Becomming very annoyed with Antec

[Bozo]

I was upgrading a computer the other day to a P4 from a P3. The case I was using did not have a P4 compliant power supply. I purchased an Antec 430watt True Power power supply. The new pc only has a hard drive, CD-ROM, CD-burner, and floppy drive. The 430 watt PS would be overkill. Another computer on the bench contained 5 hard drives, a CD/DVD-ROM, a CD/DVD burner, floppy drive, RAID controller and a P4. This computer had a 300 watt power supply in it. Great...I'll switch the power supplies and put the 430 watt unit in the computer with all the hardware. WRONG!! The 430 watt power supply has 3 Fewer connectors on it than the 300 watt power supply. What's up with this??? The larger power supply has fewer connectors??? To use the larger power supply I would have to use three power splitters.
There's no rhyme, reason or logic for something this stupid.

Looking for another power supply maker..............

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[CityK]

I count 7 molex connectors on the 430, as outlined in this PDF. I could open my case to get personal confirmation of this fact, but the PDF looks correct (plus I don't want to disturb this lazy Saturday with any kind of work just quite yet).

To use the larger power supply I would have to use three power splitters.

Are you talking about the 2+floppy 2+floppy 3 configuration or do you mean adding in some more y-splitters yourself?

 

[Bozo]

That drawing is not like my power supply. They added some SATA connectors instead of the Molex. (2?? I don't have the power supply in front of me at the moment)
There's also logistics. Not all the hardware is mounted to accommodate the power supply.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[sechs]

I bought a PC Power and Cooling 510 Deluxe. They've done the same thing -- instead of two molex connectors I have two useless SATA power connectors.

Then again, all three power supplies that I've used in this particular machine have a P4 connector that my Athlon doesn't need....

 

[Bozo]

Does anyone know of an adaptor to go from SATA power to a Molex?

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[P5-133XL]

No, but I would like some too.

 

[Bozo]

Googling turned up Molex to SATA but not SATA to Molex.

Time to break out the soldering iron.


Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[CityK]

That drawing is not like my power supply. They added some SATA connectors instead of the Molex. (2?? I don't have the power supply in front of me at the moment)

Doh! I forgot about the fan only adapters. In the PDF diagram, they look wider then the other Molex connectors, and at a quick glance I assumed those were the new SATA ones added into the mix. Upon closer inspection, these are loafers, err Fan Only Molex connectors. The PDF, however, is indeed representative of the older style TP430 PSU.

The fourth picture down on this page shows the configuration for the new style TP480. I imagine that the 5 molex connectors in the 2+floppy 1+floppy 1+SATA 1+SATA configuration is the same for your TP430.

There's also logistics. Not all the hardware is mounted to accommodate the power supply.

I'm not catching what you mean here. Do you mean the drives are out of reach?

 

[Bozo]

In this computer the DVD-ROM is above the DVD-Burner. These two are above the floppy drive. Before I used a Molex, Molex, floppy cable to power all threes. Now my cables are Molex, SATA, and floppy. This means using another cable with a Molex connector.
I looked at moving the hardware around to get the cables to work, but there aren't enough Molex connectors.


Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[Bozo]

Had to leave for a minute......

Above the DVD hardware are two Stor-Case hard drive recievers. Before I used another Molex, Molex, floppy cable. (why are there 2 floppy connectors??) Now it would take two separate cables.

Below the floppy drive are three hard drives. Before I used the cable with three Molex connectors attached. Now.....Well, I ran out of cables and Molex connectors.

Sometimes you can rearange the hardware to work with the power cables (logistics). But now you're screwed.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[CityK]

Gotcha. That sucks.

 

[sechs]

Bozo, meet the molex splitter. Molex splitter, Bozo.

Now try working with four fans, two opticals and four harddrives vying for molex connectors. Not to mention the floppy drive and persnickity video card who want power connectors, as well...

 

[Bozo]

I didn't bother mentioning the case fans as mine have pass-through connectors.
My point was that the 430 watt power supply has fewer Molex connectors than a 300 watt power supply. If I had some SATA devices it might have worked.
If you are upgrading your power supply, it usually means you need more power for more devices. The power connector for the processor is rated the same on all power supplies, so the only reason to go to a larger power supply is more devices. More devices need more connectors. Larger power supplies should have more connectors, not the same or less than a smaller power supply.

I did indeed end up using Molex splitters. A half-assed solution to a problem that I shouldn't have in the first place.

Bozo :mrgrn: