How do you test a PSU?

Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
5,648
Location
location: location
Could someone please tell me how i go about testing the quality of my psu?
Is there any software that gives all the info on voltages, current, rails etc..
or do i need a multimeter?

Thanks
:)
m
 
Fraid the only way to get all the information is to find out what make it is and look up the details online, sometimes the PSU will have a label on the side with the total power output and the amps, watts, etc. on each rail.
 
Thanks Rroff:

The info on side of psu (Titan 550W Silent Neon) is:
+3.3V 28A
+5V 35A
+12V 30A
-5V 0.5A
-12V 0.5A
+5VSB 2.5A

Also from the software sisoft sandra information i get the following:
CPU1 voltage 1.39V
CPU2 voltage 2.59V (i only have 1 cpu though -athlon64 3700)
+3.3V voltage 3.36V
+5V voltage 4.68V
+12V voltage 11.67V
-12V voltage -2.16V
-5V voltage -2.34V
Standby voltage 4.84V


Can anyone tell me whether these are good figures and how it will fair when i start my overclocking for the first time?

Thanks
:)
m
 
All that tells you is the power output but not stability. Use a multimeter or software such as mbm or systool or everest. Put comp under load and see if rails change much. Multimeter is only way to properly measure though.
 
What motherboard do you have? many come with monitoring software on the driver CD - using that you can do as ted says - put it under load and see how much variance there is in the rails and if they are within safe levels...

Those stats off the side would indicate that the PSU is fairly decent if it can attain 30A on the 12V rail it gives you a theoretical 360watt peak - good enough for a single GPU system but probably a bit lacking if you were running SLI.
 
Hehe! Another insomniac!
You're absolutely right, my motherboard (gigabyte GA-K8NMF-9) does have a utility to monitor voltages (only VCoreA, +3.3V and +12V are listed - is that enough info? - neither mbm nor systools support my mobo, can't find the options in everest to see voltages). The program is called easy tune 4 - looks a bit like a terible winamp skin but provides a fair bit of information.
I'm running prime95 at the moment to stress the CPU.

At idle, cpu temp is about 44C and:
VCoreA is +1.420V
+3.3V is +3.360V
+12V is +11.85V

At full CPU load (after about 15mins(cpu temp is 56C)
VCoreA is fluctuating every now and then by 0.01V
+3.3V is also fluctuating by 0.01V
+12V is fluctuating beteen 11.410V and 11.600V


My PC is:

Gigabyte GA-K8NMF-9 Motherboard
2X512Mb PC3200 DDR400 CL2.5-6-3-3 RAM
Athlon64 3700+ San Diego 1Mb L2 Cache Socket 939
Radeon X800 GTO
Titan 550W PSU
Basic CPU Cooler.

I should be receiving 3 case fans and an artcic freezer 64 this morning, so will be up for a bit of overclocking later in the evening.
What do you think, is my PSU up to the job?

:)
m
 
Marmoset said:
Hehe! Another insomniac!
You're absolutely right, my motherboard (gigabyte GA-K8NMF-9) does have a utility to monitor voltages (only VCoreA, +3.3V and +12V are listed - is that enough info? - neither mbm nor systools support my mobo, can't find the options in everest to see voltages). The program is called easy tune 4 - looks a bit like a terible winamp skin but provides a fair bit of information.
I'm running prime95 at the moment to stress the CPU.

At idle, cpu temp is about 44C and:
VCoreA is +1.420V
+3.3V is +3.360V
+12V is +11.85V

At full CPU load (after about 15mins(cpu temp is 56C)
VCoreA is fluctuating every now and then by 0.01V
+3.3V is also fluctuating by 0.01V
+12V is fluctuating beteen 11.410V and 11.600V


My PC is:


:)
m

Your +12V rail is almost dropped below the 5% regulation during load, which is something you need to be concerned about. I would suggest you to use a multimeter to get correct readings. The readings from software are never accurate.
 
Thanks
Unfortunately i don't have a working multimeter at the moment.
By my calculations using this software info, even though as you say it's only an estimatei, it's a drop of 3.7% from 11.85V to 11.41V so isn't that within tolerance limits?

:)
m
 
Marmoset said:
Thanks
Unfortunately i don't have a working multimeter at the moment.
By my calculations using this software info, even though as you say it's only an estimatei, it's a drop of 3.7% from 11.85V to 11.41V so isn't that within tolerance limits?

:)
m

The tolerance limit is 5% of 12.00V. Your reading of 11.41V is very close to the lower end of the limit, which is 11.40V.

Are you experiencing any issues with your system?
 
Sorry i missed the point on the reduction from 12V! Thanks.

No issues at all at the moment, although i'm running everything at stock. Just bought a new cpu fan and some case fans and am about to venture into the world of overclocking.
Is this 12V rail issue likely to cause any problems when trying to overclock?

m
 
Last edited:
I've now fitted the 3 case fans and started overclocking.
I've got a KAB2 3700+ which i've heard is a good clocker.
The max i can get out of it is 2575Mhz. My ****ing motherboard doesn't allow me to change vcore (GA-k8NMF-9) even with the latest BIOS. So i don't know whether it's crapping out because of that or that my 12V is bottoming out at 11.28V. I don't want to invest in a decent PSU if the vcore is the limiting factor. Maybe i should buy a cheapo mobo with good overclocking capabilities and a decent seasonic psu, but i'm going away on holiday this weekend so need the pennies at the moment.

mods: if you feel the need to move this thread to the overclocking forum, please feel free to do so.
 
Marmoset said:
My ****ing motherboard doesn't allow me to change vcore (GA-k8NMF-9) even with the latest BIOS. So i don't know whether it's crapping out because of that or that my 12V is bottoming out at 11.28V.

Probably both. If you plan to overclock, I would suggest you to get a better PSU, otherwise you would have stability issues.
 
Back
Top Bottom