opus PSU too weak for me?

gummybear · 03-03-2005, 01:46 AM

i've been reading this site for the last two days straight trying to learn about getting a carputer installation going.

i've come to the conclusion that instead of an inverter i'll just fork out more money to get the 150watt opus dc-dc psu.

i'm planning to run an old P3 500mhz computer with 384mb ram, 2 HDD's, 1 DVD player and possible some USB stuff too.

i've searched and used one of those psu calculators, and it comes out to about 200-215watts.

will i be better off getting a stronger PSU with inverter? or will the OPUS be sufficient even though its under my required wattage?

0l33l · 03-03-2005, 02:05 AM

Remove one of the HDs.

mushin · 03-03-2005, 02:08 AM

It may be sufficient - a number of people have claimed to put considerably more than the stated load on the opuses. And your calculation is probably the cumelative peak draws, which you'll probably never actually see. Still I'm not so sure it's such a good idea though, as you risk reduced lifespan of the opus, or spontanious shutdown when say the 3 drives happen to spin up simultaniously.

If I were you, I'd try to stick with the opus (they really are quite nice) but try to trim the consumption side. Do you really need 2 HDDs? Or 384MB of RAM?

gummybear · 03-03-2005, 02:10 AM

i suppose i could cut down the ram to maybe 256.

i was going to use 2 hdd's cause i have 2 40gb hdd's in the computer atm, guess i could go out and buy like a 120gb! possibly have no dvd drive for the moment too.

DarquePervert · 03-03-2005, 06:57 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by gummybear

i suppose i could cut down the ram to maybe 256.

i was going to use 2 hdd's cause i have 2 40gb hdd's in the computer atm, guess i could go out and buy like a 120gb! possibly have no dvd drive for the moment too.

What kind of video card?
Higher-end 3D cards can draw a substantial amount of juice....

RedGTiVR6 · 03-03-2005, 07:00 AM

finding a place to put 2 hds might be a little difficult, or have you already test fit everything where you know you want it?

I would just go and get one drive honnestly...

J187 · 03-03-2005, 07:49 AM

unless you wanted the 2 HDD for a raid array, I'd say get one single drive. Drives are gonna command a decent amount of that power, 20w+ for 7200rpm.

gummybear · 03-03-2005, 03:32 PM

using an nvidia gf 4mx. don't think it'll chew up too much power, if not i'll go down to the OLD 3dfx voodoo 3 agp. lol

yeh and i'll stick to 1 hdd.

KaiTech · 03-04-2005, 11:07 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by gummybear

using an nvidia gf 4mx. don't think it'll chew up too much power, if not i'll go down to the OLD 3dfx voodoo 3 agp. lol

yeh and i'll stick to 1 hdd.

Forget a 3D accelerator... It's probably gona suck as much power as the rest of the system..

rushnrockt · 03-04-2005, 12:14 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by KaiTech

Forget a 3D accelerator... It's probably gona suck as much power as the rest of the system..

considering that it is a PIII 500 and the video card is a Geforce2 (yes, it is, its not Geforce4) the power consumption should be well within Opus limits. My PIII 700 takes at most 40Watts, so I would assume a 500 would take even less, and I believe the video card consumes at most 15-20 Watts, since it is a slower and castrated version of full-fledged Geforce2.

skellum · 03-04-2005, 12:46 PM

2 cents: last week i removed one of the processors from my carpc. i was using a spare computer (dual PIII 1G) with 2HD that wouldn't start w/o the car running and couldn't survive reboots (400W inverter).

With everything installed, it was about a bit more than 130W 11Amp draw. after doing a bunch of research, i realized that i was trying to polish a turd. unless i was willing to spend a little money and buy the parts that actualy worked for my system, it was going to suck.

rather than buying larger power supplys to power atx boards with multiple HD's, then determining i need to sell it all on ebay and buy the right stuff, i cut my losses, ate the cost of my 400W inverter, and picked up parts with the appropriate power consumption.

it cost a little money up front, but i've gone from 130w/11a+ to 48W/4a.

moral of the story, i wanted to have a carpc for the cost of the inverter and the display. i found that you get what you pay for, and that route is ok to start, but it's realy going to suck and you're going to spend more time frustrated by the carpc than enjoying it.

in the end, it's cost me $400 more than i anticipated. after a month, i know i'm goign to be appreciating that 400bux for the frustration that it's saving me.