[ghcintshop]

Computer frequently crashing and on boot up came up with hardware monitor problem - when checked found that the -12V rail was running at -14V, outside error margins. Shortly after the power supply -12V rail went down to 0V and would not boot at all.

I assumed the problem was the power supply so changed it, but the brand new one still has the -12V rail running at -14V. Is there a problem with the motherboard's voltage regulator or something?

System is:
AMD Athlon 1Ghz
Asus A7V motherboard
512MB ram
ATI Radeon Graphics Card
WinME
380W power supply

Thanks,

Gordon

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

There may be an error in the reporting area of your motherboard. I don't know what you used to assess the voltage (program type), but just for kicks (O.K., I know they use the same sensors), why not see what one of these program reports:

Sandra Lite Utility

http://www.download.com/3000-2086-10018691.html

or

Speedfan will tell you the temperatures and a whole lot more. It's free

http://www.sofotex.com/SpeedFan-download_L4655.html

or

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php


Also, you didn't say if your computer is working O.K. now with the new power supply, or if it is still having the problems you reported.

 

[whodat]

welcome to tsf
after you use tumbleweeds links, also tell us what kind of power supply you used.

 

[ghcintshop]

I've tried installing speedfan, which is saying that my -12V rail is running at -10.35V. At the same time the hardware monitor in my BIOS (where i got the original reading) is still saying -14.26V.

The new power supply is a Taurus TX-380-PFC-C, and the computer is running altough still crashing occasionally.

In addition to the panic, Speedfan is saying that my VIA VT82C686 controller is registering temperatures of Temp1 133C, Temp2 52C and Temp3 144C! I haven't had time to look through the configuration yet so not really sure what that means although that kind of temperature doesn't sound good!

Thanks for your continued help,

Gordon

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

I am sorry to report, but I still think you need a good power supply. If you don't have an Antec or Enermax in the 500+ range, they just don't do the job. The off brand supplies are not up to the job and with only 380 watts, not nearly enough. Off brand supplies never (well hardly) put out what they advertise. A good supply will cost you 100 bucks. That is my opinion. You might want to get other opinions, but that is probably what is causing your problem.

 

[whodat]

ATX Power Supplies - Brands from A to Z

*** RATED BY QUALITY ***

Key
H = High Quality (Good Solid Reliable Brand)
L = Low Quality (Cheap Generic)
M = Medium Quality (In-between)
U = Unknown


A-Power................L
A-Top..................L
A+GPB..................L
AcBel..................L
AC Ryan (Ryanpower)....L
Aerocool...............U
AG.....................L
Ahanix.................L
Akasa..................L
Allied.................L
Antec..................M/H
AOpen..................L
APC....................L
Apex Allied............L
Aspire.................L/M
Astec..................L
Athena.................L
BFG....................L
Broadway Gaming........U
Channel Well...........L
CHAS...................L
Chenbro................U
Chieftec...............L
Coba...................L
Codegen................L
Conrad.................M
CoolerMaster...........H
CoolMax................M
Crystal................L
Dell...................L
Delta..................L
Diablo.................L
Eagle..................L
Echo Star..............L
Enermax................H
Engleking..............M
Enlight................M
Epson..................L
FDK....................L
Fortron (FSP)..........H
Gateway................L
Gazelle Multimedia.....L
Global Marketing.......L
GPower.................L
Guardian...............L
Herolchi...............M
Hipro..................L
HP/Compaq..............L
HPC International......L
Huntkey................L
I-Star.................L
IBM Redundant..........U (expensive)
Intel Redundant........U (expensive)
In Win.................L
Jaguar.................U
Kensington.............L
Kingwin................L
L&C....................L
Leadman................L
Levicom................L
LiteOn.................U
Logisys................U
Mad Dog................L/M
Maxtron................L
MGE....................L
MGE Vortec.............M
MorningStar............L
NEC....................L
Newton.................L
Nexus..................L
Noise Magic............L
NorthQ.................M
Nspire.................L
OCZ....................H
Omega..................L
Packard Bell...........L
PC Power & Cooling.....H
PC-World (PCW).........L
PCMCIS.................U
Power..................L
PowerStream............L
PowerTek...............L
PowerUp................L
PowMax.................L
PowMax XPower..........L
Premium................L
Pyramid................L
Q-Tec..................L
Q-Technology...........L
RaidMax................U
Real Power.............L
Rosewill...............L
SCS....................L
SeaSonic...............H
Shuttle................L
Silent Purepower.......U
SilenX.................L
Silverstone............H
Sky Hawk (Eagle Tech)..L
Sparkle................H
Star Micronics.........L
StarTech...............L
Sun....................L
SuperFlower............L
Supermicro.............L
Tagan..................H
Task...................L
ThermalTake............M
Topower................L
Tri-Mag................L
TSP....................L
Tyan Tiger.............L
TTGI...................L
Ultra-Power Computer...L
Ultra..................M
Ultra X-Connect........L
Vantec.................H
Verax..................H
Vigor..................U
Xion...................L
xPCgear................L
Zalman.................H
Zippy..................L