DEAL OVER! Delta DPS-300BB 300W ATX PSU, OEM ***Now back to full price...$29.99***

[stevejst]

stevejst-just because you are aware of the risks is no indication that everyone here is. My posting on the CWT-420 was not directed at you, but for everyone's information. You saw fit to post it in this thread. I feel that it's only fair to see to it that everyone else be made aware of the risks. My own experience with Newegg refurbs is the basis for the warning I gave. I understand your reasoning and it could prove to be true, but that hasn't been verified by anyone yet either. If your right about it, it's a great deal. But what if your wrong? Some people may not be as happy to lose $15 as you are.

I'll tell you when I get the PSUs. Actually I did not post that as a deal either, it was just a brief note for Mindless1. I argued many times on this forum against refurbished items so I do agree with you - believe me, I won't be happy getting a defective PSU. I am taking a risk. In my view not bigger than the one with the deal from the title of this thread, but of course you might disagree.

 

[wasamicron]

You all were right about the 40mm fan not putting enough load on the 3.3v line. I decided to pick up a multimeter at radio schack, along with the 10 ohm resistor pack suggested earlier. I hooked up the 40mm fan to aux. orange, powered up system, and checked reading of orange aux. line. It was 3.6v fluctuating, and so I shut system down. Tried using the 10 ohm resistor, and reading of 3.3v orange aux. line was a stable 3.37. I checked bios reading while using the resistor, and it still reported 3.57v for the 3.3v line. However, as stated earlier, motherboard adjusts this to 3.5v as I understand it. I've tried 3 other power supplies with this board, and bios has always reported 3.57v. So, i'm still unclear if it really matters what my 3.3v line reads since bios isn't reporting a change with or without the increased load on the 3.3v line. Any thoughts? I am learning as I go so please let me know if I need to take more measurements, or if it sounds like i didn't measure something right.

 

[stevejst]

This board of yours apparently has been adjusted for 3.5V, update the BIOS and you will see that in the BIOS.

What is more troublesome is that your core CPU voltage is 1.83V which is not something regular with CPU with default 1.75V.

 

[mindless1]

wasamicron, it sounds like you've got the situation taken care of, but you might compare the 3.3V at the AUX connector with one 10 Ohm resistor connected vs both of them (in parallel). If the voltage drops any additional amount with the second resistor attached then it may be better to use both.

As for my earlier comment about "thermally isolated"... That was a bit off. I was thinking that they shouldn't be touching anything that isn't heat-tolerant, but it would be good (even if unnecessary) to secure the load resistors to metal to 'sink them, nothing fancy is needed here since the heat generated by each resistor is far below their rating... They may feel pretty warm but in the larger picture they're not a significant source of heat (at 5-10 Ohm) compared to most other components in the system.

----------------------------------------------------------

stevejst, I don't know about all Gigabyte motherboards, but I've had one that was doing something VERY odd in it's reporting of the CPU vcore... I needed 1.9V to reach the o'c speed I wanted (this was a known-good o'c Celeron/Via 694x system) but for lack of user-adjustable voltage I just connected the socket 370 pins on the back of the mobo (not a recommended practice, but besides the missing voltage settings it was a great mobo, dirt cheap as a newegg refurb). It worked great and windows reported the 1.9V, but the BIOS still reported 1.7V !!! It was definitely running at 1.9V while I watched the BIOS report 1.7V (the same 1.7V the BIOS reported when it was actually running at 1.7V, not a 0.2V discrepancy at other voltages too), the system wouldn't even POST at a true 1.7V while o'c. Later BIOS updates didn't resolve the issue either, and eventually I just became apathetic about it.

 

[wasamicron]

I'm concerned about vcore values that Stevejst mentioned.My cpu is an xp1600+. The default vcore setting is 1.75v. At this setting, I'm getting 1.83v according to bios & Sandra. I can get it to 1.75v by manually adjusting vcore to 1.675v.

 

[mindless1]

wasamicron, you might have better luck in newsgroup posts relating to that mobo, PM with Floyd, etc.

