voltages too high/low?!

[afropuff]

Hi all,

I have this turbolink 420W PSU that came w/my chieftec case.

I am running 2 HD's 2 CD/DVD's 2 case fans

and everything else in my sig

When I look at voltages in MBM5, they say that my 3.3v is a 3.1, which seems really low, I have seen it get around 3.06 before

my 12v is around a 11.85 with the lowest a 11.50

my 5V seems pretty stable @ around 5.03


are these numbers too bad?? what is the disadvantage of low voltage numbers??

thansk

 

[larrymoencurly]

MBM and other monitoring programs give unreliable results, so always verify with a digital multimeter (as little as $3-5).

I'd worry a lot more about the PSU being the Turbolink brand than about MBM5 showing that the +3.3V rail is slightly below minimum tolerance.

 

[Mike2002]

Yea, definitely don't rely on the software monitoring programs. I have a Turbolink powersupply and software shows that is drops to 11.55 under load but a voltmeter shows it going to only 11.8. My powersupply hasn't given me any trouble but from what I have read it is not a supply that people would recomment.
I am running this off of my 350 watt supply.

--Intel 3.0
--Radeon 9600 Pro
--Western Digital 80 gig
--CD-RW drive
--Asus motherboard
--one case fan
--1 gig of Corsair 3200 RAM

Nothing really power hungry at all after I reviewed my system but it gives you an idea.

 

[afropuff]

hmmm, I see

So you are saying it basically isn't a problem and to possibly buy a multimeter to check and see what they actually are.

Where can I buy a multimeter? Radioshack?

 

[Mike2002]

Yup, Radioshack has them. I have the little yellow digital one and got it for 19.99. If your computer is stable then it should be good but check your voltages so see how they are doing.

 

[Ice Czar]

turbolink 420W

Deer
Allied, Codegen, L&C, Logic, Foxconn, Mustang, Powerstar,
Eagle, Foxlink, Mercury, Duro, Austin, Turbolink, Real Power.

I wouldnt trust it as a doorstop personally
the worse kind of generic supply



as mentioned a multimeter is the way to go
but what you want to do is calibrate your software monitoring to the multimeter
(for instance you can do that in MBM< otherwise a value you add or deduct to any logged reading)
but you want to employ a stable voltage to do that not a dynamic drop
most cheap DMMs cant actually sample fast enough to give you a good dynamic reading
for that youd want a true DC RMS DMM with a very tight accuracy, and they aint cheap

Basic 5% range is
+12V....11.4V to 12.6V
+5V......4.75V to 5.25V
+3.3V...3.135V to 3.465V


Im currently saving up all my pennies

 

[afropuff]

Deer
Allied, Codegen, L&C, Logic, Foxconn, Mustang, Powerstar,
Eagle, Foxlink, Mercury, Duro, Austin, Turbolink, Real Power.

I wouldnt trust it as a doorstop personally
the worse kind of generic supply



as mentioned a multimeter is the way to go
but what you want to do is calibrate your software monitoring to the multimeter
(for instance you can do that in MBM< otherwise a value you add or deduct to any logged reading)
but you want to employ a stable voltage to do that not a dynamic drop
most cheap DMMs cant actually sample fast enough to give you a good dynamic reading
for that youd want a true DC RMS DMM with a very tight accuracy, and they aint cheap

Basic 5% range is
+12V....11.4V to 12.6V
+5V......4.75V to 5.25V
+3.3V...3.135V to 3.465V


Im currently saving up all my pennies

lol wtf, where did larry's $3-5 multimeters go?? For the price of those multimeters, I might as well screw it and put it towards a new PSU..this is going to be a future upgrade

 

[lesman]

i have a 350w supply taking care of 5 case fans, an all in one drive, a 120 gb 7200 rpm hard drive, a floppy drive, the mobo, 2 sticks 512 RAM, graphics card, dial up modem card, whole bunch of USBs and im fine!