120 power supply

**hot_98_civic** · 06-06-2005, 02:53 AM

i just finished making a cable to power my screen with the computers power supply, and just noticed it was only 120 watts. the pc is a compaq deskpro En. would it be ok to connect the screen to the power supply, the motorized in-dash screen only uses 8 - 12 watts (i read it on digitalww)?

i used the wattage calculator on jscustompcs.com and it came up with 153 watts just for what i have in it now, that doesent seem right when the power supply is only 120 watts, does it?

**fuctup** · 06-06-2005, 03:46 AM

whats your pc got in it?

**hot_98_civic** · 06-06-2005, 03:50 AM

its a pentium 3 733mhz i believe, 128mb ram (2 64's), 15gb hdd, cd-rw, soundblaster pci 128 soundcard, everything else is onboard

**04slammeds10** · 06-06-2005, 10:26 AM

Your power supply should have a MAX output located on the label on the side. It should show the voltage and amps for each color wire(eg.-5,-12,+12,etc.). Common Max output loads for PSU's are 300, 350, 400, and some 550(there are also lower outputs as well these are just common). As long as you dont exceed that max output labeled you should be ok. The only concern I would have is making sure your screen won't be over powered(amp wise). If you are wondering how a 120 power supply can put out more wattage then it takes in just google "how a power supply works" that should explain most of it.