PSU Voltage Problem

[grassroots]

2800+ AthlonXP
Abit nf7-s
512mb Crutial pc2100
GF ti-4200 (o/c @ 290/620)
Windows XP- Home SP1
Two WD 80gig HDD
3 LED case fans
Sony DVD RW
Asus DVD rom

I have a 1 year old 520watt Aspire 12v psu that seems to be having a little problem. Now this isnt a cheap one, it has three fans, all alluminum, and cost around 80 bucks when i bought it. The Vcore, DDRV, 5v, and 12v voltages are all perfect but the 3.3v is low. My Abit EQ says its around 3.04-3.08 most of the time. I don't know much about PSU's but the program is beeping and the reading is flashing so i guess its not good. I don't want to have to buy another PSU, anyone know what could be causing this? and is it something that should be fixed imediately? It has no problem running under load in apps or games and nothing seems to be affected by this... any ideas?

[oalee]

I personally wouldn't advise you tinkering with the psu without the necessary know-how. I'd suggest you take it to a certified electronic technician and have it checked out. Electrocution is not a very pretty way of making a grand exit in life.. :cheesy:

[Catweazle]

Download and install Everest Home Edition.

Run that and see if the voltage level reports replicate what the ABit utility is reporting. If so, get the power unit tested if you wish, but if the system is running stable then I wouldn't really see it as an issue.

Manufacturer provided motherboard monitoring utilities are notoriously innaccurate, by the way ;)

[grassroots]

well... now its saying my vcore is too high and the 3.3v has dropped a .01 or two...

still no system instabilities or lockups... wierd

if there's a way that this can potentially harm my other components, other than my psu, i think i'll turn it off until i get a new one since all i have sitting around are 300watt true powers-- which im not so sure will run all my bells and whistles... do you think theres a danger to my other peripherals?

[Catweazle]

I've got an ABit NF7-S (revision 2) board myself, and wouldn't have that ABit monitoring utility installed on it in a fit! I use MBM5 for continuous monitoring, as I believe it's more accurate. (Everest is better for generating reports)

I wouldn't be worried about that 3.3v rail unless you start seeing instability.

What I WOULD be worried about is why the hell you have vcore at 1.84volts, when your processor is supposed to run at 1.65volts vcore? Peoples who boost up processor core voltage are rather silly, in my opinion, and such a practice doesn't sit very well with care and caution ;)

Edit: Moved to the 'Hardware' section, by the way :D

[grassroots]

The funny thing is that i never touched my vcore and have had it set on 1.65v for as long as i put the thing togeather. I got a warning on my cpu temperatures reaching 50c+ which it has never done in its life (especially with a $40 giant copper heatsink w/ an 80mm fan on top of it). but as soon as i maximized the monitoring window it dropped back down to 38c in a matter of seconds. i did a test and opened 10 explorers and it shot right back up and lowered again after the cpu usage evened out. i then restarted my computer and opened the bios, checked the voltages, changed it from "auto define" to manual, double checked, saved and exited. my 3.3v is still at 3.02, but now my vcore is where it should be and my cpu temp is at 28c.

i've come to the conclusion that my computer is possessed... and that i'm never going to buy an Aspire psu again...

Enermax and Antec have never let me down...

oh, and i've set vcore voltage and cpu temperature auto shutdown limits just incase it decides to go crazy again while im sleeping...

[Catweazle]

I still think the best precaution you can take is to uninstall ABit EQ

Download MBM5, learn how to set it up from the support section there and the motherboard list, and use it as your monitoring tool instead of the crappy proprietary tool included with the motherboard!

[grassroots]

I already installed that everest monitoring program that you linked in your first post...

Look at the screen shot i took, both programs show the exact same readings. but abit eq actually reads to the .5. I don't know what you have against abit...

[Catweazle]

Not just ABit, grassroots. In my experience the 'bundled' monitor software which accompanies motherboards and video cards is generally substandard. There are better utilities to use.

[<<seS>>Saint]

I very much agree with Catweazle I have a ABIT AN-7 and my ABIT EQ was all over the place with a lot of my settings to include temp. And the crazy thing is when you update your BIOS they will change again. I haven't tried Everest Home Edition but I will download it and give it a try to monitor my system reports.