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m68xx Power Supply

post #1 of 5
5/8/06 at 12:21pm
Thread Starter 
Digging about for almost 2 months now, i have come to the conclusion, for my m6805 computing need, that the machine is being starved of "juice". Things get pretty bad when many external devices are connected to the machine.

Researches and found-outs:
1. arima W730-K8 DTR specs call for 120W adapter
2. targa / medion / gericom using the arima mobo all come with 19v-6.32a-120w adapter
3. gateway 75xx series are being delivered with mostly the 19v-6.32a-120w adapter as well
4. only the poor m68xx series were sold with the 18.5v-4.9a-90w!

Granted that the Mobile Athlon 64 3000+ is rated for a maximum thermal design power of 82W (3200+ & 3400+ probably a bit more), so it seems that the 90w power supply is more than enough, but when taking in consideration hooking up a few usb devices, printer, etc .. my poor m6805 feels like running almost always on "air" tank.

So, i scrambled up (begging & threatening) 2 units - a 18.5v/6.5a/120w and a 19v/6.32a/120w- for testing. I did with the 18.5v first, just was bit weary that it would burn my poor laptop :-)

Results: both units are allowing the laptop to run "cooler" (? - still doing more tests on this) and external device do not "drop" out and reconnect as before, especially with external usb drive and external dvd burner being accessed at the same time. Actually the 19v seems to give me a better "hump" feeling. Being on this ac adapter for the last 2 weeks, 24/7, battery charging and re-charging. NO negative side effect to note of.

I m searching for more input tests for the power adapter, would appreciate any great idea out there, in order to quantify the tests and qualify the use of the macho-er power unit.

cheers ...
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post #2 of 5
5/8/06 at 8:54pm
No problem with the 90W here (2 years and counting). I habe never experienced any "drop-outs", etc, or any other power related problem. I do think the 120W would have been a better choice though. Some people have had problems with their adapter going out, and the 90W units do get very hot when used for frequent charging. Mine is admittedly not stressed very hard though. It is plugged in the majority of the time. The most external devices I ever have plugged in at once is my cooler, USB HDD, and BT module.

Also, as a side note, the processor should be (most are) a 61.8W A64 mobile, not the 82W DTR. IIRC, some of the early m6805 and possibly m6807 were the DTR model, but most are the mobile (not low power mobile) version.
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post #3 of 5
5/8/06 at 9:55pm
Thread Starter 
my 90w adapter gets pretty warm even w/o charging battery, the 120w is pleasantly cooler.

amd thermal design power - i got conflicting ino from amd themselves. their mobile specs shows a thermal design power of 62w. their powernow powersaving performance table boasts a thermal design power of 81.5w, drawing a maximum current of 52.9A with an operating voltage of 1.5v when pulling a clock frequency of 1800mhz.

when not on the road, i have a usb2,0 4 port hubs supporting 2 sub ext drive, usb keyboard and a coolpad. the on board usbs has a webcam, an ext dvd burner and a mouse, printer is connected, external sound system is connected and expanded to support a sound box and a bt adapter (jabra a210), a dvb-t pcmcia card for using with media portal (tv/tivo). battery is being removed when "docking" :-)

so far it is performing quite well with this "macho" psu

cheers ...
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post #4 of 5
5/9/06 at 9:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn
amd thermal design power - i got conflicting ino from amd themselves. their mobile specs shows a thermal design power of 62w. their powernow powersaving performance table boasts a thermal design power of 81.5w, drawing a maximum current of 52.9A with an operating voltage of 1.5v when pulling a clock frequency of 1800mhz.
The powernow power saving chart you were looking at was obviously not for a mobile part, but for DTR. The mobile parts (61.8W version) are 1.4v. The DTR parts (81.5W version) are 1.5v. Your machine won't even do 1.5v. It maxes at 1.45v, but should only reach that if you force it with clockgen or the like. Under normal throttling with nor "overvolting", a mobile part should only throttle to 1.4v.
Quote:
when not on the road, i have a usb2,0 4 port hubs supporting 2 sub ext drive, usb keyboard and a coolpad. the on board usbs has a webcam, an ext dvd burner and a mouse, printer is connected, external sound system is connected and expanded to support a sound box and a bt adapter (jabra a210), a dvb-t pcmcia card for using with media portal (tv/tivo). battery is being removed when "docking" :-
It would be a good idea to use an externally powered hub for that type of a USB load. The MB's voltage regulator is probab;y sweating bullets.
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post #5 of 5
5/10/06 at 4:38am
Thread Starter 
thx for the input. i dig in somemore

cheers ...
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