i think my aspire 500w is putting too much voltage out (12.85). is this correct in saying too much? i think i read that 12.61 is just enough to kill things. and if 12.85 is too much, what would you recommend for 4-5 ide hard drives, 2 optical drives, and a s939 with 1gb of ddr400 (2x512)?
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overvoltage?
- Thread starter Farva
- Start date
jonnyGURU
Technical Marketing Manager at Corsair Memory
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- 4,845
12.85V?!?! That can't be right.
larrymoencurly
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2002
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- 1,635
If you haven't done it already, you should check this with a digital multimeter because software readings are often off by 2-5%.
Even 12.85V won't kill stuff because I think that almost everything that uses it has its own voltage regulator, and the overvoltage protection isn't designed to shut down the PSU until a voltage goes 15-20% over normal value. A lot of times a voltage goes too high because one of the other rails isn't being loaded enough. I wouldn't worry about 12.85V, but if you want to reduce it, try adding a 5 ohm resistor between any red wire and any black wire. It should be rated for at least 10 watts (amps = volts/ohms, watts = amps X volts, and you always want the resistor to be rated for at least 2-3 times the actual watts to keep it kind of cool.).
If your PSU has voltage adjustment pots, don't adjust them without a realistic load and a digital multimeter, and use an all-plastic screwdriver because there's lots of exposed high voltage inside the PSU, often even on one of the big heatsinks. Also mark the initial position of each pot, in case you get in trouble and need to return the pots to their original settings.
300W is enough for your system, especially because there's no graphics card.
Graphics can add anywhere from 30-200W+.
Even 12.85V won't kill stuff because I think that almost everything that uses it has its own voltage regulator, and the overvoltage protection isn't designed to shut down the PSU until a voltage goes 15-20% over normal value. A lot of times a voltage goes too high because one of the other rails isn't being loaded enough. I wouldn't worry about 12.85V, but if you want to reduce it, try adding a 5 ohm resistor between any red wire and any black wire. It should be rated for at least 10 watts (amps = volts/ohms, watts = amps X volts, and you always want the resistor to be rated for at least 2-3 times the actual watts to keep it kind of cool.).
If your PSU has voltage adjustment pots, don't adjust them without a realistic load and a digital multimeter, and use an all-plastic screwdriver because there's lots of exposed high voltage inside the PSU, often even on one of the big heatsinks. Also mark the initial position of each pot, in case you get in trouble and need to return the pots to their original settings.
300W is enough for your system, especially because there's no graphics card.
Graphics can add anywhere from 30-200W+.