Timeline for What happens when hardware tries to draw more power than power supply can provide?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
30 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 27, 2017 at 15:27 | audit | First posts | |||
| Apr 27, 2017 at 15:27 | |||||
| Apr 25, 2017 at 19:23 | comment | added | cybernard | @Joshua you must live in another country or a really old house or something 15A is a standard circuit break size. 15A is 1800w so buy a PSU to match yours. A 1000W or 1200W PSU will max your circuit assuming you connect enough devices to it. | |
| Apr 25, 2017 at 15:14 | comment | added | Joshua | @cybernard: My wall breaker is for 10 amps at 120 volts. | |
| Apr 25, 2017 at 14:03 | comment | added | cybernard | @Joshua Where do you get 10amps from? Modern PSU offers 20A+@5v and 30A+@12v. An increase in amps requires an increase in the diameter of the wiring, and better parts in general= more cost. | |
| Apr 25, 2017 at 13:42 | answer | added | Dmitry Grigoryev | timeline score: 1 | |
| Apr 25, 2017 at 7:39 | answer | added | Pere Noel | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 25, 2017 at 2:46 | comment | added | Joshua | Is it possible to make a rails PSU that can draw all 10 amps the wall can give it? | |
| Apr 24, 2017 at 18:31 | comment | added | ScottishTapWater | Mine blew itself up once... I installed a new GPU and didn't think about the PSU (I was 13 and didn't know better) and it simply burned itself out after about half an hour | |
| Apr 24, 2017 at 12:51 | comment | added | Pieter B | related question: superuser.com/questions/113113/why-are-brownouts-so-harmful | |
| Apr 24, 2017 at 7:44 | comment | added | Luaan | That's just how electricity works - as you draw more power, the voltage drops, and the electronics in your computer mostly have a lower limit on voltage; if you draw enough power, they will simply stop working. Smarter PSUs (pretty much standard these days) will completely disconnect to prevent damage (e.g. from one component failing before another in a dangerous way). What would be the point of a PSU that randomly disconnects devices? The computer would be just as broken, possibly more so. And it would be more complicated - less reliable and efficient, more expensive than a bigger PSU. | |
| Apr 24, 2017 at 5:42 | comment | added | Kaz | I'm really surprised there isn't some sort of power management logic built into PSU Because they are pieces of crap that retail for $50, which means the real cost is about $15 in a pre-assembled PC. | |
| Apr 24, 2017 at 2:48 | comment | added | Stack Exchange Supports Israel | Usually one of two things happens: either the voltage drops and your system malfunctions (generally, it will reboot unexpectedly) or your power supply dies (such as by blowing a fuse, or by exploding if it's really cheap). | |
| Apr 23, 2017 at 22:44 | answer | added | Loren Pechtel | timeline score: 4 | |
| Apr 23, 2017 at 10:18 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/super_user/status/856089937384534016 | ||
| Apr 22, 2017 at 23:43 | comment | added | Jeanne Pindar | @Ramhound That's not true. Many power supplies - in general, I'm not talking about desktop computer power supplies - will continue to provide a lower voltage, which may not be enough to operate the load, but won't necessarily damage anything. When this happens we say the load 'draws down' the supply. Other supplies have overcurrent sensing and will shut off, ideally with a beep or a visual indication. And of course, trying to use a device that's powered by rechargeable batteries when the batteries are low doesn't destroy them. | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 21:06 | answer | added | Hydranix | timeline score: 6 | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 18:22 | history | edited | user1306322 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 22, 2017 at 16:18 | answer | added | eckes | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 14:52 | history | edited | Zombo | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 22, 2017 at 12:04 | answer | added | phuclv | timeline score: 7 | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 11:31 | answer | added | Ratna | timeline score: 2 | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 10:51 | comment | added | Jonas Schäfer | FWIW, this is why high-end RAID controllers spin up disks on boot in batches and not all at once. | |
| Apr 22, 2017 at 8:47 | history | edited | user1306322 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 21, 2017 at 23:40 | comment | added | music2myear | This is why in a typical build you want the power supply to be capable of delivering substantially more than the peak draw of all components. Not only does this protect from such events, but a power supply will also last longer when its normal load is a smaller percentage of its peak capacity. | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 23:22 | comment | added | Maja Piechotka | @Ramhound fortunatly we have circuit breakers and fuses so in proper design it should not fry source. | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 22:04 | answer | added | Greg Elliott | timeline score: 7 | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 21:57 | answer | added | LSerni | timeline score: 37 | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 21:30 | answer | added | Mokubai♦ | timeline score: 75 | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 20:52 | answer | added | David Schwartz | timeline score: 44 | |
| Apr 21, 2017 at 20:47 | history | asked | user1306322 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |