I found a new PSU that has 30A on the +5V rail:

StarTech ATXPOWER300

I use an AT StarTech PSU for my P200 and I have no complaints. I have no idea if this ATX PSU is any good, but it would probably meet your needs.

There is also a 400W version with 30A on the +5V rail.

Thanks 😀 I've built a list of possible PSU's to get. I'm thinking the tiny supply in my case is pushing it to power the HDD's. Mainly because sometimes there's a long pause in detecting the IDE drives. By long, I mean about 4-5 minutes. I usually power off then back on, and it goes faster the second time. Other times, it will miss a drive on the detect. Again, I'll power off then back on and it will catch it the second time. If it was the same drive every time, I'd suspect a drive trying to go out. But it doesn't, I've had the IDE go undetected (not a problem, as the driver catches it later anyways.) But sometimes it's one of the hard drives, and that is a bit problematical, as that drive won't be available.

On a similar note. I had a power outage earlier, and discovered a missing BIOS parameter that I hadn't noticed before. Pre-Powerleap BIOS, I could set it to either stay off after a power loss, come on after, or return to the previous state. Now, that setting is gone, and the system comes on after power is restored. I prefer to use previous state, or just stay off if that isn't available 🙁 Oh well, don't thing I can do anything about it.

I'll probably be getting a PSU on the 3rd (when I get my check.) Maybe the 1st depending on expenses between now and then. Now that I know what I'm actually looking for, I have a host of choices 😀 I'm also planning on getting a Cross-Flow fan. I have an extra case fan somewhere. If it's big enough, I might see about using the slot cover hack to set it up to blow down on the Voodoo cards 😀

FeedingDragon wrote:

...... Anyways, what's in my system now: […]
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......
Anyways, what's in my system now:

Gigabyte GA-6BXC Motherboard (Modified for high current AGP 2x cards)
512MB PC100 RAM (1x256MB + 2x128MB)
Celeron 1.4Ghz CPU (100Mhz FSB) w/Powerleap PL-iP3/T Adapter
Voodoo 3 3500 TV 16MB AGP
Voodoo 1 4MBB PCI
2x Voodoo 2 12MB SLI PCI
Generic 10/100/1000 NIC PCI
MPU-401AT ISA with SCB-55 Daughterboard ISA
SoundBlaster AWE32 with 32MB (28MB usable) ISA
1.2M 5.25" Floppy Drive
1.44M 3.5" Floppy Drive
BenQ DW1670 DVD-ROM Drive (Reads all Non-HD Formats)
3x 40GB 7200 RPM ATA-66 Hard Drives

Am I wrong in assuming that the 300W PSU won't be enough if I really push the system? .....

I can only talk from my experience, not from extensive knowledge, but here is the system a regular cheap and old Aopen (rebranded FSP) 300W PSU drives:

Intel Pentium III 1000 (coppermine) at 133 FSB
Gigabyte GA-6VXE7+ 1GB RAM (512MB x 2 Kingston PC133 SDRAM)
Matrox Millenium II 4MB PCI + 8MB Add-on
3Dfx Voodoo 3 3000 16MB AGP
3Dfx Voodoo 2 12MB PCI in SLI
Sound Blaster AWE64 Value CT4520 ISA + SIMMCONN + 32MB 72 pin SIMM
Adaptec AHA-29160 PCI SCSI
Surecom EP-325 Realtek 8029AS PCI NIC
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 30GB ATA
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 30GB ATA
Samsung SpinPoint V40+ 40GB ATA
Maxtor Atlas 10K V 73GB SCSI
Maxtor Atlas 10K V 73GB SCSI
Maxtor Atlas 15K II 73GB SCSI
Fujitsu MAP3367NP 36GB SCSI
Seagate ST33607LW 36GB SCSI
3.5" Mitsumi 1.44MB
5.25" Teac 1.2MB
LG GSA4040B DVD-RW IDE
HP Surestore DAT8 Tape Backup
2x very high flow rate 120mm case fans (sounds like turbofans)
Standard PS/2 keyboard and old Microsoft USB mouse
MS Precision Pro gameport joystick.
External SCSI DVD-RW (though it has its own PSU)

So, you might not need to shell out some more for a PSU that is maybe not really needed.

I... I... I can only say dayum. I thought my system was a bit of a power hog. Well, for the era, that is. My modern system (i5) had to get a 1200W supply installed (the 800W just didn't cover it.) But that's a totally different league from my P3.

