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NFG Forums => Info Requests => Topic started by: atom on August 22, 2004, 02:45:57 AM

Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: atom on August 22, 2004, 02:45:57 AM
How many amps do you think a Baby AT Power supply (75w) Puts out?
Google for an atx power supply shows 8 amps...
Im thinking of using it as a power supply for all of my consoles and im afraid it will fry my snes, sega-cd, n64, and gamecube!

EDIT:

After researching this on howstuffworks.com I believe i understand the terms better now, but am more confused.

Volts * Amps = Watts

So, I have a 75w Power Supply... and I am going to use the 12v from it...

12 * A = 75
75 / 12 = A

So is my supply going to put out 6.25 amps? Will the gamecube only take the amps it needs anyways?
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: NFG on August 22, 2004, 12:42:40 PM
You can always have more Amps than required, it's Volts you have to be careful with.  A console will pull what Amps it needs, but will choke on extra Volts.

Most power supplies list the output Amps for each Voltage too.
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: atom on August 23, 2004, 07:03:57 AM
Thanks lawrence... did I use the math properly?
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: Aidan on August 23, 2004, 05:35:14 PM
Atom, there's nothing wrong with your maths.

However if the PSU provides other voltages than 12V, then you need to check the label on the PSU to see how much it can provide. Most PC power supplies give an "overall" figure if you draw the maximum allowed from the various voltage line. This means that the 75W figure doesn't relate to a single voltage line, but to the overall PSU.

You might find that the PSU can only provide 36W of power on the 12V line, with the rest being provided on the other lines. Often for AT power supplies, the 5V line can provide the most power, as this is where the PC logic is fed from.

If you can find any details on the PSU, it's worth checking to see it will do what's required! How much power does a GC need anyhow?
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: atom on August 24, 2004, 05:32:47 AM
Oh yeah, I didnt even think about that. Unfortuanately I threw out the casing for the power supply a long time ago. A gamecube takes only 3.25 amps, the snes takes 8.5, Genesis takes only .85 amps! They all take 10 or 12 volts. I dont have my n64 unpacked yet so i dont know what it takes, but will actually need 3.3, 5 and a 12 volt line... can anyone verify this?
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: Aidan on August 24, 2004, 08:24:20 AM
N64 needs 3.3V and 12V.
SNES needs 0.85A, rather than 8.5A. It would be rather a larger PSU if the SNES needed that much power ;)

I don't think that AT PSUs provide 3.3V, instead providing only 5V, 12V, -5V, -12V.
I believe that 3.3V came in with ATX PSUs.
Title: Power Supply Question
Post by: atom on August 24, 2004, 08:54:23 AM
Yeah your right, it is .85 lol. I guess im not going to be able to use my n64 on my handy dandy supply after all. Oh well.