Acceptable +12V output?

[Rekatan]

Having a lot of strange issues with my asus m3n78-EM, and trying to sort it all out. I've been suspecting the board because many of my problems are things other buyers reported as well on newegg.

One thing that threw a red flag is the +12v rail is showing +12.18 - +12.26 in the bios.

Is this enough to be causing some trouble? And moreover, is it excessive enough that it could be damaging hardware?

The numerous issues I've been having include: Failure to POST from cold boot (CMOS reset needed in some cases), overheating and gradual lack of performance of the iGPU (eve online ran premium at just over 30 fps at first install, now premium is unplayable and classic can drop as low as 5 fps at times), slow load times for most anything (my old 1gb of ram Athlon 2700+ machine loads winxp in 1/3 the time), and a slight overvoltage of the processor, hovering between 1.44 - 1.48v

So, any ideas folks? I just started building computers again after a bit of a break, and first I come back to find abit is no longer worth buying, and seemingly no longer even in the business.. And now I'm having even more troubles with this asus board. Clearly in over my head as too much has changed =/ . For all I know i've done something wrong along the way in connecting my PSU to the motherboard.

Thx.

PSU:
Rosewill 500W Max.
+3.3V@24A, +5V@20A, +12V1@19A, +12V2@18A,
-12V@0.5A, +5VSB@2.5A

Full Specs:
MB ASUS M3N78-EM AM2+ GF8300
CPU AMD|A64 X2 6000+ 3.1G AM2 1M
MEM 2Gx2|CORS TWIN2X4096-6400C5
HD 250G|ST 7K 8M SATA2 ST3250310AS
DVD BURN LITE-ON|DH-20A4P-04 20X

 

[theAnimal]

The ATX spec for +12V is from 11.4 to 12.6, so if your BIOS reading is correct you are well within that. The thing is that software readings cannot be trusted. You need to use a digital multimeter.

Guide here.

Even if your voltages are ok, I highly recommend replacing your PSU with a good quality one--Antec Earthwatts, Corsair or Seasonic.

 

[Rekatan]

Alright thanks. Can't afford a DMM for now so will have to rely on bios.

I honestly didn't realize PSU has become such a touchy issue now. it used to be all you had to worry about was enough actual wattage...

Then again, it used to be you didn't have to buy off of a silly preferred vendor list to ensure the motherboard compatibility either. If you bought a socket 7 mobo it worked with socket 7 processors.. Period.

If you ask me manufacturers are getting just plain lazy for things to have reached the point they have, but oh well, I'll adjust. Now I just have to babysit the manufacturers to make sure they aren't screwing things up, I thought it was supposed to be the other way around =P

 

[jsc]

PSU performance became critical with the late model P4's and the powerful video cards.An OC'd Q6600 and a 4780X2 video card together pull about 30 amps from the 12 volt rails.

 

[wingmaster]

Not only do you have to look at how much actual voltage but the quality of the voltage how clean the power is. If your power is not clean from your power supply it can cause you all kinds of problems.

 

[wingmaster]

Rosewill power supplies on newegg the 2 I looked at on rosewill's site doesn't have any reveiws listed there that might be a bad thing. Rosewill's are not known to be a good brand name I'm not saying thats the problem but could very well be.

 

[theAnimal]

Not only do you have to look at how much actual voltage but the quality of the voltage how clean the power is. If your power is not clean from your power supply it can cause you all kinds of problems.

Not too many people have an oscilloscope. A DMM cannot be used to measure noise and ripple.

 

[jsc]

You can use a DMM to measure ripple, but not noise. My opinion is that noise, especially the switching noise left over from rectification and filtering is a far greater problem than ripple.

 

[jsc]

Whoops, let me correct that. You can measure ripple in a conventional power supply. A computer PSU is NOT a conventional power supply. Any ripple frequency will be twice the switching frequency, which will measured in 10's of kilohertz.

Any DMM that you are likely to afford doesn't have a high enough ac frequency response.

 

[Rekatan]

Wow, way over my head.

You need to be a master electrician now to work on computers it seems ^_^

The rosewill PSU I bought was 5 stars (now 4 I think, though) so it wasn't something ppl had a lot of trouble with. Then again the computer I built recently with the same wattage antec isn't having any problems (save for one that i know specifically is due to the mGPU)

 

[theAnimal]

Wow, way over my head.

You need to be a master electrician now to work on computers it seems ^_^

The rosewill PSU I bought was 5 stars (now 4 I think, though) so it wasn't something ppl had a lot of trouble with. Then again the computer I built recently with the same wattage antec isn't having any problems (save for one that i know specifically is due to the mGPU)

Newegg reviews should not be relied upon.