Clueless person: Nescessary power on CPU for a DVD Burner?

[Willrocks]

Hi there. This is one of my first times posting here, and I am not very computer literate, to let you know. I am interested in purchasing an internal DVD Burner, 8x speed. Before purchasing, a knowledgable friend of mine told me to check to see how many volts of power my CPU could handle. I checked the labe on the back on my computer, and it said:

"AC Input 100-127V"
"50/60 HZ 200-240V"

I told my friend these numbers, and he told me that buying a DVD burner of any speed is pointless because the power any burner requires will be too much for the CPU to handle, and the computer will cease to properly function. Now while I listen to this person's computer advice, I am having trouble believing this. Can anybody here confirm/disprove what he is telling me? Will every internal DVD Burner overload my computer? It is an HP P3 844MHz computer running Windows XP, made in 2000. Thanks very much.

[Willrocks]

Also, I will be usig DVDXCopy.

[Gurm]

You're right, you aren't very computer literate. But that's ok.

From the information you gave us, we have NO idea if your machine can handle a burner or not...

Unless that 200-240V is supposed to be a 200-240W (as in Watts), in which case yes your power supply is a little underpowered but you can still TRY it.

Worst case scenario, you could REPLACE your current CD/DVD drive with a burner. If your machine is powering the current drive, it ought to power a new one.

Now, as for DVD X Copy... well, if you feel that you MUST use it... we kind of frown on it here though.

- Gurm

[Willrocks]

Yes, that is what I would do. I would replace my current 8x CD Burner that came stock with the computer with the new DVD Burner. If nescessary, I could also remove the other 48x CD-ROM drive too. Is there a good chance of my computer simply malfunctioning with the new DVD Burner?

[garryheather]

I think your friend is a little confused when it comes to power supplies.

Most modern processors use a sh*t load of current and as such, you need a fairly beefy power supply just for that. Then, you put a fast hard disk in (and some of those aren't lightweights either) and a decent graphics card, and a low spec PSU is on the edge already.

Most modern supplies and cases tend to be in the 350W range which is fine. If you've got an old power supply in the 120W mark, forget it - adding a DVD writer to it will probably pull the supply rails down and stop the PC running.

The voltage it runs on is immaterial so long as it's spec'd for the country you are in. Most modern processors also need closely regulated supplies at very odd voltages, but your motherboard should look after that so long as the supply is half decent and throw it too many spikes and fluctuations - so if your supply is man enough for the job, go for it.

[Willrocks]

Two things. First, I pulled those munbers of the label on the back of the computer. My friend told me to take of the side case and look for a label inside the computer. Is there a chance I read the wrong numbers?

Also, I didn't really understand the above post, sorry. IS it in your opinion that the burner will overload the PC?

[Gurm]

Inside the PC you will, in fact, likely find the WATTAGE of the power supply. You're looking for a number like 125W or 250W or something.

No, the burner shouldn't fry the machine. If you're already running two CD devices (a CDROM and a CD Burner) then the DVD burner should be just fine.

- Gurm

[cd090580]

I have a 220 Watts PSU (With 2 HDD, 1 sound card, tv card, scsi card, network card, 1 usb modem, 1 dvd reader, 1 dvd writer) and all is working without any problem.

[Willrocks]

I am now looking inside the computer for some wattage specification, but I cannot seem to find anything. Does anybody know where abouts I should look, and what I am looking for? Is it going to be on the motherboard itself?

[smearbrick1]

Sounds like your friend is not as literate he/she thinks she is. While power supply wattage is important, the power supplied to your CPU is immaterial. I believe what you are looking for may not be power required by your CPU but Processor speed. (I.E. 800MHZ, 1.5GHZ, 3.2GHZ). This information you can get simply by right-clicking "My Computer" then click "properties". It should tell you on the first screen that pops up things like: Processor type, speed, and operating system. My advice:

Don't listen to friends.

[johns0]

cd090580,i wouldnt use your pII300 as model for adequate power supplies,most computers of today which are 1.5ghz and over require 300 watts and more and not with the crappy stock psu that comes with the common dell and hp.

[ZippyP.]

The wattage of the power supply will be on a label on the power supply itself. The power supply is the metal box inside your computer that has all of the power wires coming out of it and the AC cable plugs directly into the back of it.

If you are replacing a CD burner with a DVD burner then you will not have any power problems. They draw about the same.

[Viper10000]

Willrocks,

Hi. In order to find out your power supply has enought wattage, follow this chart, which I got from last month's magazine MaximumPC:

1. CPU (i.e. Athlon XP) - 60 to 90 watts
2. Motherboard - 20 to 30 watts
3. RAM - 20 watts per 256MB
4. PCI Card - 5 to 10 watts (for each card)
5. AGP videocard - 20 to 60 watts
6. Hard-Drive 5400 rpm =5 to 10 watts (more for 7200 rpm)
7. Floppy drive - 5 watts
8. CD/DVD drive - 10 to 25 watts
9. CD/DVD burner - 20 to 30 watts
10. SCSI controller card - 20 to 25 watts
11. Network card - 5 watts
12. Modem - 5 watts
13. USB Device - 4 watts
14. Firewire Device - 8 watts
15. Zip Drive - 10 watts
16. CPU fan - 2 to 4 watts
17. Case fans - 2 to 4 watts (for each fan)

So for worst case scenario, you should use the upper limit, and add all the components that you already have and see what is the total, and to see if your power supply has enough wattage to add another 30 Watts. If you have a modern power supply like garryheather has mentioned (i.e. 350W+), then you shouldn't be worried about.

Also, according to the article, when a power supply is running hot, the rating of a power supply diminished. For example, a 550W power supply delivered only 475W when it is really hot.

Hope this will help.

Cheers,

[reboot]

Moot point (imho).
The system has a burner, thus it should have enough of a PSU to run it.
Subtract the old (power gobbling 8x) CDRW, and substitute a nice new (power efficient) DVDRW, and all should be well.
I would be more concerned about CPU power, RAM, OS, and software, to make a successful burn, than blowing a PSU, which can be replaced for $40.
BTW, your current HP system is what I would consider the bottom end of video editing hardware. An 833 simply is going to be tediously slow for you, however it should work. At least you've got XP!