<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 12/15/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Benjamin Flanders</b> <<a href="mailto:flanderb@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">flanderb@gmail.com
</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hey guys I have a few easy questions.<br><br>I have a generic ATX case with an Antec 300watt power supply. I would<br>like to get a new motherboard and CPU for this as cheaply as possible.<br> I found a deal with a via cpu and motherboard that seem to be exactly
<br>what I want, cheap, low power . Unfortunately it is a Flex-ATX<br>motherboard.<br><br>1.) Will a flex ATX fit in an ATX case? O.K. I know it will fit,<br>being smaller, but are the screw patterns compatible. I seem to have
<br>a lot of screw holes that I am not using in my generic case.<br>2.) Is the power supply compatible.</blockquote><div><br>
Hard to say. Each CPU manufacturer specifies a list of power supplies<br>
that it considers adequate. Things like voltage ramp up speed as well<br>
as total power output are factors. Good regulation is always a plus,<br>
although there are extra regulators and filters on most boards.<br>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">3.) Generic power question - If the cpu is a low power cpu and doesn't<br>use even close to the 300 watts rated on the power supply does the
<br>power supply pull 300watts from the from the wall or will it pull only<br>what is needed?</blockquote><div><br>
<br>
Assuming other factors are appropriate, the power supply only draws <br>
110% to 120% of the power needed for the load from the wall. The rest<br>
is due to inefficiencies. But, for example, a 300W supply will only <br>
draw 300W from the wall if your total PC load is about 250W to 270W,<br>
depending on how efficient the supply is.<br>
</div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I know these question are very simple but I couldn't find the answers any where.</blockquote>
<div><br>
If possible I'd try to find out what the manufacturer suggests, and if that fails,<br>
something that is close. Get somethng with slightly more power than you need,<br>
plus a little room for expansion later. "The bigger the better" is not necessarily<br>
the case. Vastly oversized power supplies might or might not regulate as well as<br>
one more heavily loaded.<br>
<br>
-Bob<br>
<br>
</div><br></div><br>