Choosing a new ATX power supply for an expanded Amiga 4000

[grelbfarlk]

As Trixster says adding extra wires is not strictly necessary. Adding 4 wires to one 5V pin on the A4000 isn't likely to help at all if the ATX Power supply is not up to task. For me, it did help as otherwise all of the 64MB on the A4000 motherboard was not showing up. Sometimes it would be 24MB or 40MB and so on.
Like Trixster on some of the other systems, usually when I measure a concerningly low value for 5V on say the Voodoo or PPC card then I add another pickup, this is more an issue with the A4000 in a desktop case, as the Towerized A4000Ds have the extra AT connector on the busboard.

[spudje]

People, how well intended and appreciated they are, these contradicting posts are not really helping me decide what to do

[DarrenHD]

Hi Trixter, thanks for the info on the thingiverse bracket. I've ordered one myself and will get a SF450 power supply too. And the AmigaKit ATX adapter. I'm in the (relatively) slow process of putting together an A4000+ Alice system with a GREX-4000 and CS PPC or MK3. I have everything I need except the CS PPC or MK3 - trying to find one but so far no luck. I've talked to Hese and he will make me an A4000+ Alice board. I have the GREX-4000, a spare A4000 case, keyboard, and mouse. So I will just have to put it all together. I will post some photos once it is all working but it may take some time for me to secure the cpu card.

[spudje]

So are you gonna mod the Amigakit adapter? Feed the power via different places?

Maybe we should ask Hese to release his A4000D Firebird daughterboard. i assume it has a molex connector just like the AA3000+ Firebird. Which is a cleaner solution than modding a power entry point somewhere.

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by spudje

So are you gonna mod the Amigakit adapter? Feed the power via different places?

Maybe we should ask Hese to release his A4000D Firebird daughterboard. i assume it has a molex connector just like the AA3000+ Firebird. Which is a cleaner solution than modding a power entry point somewhere.

I guess I will mod it if necessary. I'll see how stable (or not) it is first. Yes the AA3000+ Firebird for the A4000 would be amazing, not sure if he would ever make that though

[trixster]

He has a prototype ready to go

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by trixster

He has a prototype ready to go

That would be cool

BTW, did you get OpenPCI working well? I gather it would allow you to use a RTL8139 network card and (perhaps?) a USB card if you use the ArakAttack USB driver from Guido Mersmann?

I had tried the Arakattack driver years ago on my Amithlon setup but I could never get it to work with a generic NEC usb card.

Did you get a chance to run the Memtesting030RTG utility to see your speed from the graphics card?

[trixster]

OpenPCI is working on the Firebird with the Firestorm firmware. RTL8139C and NEC USB card tested and working, so DMA is working correctly. Not tried Memtesting030RTG

[DarrenHD]

Originally Posted by trixster

OpenPCI is working on the Firebird with the Firestorm firmware. RTL8139C and NEC USB card tested and working, so DMA is working correctly. Not tried Memtesting030RTG

That's great news...you are using ArakAttack 1.23 from Aminet?

[trixster]

Wrangler is, yes

[Liqourice]

Since I have one of those amigakit adapters, will get an SFX psu soon, I wonder how much hardware it's enough for as it is?

I have a CSMk-II/040, one harddrive, CD-rom, scandoubler (not the CV one I'm afraid), ariadne II and a CV64/3D in it right now. Also have a MFC-III but took it out since I never use it these days.

Is it enough for that or do I need to modify the adapter?

[trixster]

I'm running:

CSMk2 060
CF Card
Indi AGA2 scandoubler
10 mbit NIC
1Ghz PPC PCI card
Radeon 9200
Soundblaster
Deneb
ICY V2
Prisma Megamix
CD-ROM
2x extra case fans (one 12v one 5v)

So i think you'lll be fine with an SFX psu, assuming it's got a dcent 5v line and can deliver enough watts on that rail.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

Originally Posted by trixster

I think it’s worth noting that I’m using the amigakit adapter with an sf600 and I haven’t modded anything to add more 5v lines. My machine is as loaded as they come and I’m not seeing any power issues.

