On 29 Sep 2003 13:07:02 GMT, olitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:


Thank you very much for your responses everyone and thank you, Dave, for a very
informative reply. I greatly appreciate it! I was afraid you'd say something
about it overheating and that's why I've been shutting down the computer
whenever I leave the house. But after reading your post, I see it's time for a
new PSU. I have replaced drives and installed PCI/AGP cards and memory. But
I've never replaced a PSU before. It looks like there are 4 screws and a
ribbon cable to attach to the MB. Is this correct? Do you think it would be
fairly easy for someone with my experience?

Yes it's pretty straightforward, just unplug the old, unscrew it, then
reverse the process for the new. There are power cables from the
power supply to all drives too, not just the motherboard.

Two things to watch out for are to check the voltage switch on the
back (if it has one) next to the power cord. It should be set
appropriate to the AC in your region (110V vs 220). The other thing
is to make sure the wires are kept secure enough, out of the way so
there's no chance of them contacting the fan blades.


As to lubricating the fan bearing, I am assuming this means taking apart the
PSU. I think I'd rather just replace the PSU since I don't have experience
taking apart PSU's.

It would have to be taken apart if the whole fan label isn't accesible
in the rear. Some power supplies have a chrome grill in back that can
be removed to access the label (which would be peeled back or
completely off to expose the bearingway). Others have a
stamped-in-metal grill, necessitating disassembly of the power supply
and removal of the fan. It's not THAT hard to do, but of course the
pwer supply should sit unplugged from AC for the better part of an
hour to be sure it's drained.


My video card is just a 32 meg GeForce MX2 agp card. I mostly use this
computer for surfing the net or scanning in photographs. The processor is a 1
gigahertz T-Bird and I have 768 megs of ram. The computer is about 3 or 4
years old and I think instead of upgrading anything else, I would opt for a
whole new system somewhere in the future in a few years. So, with that being
said, and with your advice on brands, I found these:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....requestid=3636

I was thinking of the Antec SmartPower 350-Watt, Model: SL350. Or, the
TruePower 330.

I read a review he http://mikhailtech.com/articles/psu/truepower330/

What do you think of the smart power idea, and also having dual fans?

300W in a name-brand such as those should be fine, with 350W offering
even more reserve capacity. Either of the models you mentioned should
be adequate for your system, but the prices look a bit higher than I'm
used to seeing. You might consider buying online, someplace like
Newegg.com (which also offers a good deal on a 300W Sparkle):
http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactor...alog=58&DEPA=0

Dual fans shouldn't be necessary for your system but nonetheless could
help slightly reducet the noise and help remove heat more directly,
especially if your case doesn't have a rear fan under the power
supply. Since your system doesn't need much power (relatively
speaking) you might find a Fortron - P300XFPN to be a good choice for
noise-reduction and similar benefits to dual-fans:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...ion=17-104-979


Dave