How can you tell if your getting enough power?

Ice Rich · 22 Jun 2007 at 15:32

Hi all,

How can you tell if your psu is powering your PC correctly (i.e not struggling)?

Ive noticed in bios I have the 3v, 6v, 12v options and next to those some other numbers (normally around the same value) which constantly change from one V to the other - im guessing its something todo with that?

Thanks

waso_dude · 22 Jun 2007 at 15:34

they should be as close as poss to the numbers that they represent, if they are massivly differant something is up PSU or voltage controller ways.

And you should look in to it.

Ice Rich · 22 Jun 2007 at 15:39

waso_dude said:
they should be as close as poss to the numbers that they represent, if they are massivly differant something is up PSU or voltage controller ways.

And you should look in to it.

So, if anything the numbers should be higher then the voltage it represents (i.e on the 12v it would be better to have 13v rather then 11v?)

Is this also the best method to check that the psi is giving your rig eough power?

Thanks

M0t0r0la · 22 Jun 2007 at 15:57

If the PSU has enough power for your rig it will be stable.
If the PSU doesn't have enough power your rig will become unstable (ie random crashs/restarts)

dun · 22 Jun 2007 at 17:54

M0t0r0la said:
If the PSU has enough power for your rig it will be stable.
If the PSU doesn't have enough power your rig will become unstable (ie random crashs/restarts)

Exactly right for 99.9% of users. If its working its giving enough power. If you are having problems it may not.

Ice Rich · 22 Jun 2007 at 18:11

M0t0r0la said:
If the PSU has enough power for your rig it will be stable.
If the PSU doesn't have enough power your rig will become unstable (ie random crashs/restarts)

dun said:
Exactly right for 99.9% of users. If its working its giving enough power. If you are having problems it may not.

Thanks for advice. Was looking for a way to determine if PSU is struggling rather then having an unstable pc. Was i corrrect in saying the V values in bios should be higher then the displayed number?

Thanks

dun · 22 Jun 2007 at 18:44

Well going on what speedfan is telling me, on this pc I have the following values: (Very stable running on coolermaster 380w)
3.30v
5.08v
11.90v

I don't know really whether a psu can "struggle" and be stable really. It is either coping with the load, or it isn't and will start causing problems.
Hope this helps.

Ice Rich · 22 Jun 2007 at 18:50

dun said:
Well going on what speedfan is telling me, on this pc I have the following values: (Very stable running on coolermaster 380w)
3.30v
5.08v
11.90v

I don't know really whether a psu can "struggle" and be stable really. It is either coping with the load, or it isn't and will start causing problems.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your post,

Looking at your results though, should your 5v not be above 6v and your 11.90 above twelve? This is what i was talking about regarding having an unstable PSU.

Please post any advice,

Thanks

fish99 · 22 Jun 2007 at 21:43

Those numbers dun posted are typical, you'll always see a bit of fluctuation and numbers slightly below or above where they should be. It's not a big deal or anything to worry about.

As said above it's usually very obvious when your system is short on power since the PSU will shut down (taking the PC with it of course), or the PC reset.

It's more important to have a PSU by a quality manufacturer and plenty of amps on the +12V rail/rails.

Energize · 22 Jun 2007 at 22:58

12v is the one that matters, 5v and 3v are not critical rails. Used for stuff like standby mode.

mrk · 22 Jun 2007 at 22:59

Yup my HX520 has slightly lower numbers than the posted ones above but it's rock solid and stays on 24/7.

It's all about quality not quantity!