My ICY V2 zorro card measures the voltage drop at the busboard and reports that 5v will drop to around 4.6v - even with this I’m not seeing any problems. If I add an injector from a spare molex (either through a modded Ramix 239/F or a wired up molex connector inserted with a breadboard directly into the busboard, the voltage only climbs to 4.7ish volts

I get the impression that power distribution around the A4000D isn’t particularly good, and as such even splicing in extra 5v connectors or 5v injectors can only go so far to rectify any issues

I've been noticing that the SF450 might not have been the best choice, Trixster. After running stuff for long periods..2 to 3 or 4 hours..this SF450 is showing problems. I don't think it's the modified Amiga-Kit adapter. I took it off (SF450) and replaced with an original and still good Amiga 4000 PSU and those extended hours are fine. Payback WOS, Wipeout 2097, Heretic (Don't use the DirectCGX...causes crashes in some areas, or use with Saved games..), AmigaAMP. So, what's the difference with SF600 vs SF450?


I'm gonna seek where to get an SF600...and give one more a shot. Perhaps.


@ spudje


I've been attempting to find a Solid Power source for a bit. I don't often have my A4000 on for 3 to 6 hours. But recently, I've had some time and some of the kids enjoy (I'm a Kid also..hehe) playing the games that need PowerPC as well as 68K. Which require consistency. The SF450 and Modded Amiga-Kit adapter has shown to not be. Original PSU still us. So, I'm seeking help as well.

@ Trixter

Yours?

https://www.amazon.com/CORSAIR-SF600...SIN=B01CGI5M24

My Amiga Motherboard set to PAL mode. Though I'm in the States. But that shouldn't matter.

[trixster]

I’ve been using an sf600 for well over a year without issue, often for many hours at a time. Grelbfark uses an sf450 so you’ll have to ask him about that

[spudje]

An SF600 on the system you describe above (CSMk2) or on a PPC / Mediator setup?

[trixster]

Sf600 in the system mentioned in post #72

[spudje]

Oh yeah, I missed the PCI PPC

[grelbfarlk]

The other thing to remember about the SF450 and probably the SF600 is that the fan speed is load triggered. So while the 5V rail will be near capacity the total load on the PSU might not be enough to make the fan spin fast enough to exhaust the whole system. For that I just plugged the PSU fan into an HDD/Fan header adapter.
If that's not the issue, then more than likely the PSU header on the A4000 motherboard probably needs replacing. If you can change your stability/results by unplugging/replugging that connector to whatever PSU, it could use replacing or at least some thorough cleaning.

[AC/DC HACKER!]

grelbfarlk,

My A4000 isn't in a case and a fan is blowing on it from the back to be sure everything from top to bottom is cooled when on. I watch the fan on the SF450 come on once in a while. But when using the original PSU everything is stable, but not when using SF450 that would point to SF450 power flow not doing it. I hadn't considered this, but perhaps the 5V is being disrupted by a faulty SF450?.

At the time, about 3 years ago, I didn't know anyone in the U.S. and was coming back to the Amiga so I located Stan in Poland and he recapped, and made repairs to the A4000. He also replaced the PSU connector on the A4000. I'll check that connector though to see if it needs cleaning. Perhaps that's the simple fix?

--
I just got a message from Stan when I asked him about which PSU is a great idea since he does a LOT of repairs and selling as well as buying. His answer is simple:

"An original one from Commodore after proper maintenance and recap." This is seemly like the route I'm going to go after I clean the Motherboard power connector. It would be a little under or over price of an SFwhatever to send, fix, and get back the guts of my older older not functioning well original. I have 2...as well as another A4000 Motherboard. Which the same thing happens with as described above. Also recapped and repaired.

Pondering.

[torsti76]

Just as a quick hint: Since most ATX PSUs nowadays are focussed on the 12V rail, getting something older usually works much better.

At my workplace we lately decommissioned several PCs from the Core2Duo era, which turned out to have PSUs with at least 25A on the 5V rail. Most of them even 30A. Since all machines were from the bigger players like Dell and Fujitsu, the fans run really quiet as well.

My A4000T board with similar configuration as mentioned here in this thread now runs very smoothly on one of those.
So, if you can get your hands on an older trademarked ATX supply, I'd recommend that.