I wonder if you've stumbled on a board that needs high 3.3V Amps... that's the only thing I see different, the LC I found had 28A 3.3 and the 850 and the 650 I checked only had 20A.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I doubt this is the solution.
The LC indeed has 28A, but the Raptoxx only has 18.0A at 3.3V and that seems to work flawless.

I had issues with a few older ATX boards that any new PSU just would not work, had to do with the ATX12v spec (not a missing -12v or -5v, and not because of 3.3 or 5v amps)
the boards expected to run on 1.x or early 2.0 spec and any newer PSU above spec 2.03 would not power it up.
It is rare but happens. Your old PSU and the Rapto are both ATX spec 2.2 or less from what I can find. The SSP-650RS is ATX12V v2.3, Corsair CS650M is 2.3 or 2.4, Seasonic Prime 850W is also 2.3 or 2.4.
Not saying that is your issue but it was mine..

Now that is an interesting finding.
Do you know of a method to determine the ATX spec for a specific PSU?
I would love to test if your discovered problem applies to this board as well.

On which boards did you encounter this problem?
Perhaps we can see a pattern that causes this compatibility issue.

Today I had a friend over with a different PSU.
It was a corsair CX600M which worked on this board!
According to the corsair site this PSU is ATX v2.3 which doesn't really help me a lot for determining which PSU I should get...

Hi,
Have you found a PSU that works for this board?

I think that even the CX600M has different versions and I have no idea which one you used.

Thanks.

By the way, are you powering up the board all on it's own with these tests? I am wondering if you aren't actually presenting enough load for the PSUs to turn on. I know when I'm testing stuff with random PSU, I always have a HDD plugged into the drive connectors to make sure the PSU wants to start up.

I bought an Asus P4S533-E recapped from eBay and it doesn't seem to work with the PSU I had intended to use with it an older Corsair TX650M (already had it). I tried it with the DVD drive, floppy drive and some molex fans plugged in and an SSD. The board powers up, fans spin, but no beeps and no post.

I have a Corsair RM750x that I can try, but I doubt it will work if the TX650M didn't.

I have a Thermaltake TR2-500 ATX 2.0 (which worked great for me in the past but lots of posted online that it's not a good PSU) and an Enermax Coolergiant 430w ATX 1.3 (it's such a weird PSU, it has SATA, 4 PIN CPU power and what look like AT power plugs), a cheapo under 20$ new Segotep PSU (which strangely says that it has 35A on the +12V) and an old cheap looking~200w PSU that has 20pin ATX and a 6 pin connector (wonder what it's for, it can't be for PCI-E, can it?), but no 4 pin.

I can also pull a Seasonic Core GX-500 that is brand new from another system to test it out. But again, I doubt it will work.

The seller I got the board for said that he tested it with a Voodoo 5 on an OCZ 550w PSU.

I'll test to see which of the PSUs I have work with this board. I'll post on here what I manage to find out.

I think that the Thermaltake or the Enermax should work, but I want something new with better protection.

P.S. the attachments are not my pics but it's what the PSUs in question look like

I bought a CX750M since it had the same SKU-number as the generation for the working CX600M.
Unfortunately that PSU looked different (grey instead of green logo) and had the same issue 🙁
So the CX series currently for sale has been updated and is no longer compatible with this board.
Therefore I am still looking for a new compatible PSU.

@TheWeekendSLice: do you get the same error as I get? You can actually hear it if you connect a headphone or speaker to the green connector of the on-board audio (silly feature from Asus on this board).
For what I could discover online, is that many people were having similar issues with early versions of the P4S533 and different PSU's.
They solved it by RMA'ing the board and getting a new one that works.
If this was a bug with early revisions of the p4s533, I would imagine it would have been fixed in the P4S533-E since it is newer.

@BitWrangler: thanks for the suggestion, but I have exactly the same devices connected with both the working and non-working power supplies, so I doubt adding a HDD will make a big difference.

Oh, I didn't connect anything to the on board audio output. I only plugged in a speaker to the header on the motherboard.

My success so far is minimal. Basically with the TX650M everything powers on, but the speaker doesn't beep and there's no post

With the Thermaltake TR2-500, sometimes it posts, sometimes it doesn't and a few times it didn't power on, the fans spun up for a quick second and then nothing.

With the Enermax Coolergiant, it posted a few times, while a few other times it didn't post.

With the Thermaltake and the Enermax when it all powers up, the speaker beeps once even if there's no post.

I am waiting for a VGA to HDMI converter (the Atlona HD-500 (used) that has been discussed on this forum and which was also sold under the Startech brand, but there it has been replaced by a less DOS compatible model) to see if maybe the monitor I have with a VGA input just doesn't like the Voodoo 3 VGA input signal.

The build I'm going for is a Pentium 4 2.0 with a Voodoo 3 2000 . This why I got this board, it has universal AGP & 4 pin CPU power connector. The seller says that he has tested the board with a Voodoo 5. Again, he didn't give me an exact model, but he used an OCZ 550w PSU (obviously discontinued).