I don't know if you looked at the pics I linked in a previous post, but this PSU is a tiny little thing. The best I can make out on the 20 year old faded label looks like 10A on the +5 line. The 300W supply linked above supplies 30A. If 10 can "barely" cover my 6 devices, then 30 should cover your 12 with ease. Of course, I could be reading this wrong, I'm basically guessing at what the indentations look like 🙁 It could say 15 or 20 for all I know. I just know that the drives don't always spin up in a timely manner when I turn it on.

All that's left is how much the cards draw through the MB. All I know is that the AGP card draws 4-5A on the 3.3V line. I guess I really should check what a PCI & an ISA card draw as well. Looking at the PSU's I've been researching I can get one that supplies plenty to all lines. A 300 or even a 350 PSU with a good strong peripheral supply runs around $20, if I do some shopping around. So it isn't a big issue. Of course, after talking (typing???) over the heat issue, This beast actually looks interesting 😈 And it's only $20 more than a good 300W PSU.

I will return back to you after I checked the specks from the afore mentioned PSU.

FeedingDragon wrote:

I... I... I can only say dayum. I thought my system was a bit of a power hog. Well, for the era, that is. My modern system (i5) had to get a 1200W supply installed (the 800W just didn't cover it.) But that's a totally different league from my P3.

I don't know if you looked at the pics I linked in a previous post, but this PSU is a tiny little thing. The best I can make out on the 20 year old faded label looks like 10A on the +5 line. The 300W supply linked above supplies 30A. If 10 can "barely" cover my 6 devices, then 30 should cover your 12 with ease. Of course, I could be reading this wrong, I'm basically guessing at what the indentations look like 🙁 It could say 15 or 20 for all I know. I just know that the drives don't always spin up in a timely manner when I turn it on.

What?! My i7 + GTX 980 is perfectly fine on a 650W PSU! Most of the time my PSU's fan doesn't even turn on (meaning it is drawing less than 500W according to the manufacturer). You must have some server-grade RAID in there Oo

Anyway, AFAIK HDDs also draw from the 12V line, so in your case you probably need a PSU with a decent 5V line AND a decent 12V line.

FeedingDragon wrote:

I... I... I can only say dayum. I thought my system was a bit of a power hog. Well, for the era, that is. My modern system (i5) had to get a 1200W supply installed (the 800W just didn't cover it.) But that's a totally different league from my P3.

This is also somehow strange IMHO, if you are not using a huge RAID configuration or 2-3 of the top of the line GPUs in it. Again, here is my modern PC. It totally flawlessly run on an Asus 650W PSU (since 2009). I don't know how it compares to your setup:

Core2 Quad Q9550 CPU with stock fan.
Asus P5Q Premium MB
4GB Kingston HyperX 1066 MHz DDR2 RAM
Asus Nvidia GTX 560Ti 1GB GPU
2x 500GB WD SATA2 HDDs (RAID1)
4x 1TB WD SATA3 HDDs (2x RAID1)
Asus 2x SATA3 + 2xUSB3 PCIe I/O Card
Noname 2x Firewire800 PCIe I/O Card
Noname 2x Serial + 1xParallel PCI I/O Card
Pioneer SATA BD RW
Pioneer SATA DVD RW
1.44MB 3.5" FDD Drive
5x 120mm Case Fans (not silent or low power, standard Thermaltake)
USB Multi Card Reader
USB3 4-port Hub
Logitech USB Webcam
MS USB Keyboard (thru KVM switch)
MS USB Mouse (thru KVM switch)
MS Sidewinder X6 Keyboard
MS Sidewinder X4 Mouse
MS Sidewinder USB Joystick

8 HDD's totaling 7 Tb, 2 Radeo R9's, 10 Cooling fans, Blue-Ray burner, and Gaming board. Only reason I went with an i5 instead of an i7 is the price went from $300 to $800 at the time. I had originally put an 800W PSU in it but had issues. So I traded it in on a 1200W and haven't had a problem since. I built the system when I got my settlement and knew it might be a while before I could upgrade it again.

Oh, and 32Gb RAM.

That ePOWER PSU looks really interesting. Sadly, it's big feature of only engaging the fan above 250W is actually a bad idea for some of my older systems. Some of them, like my P200 MMX, have such poor airflow that the PSU fan is a critical component. Yes, I know you can press the button on the PSU so the fan runs all the time. It just defeats the purpose of having such a cool silent PSU.

Nifty silent-running feature aside, its specs look pretty good for most of my legacy machines. Does anybody know anything about this ePOWER brand? Is it any good.

FeedingDragon wrote:

8 HDD's totaling 7 Tb, 2 Radeo R9's, 10 Cooling fans, Blue-Ray burner, and Gaming board. Only reason I went with an i5 instead of an i7 is the price went from $300 to $800 at the time. I had originally put an 800W PSU in it but had issues. So I traded it in on a 1200W and haven't had a problem since. I built the system when I got my settlement and knew it might be a while before I could upgrade it again.

