PSU readings

honz · Post by **honz** » Sat Sep 21, 2002 12:24 pm

hey. i have seen alot of people post here, becuz of things going wrong and alot of them seem to be becuz of the psu. so im wondering what the normal readings are.

Using MBM5:
VCore - 1.75 to 1.78 usually
3.3(+) - 3.22
5.00(+) - 4.70
12.00(+) - 12.10
12.10(-) - 12.19(-)
5.00(-) - 5.30(-)

note these are aprox values, i give them + or - 6%, except for the 12.00(+) which seems to need 15%.

now i realize that the Vcore on most peps will be diff, as they OC. mine (1600+) is OC'ed to 1800 using the multiplier, not changing the fsb or voltage. (seems to freeze when i do that

hame it sits at a nice 1.75

only reason i am concerned is becuz, recently i have been getting voltages of 0.00 for all the pos voltages. (aka 3.3, 5, 12) i know this is impossible, or the machine would prob crash, but makes ya kinda wonder. especially since recently i've been having problems with windows being slower. especially on shutdown.

anywayz, alot of this is just rambling, but if u have relatively normal voltages, post them here pls!

or if u OC and wanna compare, go for it, but tell us u OC

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Sat Sep 21, 2002 12:31 pm

Only one of yours that looks low is the 5v line 4.7 is below the 5% its rated at and given the fact you still have your Vcore at 1.75 that isn't a good thing.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sat Sep 21, 2002 12:42 pm

Yes, 5 volt does look too low. 5% is a good rule of thumb.

Don't rely on Motherboard monitor, though. Put a digital meter on it or check it in the BIOS. Voltages are unreliably detected while running Windows.

honz · Post by **honz** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 12:08 am

ok, i will chek it when i reboot. if it doesn't chek out, am i lookin at bad mobo, bad psu, bad ???

thx a bunch guyz

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 1:00 am

By chance is that an Enermax Power supply. Seems odd to me but I have read the Epox mobo and Enermax PS have a problem getting along together and the 5v rail is the victim. I have a friend who did a mod on his Enermax PS. He put a pot in it so he could adjust the 5V supply. Before the mod his 5v rail was always low now he can adjust it to over 5.30 if he wants to.

honz · Post by **honz** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 11:47 am

ya, i just cheked it twice on bootup, and it was still 4.7

the board i have in there is a Asus, and the powersupply is just a generic one.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 7:33 pm

Is the PSU certified for Athlon CPUs?

Irregardless, that 5 volt bus voltage is way too low. I'd shop for a new PSU - might as well get a good 350 or 400 while you're at it. Also I recommend one with dual fans (one intake and one exhaust). The secret to voltage stability is keeping the transistors in the PSU cool - and the better PSUs use 2 fans.

You can find good prices on PSUs here: http://directron.com

honz · Post by **honz** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 9:02 pm

ok, kool. ya this particular one is supposed to be certified for athlons, but doesn't have the adapter needed for p4 mobo's. and its a 350, i don't like using less then that, lol.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 9:25 pm

PSUs are relatively cheap. I had someone give me a 350watt unit (Athlon certified) but the 5volt bus it was reading 5.30 volts on my digital meter under load, and that's just too damn high. Yeah it worked, but who's to say that it won't damage something down the road or cause stability issues over the long term. I tossed it.

Power supplies are supposed to be REGULATED and the voltage shouldn't be off more than 5% on any bus (although the +5 volt and +12 volt are the two most important ones).

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 10:20 pm

i swapped cases for my xp1600+ and my p4 system

on my p4

using a cheapo 400 w my p4 5v was ~4.85
using a 350w enermax it's 5.05

same in reverse for the amd system

neither motherboard is really a heavy overclocker, so i'm just running both at comfortable speeds

p4 at 1.6 @ 2.265
1600+ @ 1.55

matt719 · Post by **matt719** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 9:27 pm

My +5V is at 4.95 to 4.97, i'm assuming this is ok? I'm using a 350watt Enermax with an Abit KR7A-133 and a XP 1900+ OCed to 1.68 currently, but i'm looking to go to 1.73+. Any help with Voltage settigns woul d be nice. I know i'll have to crank the vcore from 1.75 to 1.85 correct?

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 9:46 pm

Yeah Matt, you're fine. You're weel withing 5% of 5volts.

Basically, for those who want to know (or don't know how to use a calculator

), I would consider anything between 4.75 and 5.25v to be acceptable. I've thrown away darn nice PSUs because they were putting out 5.3 or higher.

On the 12v rail anything between 11.4 and 12.6v is okay.

The other voltages aren't too critical. For one thing they're very low current and the PSU generally doesn't have a problem keeping them stable, and for another most modern mobos don't use anything but the 12 and 5 volt rails anyway.

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 9:53 pm

to me anything below 4.85 is questionable. The raidmax 400W psu i just did a erview on when i was overclocking i seen it hit 4.61 on a low spike normally around 4.74 that was with a 2.0v's on the Vcore.. 5.3v's on the 5v line when overlocking would have it close to 5v's... next time u get one of those FP send it to me don't throw it out

lot of times they might have a pot you cna turn back to drop it some.

honz · Post by **honz** » Tue Sep 24, 2002 2:32 pm

thx guyz. i really appreciate the help. not just in this thread but most of them. u guyz always seemd to answer first ;P just thought id post that b4 i got creamed.