Panzer16

I am getting around 2.992 or 3.01 voltage but the required voltage is 3.3 or above. Please tell me, how bad is this for my pc in the long run and would it be ok for me to ignore this problem, since everything is working fine.

Thank you.

P.S. And please do reply. The first post I made on this website got totally ignored. I pasted my hijackthis logs and wanted to know if there were any suspicious programs running and nobody replied.

Doby

That is below spec but where are you getting that reading from? Software can sometimes be wrong or lets just say inaccuate.

Check the reading in bios just to double check and report it here.

What psu do you have, name brand? Watts? model number? This could tell us if its reliable.

What voltages are you getting on the +5V and the +12V

Because the computer is running normal we have to consider all these things before we determine if you have a true problem or just a bad software readout

1 g0t 0wn3d

hijack this logs take many days to get to (i just got to and i posted it on the 20th of last month)

mattlock

Did you go through the 5 step process before posting your HJT log?
http://www.techsupportforum.com/secu...sting-log.html

Exerpt from step 5:

2. Please be considerate of the fact that the people helping you are all volunteers, and in many cases usually have a job, and a limited amount of time to help, and therefore can only do so much. If no one has replied to your thread within 72hrs after you posted, please reply in your thread with the word BUMP to move it forward.

DO NOT Bump the thread unless 72 hours has passed. We work from oldest to newest posts so your wait will be longer if you bump it forward before the 72 hours is up.

The fine people in the HJT forum are swamped these days. They are all volunteers and do the best they can to keep up with forum. They will get to you as soon as they can. When you reply in you HJT several times in the same day, it may get over looked, because they will assume that someone has already started working with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Panzer16

That is below spec but where are you getting that reading from?

A software called Asus probe. It was in the CD of my mother board. The readings are accurate because I have already checked it with the BIOS readings and another software called Wizard 2008.

All readings are coming almost DITTO!

The readings are:

12.22 (This figure switches often but always remain above 12 v.
5.16 (This one switches at times but again always remain above 5 like it should be)
2.992 (It remains on this figure almost all the time. Occasionally it reaches 3.01 but I get a warning when it reaches below 2.96 v. Usually, I get a lot of warnings when I play a game or something otherwise it remains on 2.992. (However, even with no gaming, I do get an occasional warning for voltage reaching below 2.96)
Vcore = 1.573

What psu do you have, name brand? Watts? model number? This could tell us if its reliable.

Brand name: Smarttech

Model: P4-300w

Ac input: 115v 230v

Current: 8a 4a

Frequency: 50-60 Hz

About the hijackthis log, I think I posted it three days ago. It has around more than 40 hits and no reply lol that means more than 40 people read at least the first post but then didn't bother to reply to it

Panzer16

I just got 2 warnings just now. 2.96 were the readings both the times.

Panzer16

By the way, I am using 1 GB of ram with a 2.4 Intel processor with two hard disks of 40 and 4 GB respectively. DVD ROM, Nvidia Inno3d 256 MB (128 bits) graphic card and a floppy drive are the other things attached to my mother board.

Panzer16

One thing I like to add here that I have already tried another power supply of 350 watts but the result was even worse lol With this one all the figures were below the benchmark. (Again I checked the volts at the BIOS and with two different softwares as well.)

1 g0t 0wn3d

do you have a stronger known "good" psu like 500 watts or something?

mattlock

Asus motherboards are known to report low voltages. I have an Asus A8N SLI Deluxe and an Antec Trio 650 and the BIOS, Asus Probe, Speedfan, etc all report my voltages lower than the actual output as verified with a multimeter.

Panzer16

Actually, no! But this is what I am planning to do. I am going to take my other 350 watts PSU to the electrician and make him calculate the voltage really coming out of those wires.

Now here's what I want to know:

What should I tell him to do to make the PSU give the actual output its supposed to give which is 3.3 v or above. By the way, is it safe to repair PSU's like this?

P.S. To the guy who just messaged above, I just switched back to my old Nvidia graphic card which is only 16 MB and now the voltage is maintaining on 3.008. Not much but it hasn't reached below 3 uptil now which was not the case when the 256 one was installed. I think it is indeed a power shortage problem because of the extra load of the new graphic card.

Doby

You won't be able to repair the psu, however you can check the voltages it producing using a digital volt meter. This must be done with a load on the psu, its best to test when the computer is actually running.

Red wire= +5V
Orange wire=3.3V
Yellow= +12V

Panzer16

Why not, man? What are electricians for then? Besides, how much do these volt meters cost?

Doby

Volt meters cost about $20.00 US

Psu's are not considerd rebuildable, besides parts if you could get them and labor would be more than a good quality new psu.

Most 350w's are old technology, newer psu's are more effeciant and have advanced features that are unnoticed by the end user but play a big part in modern computers

Panzer16

Why not, man? Just here on some other thread, some guy was talking about fixing PSU's, in order to get the right voltage. I think it was some thread on this very website.

Anyway, here are my options:

400 WATTS 24-PIN (CHECKING)

COOLER MASTER

Extreme Power

380 WATTS EXTREME POWER (RS-380-PMSR)

2000
460 WATTS EXTREME POWER (RS-460-PCAR-A3)

2650 .
500 WATTS EXTREME POWER (RP-500-PCAR)

3100 .
600 WATTS EXTREME POWER SLI READY (RP-600-PCAR)

3900

Right now, I could only afford the 400 watts one. I just bought a new graphic card and 512 ram. I am broke! In my current situation, I would just love to get my two PSU's fixed or trade them for another used one which is actually giving the correct voltage.

I wonder what that guy was talking about. I wish if I could find that thread and then paste what he had written here.

Doby

Yes some tinker with them, I don't recommend this one mistake and boom, overvoltage.

To the unexperianced,,, never open up a psu the capacitors inside have vere high voltages that can be stored for months even when left unpluged, this can kill

Look at mwave.com in their refurb section, look for a antec, post here before purchasing, you have to keep checking there stock changes every week.

Or take your chances and save some money up

Panzer16

Ok, it is definitely the new graphic card which is causing the problem. I think the PSU just couldn't take the load. It's been more than two hours now and I didn't get any warnings from Asus probe. The voltage is maintaining at just above 3.

Yesterday or day before yesterday, I bought 512 MB ram and a 256 MB card. Now I am using my computer with the old 16 MB graphic card but the additional 512 MB ram is still fixed there. I have three ram chips, two of them are of 256 MB's and the third one is of 512.

This makes it pretty clear that it's not the ram but the graphic card which is putting the extra load even though there is only a difference of .1 or .2 volts without the new card lol

I think this stupid PSU was always giving me less than 3.3 voltage, it's just it never reached below 2.92 so I didn't experience any warnings before.

Panzer16

Again I am hoping to meet some PSU repair man who knows enough about power supplies because I think the only reason we are reluctant to fix our PSU's is because we don't know enough. Somebody made it and knew how to control the voltages and how to make them release the required amount.

Plus, since my other PSU is of 350 watts and not 300(which I am using right now) I think I would easily be able to cover my tiny shortage of voltage. Now only if I could find a person who knows his **** about Power supplies!