+3.3V below threshold, PSU on the blink?

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:07

basically i decided to install asus pc probe loaded it all up, and i get this error;

also confirmed with speedfan it was indeed lower

funny thing is i checked in the bios hardware monitor and it showed a solid 3.360v on the +3.3 which is what it should be right? yet in windows its showing it much lower than what it should be fluctuating between 1.5 sometimes :eek:

to 2.5 and sometimes hitting 3 at which point asus pc probe stops beeping, i have;

AMD 3800+ X2 @ 2.6Ghz
GeIL Value PC3200 ram
X1900XT 512MB
HIPER Type-r 580w

any help with this would be GREATLY appreciated, thanks.

welshtom · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:43

email hiper about it see what they say?

i;d rma it personally

hardc0re_tid · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:48

lesson learnt, dont buy Hiper

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:48

welshtom said:
email hiper about it see what they say?

i;d rma it personally

just rang up got an RMA number, all i have to do is send it in with my address and this number on the parcel and a breif description they seemed really good about it and said they would just swap it over with a new one i just want to confirm it is actually faulty and what other people think

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:49

hardc0re_tid said:
lesson learnt, dont buy Hiper

had it for 9 month's without any kind of problem, just found this out recently

welshtom · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:49

yea, tis weird.

all my clocking has been done with a hiper 580w, they are decent psu's although there were a few bad batches a while back

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 16:50

welshtom said:
yea, tis weird.

all my clocking has been done with a hiper 580w, they are decent psu's although there were a few bad batches a while back

yea and recently they have just been certified for x-fire so im totally lost as to why my 3.3 line is dodgy

semi-pro waster · 26 Oct 2006 at 17:03

In theory the bios and PC Probe or whatever should take their readings from the same source so it is rather odd, however if it really was dropping to 1.5v or even 2.5v I'd be expecting frequent crashes and general instability. Do you have a multimeter you could use to test it? That is the only way to be sure if something is wrong or not.

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 17:07

semi-pro waster said:
In theory the bios and PC Probe or whatever should take their readings from the same source so it is rather odd, however if it really was dropping to 1.5v or even 2.5v I'd be expecting frequent crashes and general instability. Do you have a multimeter you could use to test it? That is the only way to be sure if something is wrong or not.

no im afraid i do not, and yes i do have random freezes now and then with it, also sometimes when i log onto windows it will crash then sometimes, when it freezes up its done it on idle and load the mouse etc will just totally lock up.

Tom|Nbk · 26 Oct 2006 at 17:41

does anyone know what components use the +3.3v, im pretty sure its the memory?

semi-pro waster · 26 Oct 2006 at 21:18

Tom|Nbk said:
does anyone know what components use the +3.3v, im pretty sure its the memory?

To confirm this, shamelessly ripped from another forum. Hope that helps.

+3.3V - RAM
+5.0V - Mother Board/Older CPUs
+12V - CPU/Drives/Fans/System Bus Slots (PCI, AGP, etc)
-5.0V - Floppy/ISA bus cards
-12V - Serial Ports
+5VSB - Motherboard Sleep/Wake

Sir Random · 27 Oct 2006 at 11:49

semi-pro waster said:
In theory the bios and PC Probe or whatever should take their readings from the same source so it is rather odd, however if it really was dropping to 1.5v or even 2.5v I'd be expecting frequent crashes and general instability. Do you have a multimeter you could use to test it? That is the only way to be sure if something is wrong or not.

Agreed,
The only true test is with a voltmeter/multimeter. The green wire (pin 14) is earth, and the 3.3v supply is orange (on a standard ATX PSU). 5v = red, 12v = yellow.

Tom|Nbk · 27 Oct 2006 at 21:22

Sir Random said:
Agreed,
The only true test is with a voltmeter/multimeter. The green wire (pin 14) is earth, and the 3.3v supply is orange (on a standard ATX PSU). 5v = red, 12v = yellow.

don't have a voltmeter or multimeter is there anything i can do besides this anyone have any type of explanation why its doing this?

Tom|Nbk · 28 Oct 2006 at 02:58

little update, took the psu out my rig plugged it into my brothers machine and the volts are showing what they should be in windows which is 3.39v on the 3.3 this is rock solid on this so im lead to believe that the PSU is fine, yet on my other rig it showed volts much lower than they should be fluctuating a lot but showing a reading of a solid 3.360 in the bios screen this is all very weird to me not sure what to do now,

markyb · 28 Oct 2006 at 07:52

Tom,

Could you try your brothers PSU in your PC mate? It could well be a faulty reading within the Bios or a component in your PC which could be causing this drop.

Tom|Nbk · 28 Oct 2006 at 12:53

markyb said:
Tom,

Could you try your brothers PSU in your PC mate? It could well be a faulty reading within the Bios or a component in your PC which could be causing this drop.

hey mark, yea i normally would do just that the only thing is my brothers psu is a no brand pos tbfh, so i dont fancy sending my rig up to the high heavens just yet.