Psu Energyzer Query...., Will my PCs PSU cope? Options

[V0ID]

Hi,

I've just purchased a second hand 360 without any cables and being strapped for cash would rather not shell out for an official PSU. I saw the PSU Energyzer advertised and it seems to be what I'm looking for - being able to run the 360 off my PCs PSU would be great.

So, can anyone tell me if this PSU would in theory power a 360 -> Enermax Noisetaker 475w?

Thanks.

[Navillos]

i think the 360 only uses like 200w so yeah itll work

[RDC]

That 12v rating is pretty on par with what the 360 PSU is, so it should work, Enermax makes some nice power supplies as well...but...

RBJTech is messing with one of those cables now and from what it sounds like it's not built "up to spec". The thing should have a couple of Molex connectors on it as well to take some of the load off the single 12v wire of the ATX connector. Right now I'd say if you're going to get it, plan on modding it to work the way it really should, even if it works fine "out of the box" for ya. Having the actual 360 PSU would stillbe your best bet though, you can find one on the 360 BST every now and then for around $65 or so shipped, might wanna check into that instead.

EDIT: The 360 PSU is 203w, but it's only 12v. ATX power supplies are rated for the entire PSU, 12v, 5v and 3.3v lines. You have to look at what the 12v rail can provide alone and it needs to be at least 16A or so.

This post has been edited by RDC: Mar 2 2007, 07:50 PM

[V0ID]

Thanks RDC, very informative reply.

The Enermax has two separate 12v rails:

+12V1 16A

+12V2 15A

So combined you got 31A but I don't know whether the combined figure should be taken with regard to how the 360 will run off it. What do you think?

[RDC]

Just the 15A/16A rating is what you'd go by and even that is a max rating, not what te PSU can output constantly. I'd say it's safe to use, but I'd modify the Energyzer adapter so you could plug in a couple of the 12v molex connectors and get all that current off the 1 pin of the ATX plug.

[V0ID]

Thanks RDC. So if I just run it off the 20-pin ATX connector will I be getting 16A, 15A or the combined total of 31A?

[RDC]

It'll be either 15A or 16A, but not the total 31A, just depends on which rail is going to the ATX connector.

[Boiker]

Surely it also depends on what you have running off that PSU in regards to your PC? Of course that's assuming you will have both running at the same time though.

You may want to check how much the components of your PC are using to make sure the 360 can get the 203W it needs.

[RDC]

Having both run off the same PSU at the same time thru the ATX plug is NOT an option. Typically one rail is for the motherboard (ATX connector) and the other rail is for the peripherals, CD/DVD drives, Fans, HDDs and so on. So even leaving those things connected you'll still have the 15A/16A for the 360 thru the ATX plug.

[V0ID]

I'd be concerned about running both at the same time as my graphics card really eats power. So would 15A or 16A be sufficient to power a 360?

I've read about people using ATX PSUs rated a lot less than 475W with 360s so I hope it will work ok. If not Ill have to roll up my sleeves and mod the adapter.

This post has been edited by V0ID: Mar 2 2007, 11:57 PM

[RDC]

It "should" be enough, there's always an off chance the thing doesn't have quite the power the 360 will need to start up, but the Enermax power supplies are pretty good, I'd say it will work.

You don't really want to have anything else connected to the PSU besides the ATX plug to the Energyzer adapter. Since it's a dual rail PSU though it's not going to make much of a difference leaving everything else connected since nothing on the motherboard will be on because that will be unplugged, you're NOT going to be able to power both the PC and 360 at the same time from that thing, just one or the other.

[V0ID]

Thanks for all the help RDC. I've ordered the PSU Energyzer so I'll let the forum know how I get on. Be good to see if you can achieve a viable alternative to the official power supply.

This post has been edited by V0ID: Mar 3 2007, 09:02 AM

[RBJTech]

Hi - just seen this thread.

As RDC alluded to - I got one of these a few days ago and can confirm that in it's factory form, it is IMO a pretty bad product.

It doesn't matter how many 'rails' your ATX PSU has, this product does NOT use the main ATX power rails (for the DVD, HDD drives etc, nor does it use the ATX PC 12v connector). It uses the 12v connector on the main 20/24 Pin ATX motherboard connector only ...

This connector was never designed for high current loads, for one, there is only a single connector compared to the multiple 3.3v and 5v connectors on that block - that tells you that it light load 12v only - probably 2-3A tops.

Inside the official xbox360 lead and the Energiser one are 6 primary power wires, 3 yellow, 3 black. These are 20 AWG(ish) and so can take about 6A EACH. Therefore, they use 3 to increase the load without having a bigger but less flesible power cord. 3 x 6 = 18A.

Now for the official 360, EACH wire terminates onto a decent heavy duty contact - providing a high current solution.

The energiser on the other hand terminates all 3 yellow wires onto ONE small light duty contact and the other 3 black wires onto another small light duty contact ... Hmmm, I don't think so ... Did they not learn the lessons from the 'Intercooler' fiasco on burnt up contacts - heavy current = arcing of contacts unless they are decent quality and designed for the load in question. This contact is clearly not ...

I'm waiting for a decent PSU to turn up before I can experiment further, but for the moment don't expect this product to work with the majority of PSU's... Maybe clever ones that can shuffle power around as required...

BUT

I'm very concerned about that single wire from the PSU taking all that current - it's gonna get warm - so watch it like a hawk ...

Some Pics of progress so far ...

20/24 Pin ATX Connector :-



Shield on cable :-



Split cable :-



Update soon ...

Cheers, Richard.

This post has been edited by RBJTech: Mar 3 2007, 11:47 AM