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Couple noob questions..

C

Chix4mat

Gawd
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Messages
793
Alright, I currently have a 500w X-connect, and the +-5 rails read out fine, but the +12 and -12 are quite a bit higher and below what's specified. Currently, they are at :

+12: 12.52
-12: -12.44

Is this normal, or unsafe? I'm going to be reviewing it for my website, but I am unsure whether this is supposed to be normal or not, as I've not seen this happen with other PSU's I've used.

I don't have a hardware to monitor the volts, so I am getting these figures from Motherboard Monitor.

Any help or links would be greatly appreciated! Thanks much.
 
The spec is +/-5%. So you are within spec.....however consistantly that poorly regulated isn't a good thing. Second disclaimer, without a hardware reading though this isn't 100% accurate.
 
Cool, thanks. I will have to get me a PSU tester soon, but I have to rely on MBM for now.

12.5 either way is 4%, so it's pretty close, but it is pretty constant. Thanks for the help :)
 
Chix4mat said:
Cool, thanks. I will have to get me a PSU tester soon, but I have to rely on MBM for now.

12.5 either way is 4%, so it's pretty close, but it is pretty constant. Thanks for the help :)
Click to expand...

Well consistantly within 2-3% are what you will find with most top end supplies...so.........
 
Aight, ok. This is probably the highest end I've used so far, so I will look into that.

Are you able to tell me who makes a good PSU tester? I see some, but they just tell you if they work or not, not give the actual voltage readout.
 
Wow.. lol.

They are definitely more sophisicated than I need. I was thinking something along the lines of this, but I don't see any with a display to show you how much Voltage they have (12.20v or whatever).

Maybe I am looking at this all wrong :|

Thanks for the help man.
 
That is an "interesting" product. Well the issue with that is going to be how do you test under varying loads with that item, or any load for that matter. You can't from the way it looks.......so you will need a voltmeter instead. But a voltmeter is still going to tell you just a very limited amount of information (ie just the current voltage under whatever load), albeit more than that other product.
 
Two things you need to know:

1. You can't trust software. Spectre has already pointed that out, but I figured I'd chime in with the same. ;) Even if you go to an auto parts store and buy one for $40, you'll be better off. That Ultra tester just tests for dead power supplies.

2. What kind of motherboard are you using? I noticed you have an Athlon XP CPU. If you load an Ultra X-Connect power supply high on the 5V, then the 12V goes way up. The X-Connect only really works well on computers with heavy 12V systems, so if your motherboard doesn't have a 2x2 12V connector, which means it doesn't regulate the CPU voltage off of the 12V rail, your 12V is going to be way up there.

At least it doesn't do what the OCZ PowerStream 520ADJ does when it's 5V is loaded up higher than the 12V. :rolleyes:
 
Chix4mat said:
Are you able to tell me who makes a good PSU tester?.
Click to expand...

Chroma :p
Test Items:
1. DC output voltage 2. DC output current 3. Peak-Peak noise 4. RMS noise 5. Transient response time 6. Transient spike 7. Voltage regulation 8. Current regulation 9. Total regulation test 10. Turn ON time 11. Rise time 12. Fall time 13. Hold-up time 14. Extra timing test 15. Input Inrush current 16. Overshoot voltage 17. Power good signal 18. Power fail signal 19. P/S ON signal 20. Power up sequence 21. Power down sequence 22. Efficiency 23. Input RMS current 24. Input Peak current 25. Input power 26. Current harmonics against regulations 27. Input power factor 28. Input voltage ramp 29. Input freq. ramp 30. Tracking 31. Swing check 32. Short circuit test 33. Short circuit current 34. OV protection 35. UV protection 36. OL protection 37. OP protection 38. Extended measure 39. In-test adjustment 40. AC cycle drop out 41. PLD simulation 42. Waveform capture 43. I 2 C read/write* 44. GPIB read/write 45. RS232 read/write 46. RS485 read/write* 47. Fan speed test* 48. Auto alignment* 49. TTL signal control 50. Relay control 51. Correlation test 52. Barcode scan* 53. DMM measure 54. UUT measurement verification 55. Current ripple* 56. High di/dt loading*
Click to expand...


but as mentioned what your lookng for is a basic Digital Multimeter
http://us.fluke.com/usen/products/categorydmm


cheap ones can be had everywhere from an autoparts or hardware store to a radioshack
PS Fluke DMMs arent cheap, but then you also get what you pay for
try to get the best accuracy you can afford ;)
 
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