Voltage monitor?

A

angelicvoices

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
443
My system as always been rock stable. Then last night the system in my sig randomly decided to reboot. I had accidentally started a wireless driver installation which I killed mid-process not too much earlier, and all I was doing at the time was going to click on a web page.. I didn't think it was possible for something like that to cause a whole machine to reboot, but I'm not really sure what's going on.

RAM passes MEMtest

CPU passes 5x intel burntest

HDD has no bad sectors

No malware, spyware or viruses

Temps are very good

all drivers are current (went back and did a proper reinstalling of the net drivers)

The only thing are maybe my power supply voltages. PcWizard and HWmontor, despite being made by the same company, report my voltages differently.. wth?

They both say my 3.3V rail is at 3.3.

HWMonitor is showing my 5v rail is jumping between 4.95v and 4.97. I'm not sure what to make of the fluctuations but they are within limits.. PCWizard has it jumping between 4.99v and 5.02v.

HwMonitor says my +12v rail is solid at 12.29v and PCWizard has it as at .45v???? What in the world is with that? I wouldn't think I could play anything if that were true..

So do you think I have anything to worry about?
 
Software voltage readings are useless. If you want to check your voltages, use a multimeter. It's impossible to derive any useful information from the data you've obtained.

Based on what happened, I would say it was just a random crash of some kind. Nothing to worry about unless it happens again or starts to occur with some frequency.
 
Any digital multimeter from your local hardware or electronics store would be sufficient.
 
Okay now my computer is having a really hard time. I added a second hard disc and all of a sudden my computer went into a reboot loop (barely started up.. power cut.. barely started up.. power cut) and then BIOS reset itself to optimized defaults. I can't overclock *at all* now, despite the fact that intel burntest and prime95 think the cpu is stable, the computer is locking up left and right and will randomly reboot. I think I may have one of the rails overloaded. It has three separate +12v rails but I have no idea which of the plugs each feeds. Can someone help me with that? I would like to try redistributing the power on my supply to see if it helps.
 
Typically the rails are split into mobo, video, aux devices. The chances of you "overloading" anything by add 1 hard disk are slim to none.

Did you ever get the multimeter?
 
angelicvoices said:
Okay now my computer is having a really hard time. I added a second hard disc and all of a sudden my computer went into a reboot loop (barely started up.. power cut.. barely started up.. power cut) and then BIOS reset itself to optimized defaults. I can't overclock *at all* now, despite the fact that intel burntest and prime95 think the cpu is stable, the computer is locking up left and right and will randomly reboot. I think I may have one of the rails overloaded. It has three separate +12v rails but I have no idea which of the plugs each feeds. Can someone help me with that? I would like to try redistributing the power on my supply to see if it helps.
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The HX620 is a single-rail PSU. You are not overloading it.
 
Zero, I'm sorry but it has 3 +12v rails. Look at the specs here: http://www.corsair.com/products/hx/default.aspx "triple 12v rails" Also on the sticker here:
Most corsair power supplies have a single rail. This one does not. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImage=17-139-002-S06&SCList=17-139-002-S01%2c17-139-002-S02%2c17-139-002-S03%2c17-139-002-S04%2c17-139-002-S05%2c17-139-002-S06%2c17-139-002-S07%2c17-139-002-S08%2c17-139-002-S09%2c17-139-002-S10%2c17-139-002-S11&S7ImageFlag=2&Item=N82E16817139002&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=CORSAIR%20CMPSU-620HX%20620W%20ATX12V%20v2.2%20and%20EPS12V%202.91%20SLI%20Certified%20CrossFire%20Ready%2080%20PLUS%20Certified%20Modular%20Active%20PFC%20Compatible%20with%20Core%20i7%20Power%20Supply

Well, my psu just officially died on me. It shut down and I got *zero* life out of it... no fans, no lights, no life. I pulled the video card and it sputters on for a second and then back off again.

So.. I'm thinking about either picking up a Seasonic X Series 650w or the new Corsair HX 650w. Thoughts? Looks like the new HX is the same size as my current power supply but the Seasonic is a touch longer.. which would mean I would have to pull out my top case fan. I'm not sure how I feel about that..
 
angelicvoices said:
Zero, I'm sorry but it has 3 +12v rails. Look at the specs here: http://www.corsair.com/products/hx/default.aspx "triple 12v rails" Also on the sticker here:
Most corsair power supplies have a single rail. This one does not. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?CurImage=17-139-002-S06&SCList=17-139-002-S01%2c17-139-002-S02%2c17-139-002-S03%2c17-139-002-S04%2c17-139-002-S05%2c17-139-002-S06%2c17-139-002-S07%2c17-139-002-S08%2c17-139-002-S09%2c17-139-002-S10%2c17-139-002-S11&S7ImageFlag=2&Item=N82E16817139002&Depa=0&WaterMark=1&Description=CORSAIR%20CMPSU-620HX%20620W%20ATX12V%20v2.2%20and%20EPS12V%202.91%20SLI%20Certified%20CrossFire%20Ready%2080%20PLUS%20Certified%20Modular%20Active%20PFC%20Compatible%20with%20Core%20i7%20Power%20Supply
Click to expand...
It's advertised as a triple-rail PSU, but it actually only has one rail. There is no OCP. This topic is covered in Paul's review of the HX620: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2007/03/14/corsair_hx620_620w_power_supply/
However, as has been demonstrated by others and confirmed by Corsair, this unit is not actually a three rail unit per se as the Over-Current Protection (OCP) is not set on the rails to limit them to 18A as advertised. We will also empirically demonstrate this later during our testing.
Click to expand...


angelicvoices said:
Well, my psu just officially died on me. It shut down and I got *zero* life out of it... no fans, no lights, no life. I pulled the video card and it sputters on for a second and then back off again.

So.. I'm thinking about either picking up a Seasonic X Series 650w or the new Corsair HX 650w. Thoughts? Looks like the new HX is the same size as my current power supply but the Seasonic is a touch longer.. which would mean I would have to pull out my top case fan. I'm not sure how I feel about that..
Click to expand...
If you're willing to spend the cash, the 650W X Series is the best 650W PSU you can buy right now.
 
Oh.. I didn't realize that it was misadvertised like that.. good to know.

Thanks for the input .. I know Corsair still makes an awesome power supply, and someday I may build with them again, but I think for the moment a change in manufacturer may make me feel a little better. Just hoping nothing got fried when it went out. *sigh* Since it didn't actually totally blow, I'm thinking stuff is probably ok?
 
angelicvoices said:
I know Corsair still makes an awesome power supply, and someday I may build with them again, but I think for the moment a change in manufacturer may make me feel a little better.
Click to expand...
You won't be changing manufacturers if you go with the Seasonic, since they also manufactured the HX620.
angelicvoices said:
Just hoping nothing got fried when it went out. *sigh* Since it didn't actually totally blow, I'm thinking stuff is probably ok?
Click to expand...
There's no way to know that without actually testing the components.
 
Well hell.. oh well. I know it was just bad luck. I can be reasonable about it. Now I just have to decide if I want to lose a top case fan.
 
I modded it, so no warranty. I will not be modding the next one. Oh well if my case doesn't look quite as perfect.
 
well, I ended up going with the Corsair again. Two biggest reasons were the $60 price difference and the smaller size. Hopefully I will have better luck this time.
 
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