June 2002
Beginner to intermediate
816 pages
32h 59m
English
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Choosing a Power Supply
Use the following guidelines to choose a power supply appropriate for your system:
- Choose the correct form factor
Above all, make sure the power supply you buy fits your case and has the proper connectors for your motherboard. If your motherboard includes the ATX Optional Power Supply Connector, buy a power supply that provides that connector. Consider buying such a power supply even if your current motherboard does not require that connector, so that if you upgrade the connector will be available.
- Match power supply to system configuration
Some sources recommend adding up maximum current draws for all system components and sizing the power supply on that basis. The problem with that method is that it can be nearly impossible to determine those draws for all components, especially motherboards and expansion cards. We recommend using the KISS method instead, as follows:
- Basic system
For a desktop or mini-tower system with a Celeron or other low-end processor, 64 MB or less RAM, one IDE hard disk, one IDE DVD/CD-ROM drive, and zero or one expansion card, install a 230W to 250W power supply.
- Mainstream system
For a desktop or mini/mid-tower system with a Celeron or FC-PGA Pentium III Coppermine processor, 128 MB RAM, one or two IDE hard disks, a DVD/CD-ROM drive, a CD-RW drive, perhaps a tape drive, and one or two expansion cards, install a 300W power supply.
- High-performance system
For a mid- or full-tower system with one fast Pentium III, Pentium 4, or Athlon ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.