On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:02:15 +1200, "~misfit~"
wrote:


You won't save any money by upgrading hardware like that, you are
better off buying a whole new system. Power supplies have changed in
the last 6 years because processors require a lot more power so you
can't use the one you have.

Not only do modern systems use more power but the kicker is the CPU gets
it's power from a different rail, (12v instead of 5v) rendering some
previously great PSU's semi-obsolete as the load is weighted differently.

.... could depend on how many HDDs are in the system.
I had two all-integrated nForce2 boards, one a Biostar running
CPU from 5V rail and another a Shuttle running CPU from 12V rail.
No other cards in system and still an Antec 300W (PP-303X or
something like that) couldn't keep 5V rail high enough on the
former board but the latter (using 12V for CPU) was fine. Both
systems only had a single HDD in them though.

I'd just happened to pick up the biostar board dirt-cheap else I
wouldn't have one... not fond of the brand and for similar $$ I'd
always choose a board based on 12V CPU power... but then again I
like my Asus A7N8X which also uses 5V for CPU, just had to mod it
a bit to keep 5V level up because the board's trace resistance
was too high for intended configuration, another limiter of 5V
power for CPUs unless the ATX connector is close enough to the
power regulation circuitry, which can be a less attractive
cable-routing necessity.