It is currently Thu May 23, 2013 7:46 pm

All times are UTC - 8 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: is my psu dying?
PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:07 pm 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
I've got an enermax 485W psu, and just recently upgraded to an opteron dual core system with an x1950pro...I assumed this psu was quality, and that I had a lot of head room for the specs, but the voltages being monitored in the bios fluctuate like crazy. The vcore jumps around between 1.36 and 1.4. It doesn't sit still for more than a second at the longest. The same can be said for just about all the other voltages I can monitor. I'm assuming the fluctuations aren't a good thing, should I be worried?

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:10 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:08 pm
Posts: 424
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow....
if it software (bios too?) monitoring, they have been known to be unreliable. use a mutimeter to test the voltages separately, you'd probably would have found out by now or system instability would be a sign.

OT how's the ati x1950 pro noise wise?

_________________
Antec SLK3700AMB l Intel P4 @ 2.8 l MSI PT880 Motherboard l Lite-on COMBO DRIVE
1gb (512 x 2) l ATI 9800 Pro 128 l NINJA l
A Finally Quiet SLK3700AMB Final Edition


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:44 am 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
so if the voltages were really fluctuating like that I'd be seeing instability? The fluctuations are within the respective limits, so they're not going extremely off the wall when they do bounce around. The multimeter I have doesn't measure DC correctly...i guess I could still use it to determine whether or not the voltage was stable though.

As for the x1950, I can't say whether the stock cooler is quiet or not, the first thing I did was swap the stock cooler for a vf900. I've got it attached to 2 fanmates, so, at low speed it's around 1000rpm, and at high speed it's around 1350rpm. At low speed, it idles close to 40C, and gets a little over 50C for load. At high speed It idles at 36-37C, it's being loaded with FAH right now, and its sitting at 47C. This thing might actually be running cooler than my old x800pro, but I'm not sure..

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:23 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:55 am
Posts: 5085
Location: UK
Quote:
I've got an enermax 485W psu, and just recently upgraded to an opteron dual core system with an x1950pro...I assumed this psu was quality, and that I had a lot of head room for the specs, but the voltages being monitored in the bios fluctuate like crazy.


How long have you had the Enermax? Bear in mind PSU's age like car engines do, when it was new it could produce 180 horsepower but after a couple of years you might only get 150hp out of it. This is caused by the capacitors aging, I think.


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:11 am 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
actually, it's only 4-5 months old.

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:32 am 
Offline

Joined: Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:24 am
Posts: 28
Location: Romania
Is there any C&Q activated?

_________________
beta


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:50 am 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
CnQ is enabled in the bios, but the driver is not installed. Regardless, cnq should only change the voltage of the cpu, and it wouldn't be making 10mv changes, it usually makes 100mv changes, and only to the vcore value.

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:49 pm 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
no one has any ideas? if the voltages are really bouncing around, couldn't it hurt my hardware?

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:28 am 
Offline

Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:55 am
Posts: 5085
Location: UK
Have you got a spare PSU to test with? Also do the voltages go outside of spec (± 5% IIRC)? Also, if the Vcore is jumping around, isn't that the fault of the voltage regulator on the mb?


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:25 am 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
I do have an extra psu...I just didn't think to try it, because it's in my lab right now, but I can easily go get it today. I did just notice that the component voltages only change when either of the 12v rails, or the 5v rail changes. So, this is caused by the psu, i guess. The 12v line changes from 12.24-12.3-12.36-12.42, and that causes the vcore and other voltages to jump. The same can be said for the 5v rail, only it changes less frequently, the 12v seems to change every second, and the 5v every few seconds..

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:39 am 
Offline
Friend of SPCR

Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:06 pm
Posts: 1438
Location: New Hampshire, US
on second thought...i guess this is 12v ripple? There's an xbit review that examines the power output of the 12 and 5v rails of some psu's while also reporting voltage ripple. My psu is actually tested on this page. The ripple's I'm seeing are on the order of 12-14mv, 0r 1-1.2%. The voltage never goes from 12.24-12.42 directly, but, if it did, this would be a ripple of 18mv, I noticed spcr says is the largest allowed by atx standards...so, i guess this ripple is normal? maybe my old motherboard just didn't monitor the voltage correctly? Does it make sense that a 1% ripple would change the vcore so much?

_________________
F@H
Oldest Setup
Old
i5-750 | TR AXP-140 | DFI MI P55-T36 | Lan-Gear mITX | HD5850 | Silverstone ST45SF


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 11 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 8 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: dodiken, Google Adsense [Bot] and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group