I also tested to see if it works with a Riva TNT2 (I think it's a 2) and I get the same behavior.

I actually have 2 of these boards. One which I bought sold as new old stock (aka never used) and one which has been completely recapped (the one the seller tested withe the Voodoo 5 & OCZ 550w PSU).

I have another board with the same chipset made by ECS but which doesn't have the 4 pin CPU power connector, nor a molex connector on the board for 12v power. That board posted just fine with the Voodoo 3. However it also didn't work with the Corsair TX650M, which I had expected.

The ECS board came with a Lite-ON PSU which is weird. I mentioned above that it has a 6 pin power connector (at least I think it's a power connector) which I have no idea what it's for. Unfortunately the layout of the Asus board makes it impossible to plug that 6 pin connector into the 4 pin CPU power connector and I don't even know if they're compatible. Also this Lite-ON PSU seems to have a really low power output, it says 130w DC output on it.

I will retest the PSUs that I have when I get that VGA to HDMI converter delivered (except for the TX650M, that one clearly doesn't work).

Again, strange behavior of this board with all of the PSUs I have. Even on the Thermaltake (ATX 2.0) and Enermax (ATX 1.3) which should work it sometimes doesn't post. Either with everything plugged in or with nothing but the board power (ATX & 4 pin) plugged in.

If you can share the serial/SKU number of the CX750M you have, maybe I'll find one used it new old stock or something. I'd still trust that PSU over the ones I have. Could be wrong in thinking this though.

While I did build and tinker with PCs around the time when these components were new, I don't remember much from the era and I had little information about what was a good or bad component at the time. It feels weird that while I can put together a modern/current PC without much issue, I find myself stumped by some of the issues with older PCs. I never had any source of info back then on what to do so the finer details were lost on me. Feels weird not knowing things and I would say it's part of the fun, but it gets expensive really fast which sucks.

Edit: oh damn, I just saw that the CX 750M you bought didn't work. Damn. Well, the hunt for a PSU continues.

Oh and if anyone can recommend a good aftermarket socket 478 cooler, I'd appreciate it, new or old. I remember that the Pentium 4s got really hot with their stock coolers.

Update

The seller sent me a (not perfect) pic of the OCZ 550w PSU he used.

Looks like it's the OCZ-ZS550W which seems to have been rated 80+ Bronze. However I don't know if there were multiple versions sold under that name like there are for Corsair PSUs.

I also don't know if it's a good PSU worth picking up used.

I haven't yet found the specs for it (ATX version, power output, etc)

I found a local listing for a 550w Fatal1ty branded OCZ PSU but I don't know if it's identical or not with the one in the picture specs wise, it looks different (different colors).

Found this for the specs. Another website says it's made by Firepower
https://icecat.biz/p/toshiba/ocz-zs550w-eu/po … u-17208829.html

The Fatal1ty branded one I found is the OCZ550FTY and I found this page that says it's also made by Firepower:
https://app.siliconexpert.com/parts/partdetai … echnology,--Inc
And according to this page it has different specs to the ZS550w model
https://www.cnet.com/products/ocz-fatal1ty-oc … upply-550-watt/
It's listed as being ATX 2.2

So they have different specs.
The local listing for the Fatal1ty one is cheap and I think I might just get it and try it.

Edit: i found some info on Firepower PSUs
https://web.archive.org/web/20201202122104/ht … -this-750w-psu/

long time ago was PSU maker that ruled the roost who called themselves PC Power & Cooling, charging a premium over the competition but being worth every penny. As the markets changed PCP&P found themselves lagging and so an apparently successful company called OCZ purchased them wholesale and begat their own line of PSUs. Sadly all was not as it seemed at OCZ, the deals they offered were indeed too good to be true and to survive they had to amputate some portions of themselves and sell them. The PSU portion, including the patents, was sold in 2014 to a new company which called themselves Firepower Technology

A 750w Fatal1ty branded PSU was found to be

the same design as a SilverStone ST75F-GS V2

If anyone has any thoughts, let me know. 😀

Update:
Bought the OCZ Fatal1ty 550W and it doesn't work. I plugged in headphones to the onboard audio and I get the system failed cpu test error mentioned above.

Either there were multiple versions of the OCZ550FTY PSU or it's completely different from the OCZ ZS550SW PSU that the board seller confirmed to work with the board L, but the one I have doesn't work.
I've attached a picture of the OCZ550FTY PSU I bought so that you can see the specs, etc. Based on what I found online it's supposed to be an ATX 2.2 PSU.

I re-tried the Thermaltake TR2-500 PSU and with more things plugged in and it seems to work. That PSU is ATX 2.0 (it's written on it). I posted a pic of that PSU (not my pic) above. The reason why I wanted a different PSU than the Thermaltake is that I've seen people online day they weren't good PSUs (though this one worked great for me when I used it back in the day (bought it new)) and it doesn't have any 80+ rating.

I'm out 25$ for the OCZ550FTY I bought, but hey I have a working extra PSU.

I also found listings for some Corsair CX600 PSUs and one CX600M. Maybe one of them would work? Not inclined to risk it as much with buying these as they are pricey , from 60+ USD and up. Attached are screenshots from the ads.

