Do I need a better PSU?

S

SparkedFire

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
1,109
Could my power supply affect my performance and overclocking abilities with my rig? I have a 350w PSU and it seems as if my components are not getting enough juice. particularily the CPU. i go into the bios and set my CPU vCore to 1.775v but CPU-Z and SiSandra only report it to be 1.69 - 1.7volts. when i first got the CPU it ran at 1.48volts instead of 1.55volts. could the PSU also cause the overall voltage on the mobo to stop me from overclocking too high? Please help and thanks.

These are the voltages on my rails:

-Voltage Sensor(s)-
CPU Voltage: 1.70v (set to 1.775v)
Aux Voltage: 1.47v
+3.3V Voltage: 3.26v
+5V Voltage: 4.25v
+12V Voltage: 11.61v
-12V Voltage: -6.52v
-5V Voltage: -1.13v
Standby Voltage: 2.50v
Battery Voltage: 3.14v
 
It could be your power supply or your motherboard. What brand of power supply is it anyways? 350w from a quality PSU is plenty to power that system unless you got your watercooling setup hooked up to it and i dont really know how much power most of them pull.
 
i don't like the looks of that 5 volt rail (nor the 12v). Is it a brand name or generic psu? If its generic i order you to buy an antec true 430w or similar forthwith ;)
 
+5V Voltage: 4.25v
This seems quite anemicly low

-12V Voltage: -6.52v
-5V Voltage: -1.13v
Even tho modern systems don't use these rails, they still should be in better regulation that than! (Assuming your program is acurate)

Standby Voltage: 2.50v
This is 50% off!! It should be ~5.0v but again voltage sensing is a bit suspect

Bust out your VOM and get some real world readings, and report back
 
Thanks for your replies.

My PSU is an Antec 350w.
I used SiSandra to report my voltage rails. Also every time i open a program or something that requires the hard drive to work my fans slow down slightly as if they are not getting enough power. then as the hard drive stops working the fans resume there speed. I can't check the voltage of the rails manually becuase i dont have the tools to do so or the money, but if i need to get a new PSU i will. here are the devices on my system so the power usage can be estimated.

1x P4 3.06GHz @ 3.61 (118watts)
1x 512 MB of Kreton Blitz DDR433
1x 40GB Western Digital HDD
1x 24x12x48x CD-RW
2x High output 120mm fans. 15watts each
4x Standard 80mm fans
1x ATi Radeon 9600XT
 
OK, after further looking i get this in one utility:

siv.jpg


but i still get these readings like this on SiSandra:

-Voltage Sensor(s)-
CPU Voltage: 1.70v (set to 1.775v)
Aux Voltage: 1.47v
+3.3V Voltage: 3.26v
+5V Voltage: 4.25v
+12V Voltage: 11.61v
-12V Voltage: -6.52v
-5V Voltage: -1.13v
Standby Voltage: 2.50v
Battery Voltage: 3.14v
 
Well, before you panic about the rail readings, track down one of your geek friends and take a reading with a multimeter. The only thing on-board sensors are good for is checking for fluctuations, not taking absolute readings.

Also, for 40-something dollars, you can get a Fortron 350W with a 120mm fan. (Also Newegg)
 
thanks guys. and i will do my best to find a multimeter for a friend or something.
 
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