Hack 19 Get More Power 
Before you
change out your system board,
upgrade to a new CPU, or start jacking up the speed of your CPU and
get lulled into a false comfort zone with your new blazing-fast
turbocharged PC, make sure it's got the stamina to
keep running smoothly. Many PCs have meager 200- to 250-watt power
supplies, as shown in Figure 3-1, which are no
match for the 300-watt capacity recommended by AMD for their CPUs.
You'll need the extra juice to feed not only the CPU
but the video card, RAM, disk drives, and other devices.
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Check the label on your power supply for its capacity rating in
watts. 200, 225, 230, and 250 watts are common but usually
insufficient for the needs of power users.
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If you have an OEM system (such as those from Dell,
Gateway, and others), it may not be possible to upgrade the power
supply due to a unique physical design or specific electrical
connections that are not industry-standard AT, ATX, or mini-ATX
styles. Since most of us are not hacking name-brand OEM systems, we
enjoy many options for customizing the system including changing the
power supply.
One standard source for cool, quiet, high-performance PC power
supplies is PC Power and Cooling (http://www.pcpowercooling.com). Their
top-of-the-line supply can deliver a whopping 510 watts of power,
which is more than adequate for any CPU and multiple disk drives.
Replacing the power supply is one of the easiest electromechanical
tasks you can do with a PC. You'll need one of the
following:
Turn off the PC and disconnect the power cord, as shown in Figure 3-2. Disconnect power connectors from the individual disk drives and the
system board, as shown in Figures Figure 3-3 and
Figure 3-4.
 Remove the screws holding the power supply to the chassis, as shown
in Figure 3-5. Remove the power supply from the chassis, as shown in Figure 3-6.
 Install the new power supply in the chassis and secure it with
screws. Connect the power cables to the system board and disk drives. Reapply power to the system, boot up, and test away.
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Some chassis have additional brackets, air deflectors, or cables that
may interfere with simple disconnection and removal of the power
supply. Attend to these details before trying to remove the power
supply from the system chassis.
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Save the original supply as a backup replacement for your new supply
or to use when building another system. If you have a defective power
supply and feel like hacking into it, you can salvage the 12-volt
DC-operated fan and use it to provide
additional chassis cooling.
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Be aware that modern PC power supplies may contain residual high
voltages for a few seconds or minutes after power has been removed,
even under load. The internal fan is typically run from low 12-volt
DC and can be removed safely by unplugging its power connector or
cutting the wires near the power supply circuit board.
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If you must dispose of a power supply, using a
computer-parts recycler should be your first choice, as they may
separate the chassis metal from the electronic components and then
further separate respective components.
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Your dead power supply is no more or less toxic than any other
household appliance you might simply toss in the trash, but local
regulations may dictate that electronics be disposed of separately
from normal trash, or at additional expense.
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