 4GB of DDR, etc draws a peak of around 275W, but ~200W is far more typical.

AthlonXP with a PCI or AGP card that doesn't draw external power will use less power than either of those systems; a 300-350W PSU would be absolutely fine, and allow for expansion if that's ever desired (e.g. adding some additional hard-drives).

Private_Ops wrote:

... I'm not sure if one of the newer 80+ PSUs would be good enough. (specifically the Seasonic 360w).

Plenty enough.

I've got a system with heavily OCed P4 Preshott and 9800 Pro GPU and the max it draws from the wall is 311W AC, which with the poor ~75% efficiency of the old-style PSU means ~250W DC real draw tops.

I had trouble with the weak 3.3v rail on a modern 550W PSU while running an nForce2 board with the P4 connector. I think the Ti4200 card might have been primarily to blame though. It was later changed to a Radeon 9800 Pro, I have no idea whether the modern PSU would have gotten along better with that card.
The best PSU I found for that machine turned out to be an old 300W. It handled everything with perfect voltages and kept going for years. However, I think it's possible that if not for the particular video card involved, maybe the modern PSU would have worked just as well.

Which particular model of Seasonic 360W are we talking about?

I hold firm that a slightly more powerful unit would be in your best interests, despite the overwhelming rabble to the contrary.

The Seasonic's 360W should be more than enough for a AXP system. On full load a XP 2600 + any AGP card (standard models) consumption won't be more than 250W, and that's for a complete system (2 RAM sticks, one optical drive, two HDDs, some fans).

If the mobo have a P4 aux plug there's no need to worry about 3.3/5V rails.

I've run a Athlon 64 X2 5400 + GeForce 8600 GT on a Seasonic 300W for years. If it's a 12v motherboard, a 360W should have no problem with a Athlon XP 2700 + midrange video card.

The main issue with a low power unit I think is lack of flexibility if you need something more powerful at some point, and the potential for more noise because the fan may spin up with less load than with a bigger PSU. Moving to a bigger PSU isn't exactly a pricey proposition so that's another angle to consider.

At one time I did not really think what PSU I had in a system with a Asus Canterwood board. I switched to a P4 EE 3.4, ghetto mounted a waterblock and clocked it to 4GHz to do some benching with an ATI X1950 Pro. Some drama did occur like the pump getting disconnected but in the end I got all the benchmarks I needed. When I was done I noticed that the old 300W Chieftec PSU in that system was rated at 14-15 Amps on the 12v line 😀

Just to be clear 14-15 Amps on the 12v line is not enough even for a stock P4 3.4 EE and an ATI X1950 Pro, dont run a system like that with such a weak PSU because it should burn... but it diddnt.

For an Athlon XP and a sub 50W video card a 300W PSU with enough power on the important line, in this case 12V is more than enough.

TELVM wrote:

Which particular model of Seasonic 360W are we talking about?

This one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16817151117

^ Thats a Seasonic-G 360, top-notch small wattage PSU.

Independent regulation with DC-DC for the minor +5V & +3.3V rails, and jap caps (Chemicon & Rubycon) all over.

If you don't mind the price you can't do much better.

Skyscraper wrote:

... Just to be clear 14-15 Amps on the 12v line is not enough even for a stock P4 3.4 EE and an ATI X1950 Pro, dont run a system like that with such a weak PSU because it should burn... but it diddnt ...

This measly 10A rectifier on the +12V rail ...

... managed to power a P4 Preshott HT 3.0 + FX5200 system for eight years without fireworks 😲 . Secondary rectifying diodes aren't that easy to kill.

On the other hand the '13007' primary main switchers in same PSU tipically explode at about ~250W DC draw (exploding primary switchers video).

TELVM wrote:

^ Thats a Seasonic-G 360, top-notch small wattage PSU. […]
Show full quote

^ Thats a Seasonic-G 360, top-notch small wattage PSU.

Independent regulation with DC-DC for the minor +5V & +3.3V rails, and jap caps (Chemicon & Rubycon) all over.

If you don't mind the price you can't do much better.

Yep, I'm considering one for my main rig as well. I only run a GTX750 (I don't play demanding games). JohnnyGuru done a review on this particular model and praised it.

Private_Ops wrote:

... I'm considering one for my main rig as well. I only run a GTX750 (I don't play demanding games) ...

^ Wise words. Most people would never pay such money for a 'just 360W', and that's why PSU makers offer relatively few quality low wattage models (they just don't sell).

Me, I'd choose a quality 360W like the Seasonic G over any piece of junk with a fake '500W' label any time.

And just for the record, Gabriel Torres over revved a G-360 to 123% (443W DC = 513W AC from the wall) @ 44ºC ambient temp 😵 and it didn't miss a beat. 😎

I remember review sites showing a 6800 Ultra with a P4 3.2EE running on 350W quality PSU's back in 2004, and that quality is nothing compared to current quality so yea no worries.