CPU Voltage Variation Issue

[SuperTerminator]

Hey guys, I've got an issue with CPU VCore variation. My desktop (custom, around 2 years old or something I think) is having some interesting crashing on startup issues, and I'm worried that voltage variation is one of the problems.

Here's some information before I move forward:
My rig:
ASRock 970 extreme3 motherboard
AMD phenom II x4 960T (no overclocking, no unlocking)
4x2 gig sticks of DDR3 ram (8 gigs total)
Nvidia 560se graphics card
Apevia Java 650W (http://www.apevia.com/ProductsInfo.asp?KEY=ATX-JV650W)

Here's my base problem. When starting up my desktop or waking it from sleep, about one/half of the time it randomly cuts off after about ~30 seconds, occasionally faster or slower. Examining event viewer logs indicates no error was thrown, meaning that it was a hardware issue (Note: this is not a heat related issue. My computer runs quite cool, and I maintain it regularly. Thank you ). On another potentially-related topic, after turning on my computer or waking it from sleep, my computer emits a very high-pitched whine from some unknown component, which eventually quiets into a brief clicking series before going away (usually takes 2-3 minutes to fully go away).

Now, to the reason why I'm actually posting this. When I open up a monitoring program called "Open Hardware Monitor" and look at my CPU voltage, I see that it fluctuates rather worryingly. Here's a screenshot of a 9 minute graph of the VCore values:

(graphing was started extremely quickly after cold booting the computer)

So, to summarize the graph, the CPU voltage fluctuates between a low of 1.240 V and 1.424 V. From what I've read from this thread, it seems like my VCore is going pretty wildly out of its proper range for a non-oc'd chip. I'm worried that something is wrong with my power supply and/or motherboard that is causing my computer to turn off.

Anyway, any help you guys can give me with this problem is greatly appreciated! If I didn't give enough information to solve my problem, then let me know! Thank you!

 

[jdcranke07]

I would say, based on the hardware scream and clicks and the graph, that you might want to try another PSU in the system. Typically, there could be extra heat generated from a failing PSU, but if its gotten to a certain point it will just fail at random or when it is under stress like booting all the startup programs. If you have a spare PSU around I would try that first and usually a PSU will be relatively cheaper than buying a new mobo right off the bat. Make sure though that the PSU is rated 80+ certified gold or higher if you want the most reliability in the future. If it still happens with a good PSU hooked up then it could be part of the mobo giving out.

 

[SuperTerminator]

Yeah, my current PSU isn't the best quality. What's weird though is that it never randomly cuts off at any other time, only during the startup periods. I can stress my CPU and graphics to the max and nothing comes of it.

 

[jdcranke07]

Yeah, my current PSU isn't the best quality. What's weird though is that it never randomly cuts off at any other time, only during the startup periods. I can stress my CPU and graphics to the max and nothing comes of it.

I would try cutting down the amount of programs that start at startup then and see if there is a difference. Boot up and the beginning of a stress test are usually the biggest draws on power, so I would cut down the amount of startup programs and go from there.