+12V voltage too low?

yetyhunter

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Can this cause stutering/For example when I play a game the game just stops for a half a second then continues?
Or in crysis frames are varyating allot ,sometimes from 25 to 50 and back in 1 sec.
 

4745454b

Titan
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I'd be concerned, both of you. Software can be off, but it might be right also. Grab a multimeter and check manually. Can be off by 5%, so a range of 11.4-12.6 is ok.

What can cause it? A bad PSU of course. Not sure if it causes what you are experiencing (could be anything), but a bad PSU should be replaced.
 
NOT all software is inaccurate. With that voltage level, I would check (verify with a DVM. They are rather cheap (auto store, walmart, Radio shack, newegg).

CPUID Hardware monitor reports my +12/+5 Voltage within about .05 V as measured with a Fluke DVM.

Reference change:
-1 I do not like less than 11.5 at load on the +12V although 11.3/11.4 is acceptable.

-2 The change could simply be the aging of the A->D converter ( you can disregard

-3 Higher current drain on PSU, Possibly aging of Caps on MB/Graphics board.

-4 PSU getting ready to say good BYE.

 

yetyhunter

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I have the PSU for a year now. It's a 600W with a 31A in +12V rail. My othser system specs are 8800 GTS 512 SLI,E8400,4GB ram,1Hdd,1 dvd rom wich is diconected and some case fans. I can't complain about performance wich is very good except crysis wars wich has TERRIBLE stutering but crysis warhead runs GREAT no stutering.
The mobo is 6 months old.
 

4745454b

Titan
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Not all PSUs are the same. Some are duds, even if they have alot of wattage. The fact that your 600W PSU has less amps then some good 450W-500W leads me to think you have a cheaper PSU. The Corsair 450W and SeaSonic 500W PSU have 34A on the 12v rail. Even if you have an uber nice PSU, they can fail. Grab a multimeter and see if the rails are low.

Set the multimeter to DC, and take the side off your computer. Fire up a game. Look at the 6 pin plug in your video card. Stick the black probe into the harness where a black wire goes. Stick the red probe into a colored wire. If its out of spec, RMA/replace the PSU. (not the wire obviously, stick both probes into the harness.)
 
should not be component aging then. What brand of PSU (is it a good dependable Brand. I've had antec PSU's that started to crap-out after 6 months to a year. That is the voltage out put would start to creep lower

Added: You can also measure the +12V on a empty molex connector. Black -> yellow for +12V and Black -> red for +5V
 

yetyhunter

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http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/power-supply-units/xilence-power-600w-gaming-edition/ this is my psu. I don't have any problems with it. I'm just worried about the voltage. The only problem is stutering in crysis only. But I don't think it's a PSU issue. Other games running fine.
 
First - Not sure if low +12V would cause a low E at CPU (effect ??) or what effect the Low E at GPU has.

2nd, possibly more important is the possibility of damaging CPU/MB/GPU

(a) it advertises 2 20A 12 V rails BUT that is note totally true. It also depends on how much current you are drawing on the +3.3 and the +5V
Advertised. 3.3 V @ 25 A=82Watts, 5V @ 30 A = 150 Watts, +12V @40A (Total) = 480 W. 82 + 150 +480 = 712W BUT it is only a 600 WATT rated PSU NOTE - two reviews indicated a weak 12V rail

(b) When (not if) it drops lower you may be asking "did My PSU damage the _____"

These are some of the quotes I found on the internet

Quote (JohnnyGURU)
"I would say that this is a unit to stay away from. I've seen 500W power supplies with better specs than this."

Quote (Xsreviews review)
"In terms of stability you can see that the 3.3v and 5v rails are fantastic. Unfortunately there is a .2 jump in the 12v rails between idle and load which is quite large. It also places the load voltage quite a way off its 12v target. " 12V idle was 11.9, load was 11.7V Yours is even less.

Quote (Testseck)
"Unfortunately this PSU falls down in the testing section of our review. Although it did manage to run all tests without crashing, its 12v was just far too loose and unstable to give this a top score. It does have some redeeming features, like fantasti..."

Added
I would download CPUID's harware monitor. Run it, then run your games (ie crysis untill you get studdering. Exit game. Then look at Min/Max values for +12V. You may find that you are dropping even lower than you think
 

yetyhunter

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I ran CPUID and here are the results.
vin1(3.3??) value 3;26 min 3.22 max 3.26
+5v value 4.97 min 4.92 max 5.00
+12v value 11.71 min 11.20 max 11.78

It advertises 1 rail of 15A and one rail of 16A not 2 of 20A.
 

yetyhunter

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I calculated the total power usage of the system. 8800 GTS 512 SLI = 250W on load, E8400@3.6 GHZ= 42 W load with CPUID,mobo=+-50 W. Ram nad case fans don't use too much power .Total=250+42+50+ram+case fans +1HDD=342W +ram ,fans and hdd.
+12V=15*12+16*12 = 372W
 
I noticed the difference, xilence-power.com stated 2 20Amp rails and one of the reviews stated 15A and 16 A. That yield 624 Watts (didn't include -5V or +5 USB) Much closer to rated BUT I can not discount the poor reviews I found and the very low 11.2 V that you are getting.

Added - I hear what you are saying, although it makes sense. here is a example
I had a "good" 600 W PSU that only marginally handled my system. You can look at my system ( only diff was that I had a X1950XT Video card vs Current X4870. My system only draws about 350 Watts (as measured with a Watt meter - not calculated) and I REPLACED it as it did effect My graphics 3D


I am not saying that it is causing your current symptom - But I still think your asking for problems with that PSU
 

yetyhunter

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Can it damage my components. On the box it says: overvoltage,overload and over-temperature protection.Theoreticaly it shouldn't damage anything.
 
Short answer - Possibly - Myself I don't stand under trees when it is lightning just to check the percentage of trees struck by lightning.

Didn't notice UNDERVoltage protection in that list. It would be great if when the voltage dropped to a given point - JUST before component failure, the system would shut off. Unfortunately That is not always the case.
 

fourtysven

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everyone look i used multiple monitoring programs and my system would shut off every now and hten
all did happen when system was idle
i have since cut all of them out except for aida 64 2.80

i was using hw monitor, core temp and al suite 2
anyway al suite wasnt the cause i uninstalled it and it still happened


once i started using only aida it hasnt happened, been a few days now so yea