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PSU killing hard drives?

L

lansens

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 22, 2002
Messages
491
Is it possible? I have a ThermalTake 550w PSU and have had it about 6 months. Last week I had a Raptor die and now I think my Seagate is going. I have noticed some flux on the 12v rail but the 5v looks normal. As of right now my 12v is 12.8. That is a reading via MBM5.

Secondly: Is 550w overkill? Will a 350w - 400w Fortron do the job just as well? Mild OC, 2 optical drives and 2 hard drives?

P4C 2.4 @ 3.0 1.55v
ASUS P4C800-E DLX
2X 512 Giel PC3500
Seagate 120g SATA
ASUS 9800XT
 
Its not overkill, but 12.8 on the 12v rail will take down all of your components, one by one.

Send it to RMA land.

Fortron 400 should run it well, as will a functional thermaltake 550w
 
First off, do not put too much faith in MBM until you verify its readings with a volt-ohm meter. My MoBo (sig) consistantly reads my 12 volt rail at around 13 volts, but my trusty Fluke DVM reads 12.09 volts. It's a known issue with many MoBo's.....guess which reading I believe.....:cool:

Second, keep in mind that the PCI spec is +/- 5% so anything between 11.4 and 12.6 volts is in spec. I know for a fact that "most" good hardware manfuacturers test their stuff to +/- 10% so they will have some operational margin.

Even if your +12 was steady at 12.8 volts, I seriously doubt that it's enough to "kill" a drive. I run a Tt supply myself, and have found them to be stable and reliable.

Also, PSU power ratings translate into available power, not what's "jammed" down the throat of innocent hardware. The hardware will only draw what's required to operate. You could have a 10 KW supply, and if it was well behaved, you'd never have an issue.

Bottom line - your PSU could have issues, but it's not likely. You need to look further to find out if your drive deaths are anything more than coincidence.

You say you "think" your Seagate is going? Will it pass Seagate's software diagnostics....?? Start there.....

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
It's coming out tonight and on it's way back to NewEgg............now wheres that 350 I used to have?:D
 
Originally posted by lansens
It's coming out tonight and on it's way back to NewEgg............now wheres that 350 I used to have?:D
Click to expand...
...I'm afraid the PSU isn't your problem. Before you RMA the Tt, I'd find a friend with a meter and measure those rails. If they are within spec, you need to keep looking.

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
Originally posted by chuckm1020
does anybody know if asus probe monitor is pretty accurate with its voltages?
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The answer on ASUS probe, MBM, or anything that gets it's voltages from the on board A/D's is that they are fantastically accurate when it comes to measuring relative changes, but typically not so good when it comes to absolute values.

Example - my system reads the +12 very high; almost 13 volts. My Fluke meter says 12.09 volts....and I believe it. But - if the motherborad monitoring software says it went up or down a couple of millivolts.....it's usually right on. Check your absolute values with a VOM then infer the real values by adding / subtracting the correction factor.

Regards - B.B.S.
 
well yeah - 12.8V is a bit too much... although my buddy has been running at similar voltage for 1+ year and nothing bad happened...
 
Well, if you do change out your PS (and I don't think that's the problem as BBS says), I would get a 350-400W Antec.
 
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