Who runs his Radeon off a extra PSU?

[celemine1Gig]

Hi guys,

I read about it some time ago and even installed a extra PSU (145W Fortron Micro ATX PSU) for my Radeon 9800 AIW, last weekend when I finished my PC for Munich.
I soldered the wires on the back of my mobo (PS-ON and Ground) to make the PSU turn on with my main PSU (Mapower 500w PSU). It all worked fine and now the Fortron Micro ATX PSU powers my Radeon and some fans just fine and my voltage readings from the main PSU improved logically. :D
I'm really happy that I did decide to do that mod. Now, all I need to do is to find out how the card clocks now, with its own PSU. :banana: And what 3D Mark score it gives with my new Mobile Barton 2400 35W version @ 2,4-2,7GHz (not tested out yet; stable at 2,4Ghz with 1,55V though)

So are you running your Graphics card on a stand alone PSU just for the card, too? If yes which one and what are the results? Better OC, more stable system?

Greets

Ingmar :)

[Tettejaak]

Since i have a crappy PSU(Aopen 300W) that couldn't feed a 9800se(modded to pro) properly, i used an old AT-PSU.
I'm also feeding my HD, CD-rom and 2 fans with it, to have slightly better voltage lines. I'm still using it, though i allready gave back the 9800 and switched back to my Ti200. It helps me to get more stability when running high Vcore(2V)

So in my case, it was only used for stability.(with the Aopen PSU on it's own it would crash to desktop in games/benches)

[STEvil]

Used to run a seperate one, but my Antec 400w smartpower that I replaced my Enermax 430w with didnt like mutli-psu setups.... :rolleyes:

[enzoR]

i bet you it would work if the PSU for the vidcard was an antec aswell! :rolleyes:

[celemine1Gig]

BTW, here are some photos of my setup with the second PSU:

Pic of my main PSU:

http://home.t-online.de/home/ingmarklein/102_0271.JPG

Here's a pic of the Fortron microATX PSU that I used (the one in the front, on the right; the second one behind it is its bigger 180W brother for my other system, soon):

http://home.t-online.de/home/ingmarklein/IMG_0545.JPG

Pic of the secondary custom added 230V power connector with built in EMI filter:

http://home.t-online.de/home/ingmarklein/IMG_1142.JPG

Pic of my system with the secondary PSU installed below the HDD cage in the right corner:

http://home.t-online.de/home/ingmarklein/IMG_1153.JPG

Finally a Pic of the system fully installed and running. No difference can be seen, except the second power connector on the back if you look closely:

http://home.t-online.de/home/ingmarklein/IMG_1157.JPG


SORRY to all modem users :):toast:

[PTK]

Holy s*it.

Nice heatsinks on the graphics car mem :D

PTK

[Anarki]

Those memsinks are :stick: large :D

Nice idea running a second PSU for a vid card!

[retrospooty]

Sweet ! but , does the video card overclock better ? If so, how much better ?

[celemine1Gig]

Unfortunately I can't test it right now, because the system is in Munich and I'm about 50 kilometers away. Perhaps I'll have the time to do some testing next week. BUT, I didn't overclock the card before, so I won't know if there's any improvement.

BTW, the RAMsinks consist of a hacked Alpha PFH6035 (the predecessor of the Alpha PAL6035)

[skate2snow]

Im using a second PSU for my 9600PRO(FDD modded) coze my 3.8V rail is too high for the card....

[celemine1Gig]

I just don't get how the 3,3V rail could affect the Radeon:confused:
Doesn't the Radeon draw its power mainly from the 5V rail???:confused:

I run my 3,3V rail in the system in munich at 3,65-3,7V and the Radeon 9800SE@Pro AIW card runs fine.

[thirdeye]

I'd like to run the vga and some fans on a diff psu, but I don't quite get how to set it up. without soldering it should be possible right?

wiring a switch into the ATX connect, maybe I'm wrong but wouldnt it just need to short 2 of the wires?

[skate2snow]

Originally posted by celemine1Gig
I just don't get how the 3,3V rail could affect the Radeon:confused:
Doesn't the Radeon draw its power mainly from the 5V rail???:confused:

I run my 3,3V rail in the system in munich at 3,65-3,7V and the Radeon 9800SE@Pro AIW card runs fine. Dunno, but it affects mine.... probably its the AGP power and not the FDD.... But if i disconnect the FDD it works fine.... oh well

[celemine1Gig]

Originally posted by thirdeye
I'd like to run the vga and some fans on a diff psu, but I don't quite get how to set it up. without soldering it should be possible right?

wiring a switch into the ATX connect, maybe I'm wrong but wouldnt it just need to short 2 of the wires?

Without any soldering it'll be quite hard but should still be doable. You need to connect the "PS-On" and one "Ground" cable off both PSUs. That's it. Then both PSUs get the start signal at the same time. I connected 2 wires on the back of my mobo, because I felt that this would be the best way for me. Then I connected these soldered on wires with the ones from the secondary PSU et voilÃ:banana: it worked out the way I wanted it to do.

I got the info I needed here at kubokubo's webpage, but he seems to have removed the article :(

(http://homepage1.nifty.com/kubokubo/)


@skate2snow:

That sounds very odd:confused: :stick: Hope you can figure out how to solve that prob. The secondary PSU might be overkill for a Radeon 9600, but perhaps it would solve the prob. Although I think it wouldn't, because the AGP power would still be delievered by your main PSU and I think that's what making it fail with 3,8V on the 3,3V rail.