PSU Testing.

  • Thread starter Deleted member 12930
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Deleted member 12930

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Well I think my power supply is starting to die out. I have no way of testing it though, is there any way to run a test on a PSU to see what kind of condition it's in? And what kind of quality it's running at?

The closest thing I can think of is to just look at the voltages w/ a program like umm... i think it's called motherboard monitor. Or to go in the bios and look. And to compare those values w/ what your devices need? I'm guessing theres a standard of some sort that manufacture's follow.

Help! :(
 
Without special equipment, I think it would be difficult to test a psu, particularly in terms of power quality or current capacity. Probably the best bet would be to check the voltages as you mentioned and compare them with what they should be. The ATX PSU specs (see 3.2.1) require voltages to be within 5% of nominal on all legs but the -12V, which is 10%:

+12V = 11.4 - 12.6
+5V = 4.75 - 5.25
+3.3V = 3.14 - 3.47
-12V = -10.8 - -13.2
+5VSB = 4.75 - 5.25

Of course, readings will depend on how accurate your mobo monitoring is.

What causes you to believe it is failing?

Finally, decent psu's are not that expensive, and you may consider it proactive insurance to replace a questionable psu with a known good one, especially from a reputable manufacturer.

[edit] You could also take external readings using a good quality meter if you have one. The pc would have to be operating to load the psu, so caution would be required. Even this would not measure power quality, which could cause stability problems or more.
 
thanks for the help.

I think it's failing because a lot of the time when it crashes, right before I hear a loud click / pop that i'm almost positive is from the power supply.

Also, everytime I go to a LAN when I plug everything in and start up the computer won't boot until I restart it four to five times, during this time the power supply is making that clicking sound like crazy. At least, everytime I've moved my computer has been for a LAN, and everytime it's done this.

A friend at this LAN (still here) has an extra 300w psu I can borrow that's from an older enlight case. I'm going to test it out when I get home, and also take my computer down to barebones to see how it runs.
 
Just my opinion, but loud clicks and pops from the psu would cause me great anxiety over my mobo/ram/drive investment :eek:
 
me as well :( last night my computer wouldn't boot at all, one of my friends found out that it was my CDROM drive for some reason. beats me :(

I've been frustrated w/ this computer from the moment I got it two years ago.
 
loud click/pop sounds sounds like it's a relay... overloading your powersupply with something maybe?

i'd say not only get a new PSU, but get one that's alot bigger. if the new PSU still does it, then you've got a short somewhere by the sounds of it...
 
Originally posted by plot
loud click/pop sounds sounds like it's a relay... overloading your powersupply with something maybe?

i'd say not only get a new PSU, but get one that's alot bigger. if the new PSU still does it, then you've got a short somewhere by the sounds of it...
Click to expand...

that's what I was thinking as well. That's why i'm going to take it down to barebones when i get my computer home and see how it goes.

My PSU is a 400w Allied unit. I wasn't sure on the quality of it or anything, but the price was in my range. So yeah.
 
Loud clicks/pops from power supplies are BAD. There's no relays in a power supply, and apart from squealing magnetics there's nothing in there that really could make a sound. Something may have blown inside...

Also, that PSU could have killed your CDROM drive - and could kill your motherboard or hard drive next. Pull the PSU now and get another...
 
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