Personally, I'd lower the vcore as low as possible (even below a reading of 1.75 volt in the BIOS, ESPECIALLY if you're not o'c the XP1600). My XP1600, mentioned earlier in this thread is still o'c higher, but when I was fooling around with it at less than it's ceiling, like when I reduced the speed to around 1660MHz (~XP2000), it ran stable at 1.625. I'd at least raise it to 1.65 for a little margin of error if I were to keep it at that speed, which I just might do because it's pretty nice having a slow/quiet 80mm fan on it. At XP1600 default speed it just might be stable at the lowest vcore setting your mobo will allow, but of course you'd need do just as much stability testing to verify that as you would when O'Cing. You'd also have to adjust for voltage fluctuations if that board lets the vcore drop much under load.

 

[MrHans]

thanks for the resistor trick! I want to use a fan though to make air flow ijnstead of heat...

 

[Justin218]

Used two 10ohm resistors in parallel and it's working fine now. 3.33, 4.93,12.17 are the voltages. Measured with a multimeter, not BIOS.

 

[stevejst]

Not to budge in I am just reporting what I promised. I got the first of my 420W $15 (shipped free) Channel Well power supplies. Two more to follow. This one works fine, no funny readings, no modding needed.
Believe me, I understand really well that it is not comparable to Delta at all.
Have a good one guys.

 

[mindless1]

stevejst, that's good to hear.

Can you see any signs of use or repair (why they were refurbed) ? I just received a Newegg refurbed motherboard that looks a lot like someone accidentally put the DDR memory in backwards, because the diode under the slots has a burnt region (was reworked by hand), and the first slot is different, was also replaced. Now contemplating whether it should go back, though it "seems" to work. Hmmmmm.

 

[stevejst]

Fine. Looks brand new as baby's ass.
No soldering needed, all lines within 2% of nominal, no any fluctuation worth to mention.
Hey, but I guess I missed to pay $5 more to gain that soldering experience with Delta.

 

[shill88]

Is it just me or are the 2 orange wires? Which one do I use? What should I do cut off the AUX connector and soder an orange to a resister then connect the same resister to a black? Also what size resister is best more or less ohms I should be able to pick them up at a local radio shack?

Thanks
Shawn

 

[mindless1]

Originally posted by: shill88
Is it just me or are the 2 orange wires? Which one do I use? What should I do cut off the AUX connector and soder an orange to a resister then connect the same resister to a black? Also what size resister is best more or less ohms I should be able to pick them up at a local radio shack?

Thanks
Shawn

You haven't mentioned it, but I assume you already tried the PSU with the intended motherboard and know you need the resistor?

Either orange wire is fine, you can insert a pointed object into the AUX connector in the smaller hole, pry a bit towards the metal tab inside, and the orange and black wire will slip out. If you can't get them to slip out then cutting them is fine. Radio Shack 10 Ohm power resistor should be part # 271-132 is usually available in Radio Shack stores or can be ordered online from Radioshack.com. Soldering a wire to each lead of the resistor would be the preferred method but crimping a connector or any other method like a terminal stip would work fine too (doesn't matter which wire goes on which resistor lead) unless you happen to have a spare motherboard male AT connector, then you could solder the leads to the appropriate pins on that and leave the wires in the AUX connector, you'd have something you could easily attach/remove. It appears that one 10 Ohm resistor is enough. Cover the connections and exposed metal resistor leads with electrical tape, heat-shrink tubing or whatever you're familiar with or have handy, then secure it to something metal like the case or PSU.

Before you start cutting the wires and soldering you might want to just stick each end of the resistor leads into the appropriate positions in the AUX connector just to verify that the PSU is in working order, will power-up your system before doing any modifications to the PSU itself since you'd want a whole PSU to return in the rare event that it could actually be DOA. As of yet I don't think we've heard from anyone trying this mod with suggested load resistors and having it fail, actually being able to confirm that they do have a DOA PSU instead of just a 3V load-requirement issue. On the other hand, NO manufacturer has a zero defect rate, so it's entirely possible that a PSU could really be dead.

 

[stevejst]

What, experts deserted the Directron salvage operation?

Nevermind, let's help. Both these orange connectors are +3.3V so it doesn't matter.
I have a hunch you will have more problems with stability of lines later.
Let us know what readings you get.

 

[shill88]

I tried it with a mini mag lite in the AUX got the fans to spin up now at least but no post do you think that the light is not putting enough load on it? It glows bright white.


