Is this a true 450W power supply?

[Sondra]

It's called a Codegen model 350X. On the side it says, "(+3.3V+5V=235W MAX;=5V&-12V=9.6W MAX. ALL OUTPUT IS EXTEND [sic] TO 450W MAX.)"

It also says ATX 2.03(P4) and some other things.

The person who sold it to me said it is definitely powerful enough for 4 or 5 hard drives. Someone else said the name 350X might indicate it isn't a true 405W. I am trying to find out what is causing so many of my hard drives to become corrupted and/or die.

 

[amol]

treat it as a 350W PSU

 

[Sondra]

Thanks for the quick reply. Since I went to the shop today and the owner told me it's definitely 450W, can you tell me something I can tell him that shows it's 350W--so I can trade this one in and hopefully put what I spent on it toward a new one? He knew about the problems I've been having when he suggested this power supply.

 

[amol]

what are the amps at each volt?

cause it may actually be only 250 watts according to your first post

 

[Gamingphreek]

It is a generic powersupply. Dont go near it with a 10 foot pole. Dont skimp on the most critical part of your system.

However, what is the amperage for each rail?

-Kevin

 

[Sondra]

Most of what it says is in table form.

AC Input: Voltage 115V- 230V- Current 10A 5A Frequency 50-60Hz
Under that is DC - MAX OUTPUT.
Under Voltage, it has Orange Red Yellow
Under Orange: +3.3V 30A
Under Red: +5V 40A
Under Yellow: +12V 15A

Under Current, it has Purple White Blur (meaning blue?)
Under Purple: +5VSB 2A
Under White: -5V 0.5A
Under Blur: -12V 0.8A

Under Frequency, it has Black Green Grey
Under Black: COM Return
Under Green: PS-On Remote
Under Grey: PW-OK P.G.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Yes the rails are very weak. 18A is BARE minimum on the 12V rail. It probably has poor regulation lots of EMI, and spikes all over the place. Like i said "Dont go near it with a 10 foot pole".

-Kevin

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hey, I think that's the PSU that's in my rig, or at least my Codegen case came with a "350W" Codegen PSU as factory stock. It's kind-of generic, but it's at least a step above the Deer/L&C/etc. PSUs. It's been powering my rig mostly-fine for several years, whereas the same rig, when I first installed it into a system with a Deer "300W", killed it dead in less than a week. (Thankfully, the rest of the rig was fine.) However, recently, after I added a R9200 and a third HD, to my existing 4 opticals, and a XP2000+ rig, I have had occasional issues, that could be indicative of a PSU problem. (Yes, I do have a more stout replacement finally heading its way towards me as I speak, that should help me diagnose if it's some other problem.)

Most certainly though, it is NOT a "450W", not by any means.

(I've seen generic "600W" supplies, that were so light that you know that they couldn't really be 600W, and in the fine print, they were rated at 600W - for only ten seconds. My guess is that it burst into flame slightly thereafter, so that's how they decided to rate the PSU. Ideally, PSUs should be rated at continous load values, and they should have a reasonable amount of "headroom", to handle the additional power-draw during startup. Fortrons excel at that sort of thing, which is why they are so highly rated.

 

[Sondra]

Thanks, I'll get rid of the power supply.

What make and model would support 4-5 large hard drives? Before this, I had an Antec 300? 350? Definitely not 400, and the shop owner who sold me that one said it could handle my system, but several drives died in a short amount of time, same as with the Codegen. I have no idea if the power supplies killed them, but buying a good one is one way to find out.

 

[Jeffyboy]

The codegen are pretty cheapo power supplies... i'd dump it.
Usually standard PSU that ships with most cases

Jeff

 

[stevty2889]

Yeah, cogden PSU's are generic, so even if it was a 450w it wouldn't be a real 450w, and the 12v rail is way too weak, especialy for 4-5 hard drives. Get a good brand, such as enermax, antec, fortron, 400w or more should be enough.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well how much are you willing to spend. I would highly recommend the Seasonic S12 or Super Tornado series. Antec and Enermax are also very good. OCZ and PCP&C are a bit overkill but they are the best you can get as well as Zippy.

-Kevin

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Codegen's case and power supply are very low-end,
treat it as 250W.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: Sondra
Thanks, I'll get rid of the power supply.

What make and model would support 4-5 large hard drives? Before this, I had an Antec 300? 350? Definitely not 400, and the shop owner who sold me that one said it could handle my system, but several drives died in a short amount of time, same as with the Codegen. I have no idea if the power supplies killed them, but buying a good one is one way to find out.

Are the hard drives being actively cooled?
with that many, that is of utmost importance. heat can definitely corrupt a hard drive.

I would recommend in making sure the drives are kept cool, and upgrading your PS.
should not see any further problems after that.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Sondra
Thanks, I'll get rid of the power supply.

What make and model would support 4-5 large hard drives? Before this, I had an Antec 300? 350? Definitely not 400, and the shop owner who sold me that one said it could handle my system, but several drives died in a short amount of time, same as with the Codegen. I have no idea if the power supplies killed them, but buying a good one is one way to find out.

Good PSUs come from the following names:

Antec
Enermax
OCZ
PC Power and Cooling
Seasonic
TTGI
Fortron

Check them out and see if you can find something that will suit your needs - it may cost a bit more, but when it comes to technology "You get what you pay for" has never been more true. It will be worth the extra cost.

 

[tparker1]

Codegan makes some cheap Cases/Power Supplies.AMD and Intel have a list of Power Supplies they recommend although Antec or Enermax will do the trick you can pick one of the Antecs or Enermax and tell you have a real Power Suooly they are a lot heavier than Codegan.If you are putting that many Harddrives in Cooling is Important like the one Post said.Lian-Li,Antec,Super Flower,Cooler Master are some of my favoritew Cases.The Antec Sonata is a nice Case and comes with a good Power Supply 380 Watts and has one 120 mm Case Fan you have to purchase one for the front and with all that Heat in a Case a really good Cpu Fan and a Videocard Fan would be a nice addition.I have one of the new Arctic Cooling Freezer Cpu fans.There were some really informative Post in this Thread.Examples of some power consumption values (in watts) for common items in a personal computer are:

PC Item Watts
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) card 20 to 30W
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card 5W
Small computer system interface (SCSI) PCI card 20 to 25W
Floppy disk drive 5W
Network interface card 4W
50X CD-ROM drive 10 to 25W
RAM 10W per 128M
5200 RPM Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk drive 5 to 11W
7200 RPM IDE hard disk drive 5 to 15W
Motherboard (without CPU or RAM) 20 to 30W
550 MHz Pentium III 30W
733 MHz Pentium III 23.5W
300 MHz Celeron 18W
600 MHz Athlon 45W