150 XT + Dell DA-2

yetidaddy · Post by **yetidaddy** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:10 pm

I had successfully mate the Dell-DA-2 to power up my picopsu 150w. But it only worked for a couple of days. A week ago, I was playing some youtube videos and the computer restarted on its own. The reading on the cpu temp was climbing to 80c and the system temp was only 30c. I feared it was a virus so I unplug and replace the picopsu with a 175w flex atx I was using before I had the picopsu. It has been working since.

Conclusion:
I had a barrel 5.25/2.5mm connector to the dell-da-2 power adapter so maybe it wasn't putting out enough volts and amps? There's a 4-pin molex - barrel connector that came with the picopsu. Maybe I should connect the dell-da-2 to it instead?

My system is:
Biostar G41 -mATX
120GB sata 2.5mm HDD
ATI 5570 low profile card
Intel E8400

I don't have kill-a-watts so I can't tell how much power it takes. It seems to be ok on 175w. Is the 150w pico the problem? Or is it because of my connection with the dell-da-2? thanks.

edh · Post by **edh** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:13 am

I would be concerned about an 80C CPU temp on its own. When you're running the 175W PSU, do you get similar temps?

yetidaddy · Post by **yetidaddy** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:00 am

when I use the 175w I use the computer for hd movies, youtube, games for 4 hours and restart it and the temp would be 50c.

Strid · Post by **Strid** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 3:15 pm

First off, if you have a virus, it should have nothing to do with the power supply!

Anyway, I use a PicoPSU-160-XT with my Dell DA-2 right now, and I have no problems. But anyway, the PSU should not cause your CPU to heat up to 80 C. I sent you a picture of the Dell DA-2 connection. If you're following that you shoule be fine and dandy.

The problem with temperatures is probably more related to the ventilation of the case, I would guess. What case and CPU cooler do you have?

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:37 pm

It is possible that the cpu (and system) run cooler with the 175 w psu if the latter has a fan. While a core 2 duo can tolerate 80 degrees (for a while), other components on your system could be even hotter and cause instability.

yetidaddy · Post by **yetidaddy** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:35 pm

Thanks for the pics strid.

I thought it was a virus because it restarted on its own and i wasn't able to go into bios for awhile. The case is an Evercase found here. I'm using stock cooler because I wanted to see that it works with the picopsu, or else this project is for nothing.

This is how I connected the Dell-DA-2 to my pico without cutting any of the original wires. Did you connect yours through the 3rd picture?

@ntavlas - You mean the latter psu has a fan or not? Same config for both psu. Just no fan on the picopsu and fan on the 175w psu. Nice HTPc in sig.

ntavlas · Post by **ntavlas** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:19 pm

In that case, I think it`s overheating because of the absence of the fan in the stock psu. Perhaps you could rig an 80mm exhaust fan in the gap left at the back?

yetidaddy · Post by **yetidaddy** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:05 pm

FIXED:
I think I rewired it wrong. My brother fixed it when he got home today. I might post it in the gallery section later, who knows. CPU Temps at 45c after 2 hours of gaming, youtube, and web searching. 35c System Temps.

edh · Post by **edh** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:39 am

Right, so with the miswiring were you accidentally massively overvolting everything then? That is what it sounds like although that would be very strange. You can always check the voltages in the BIOS or Speedfan etc. I would always do this anyway with any new PSU, motherboard or CPU to make sure it's running in spec.

yetidaddy · Post by **yetidaddy** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 10:07 am

I'm can get into the bios and play with different settings but I leave the voltage section alone. So I'm not sure what is the proper reading. My brother said something about if I split the 12v wire to three parts for each of the dell-da-2 holes (pins), then it would be 12 x 3 = 36 watts. I took the splits out and left the other two holes alone. So I only have three wires to the Dell-DA-2. One is the ground and trigger. The other one by itself is a 12v. Its running a lot better and only peek at 50c, except the fans are spinning a lot faster and louder, i.e gpu, cpu fans.

I took my shuttle 180w ac adapter out and plug the wires to the pin holes. The shuttle fired up my pc with lower fan speed. The problem is I don't know the pinouts for it so Im not going to leave it on very long. Does anyone know the pinouts for it? Its a shuttle Model Number: PC32B180HR