PSU volt question. Low 12+ reading in speedfan&everest

Superjeep4x4 · 22 Aug 2008 at 05:24

So I was doing some looking at speedfan and Everest and while I know these progs dont give a accurate reading of the volts both showed my 12v+ as 1.86v just sitting here browsing OcUK and some other sites. Is that normal for it to read that low at idle or is supposed to be a constant 12ish?

My gut reaction is to freak out but as I have read that these are usually reported wrong and Im wondering if its just a false reading. The fact that both are the same makes me move more to the freak out side. I will totally admit to not knowing much about the PSU side of things so if this is a stupid question go easy

RJC · 22 Aug 2008 at 07:10

They do the same on my Gigabyte X38, my 12v line is 18v or 9v :eek:

Tested with a multimeter and the voltage is 12.1v

Personaly don't worry about it if they were that low I doubt your pc would boot or be stable, worst case borrow a multimeter and test the 12v line!

Superjeep4x4 · 22 Aug 2008 at 17:05

Thanks RJC you made me feel better. Can buying a better quality PSU improve performance? Guess I am trying to find out if it is either a "it works or it does not" type deal or if having a better quality PSU in terms of continuous rated power like this for example with the large single rail would actually improve performace in a overclocked system.

Again sorry if this is a stupid question but I am just trying to educate myself on a couple of areas I am week on comp wise. As far as know the Zion is doing the job but would consider a reasonable upgrade like that if I knew it would be beneficial. I do run a fairly large amount of 120mm fans and have 4 hard drives along with the basics but I am frankly not sure how much added stress that puts on the PSU and if it lowers performance.

RJC · 22 Aug 2008 at 18:13

My personal opinion buying a quality brand PSU like Corsair and Enermax would be able to run at higher load and still maintain the correct output and high effency and has the fail safes which should help protect your pc if something goes wrong.
Like last year my Enermax blew week before christmas I tested my system with anther PSU I had spare, the PC booted up fine with no problems.

Buying cheap PSU may state they can output xxx but the truth could be far from it, Corsair tested a cheap power supply but it to full load and it went pop! :eek:

If you do a search there should be a link somewere on these forums

If your current PSU is stuggling then you would notice pc locks ups BSOD's ect, you could have bought new components which are doing the same.

In terms of which is better dual rail or single rail I can't answere that.

I hope I have made some sense above!

helmutcheese · 22 Aug 2008 at 18:17

Verify your voltages with a Multimeter not software.

Superjeep4x4 · 22 Aug 2008 at 19:23

I honestly have not had a lockup or BSOD in....well a few years now that I think about it(I am knocking on every piece of wood in this room as I type) so Ill get a multimeter here in the next week and give it a proper test but it sounds like this Zion is doing well.

Tnx for the info and input RLC and Helmutcheese.