Hiper 480W PSU - Room for Upgrades?

[nrmsmith]

I have a NeroExtreme Pro PC-0879T which has a Hiper 480W PSU fitted.

How much scope for adding upgades will this PSU give me?

I ask, because I have tried fitting two extra IDE drives to the IDE Raid connectors. The first one went in, and was detected/worked just fine. However, when I fitted the second extra drive, the system won't boot. The PC just hangs when it gets to the line (Booting From CD) i.e. just before it tries to boot the SATA raid.

Is this a sympton of not enough power from the PSU? If so, it doesn't seem as if the 480W PSU gives a very wide or generous room for expansion. :(

Nigel

[maaad999]

Nigel,

Most likey the power supply that is provided is a budget supply, and does not give you a true 480watts. If your looking to get this power in true watts, then a branded supply like hyper would be a good place to start.

In regards to the boot problem, have you checked all of your settings on the drives and the BIOS. Double check all the jumper settings are correct and the BIOS is configured correctly.

Regards

[djgandy]

I have a NeroExtreme Pro PC-0879T which has a Hiper 480W PSU fitted.

How much scope for adding upgades will this PSU give me?

I ask, because I have tried fitting two extra IDE drives to the IDE Raid connectors. The first one went in, and was detected/worked just fine. However, when I fitted the second extra drive, the system won't boot. The PC just hangs when it gets to the line (Booting From CD) i.e. just before it tries to boot the SATA raid.

Is this a sympton of not enough power from the PSU? If so, it doesn't seem as if the 480W PSU gives a very wide or generous room for expansion. :(

Nigel

If it is a hiper supply then you're fine.
Hanging in the same place each time sounds more like a configuration problem.
If you think it is a power supply problem, unplug anything you don't need for it to boot, and just have the 2 drive's running.

[Nox]

Nigel,

Most likey the power supply that is provided is a budget supply, and does not give you a true 480watts. If your looking to get this power in true watts, then a branded supply like hyper would be a good place to start.

In regards to the boot problem, have you checked all of your settings on the drives and the BIOS. Double check all the jumper settings are correct and the BIOS is configured correctly.

Regards

doh, you got this round the wrong way!!

Hiper are fine, Hyper are not!! but your comment does stand, budget PSU's are renowned for not providing the wattage stated, esp at normal operating temperatures.

Have you tried the failing HD on its own, on the connector that does work too?

Nox

[Danno]

i have just checked our build list for the system and it has a Hiper Type-R 480Watt 14db Black PSU installed so its very unlikely that this will be the cause of the problem.

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... ?HYP-4M480 (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?HYP-4M480)

[nrmsmith]

Thanks Guys,

Both drives worked fine when attached separately to the same cable; only when both were attached, each as master drives to separate cables on the ITE RAID connectors.

I will have another go, and double check the configuration of the jumpers.

Nigel

[nrmsmith]

Well I've done some more testing.

1. It ISN'T a Master/Slave config issue: I've used different combinations of 2 IDE drives and in ALL CASES, if there are TWO drives connected; the PC hangs on Boot at the "Boot from CD:" prompt.

2. It ISN'T a power supply issue. I can get the PC to boot OK with TWO IDE drives connected IF I configure the ITE 8212 controller in the BIOS into its RAID mode.

So I conclude the problem relates to the ITE 8212 controller in its IDE configuration. If you have MORE than ONE drive connected, whether as Master/Slave on the same channel; or both as Masters on separate channels, the PC WON'T BOOT PAST THE "Boot From CD:" prompt. So the issue would seem to be with the ITE 8212 controller bios software, and needs to be addressed by Foxconn. :(

Can anyone at Novatech confirm this issue?

Thanks
Nigel

[Nox]

if thats the case, its a pretty massive issue... Have you looked at BIOS updates? thats the sort of thing they fix.

Nox

[nrmsmith]

Yes, I've got the latest available BIOS onboard (Dec2005).

Still waiitng for some comment on this from a Novatechie...

Nigel