My pc is fixed but still need suggestions

[toru310]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

Burners are pretty much the same in terms of power usage, so you only have to account for the additional one your putting in. There is a slight difference between SATA and IDE but its negligible. 30w for each drive is a generous estimate
I have a ECS 7300gt as well, from what I recall it needs around 100w-120w or so, (this is at peak performance). Usually manufacturers recomend a PSU of 350W or more, if you plan on using a Nvidia 7series.
Card reader? Is it a PCI or a USB one? Doesn't really make a difference as a generous estimate would be 10w Max. (More like 3or4w in reality but better to over estimate than under).
External HDD? Is it powered by the USB (usually 2.5") or is it powered by mains power? (usually 3.5"). If it's mains powered you don't need to take it into account as it doesn't draw power from your PSU. But again if it's powered by USB it's not going to take a lot of wattage to power that thing. 5-10w max.

But for a more accurate estimate check your PM.

Well my PSU is 550w so I think I have enough power and some extra..I have a question if you replaced the dvd burner and added a dvd rom and a card reader will it overload the power supply?

[hobbes_fan]

Originally Posted by Migufuchi Fusutsu

Well my PSU is 550w so I think I have enough power and some extra..I have a question if you replaced the dvd burner and added a dvd rom and a card reader will it overload the power supply?

so in effect you'll still have one DVD Drive? plus a card reader? Nah that won't make much difference. But If you mean you will have 2 DVD drives and a card reader, your wattage requirements jump about 20 w or so.
Anyway a PM has been sent
here's a more accurate and up to date calculator for those interested

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

[Ledgem]

A blackout will not short your PSU. It won't short anything, the only problem it may cause to your computer is if it's on, your software might be upset at being powered off unexpectedly. Brownouts are similar, except that it may not strain your software, but everything will slow down (hardware-wise). It's possible that it could cause damage, but very unlikely.

The real damage comes from power surges. This is why surge protectors are huge business. Aside from expanding your power ports (probably the main reason why people get them), it guards against those surges. I live in an area where lightning occurs frequently, and I lost about three dial-up modems to power surges. The reason wasn't from the power lines, though, but (I suspect) from the phone line, which I did not have wired through a surge protector.

Keep every electronic that you can behind a surge protector. But a surge protector will not guard against blackouts, nor will blackouts cause damage. If you're having issues with blackouts, get a UPC (uninterruptible power supply). It's basically a big old battery, and depending on its power rating it can keep your system going for another 15 minutes before shutting it down. Its real use comes if you're in an area that experiences brief blackouts/brownouts at high frequency.

[toru310]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

A blackout will not short your PSU. It won't short anything, the only problem it may cause to your computer is if it's on, your software might be upset at being powered off unexpectedly. Brownouts are similar, except that it may not strain your software, but everything will slow down (hardware-wise). It's possible that it could cause damage, but very unlikely.

The real damage comes from power surges. This is why surge protectors are huge business. Aside from expanding your power ports (probably the main reason why people get them), it guards against those surges. I live in an area where lightning occurs frequently, and I lost about three dial-up modems to power surges. The reason wasn't from the power lines, though, but (I suspect) from the phone line, which I did not have wired through a surge protector.

Keep every electronic that you can behind a surge protector. But a surge protector will not guard against blackouts, nor will blackouts cause damage. If you're having issues with blackouts, get a UPC (uninterruptible power supply). It's basically a big old battery, and depending on its power rating it can keep your system going for another 15 minutes before shutting it down. Its real use comes if you're in an area that experiences brief blackouts/brownouts at high frequency.

Wow know thats handy...
Question, If theres a blackout, brownout will it still have 15mins of battery?? I mean theres no electricity for the whole house..

[SeijiSensei]

Yes, that's their purpose, to provide electricity to the computer in the event the mains go offline.

Most UPSs come with software that monitors the UPS. You can configure the software to shut the PC down after a period of power loss, say five or ten minutes. That way the PC can be turned off gracefully.

[hobbes_fan]

wrong thread delete

[WanderingKnight]

A blackout will not short your PSU. It won't short anything, the only problem it may cause to your computer is if it's on, your software might be upset at being powered off unexpectedly. Brownouts are similar, except that it may not strain your software, but everything will slow down (hardware-wise). It's possible that it could cause damage, but very unlikely.

The real damage comes from power surges. This is why surge protectors are huge business. Aside from expanding your power ports (probably the main reason why people get them), it guards against those surges. I live in an area where lightning occurs frequently, and I lost about three dial-up modems to power surges. The reason wasn't from the power lines, though, but (I suspect) from the phone line, which I did not have wired through a surge protector.