I might just use the Thermaltake I have and call it a day and stop spending money.

Update: I pulled the PSU from my Socket 775 system, tried it with the Socket 478 system, the Asus board and it works!

The PSU is a Super Flower 600w model that I bought new in 2016. Super Flower is not that known by itself, but they have been the manufacturer behind a lot of well reviewed, quality PSUs sold under different brands. I'd definitely trust this PSU vs the Thermaltake one. And mine has only been very lightly and very little used, so I am good with this outcome

I don't know if anyone would still be able to find this model of PSU, but I have attached a picture of the model name and specs.

Also, Be Quiet! and Seasonic have PSU calculators on their websites. I can't seem to access the Seasonic on on mobile, but on the Be Quiet! one I input my socket 478 system specs and it did provide some results.

The thing is that I can't be sure if the PSUs recommended by Be Quiet! from that calculator are in any way compatible with this Asus board.

Oh and I can confirm that the Seasonic Core GC-500 does not work with this motherboard. I bought this PSU brand new 1-2 months ago.

Now I have to redo my PCs in the hope that I have compatible PSUs for all of them.

Edit: here's a review of the Super Flower PSU, it's by a user and not all of it in English so no idea if the review can be trusted or not
https://www.mygarage.ro/teste-si-review-uri/3 … sf-600r12a.html

TheWeekendSlice wrote on 2021-08-19, 15:51:

I bought an Asus P4S533-E recapped from eBay and it doesn't seem to work with the PSU I had intended to use with it an older Corsair TX650M (already had it). I tried it with the DVD drive, floppy drive and some molex fans plugged in and an SSD. The board powers up, fans spin, but no beeps and no post.
...

You say the board powers up, fans spin but no beeps and no post.
Have you tried this, with the board powered up, fans spinning, no beeps and no post, press and release the reset button.

Great find on the superflower PSU!

TheWeekendSlice wrote on 2021-08-20, 10:12:

Oh and if anyone can recommend a good aftermarket socket 478 cooler, I'd appreciate it, new or old. I remember that the Pentium 4s got really hot with their stock coolers.

To answer your question, I recently tested 3 interesting heatsinks on another board with an Intel Pentium 4 478 Prescott 3,4 Ghz CPU which gets a lot hotter than any northwood cpu you might consider for the P4S533-E.
The Prescott's are known to be the hottest running Pentium 4's and when you see the results you understand why. 😉
Since the P4S533-E doesn't support Prescott Pentium's you will probably not need extreme cooling.

The heatsinks I tested were:

-Stock intel cooler
-Zalman CNPS7500-CU
-Scythe Mugen 2

My results were:

Intel idle: 64 C
Zalman idle: 60 C
Mugen idle: 56 C

Intel load: 85 C
Zalman load: 75 C
Mugen Load: 65 C

The Scythe mugen 2 is quite easy and affordable to find on the second hand market, but you need to check if it fits in your case since it's HUGE (also check with the seller if the socket 478 mounting stuff is included as well).
Since the Mugen uses a standard 12CM fan it is easy to replace if the original fan is worn out.
I am not enterily sure if it fits the P4S533-E, but Jackhead uses it in his build with the same motherboard (more info including pics: Re: Voodoo 5500 Socket 478 Win98SE Project )

The Zalman is hard(er) to find, and won't fit with the P4S533-E without modding it since the caps above the CPU are in the way.

The Intel should be easy to obtain, and is probably enough to cool a 2 Ghz Northwood CPU.

Before TheWeekendSlice joined this post I ordered a P4S533-E, hoping this board wouldn't have the same issue as the P4S533 since it's newer.
After seeing the troubles TheWeekendSlice had I already started to fear this would not be a solution.
Today itfinally arrived, and I can confirm it has exactly the same issue 🙁

Here are some pictures of the CX600M that did work on the P4S533.

I contacted both Corsair and Seasonic to ask if they have any power supplies that are still ATX 2.3 specced.
All of their Consumer power supplies are at least ATX 2.4 spec.

However Seasonic also has an industrial line of power supplies.
According to their support team, both the ET2 and ES2 series are ATX 2.3 (RS is not ATX 2.3 spec).
So I ordered a SSP-600ET2 connected it to the P4S533-E and it worked immediatly!
Since this PSU is industrial, it is louder then any modern consumer PSU, not modular and not in black, but it works perfect for this old board!
Really happy I can finally complete my build 😁

Interesting.
Looking up, I found that ATX 2.4 seems to have added a minimum load requirement to -12V, which might cause problems on older stuff.

And congrats to getting an industrial-grade Seasonic.
Because, only reading names like "Cörsäïr", "ÖCZ", "Thërmältäkë" makes me want to skip over, this stuff imho belongs into the trash, not worthy to put on the test bench.
I had an Enermax Coolergiant (somewhere 4xx 5xx watts, optics the same like in your photo) on my test bench once. Had a bit too much ripple for my taste, so I discarded it (not worth the hassle of recapping due to the utterly cramped inside).