is my psu dying?

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:07 pm

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?

theyangster · Post by **theyangster** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:10 pm

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?

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 3:44 am

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..

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 4:23 am

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.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:11 am

actually, it's only 4-5 months old.

hulubei · Post by **hulubei** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:32 am

Is there any C&Q activated?

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:50 am

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.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 7:49 pm

no one has any ideas? if the voltages are really bouncing around, couldn't it hurt my hardware?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 3:28 am

Have you got a spare PSU to test with? Also do the voltages go outside of spec (Â± 5% IIRC)? Also, if the Vcore is jumping around, isn't that the fault of the voltage regulator on the mb?

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:25 am

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..

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:39 am

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?