[vox-tech] Athlon (was Hardware Question)

[Stephen M. Helms]

Peter Jay Salzman wrote:

>2 cents: i have a 1.4GHz athlon system that was dead in the water.  i
>checked everything and bought all AMD approved stuff -- fans, RAM, case,
>heatsink.
>
>except the powersupply.   foo told me that there were AMD approved power
>supplies.   i bought one off the web and 5 days later i had a working
>athlon system.
>
Do you have a list of the places where you bought the parts -- fans, 
RAM, case, heatsink, PSU?  I have looked at AMD web site and the list is 
pretty extensive, so if yours are working well, I can save some time 
searching.

>note -- the supply i was using was a 350W supply.  so it wasn't a lack
>of power that was tripping things up.  i'm not sure what "AMD approved"
>means for a power supply, but when they don't approve a PS, they
>really don't approve a PS!
>
Well from what I have been reading the Athlon's do not like not having 
enough power so a power supply unit (PSU) that provides -.5 volts less 
than needed can cause alot of problem.  It seems that if the PSU 
supplies up to +.5 volts more than needed than it is not as much of a probl

>big weakness in AMD stuff, making it totally unsuitable for the person
>who wants to build a system for the first time.
>
I would agree with this.  I have built all of the computers that I 
currently have (with the exception of the Sun Ultra 5 and the Toshiba 
Libretto 50CT) and have not had any problems like this in the past.  I 
guess I am not as up to speed on the AMD chipsets though.

>but you have to love the price.
>
Of course, sometimes you get what you pay for, I may be spending a 
little more to get quality rated parts.  I would have to say this is not 
really a problem with AMD as much as it is with vendors selling parts 
that do not perform like they should i.e.  a 350W PSU does not really 
provide a total of 350W to your whole system as you loose power with 
resistance, etc.

Stephen