Month: September 2005

[Gentoo] Genesi joining the big time

I just picked up the copy of Linux User and Developer at Border’s tonight, to see the main story be on PPC — and in specific, Terra Soft … and Genesi! They were even mentioned on the cover, and there was a huge box on the second page of the story all about Genesi. I hadn’t realized they’d given out 200 boxes to devs.

Now that’s some good PR.

[Gentoo] Search for a new PSU

I’ve narrowed my search down to four options, based on my high wattage and low noise requirements. I’m also looking for something pretty efficient so it doesn’t heat up the room as much and gives me a lower electric bill. The burned-out one in there is a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 400, which is apparently not enough watts for my system. I’m a little nervous about buying from PP&C again, but I put it on the list anyway. For reference, the one Corey and I tested with was a 430, as was the first PSU that burned out.

It seems that the 430-450 max range worked for a while, but wasn’t quite enough. Thanks to Mr_Bones_ for pointing me to silentpcreview.com.

W (peak) W (contin.) dB at peak Efficiency at peak (%) Price (Newegg) Price (Fry’s store) Price (Tom’s search) Price (Pricewatch)
Antec Phantom 500 500 37
(SPCR)		 88 $177
(3 days)		 $199 $161
(2 days)		 $161 3-day, $167 2-day
Seasonic S12-600 600 40
(SPCR)		 83-86 $167
(3 days)		 $180
Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W) 600 45
(SPCR)		 79 $157
(3 days)		 $160 $172
(2 days)		 Same as Newegg
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 470 520 470 32
(PP&C)		 74 $102
(PP&C,
2-day)		 Same as PP&C

[Gentoo] PSU #3 it is

Corey and I just confirmed that the power supply was the problem by replacing it with another one. Things worked just fine.

Two remaining options: (more likely) It was an underpowered PSU; (less likely) The motherboard destroys PSUs.

Hoping option #1 is the real one.

[Gentoo] More weirdness with the broken computer

I got a loaner amd64 motherboard from Gentoo today and installed it. Booted once, then the same problem as before. But when I plug it in, both the motherboard power indicator and the power light in front come on, even though the computer doesn’t power up. I also get a faint burning smell from around the PSU.

To eliminate another possibility of error, I went to OfficeMax and dropped $50 on a new surge protector and extension cord to use another power outlet. No change.

Hard to believe, but it seems that I got two gimpy power supplies in a row, and my original commenter was right. I’ve been running on a 400W Silencer supply, so this is believable, but my previous was about a 470W. But that was a no-brand, so it could’ve been 470 peak at 25°C, not 470 standard.

I’m looking pretty strongly at the Turbo-Cool 510 ATX, which has the 20-pin connector that I need and 650W peak. It has 12 connectors, 4 of which are SATA, which seems about right for now and for moving into the future.

Any opinions on this PSU would be appreciated.

I’m very grateful to Gentoo for giving me the opportunity to avoid dropping $200 on an unneeded motherboard.

Thanks again! Know that the power supply costs about the same as the motherboard, so your donation money will still go to the same cause of getting me up and developing quickly again.

Update: New plan of action: test with a Gentoo PSU before potentially wasting money in another different way