Keep every electronic that you can behind a surge protector. But a surge protector will not guard against blackouts, nor will blackouts cause damage. If you're having issues with blackouts, get a UPC (uninterruptible power supply). It's basically a big old battery, and depending on its power rating it can keep your system going for another 15 minutes before shutting it down. Its real use comes if you're in an area that experiences brief blackouts/brownouts at high frequency.

Just to mention, the other day my friend got his motherboard burned (along with his processor, PSU, RAM and video card) after a brownout... When the voltage came back the machine went buh-bye. I was really impressed, since it's the first time I hear about something like this happening, and to such extent. Then again, this friend of mine is really prone to getting the weirdest problems... It's like he has an immense amount of bad luck regarding PCs.

[arcadeplayer987]

lol some people are just unlucky

[Furuno]

Originally Posted by Migufuchi Fusutsu

Wow know thats handy...
Question, If theres a blackout, brownout will it still have 15mins of battery?? I mean theres no electricity for the whole house..

Well it depends on the UPS itself (the battery capacity) and your computer loads. If you're running heavy loads on your computer while using UPS it won't last long (mine can only stands for around 4min) but if you're just idling, or doing minor tasks it can last even longer...

[Ledgem]

To expand on what furuno said, it depends on two things: the rating of the battery (some batteries have a higher capacity than others), and the power draw of your system. If you're playing a hard-core game and your system is a Pentium 4, you're going to eat through your UPS very quickly. If you have a low-power system, it'll last much longer.

It's really no different than a laptop, really. Why do some laptops have better battery life than others? Energy efficiency. This is a battery, but for your main computer. On top of considering all of your system's power draw, you may also want to consider your monitor. If you look at the power ratings of a UPS unit and see what the time estimates are, they usually make an estimate based off of your computer's PSU and (for some) what type of monitor you're using. LCDs use less power than CRTs, but larger monitors draw more power than smaller ones.

The UPS should only support your computer and possibly your monitor. Speakers and other extraneous devices (printer, etc.) shouldn't be used with it, unless they're absolutely critical components. The point of the PSU isn't to let you play around while the power's out, but to keep your system up long enough to be shut down gracefully, as SeijiSensei said.

[toru310]

Well I guess its is much better than gettin a surge or even worse a broken pc. Any brands names that can be trusted?

[Ledgem]

I don't think that brands are terribly important. For surge protectors I buy APC and Belkin, but those are the two that are usually available to me. For UPC units, I've only really seen APC. Note that UPS units can get pretty pricey, especially if you want a very high-capacity one.

[Furuno]

Just check the guarantee, if the product is guarated for short period, i don't think it'd be very dependable. If you have good guarantee than you shouldn't worry for it too much...

[toru310]

I see, well theres a problem with my monitor can you identify this?? May it's the VGA?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9G77rc-J3DM

[Furuno]

That grayish huge line? There's a hige possibilities it's the monitor fault. How old is your monitor?

[WanderingKnight]

That grayish huge line? There's a hige possibilities it's the monitor fault. How old is your monitor?

I think he means the initial, sudden flickering of his screen (it's really difficult to notice, it's right at the beginning of the video). That gray line is actually a consequence of the difference of refresh rate between the monitor and the refresh rate the camera can afford to catch, if I'm not mistaken. It's normal to see this whenever you videotape a video output device (I don't know if this is the case with LCD).

But yeah, that flickering can mean an old monitor. I have an old one thrown around somewhere that used to do something similar, too, whenever the screen was filled with a lot of white.

[Furuno]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

I think he means the initial, sudden flickering of his screen (it's really difficult to notice, it's right at the beginning of the video). That gray line is actually a consequence of the difference of refresh rate between the monitor and the refresh rate the camera can afford to catch, if I'm not mistaken. It's normal to see this whenever you videotape a video output device (I don't know if this is the case with LCD).

Oh soo, i don't see that since ...well... you know youtube...

Anyway, if that's the case, my old monitor have something similiar like this, i've repaired it but it wasn't last long (just around 1 week), so i think buying a new one is much efficient.

[toru310]

Well the monitor is only 2years old...

And the problem was the monitor is like widening..and it hurts the eye..

I'll be uploading later another one with rapid widening action..

[WanderingKnight]

And the problem was the monitor is like widening..and it hurts the eye..

Try loading a black page, and tell me what you see.

[toru310]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Try loading a black page, and tell me what you see.

When you say black page do mean not to connect it to the VGA just in test mode??

@hobbes_fan Question regarding upgrading...Well lets say I got the dvd burner and rom and the 7300gt/gs VGA and finally the internal card reader? Can I still ad fans? a big one on the side and a small one at the back? because I know with that much equipment the pc will burn up..

With a fan with this size at the side.

Spoiler: