Hey guys I need some help replacing my a power supply on a Compaq Presario SR5710F model.
Broad details ~
AMD X2 4450e dual core 45w maximum output
SATA Hard drive 8-15w maybe more, give or take
PATA Hard drive 8-15w give or take
Geforce 8400 GS 74w
DVD/CD RW Drive with Lightscribe not sure how much it uses.
fans 2-3ws each
So total output would be like 130 - 150w
Right now it comes with a 250w Power Supply ATX , I added a second hard drive (PATA) and bought a video card eVGA Geforce 8400 GS 512 DDR2 memory from Amazon.
Even though the descriptions of the video card said the maximum power output was like 74w, it tells me hardware requires a 350w power supply. I don’t know what the hell HP/Compaq were thinking by putting in a small power supply in a computer that people will likely upgrade. I guess that explains why its so ■■■■ cheap, anyway…
My power supply dimensions 5.9 x 3.4 x 5.5 inches. And obviously I need a power supply that supports SATA. So I found this. Its cheap 450w power supply, with SATA pins. And the dimensions are 3.25 x 5.75 x 5.5-inches.
Before you get too carried away by the low price, first stop and think about what you have and what you might add later.
This PSU only has 1 SATA connector, 6 4-pin Molex connectors, lists the current capabilities of the 3.3 and 5v supply, but says nothing about the 12v line. Also, there are no 6- and 8-pin video power connectors.
How many USB do you have (I assume you wish to use them all).
It says nothing about stability of the supply, overload and short circuit protection, and thermal protection (dual-fan, but does it pump air in the case or out of the case? - the latter is preferred), or how efficient the supply actually is (the more efficient, the less energy wasted.)
The nice thing about PSU’s are they can be carried over from one computer to another, and function as desired.
Choose carefully, and you will be happy for a long time. 450W and this supply should satisfy your needs today. But will this supply satisfy your needs tomorrow?
When I sold computers at a retail store (years ago), my biggest and most important question was: ‘What do you think you might like to do with your computer do 6 months from now?’
Hi, thanks for the response. I won’t be doing much with this computer. Just a better power supply, that video card, and maybe expand 1GB of RAM. This machine is just a filler, my old computer fried. And I’m been saving up my money to build my own custom computer. My old computer was a emachine and the motherboard fried, luckily my HD was ok. I either could have replaced the motherboard for like 40 bucks, but couldn’t use any of my recovery CDs. So if something happened I would have to go out and buy another Operating System which could total around 200 dollars, or I could have purchased that model emachine motherboard for like 150-200 bucks and use my current recovery discs. Was no way in hell I was going to spend that much on a machine thats around 4-5 years old.
So I decided to just buy this Compaq, which all in all I believe would be better in the long run. I won’t be upgrading this computer much after I get a psu and that video card. Once I build my new computer this one is likely to get sold, or put into storage where it can gather some dust.
So you think that PSU will be suitable for my what I intend to do?
Interesting this guy I know has the same PC as I do, and is running a PNY Geforce 9600 series video card with the original PSU with no problems. I guess he hasn’t overworked the load totally yet to where it starts crashing, hah.