safety concerns spare part build

[markr54632]

I am building a cheapo media center pc out of spare parts laying around and had a question about power supplies adapters and safety.

 

The build is an hp asus moca-ar mini itx board, t7200 core 2 duo, a random hard drive, and a gtx 550ti.

 

The two power supplies I have laying around are an old thermaltake 400 w or a dell 7010 stock power supply. The thermaltake has 20 pin power which I have to use an adapter to convert to 24 pin, then to mini 24 pin. It has plenty of molex plugs to power the graphics card. This power supply has only molex power.

 

The dell is a 275 watt I only have to use the single 24 pin to mini 24 pin adapter. But to power the graphics card I have to run it off of one sata plug. This power supply only has sata power.

 

Which is safer or is neither option safe? This isnt a terribly important project. Just my old car pc and an old graphics card I have laying around. Both power supplies have enough power I am more concerned about the adapters.

 

I have to run at least one adapter on the motherboard regardless.

 

[LienusLateTips]

I would say buy a cheapo PSU that's newer.

[Master Disaster]

21 minutes ago, JDE said:

I would say buy a cheapo PSU that's newer.

Terrible advice.

 

23 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

I am building a cheapo media center pc out of spare parts laying around and had a question about power supplies adapters and safety.

 

The build is an hp asus moca-ar mini itx board, t7200 core 2 duo, a random hard drive, and a gtx 550ti.

 

The two power supplies I have laying around are an old thermaltake 400 w or a dell 7010 stock power supply. The thermaltake has 20 pin power which I have to use an adapter to convert to 24 pin, then to mini 24 pin. It has plenty of molex plugs to power the graphics card. This power supply has only molex power.

 

The dell is a 275 watt I only have to use the single 24 pin to mini 24 pin adapter. But to power the graphics card I have to run it off of one sata plug. This power supply only has sata power.

 

Which is safer or is neither option safe? This isnt a terribly important project. Just my old car pc and an old graphics card I have laying around. Both power supplies have enough power I am more concerned about the adapters.

 

I have to run at least one adapter on the motherboard regardless.

 

Never skimp out on your PSU, if it fails it has the potential to take EVERYTHING in your PC with it and cheap or older models are both more prone to failure and have less safety features in them to prevent them from taking out other components.

 

It sounds like neither PSU is really suitable but don't buy a cheapo PSU, save up and get a reputable branded one. Sounds like a 450w would be sufficient for your needs.

[markr54632]

17 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

Terrible advice.

 

Never skimp out on your PSU, if it fails it has the potential to take EVERYTHING in your PC with it and cheap or older models are both more prone to failure and have less safety features in them to prevent them from taking out other components.

 

It sounds like neither PSU is really suitable but don't buy a cheapo PSU, save up and get a reputable branded one. Sounds like a 450w would be sufficient for your needs.

450w seems overkill for what is essentially a laptop with a desktop gpu. I did run this rig off of a 160w dc-dc psu in my car with pretty stable rails. Granted this was without the gpu, but the 5v rail loaded to the absolute max.

 

Like I said I'm not buying anything for this. I'm simply worried if it is a fire hazard. Both psus run this build fine short term. If it blows every component in this build that I really don't care about. We are talking about 7-8 year old parts that have been run in a car at 100c plus regularly. (It gets really hot in a car in the Midwest.)

 

If I do have to buy a psu for this build it needs to be a dc-dc or sfx so that all of this can get shoved in an xbox enclosure.

 

The above comment was not in error. The 5v rail in a car pc is much more important as you are powering waaaay too much off of usb. Gps, hd radio, optical drive, wifi, bluetooth, in my case the touchscreen display. The poor 5v rail get loaded to the max.

[DragonTamer1]

Yoy can probably grab a 350w seasonic or antec psu off of ebay for about $25. Just try and stay away feom the stuff with a bad reputation.

[comicsansms]

If the dell is standard ATX, I'd just use the old dell.

[markr54632]

15 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

If the dell is standard ATX, I'd just use the old dell.

The dell is standard atx. The motherboard is not. It is an old sff hp mini 24 pin.

 

The thermaltake is standard 20 pin atx.

 

Haha $25 is literally worth more than this build. And again if I have to buy something it needs to be sfx or dc-dc.