Dynex Power supply question

[Mad Machinist]

I have about 7 400 watt Dynex supplies that I got for near nothing.....they are 24 pin with PCI-E and sata connectors. When I hook up my power supply tester....it gives a green light on everything but -5v.....nothing there at all.

Just tried using one for a XP install with a 3 gig prescott on an MSI/intel board with an ATI 9800.....and it does't install clean...have to retry copying several files...they copied....but it doesn't run stable...had issues trying to download windows updates.

It appears my problem is memory in this instance......but I'd still like opinion as to the usability of the power supplies on budget/freebie systems using 1.6 to 2.4 P-4 processors and PCchips boards or similiar components?

Hate to scrap 'em but for what I have in them it won't be a huge loss.....

thanks guys.......

Rudy

[spursindonesia]

Those Dynex, they're in the same class as Deer units, correct ? I don't think it will be sufficient for powering a Prescott based rig with Radeon 9800 in it, especially if the built has several other periferals which also suck power from the 12v rail, since crappy, old design PSU like them are mostly depraved of high amperage in its 12v output.

[jonnyGURU]

A little better than Deer.... but not by much. They're really only 300W continuous at 25°C.

That said, I doubt your loading it anywhere near 300W during your install. It does seem like a RAM problem to me.

As for the lack of -5V: That was removed from the spec early on in ATX12V specifications. Most PSU's these days do not have -5V.

[Mad Machinist]

It was definitely a ram issue in this instance....system is running rock stable now......but the lack of a lit -5 volt LED on my little power supply tester is what really concerned me, as it fails to light on all seven supplies.

Actually I'm using an Antec for this build as it is a new surfin/folding box for me....:D

I've had a pretty stable supply of the 20 pin ATX supplies in this brand over the last few years...actually built 60 plus machines with them and have yet to have one fail, these are the first 24 pin units I've picked up....and they come with a 20 pin adapter.....they will be going on some low budget builds using all in one(sound, lan, video) micro ATX boards with 1.6 to 2.4 P4's and a DVDrw or a DVD/CDRW combo drive and a single pata hard drive.

[Mad Machinist]

Thanks Jon