Oh, and 32Gb RAM.

*drools*
Nice system!
Is it loud?

I am not surprised 800W wasn't enough. 2 R9-290s would use over 500W alone.

Not really all that loud actually. As I said, I got it with my settlement, so I got really good fans 😀 My P3 system is much louder.

FeedingDragon:

I found two more options for you:

Just Cooler TT-900 5.25" Front Bay Exhaust
Just Cooler ST-900 3.5" Front Bay Exhaust

They're both available in beige/white. I couldn't find black versions.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the fans can be flipped over so the air flow is reversed.

Thanks again 😀 I've already ordered a Cross-Flow though.

I also settled on the ePower PSU, but I got the EP-400PM model instead of the 450. It was $19 + $6 shipping, and has nearly the same stats:
+3.3V@22A, +5V@30A, +12V1@14A, +12V2@15A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@2.5A

It also has the 6 Peripheral & 2 FDD plugs I was also looking for 😀 3 HDD, 1 DVD, 1 5.25" FDD, that's 5 of the peripheral plugs. The 6th will be shared between the Cross-Flow and the Powerleap. I don't think that will cause a problem. Then 1 of the FDD plugs goes on the 3.5" FDD. Unless by 2 FDD plugs they mean 1 small & 1 large (MOLEX & mini?? MOLEX.) Then the Powerleap & Fan will each have their own plug 😀 That leaves a 4-pin 12V plug, the +4 Plug from the 20+4 ATX, and 2 SATA plugs hanging loose.

Not much left to do with the machine after that. I could up the RAM to 768Mb but don't really see a need. A couple of 256Mb stick to replace the 2 128Mb sticks is only around $10 so I might do it anyways. If I win the lottery or something (would be a neat trick since I don't play,) I might see about getting an Quantum3D Obsidian2 X-24 Single Slot SLI 24 MB Video Card, but with a $700 price tag, it would take something like that to get it right now. I've also been peeking at things like the Quantum3D Obsidian 100SB-4440 card (2 Voodoo 1 SLI - 20MB Single Slot.) But have never actually seen one for sale. Also, I've heard iffy things about compatibility. Would love to have someone put Vetz's Compatibily list to the test with one 😀

I tried to find more info about that brand of PSU. It looks like ToPower and EPower are both the same. Neither of them get terribly bad reviews, but they also don't get glowing reviews either. For the price, it looks like it will be a perfectly acceptable power supply. Where did you order yours from? That's a pretty good price!

Now you've got me reconsidering my PSU choice for my BH6 system. Perhaps I'll grab one of those instead.

Got it from Amazon. Or one of the vendors at least.

Got them in and installed. Was a bit upset at the PSU, it only had 4 expansion & 1 FDD connectors instead of the 6/2 advertised. Also, the +5v current is only 20 amps instead of the 30 advertised. Better than the 12 amps of the old PSU I have, though, and for the price, I'm not going to get too upset over it. Haven't had the HDD's fail to initialize since installing it, so it probably was a PSU issue after all.

The fan is also not "reversible" like one review stated, so it's intake only. It's also not near as loud as the reviews led me to believe. So, I'm happy there as well. Hopefully, everything is good to go. Still debating on whether I want to max out the RAM or not. Don't really see a need for over 512Mb in a Windows 98 system. It won't make a difference in DOS, as the most I can get it to detect is 65Mb anyways. I'm still looking if there are any other memory managers that will work for me. I have to have either 56+ Mb of EMS or no EMS handler at all installed for Blood to work, yet the only EMS handler that allows over 32Mb is QEMM 8+. Though I haven't been doing a lot of looking since I got QEMM up and running.

Well, reversible or not, if you need, you can just open the PSU, unscrew the fan, turn it and screw it again. That should "reverse" it.

alexanrs wrote:

Well, reversible or not, if you need, you can just open the PSU, unscrew the fan, turn it and screw it again. That should "reverse" it.

The fan I was talking about was the Cross-Flow 5.25" bay fan not the PSU fan... With it's design I don't think it can just be turned around. But it should be OK as an intake fan. Even at idle, I was a bit surprised at how hot the Voodoo 3 got, so I'm hoping this will be enough. I'm still giving it some thought. The PSU fan is literally pulling a LOT of air directly over the CPU, so that I a much smaller concern that it used to be. I'm seriously considering cutting an opening in the side panel next to the Voodoos and installing a fan there as well, though.