Testing Your PSU Rails

[ShaTR]

Originally Posted by adil_hidayat

call me stupid..
what is a sticky??

it's when a topic stays at the top of the list. most topics get bumped down when a new one is made or replied to. this one is a sticky cuz it stays at the top no matter what.

oh, and STUPID

[adil_hidayat]

aha..sticky..so must be some cool stuff up there. Will start reading all those 'stickies'.

Writting new knowledge to brain : 10 % completed

[supershanks]

I've been using a mm to test the rails of my new SilverStone Zeus ST56ZF 560W. I'm very pleased with the stability & am pretty pleased with myself today as i got MBM adjusted to match the mm readings(well @least at idle )

I now want to check the Vcore & Vdimm.
I know where to do it :-
DFI Lanparty Neo4 Vdimm & Vcore but am unsure of the how.

I see the locations to put the red probe but does the ground probe have to be placed on the position shown or can it be grounded on say the case chasis or a molex ground.

As an example to measure my 3.3v i leave the ground probe in the ground hole of a molex & touch the red probe to the orange lead going into a sata plug.

If the above is possible without blowing up my mobo it will certainly make life easier having to manipulate only a single probe.

Appreciate any input

[BWX232]

subscribe


hmmmm

[Kumiho]

new subscriber here.

I'm not overclocking my comp at all, but i am pretty concerned about my PSU. I haven't been able to do any real extensive testing, and i haven't had a chance to run a multimeter yet. These are stats coming from my ASUS Probe software. (edit) This computer was built almost exactly a week ago, and we noticed the PSU numbers fluctuating about 3 days ago.

I'm using this power supply in a completely new computer i built http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153023

(rest of specs of the system, running XP pro)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131546
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ription=22-144 (ok it looks like the HDD i bought last week isn't even for sale anymore on their website, it was a 250 gig western digital caviar hooked up via SATA, i also have the alternate (SATA?) power plug hooked into the HDD instead of the normal power supply.. is this a bad thing?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145505
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121196
(case shouldn't important but just in case there might be something wonky with tihs brand of tower i don't know about http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144170 )


and this is what ASUS Probe is giving me when i record the history and leave it sitting in windows overnight.

3.3v rail 3.408 to 3.248 most often 3.312 with occasional fluctuations to the high and low points (not too concerned there)

5v rail 5.22 as constant with fluctuations around 5.376 often and have had a couple spikes above 5.5 which sets off my ASUS probe warning

12v rail most often at 11.450 to 11.400 with occasial dips down to 10.5 which have set off ASUS probe alarm.


i've had 3 spontaneous reboots now. One of them seemingly random when i tried to kill a software and twice when i've tried to shut down my computer. My room mate says i should probably ditch the PSU pretty quick but i'm wondering if this is just a sub-par PSU brand/type or if a RMA might fix my problem. Any suggestions?

[ShaTR]

that system doesn't require that much power, so i think ur sensors are buggy. I had a couple TR2's before, and i must say, they are quite solid. Wasn't expecting much from thermatake power supplies, but they surprised me.

NEhoo, use a multimeter to test. OR better yet, scrap that crap system, and pick up a sempron 64 . much better than cellery's!

[bob8701]

let me explain that;

Computer supply has muti 12 volt rails. (it come form different voltage regulator). the 4pin (2 yellow and 2 black) go to motherboard is mainly support cpu. it needs lot current when it convert to vcore. most cpu use 1.5volt and 60 amp ( 90 watt cpu)

author measure the 4pin connectors is different rail which suppport hard drive, dvd driver, and fan. it doesnot need lots current.
bios shows 12 volt reading is the rail author measured, the software monitored the 12 volts is the rail support cpu . that is reason why bios reading agree with DMM, and software always reading lower than DMM. if you can measure the yellow cable(4pin go the mother board), I bet the DMM reading will match the software reading.
the only way can test powe supply is using heavy duty loading resistors to check each 12v rail.
who care the rail support the hard drive and so on, the rail support cpu is most important, it decide how much you can overclock. high current is better.
my english is not good hope this explain everything, please correct me if I made any mistake.

[SlipKon]

Nice Guide For Testing The PSU ;-) Thanks Alot

[os008]

Hi all,
I have the specs below, i measured the PSU from the motherboard connector, here're the readings ...

12v: 100% at 12.2v since boot till windows, during gaming, during Prime95 ... etc.
5v: 100% at 5.2v, same.
3.3v: 100% at 3.33v, same.

I have a couple of problems ...
1- sometimes when i start the computer up, the PSU produces a high pitch noise, but even during that, it's 100% stable voltage all the time, which is weird, i have it since 2 years, and it's been doing this since 6 months.

2- though i'm o/ced, y does the computer sometimes, just out of nowhere, and after lots and lots of days of loading on it, and out of nowhere it hangs! and most of the time it doesn't do that, it's rare but annoying.

3- sometimes when i start the computer, it hangs after saying "Memory is in Dual Mode, yahoo!", then it restarts, and my o/c is gone, i have to re-enter the BIOS and enable it, it's already saved, so it's a matter of change "Disabled" to "Enabled" and then exiting, this happens mostly when Cold Booting.

4- i feel a kind of lag in the PC in general, though it's supposed to be fast, actually, it's fast, very, but there's this strange lag feeling.

is this a PSU problem, or another? plz help me, thanks.

