Can I hook all this to a M1 or M2?

Maheriano · 05-29-2008, 03:58 PM

I have a M1 but might win an Ebay bid on a M2 tonight. Either way, I'm currently running a Xenarc 700TSV touchscreen, Holux 213 GPS, Madcatz bluetooth keypad and thumb drive on my M1. I want to add a slot load DVD drive as well as a USB sound card which would of course require a hub. I'm guessing I would need to power the hub as neither the M1 nor M2 would be able to handle the load, is this correct? What are my best options for powering it? I hear people talking about $1 converters and transistors but nobody provides explanations or links.

I searched. Hard.

Stealth915 · 05-30-2008, 05:43 PM

The best way to figure out whether it will work would be to calculate the current draw on each power rail and see if the total is within the max limits of your PSU.

Your Xenarc is rated at <8W @ 12V, so it will draw (8W/12V) = 0.67 amps on your 12V line.
Look up the specs on everything you need to power and add them up. Hard drives and Optical drives usually have their power draws listed on them, but for the rest you'll have to dig up the data sheets. Motherboard power ratings get tricky, because their max power draw virtually never happens. The Intel D201GLY2 mobo I'm using is rated at over 180W total, but that is assuming the PCI card is drawing the max allowed current, and that all 6 USB ports are fully loaded as well. I've been told the D201GLY2 doesn't go over 40W, so I feel good about using an M2 for it plus all my peripherals.

JimmyFitz · 05-30-2008, 11:22 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Maheriano

I have a M1 but might win an Ebay bid on a M2 tonight. Either way, I'm currently running a Xenarc 700TSV touchscreen, Holux 213 GPS, Madcatz bluetooth keypad and thumb drive on my M1. I want to add a slot load DVD drive as well as a USB sound card which would of course require a hub. I'm guessing I would need to power the hub as neither the M1 nor M2 would be able to handle the load, is this correct? What are my best options for powering it? I hear people talking about $1 converters and transistors but nobody provides explanations or links.

I searched. Hard.

I have run a similar system with those same items off an M1. Here are some numbers that may help:

Xenarc 700TSV uses about 1A at 12V
Slim DVD drive uses about 1.5 A at 5V
laptop drive uses up to about 1A at 5V
Madcatz reciever, BT dongle, GPS, and thumb drive are 5V and probably negligible amounts of current

Sound card depends on model

A hub will only give up to .5A on any one port. Power the hub from your PS molex drive connector (red wire) to be able to get that on multiple ports simultaneously. Also, power your DVD drive from the PS (same red wire will do) and your touchscreen from the PS molex drive connector (yellow wire). Use a meter to verify correct voltage before plugging stuff in.