Safe PSU levels for an overclocked machine??

The-ButcherThe-Butcher
edited March 2004 in Hardware
Hello, I'm new to this forum and thought I would post my specs for all to see, they are pretty weak, but at least you'll get a good laugh out of them! Also, I would like someone to check out my PSU voltages to check that they are not at dangerous levels.

My specs are as follows:-

Jetway Nforce 2-PA400 Motherboard
AMD 2600+ XP Barton O/C @ 2109 mhz (183 fsb x 11.5)
Generic 512MB DDR 400 RAM (running at 366mhz in sync with CPU)
Nvidia Geforce FX 5600XT
Generic L & C Technology 300 Watt PSU
Pinnacle PCTV Video Capture Card
Netcomm 10/100 LAN Card
Swannsmart IIx 56K Modem
Liteon DVD-ROM LTD-165H
Liteon 56246S (52 x 24 x 52 CDRW)
2 Maxtor HDD's, 80 GB and 30 GB, both ATA133)
2 System Fans, temps at 31c (System) and 49c (CPU) running 3DMark03 & encoding a DVD simulataneously (CPU definitely under full load)

My voltage levels are as follows, all reported by Winbond Hardware Doctor 3.0: -

VCore - 1.76V (Have seen it rise to 1.82V, but only once)
Vcc1.5V - Steady at 1.5V
+3.3V - Fluctuates between 3.28V and 3.3V
+5V - Fluctuates between 4.81V, 4.84V and 4.87V
+12V - Fluctuates between 12.66V and 12.72V
-12V - Fluctuates between -12.6V and -12.77V
-5V - Fluctuates between -5.54V and -5.59V (saw it rise once to -5.64V)
5VSB - Steady at 5.3V
VBAT - Fluctuates between 3.17V and 3.25V

I have no knowledge of what these mean, so thankyou for checking over them for me and making sure that they are ok! It wouldn't surprise me if they are dangerous, but if they are, I'll just reverse the overclock! Thankyou for your assistance,

Scott.

Comments

  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited March 2004
    Hi butcher and welcome, are you the butcher who plays UT on Elarial by any chance?

    Those voltages are only varying by a few hundredths of a volt, I wouldn't think that mattered as such but may indicate the PSU is maxed out. There are others in here with far more knowledge than me though so hang on.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    Your 5v is pretty good, but the 12v is AWFULLY high.
  • The-ButcherThe-Butcher
    edited March 2004
    Hey guys,

    Thankyou for the quick replies, so apart from the 12V are the rest of my voltage levels safe? And what does it mean that my 12V levels are "awfully high"? does that mean i have to many devices running off the PSU or does it mean that i have overclocked too much? What problems will occur if I do not do something about the "awfully high" 12V? Thanks, sorry I'm asking so many dumb questions! :-)

    BTW bothered, no I am not the same butcher, but thankyou for the warm-hearted welcome!
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited March 2004
    How is the 12V Rail low at 12.6?? The 5V rail seems low at 4.8.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2004
    The 12v rail seems awfully high to me. But I assume those are software readings, which are inherently off. Check the voltages at an ATX connector using a multimeter.
  • The-ButcherThe-Butcher
    edited March 2004
    So apart from the 12V are the rest of my voltage levels safe? And what does it mean that my 12V levels are "awfully high"? does that mean that i have too many devices running off the PSU or does it mean that i have overclocked too much? What can I do to bring this level down? What problems will occur if I do not do something about the "awfully high" 12V? Thanks, sorry I'm asking so many dumb questions! :-)

    How do I go about testing these levels with a multimeter, because I do have one?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    I wouldn't worry about it too much.. But it's just abnormal to see a 12v that is so strong. Typically the .66 is found after, say, an 11. Heh.
  • The-ButcherThe-Butcher
    edited March 2004
    Thanks for all of your advice, the one that i was actually worried about was the -5v, because the high limit in Hardware Doctor was -5.54V, but the alarm kept going off, so i increased it to -5.64V, but not even knowing what the -5V does, I was worried that this would cause some sort of a problem.

    The +12V isn't so high whilst the comp is idle, it sits at 12.48V, but like someone said earlier, the software can get it wrong, and I don't really want to test it with a multimeter unless it is a problem, but hey, if it was, you would've told me so! ;-)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2004
    If it's actually that high, than it is potentially a problem. Just turn the multimeter on, stick the red lead on the multimeter into the yellow lead on an empty molex connector, and the black lead on the multimeter into a black lead on an empty molex connector. See what the voltage is.
  • The-ButcherThe-Butcher
    edited March 2004
    Well folks, get ready for a big shock, the multimeter shows a reading of 12.55V, so the software was right. After testing it, I underclocked the machine back to it's original state (166fsb x 11.5 = 1917mhz) & Vcore back down to 1.65V. Still got the same reading on the multimeter after I switched it on, but the software reading was lower, varying from 12.36V to 12.48V.

    What is the cause of the high 12V? Is it because there are too many devices running off my 300 watt Generic PSU? Or is it caused by something else? And how can I get this level down?

    Thankyou so much for all of your help everyone, it is well appreciated! :-)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2004
    The ATX spec calls for the voltages to be off by no more than 5%, which, for +12v would be 12.6v.

    So technically speaking, your voltages are within spec. They're also high enough to make me concerned that you may be slowly killing the more sensitive components, like the motherboard, with excessive voltages.

    The only way to get it down is to replace the power supply with something halfway decent- a 350w+ Antec, Enermax, Fortron Source, Sparkle, or PC Power & Cooling PS would do the job.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited March 2004
    Butcher, adding load to a power supply will never increase the voltage, it will lower it.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited March 2004
    Actually, I've seen that a heavily loaded generic psu can boost the 12v rail when the 3.3 and 5v rails are about maxed out on power delivery, bothered. I had a psu like that myself.

    Butcher, your voltage on your 12v rail is high but still just within tolerances, which says to me that you have that generic psu at it's absolute limit. The high 12v should actually be a little easier on the mobo than a low 12v rail as there will be a little less current draw to to the higher voltage(P=I x E). Still, I would recommend that you get a bigger better psu than your present one because any device that is stressed to it's limit is more likely to fail and a psu dying can also kill the mobo, proc and drives.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited March 2004
    muddockor, if the voltage goes up so will the current. It's a common misconception. If you need a certain wattage then increasing the voltage means you need less current to obtain the wattage you want. The PSU only 'sees' resistance and any reactance due to ripple. If the voltage across this resistance goes up so will the current, V\R.
    A computor PSU may try to regulate the voltage so maybe it does go up as you say if the 3.3v and 5v are maxed out, that may be a function of that particular PSU, I don't know, it depends on what the PSU is doing. Interesting stuff though, innit?
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