Psu under voltage

[Darkhorse137]

Recently I was troubleshooting some hardlocks that have been happening on my Vista Ultra Sli Nvidia ultimate gamer rig (tiger direct special) its got a Core Two Duo 3.00 ghz processor, 2x nvidia geforce 9600 gso graphics cards in Sli configuration and I had to replace the 4gb Crucial Balistix Tracer ram with corsair Xms2 ram .. the old sticks went bad and were found faulty by Windows memory Tester.

I was troubleshooting the Hardlocks .. and what seems to keep it working the longest was a tweak to the power management section so it wont sleep but during the Trouble shooting phase I ran a program Cpuid and it says that my Twelve volt power supply is givng only 10.37 volts. The psu that came with this pc is a 600 watt OCZ model ocz600mxsp and is 80 plus certified .. Could a 12 volt rail this low be the cause of some issues and is it worth replacing the psu?

the Voltages are this


CPU max 1.21 v

+ 12V all min max and current are 10.37 v

Avcc all values 3.28 v

+3.3v all values 3.28 v

Vin1 1.19 v

+5v 4.66 v

Vin3 1.86 v

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Before doing anything you should do a little more testing.

When you start your computer go into BIOS and check the voltage readings.

Your motherboard should have come with a cd-rom disc that might contain a utility that can measure voltage.

Get those measurements before doing anything else.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Run OCCT and look at voltage graphs at end ... CPU and PSU test should be particularly telling

http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download

 

[JohnnyLucky]

+1 what Jack said.

Wouldn't hurt to run a stress test and see what happens.

 

[Darkhorse137]

Good replies so far I was wondering if I didnt jump to too many conclusions from just the one test so far I have been browsing Nvidia for a untility for power supply testing. I have checked the bios before for voltages but havent seen it yet, I will look again tho. I tried the Occt stresstest .. I must admit I got a bit Squemish when I saw one of my temps on my gpu go up to 71 I am guessing that is celsius so I stoped it short at 7 minutes .. one card is running ten degree's hotter .. but thats probaly not a real issue .. maybe I didnt get enough dust out of the fans.

I can run it more for the sake of a better picture but even in that short time its showing a trend of under voltage .. if there is anything else I can try .. or run it longer let me know

 

[Darkhorse137]

Update: I finaly figured out where the voltages are on the motherboard .. the voltages it gives are well within range

CPU core 1.20 v
CPU Fsb 1.19v
Memory 1.85 v
3.3V 3.28v
3.3 dual 3.28v
12v 12.29v
5v 4.96v
+Vbat 3.06v

so the program says one thing but the motherboard says another ... strange

 

[4745454b]

Voltmeter will tell you who is right. I'd try that.

 

[jsc]

Yes, first check the BIOS. then check with a meter. Sears (along with others) sells a perfectly adequate model for $20 (Craftsman 82345).

And they are handy to have around the house.

 

[Darkhorse137]

yeah I havent seen my multimeter since my last move .. but will update when I find the true Voltages .. the OCZ product had some good diagrams of how to mesure the individual voltages .. http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?7069-Measuring-the-rails-on-OCZ-PSU-s.] might have to break down and buy another .. the Craftsman model http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_03482345000P looks nice should pick that one up

 

[Darkhorse137]

Thanks for the replies I got the Multimeter and the 12v rail is giving 12.29 I guess I have to take these programs with a Grain of salt .. --- my pc hard locked during this reply so I guess its back to square one .. when I saw the voltage was out or range on that program I was hoping it was the problem .. too eager to check the certainty.. at least its not every five minutes when I boot up .. thanks for the replys .. I will have to keep looking

 

[shovenose]

Well try to find out more about the temps. Try a memory test utility like memtest, check smart status on hd...

 

[Darkhorse137]

Best answer selected by Darkhorse137.