Windows XP or PSU problem?

[Mattias]

Does anybody know what kind of problems that typically are associated by a weak power supply unit (psu)? I am one of the many computer owners with the slightly problematic and definitely power hungry AMD+Geforce+VIA combination (1.4 GHz + GTS2).

I used a 300W PSU for a while but after it broke down I have been using a 250W unit.

Now, I have not noticed any significant decrease in system stability but I still wonder if the substandard solution has any other drawbacks?

For example, can the general performance of the system, speedwise I mean?

The system works, I may have PSU related lockups and shutdowns but not to the extent where I can separate them from other errors. But, again, can the system suffer otherwise?

Thanks in advance,

M.

[Schrullenhaft]

With a substandard power supply I think that the only problem system would suffer is stability. If you're not suffering from stability problems then I believe you should be OK. Other than notebook-oriented CPUs (which are a different situation power saving-wise), the voltage/current levels shouldn't affect the speed of the CPU. You may be familiar with overclockers up'ing the voltage on CPUs to get them to run faster. But this is stictly at the motherboard level which is where the regulation of voltages and currents occur for the CPU and other motherboard components. If the power supply can't maintain/feed the proper voltage and/or current then you would see stability problems rather than some decrease in speed since desktop CPUs aren't geared towards lowering their clock speed in order to reduce power consumption (though a desktop motherboard's power saving routines may be able to affect this).

Typically you would want a 300+W power supply with most of the Athlons and faster AGP cards, but not all power supplies are equal, even if the wattage rating would indicate that they are. Some 235/250W power supplies are better and more stable than some 300+W ones.