CPU: Pentium 4 530J, 3.0 @3.66, 1MB Cache, 1.4v (+0.02v), 45/65c
RAM: Spectek 2048MB (512x4), DDR2-533 @649, Dual Channel, 4-4-4-12-0, 1.9v (+0.1v)
MB: Gigabyte GA-8I945P-G, Intel 945P @244/324
GFX: XFX XXX 6800GS PCX @485, 256MB @1100, 40/60c
HDD: WD 160GB, SATA2, 8MB Cache, 7200 RPM
Sound: Realtek ALC882 7.1-Ch HD
Monitor: 17" Samsung 793DF
DSL: 1024/256Kb/s DSL Connection
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2, DX 9.0c
VGA Driver: Xtreme-G 84.56 v2
Sound Driver: Realtek R1.38
Scores: 3DMark'06: 2800, 3DMark'05: 5500, 3DMark '03: 12000, PCMark'05: 4700, Mem: 6GB/s, HDD: 80MB/s
PSU: Task International 450 Watt PSU, Dual Auto Speed Crystal Fans, 12.2v/26A, 3.33v/28A, 5.2v/32A
Cooling: Zalman VF700-Cu (VGA), 2 Fans Exhaust, 1 Intake, 2 Facing the NB and RAMs
UPS: Fenton 425VA
Mouse & Keyboard: Microsoft Comfort ... Curve Keyboard 2000, Optical Mouse 3000
Speakers: Creative Inspire 4.1

[ShaTR]

Ive noticed that quirkyness alot from gigabyte boards. no big deal, they tend to stay stable during gaming and stuff.

Nice readings on the PSU. never heard of task international. probably a big name in disguise though.

b e z!

[os008]

Though i'm worried about the high pitch noise, to be on the safe side i'll get an "Antec NeoHE 550Watt, SLI, Active PFC" ASAP, according to http://www.legitreviews.com/article/348/1/ it's the best bang for the buck.

Even though the Antec NeoHE is only 550W, it was able to handle our power hungry hardware with very impressive stability. This power supply featured Active PFC with an efficiency rating of up to 85%, which is the reason this power supply was the third most efficient of the group. Being the second lowest in price the Antec Neo HE 550W power supply is really the price versus performance winner when it comes to this group of eight power supplies.

[RubberDuck]

Thank you for this Excellent Guid. Easy to follow and easy to do. You explane it step by step.

Thank You

[OmgWtfIDiedLol]

Originally Posted by TheCleaner

It is crucial that you know your TRUE voltages on the 3 main voltage rails, present on all ATX PSU's.
Many people still rely on means of software, such as MBM, Speedfan, and the BIOS, but these are all very unreliable. I have been able to prove this, and what it brought to my attention, that those who trust software, are potentially putting their software in danger, particularly those who have adjustable rails in their PSU.

Hardware. Although you could probably kill some software too, I guess...
Anyways, Here are a few links to some inexpensive multimeters(in order of price).

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...LTIMETER_.html

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...LTIMETER_.html

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...ACKLIGHT_.html

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...RMOMETER_.html

[Neilsouth]

Cool thread i just measured mine, my psu wont boot my system from cold boot
ie psu left unpowered overnight

Windows - 12V= 12.29 / 5V= 5.20
GAMES - 12V=12.25 / 5V= 5.23

Looks ok

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by Neilsouth

Cool thread i just measured mine, my psu wont boot my system from cold boot
ie psu left unpowered overnight

Windows - 12V= 12.29 / 5V= 5.20
GAMES - 12V=12.25 / 5V= 5.23

Looks ok

Complete system specs would be useful.

[Neilsouth]

Originally Posted by davidhammock200

Complete system specs would be useful.

Duh 8 forums and i forget this one

Plz forgive me, plus its my birthday and im celebrating

Edit : wait..... thats why i didnt put it in, where's the bloody signature profile section LOL

DFI LANPARTY SLI-D
X3800+ @ 2.6ghz , 260FSB , 234mhz mem
SATA 2 seagate barracuda 7200.10 16mb cache 250gb
Seagate barracuda Ide 7200rpm 160gb
2GB G.SKILL pc4000 HV
X1800XT 680/790 1.47v
Xfi soundcard
Hyper Type R 580 WATTS

[davidhammock200]

Originally Posted by Neilsouth

Duh 8 forums and i forget this one

Plz forgive me, plus its my birthday and im celebrating

Edit : wait..... thats why i didnt put it in, where's the bloody signature profile section LOL

DFI LANPARTY SLI-D
X3800+ @ 2.6ghz , 260FSB , 234mhz mem
SATA 2 seagate barracuda 7200.10 16mb cache 250gb
Seagate barracuda Ide 7200rpm 160gb
2GB G.SKILL pc4000 HV
X1800XT 680/790 1.47v
Xfi soundcard
Hyper Type R 580 WATTS

Looks good to me, try holding down the power button for 5 seconds or more.

[Neilsouth]

Originally Posted by davidhammock200

Looks good to me, try holding down the power button for 5 seconds or more.

lol Im too scared to leave it off , totaly unplugged just to test that....

What if it doesnt turn on

[davidhammock200]

You are going to have to try it sooner or later.

[Neilsouth]

My games are now freezing up

1) One thing ive noticed is , im hearing what can only be described as fast paced clicking coming from my psu when the system is off...

2) My psu sometimes fails to start the system if the psu has been left unplugged from the wall , it will either flick the system ie fans come on and system dies or wont power up at all. * If the psu has been left powered 24/7 system starts fine *