[GRLUG] Motherboard Questions

[Bob Kline]

On 12/15/05, Benjamin Flanders <flanderb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey guys I have a few easy questions.
>
> I have a generic ATX case with an Antec 300watt power supply.  I would
> like to get a new motherboard and CPU for this as cheaply as possible.
> I found a deal with a via cpu and motherboard that seem to be exactly
> what I want, cheap, low power .  Unfortunately it is a Flex-ATX
> motherboard.
>
> 1.)  Will a flex ATX fit in an ATX case?  O.K. I know it will fit,
> being smaller, but are the screw patterns compatible.  I seem to have
> a lot of screw holes that I am not using in my generic case.
> 2.) Is the power supply compatible.


  Hard to say.  Each CPU manufacturer specifies a list of power supplies
  that it considers adequate.  Things like voltage ramp up speed as well
  as total power output are factors.  Good regulation is always a plus,
  although there are extra regulators and filters on most boards.

3.) Generic power question - If the cpu is a low power cpu and doesn't
> use even close to the 300 watts rated on the power supply does the
> power supply pull 300watts from the from the wall or will it pull only
> what is needed?



  Assuming other factors are appropriate,  the power supply only draws
  110% to 120% of the power needed for the load from the wall.  The rest
  is due to inefficiencies.  But,  for example,  a 300W supply will only
  draw 300W from the wall if your total PC load is about 250W to 270W,
  depending on how efficient the supply is.

I know these question are very simple but I couldn't find the answers any
> where.


   If possible I'd try to find out what the manufacturer suggests,  and if
that fails,
   something that is close.   Get somethng with slightly more power than you
need,
   plus a little room for expansion later.  "The bigger the better" is not
necessarily
   the case.  Vastly oversized power supplies might or might not regulate as
well as
   one more heavily loaded.

              -Bob
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