Shawn

 

[elfnumber1]

Oh, if anyone needs a $5 off $60 coupon to Directron, PM me. Or I'm sure you could find them as I found it quite easily.

 

[sleefer]

I think we should compile a list of known working and non-working boards so everyone knows up front if they need to do the mod or not. You can PM or email me if you want to add in your results. I've either tested these boards myself or added those that I some of you have. So here's what I know so far:

Passes without the mod:

- AOpen AX6BC Pro II (yes, it's the millenium edition)
- Soyo SY-K7ADA
- Pcchips M760v (tested by wasamicron)
-Soltek 75DRV (tested by longhorn)
-MSI K7T266 Pro2A (tested by longhorn)


Passes with the mod:

-IWill KK-266R
-IWill KK-266 (tested by CartysCrib)
-EPOX 8KHA+
-Asus P2B-LS
-Abit KG7 (tested by wasamicron)
-Epox 8K7A (tested by Gracjan)


Does not pass either way:

???

*If you guys will provide me with the info you have I'll paste it to the original post up top. That way anyone that is thinking of getting one won't have to filter through all the posts to find out if their board will work up front or not.

 

[stevejst]

 

[GHacker]

All right, so this unit has no P4 header or bottom venting, but good TCO. What if I was to use one of those adapters that draws power from a 4-pin Molex connector to provide a P4 header? Are these things recommended or will they take too much power from my 12V subsystem? If this was an acceptable solution then this supply might work for me except that I am too lazy and too much of a perfectionist to go cutting my own ventilation holes. Tempting, though...

 

[GridironAssassin]

I just recieved 3 of these power supplies from directron yesterday. I had to use the resistor trick to get my Abit KG7 up and running. The resistor referenced in an eairlier post (CAT# 271-132 rated 10ohms & 10 Watts) was out of stock at my local radio shack so I picked up (CAT# 271-080 rated 10ohms & 2 Watts). Since I am using a resistor that has a lower wattage rating than the one recommended in this thread will I run into any problems? I am also showing a Vcor of 1.83 in the bios same as wasamicron.

Thanks,

Gridiorn Assassin

 

[longhorn]

The supplies worked fine with no modifications for me on a Soltek 75DRV and an MSI K7T266 Pro2A.

Regarding the wattage question.

3 Volts across a 10ohm resistor gives you .3 amps.

Power = Volts x amps = .9 watts.

You're at less than 50% of rated power, so you should be OK. Put another one in parallel
if it gets too hot.

 

[mindless1]

A 2W resistor is fine, though it's heat-density will be higher. For long-term use I'd attach it to the air intake vent on the back of the PSU since it's such a handy location, metal to 'sink it and good airflow too.

 

[CuriousG]

I picked up 3 of these and finally got around to trying one out yesterday hoping to replace it on a server of a client. I hoped that I would get back the Antec I put in there which has a P4 connector that I need at this point. When I tried it and hooked it up to an MSI K7T Pro2, I got nothing. I didn't even try to see if the fan spun in the power supply but since I didn't hear anything and had everything hooked up it was at an inconvenient spot. I figure I got one of those "dead" power supplies. Then I read this thread further so I could try out my other power supplies. Take this for what it's worth but I tried it on 3 bare boards I had sitting around which have been problematic (nothing on it e.g. no processor, cards, memory) and these are the results I got when I hooked it up to the ATX connector and touching the power button pins with a screwdriver:

ECS K7S5A - turns on the power supply fan just fine
ABIT KT7A - noticed that the chipset fan went on for a fraction of a second and that was it
MSI K7T Pro2 Ver 1 - turns on the power supply fan and lights up the status indicators on the board

So unless I need to retest everything with a populated board and even hooking up some peripherals that's what I was able to achieve without any mods. I'll try and get that started to see what else I can come up with. I'd like to note that I didn't confirm if the server computer I had bad results with was the exact same rev as the board I tried. But I'm certain if I did the mod, I could get that to fire up. Also when I took out the Antec, I took the liberty of holding both power supplies in my hand and the Delta was far heavier than the Antec. But of course this came out of a $60 Antec case.

 

[mindless1]

Directron's "sale" is over, price now $29.99...

Deal is dead.

 

[Wurlybird9]

well, glad I got in on it. So far my 2 supplies seem to be working just fine. I hope I'm not jinxing myself by proclaiming my luck.