PSU Testing

cozumel · Aug 8, 2008, 01:34 PM

I want to check my PSU as over the last week I've had strange happenings such as occasional artifacts, crashing during games and BSOD's when I was on the internet (once while replying to a thread on DH). I thought I would confirm stability of PSU as it is quite old now and the computer is generally switched on 24/7.

So wanted to know if I am going to do this correctly. I am using a multimeter. I googled some guides but most of them are quite old and they all differ somewhat from one another so I thought I would kind of amalgamate them. Please let me know if any of the following is incorrect, if I have missed anything out or if parts of what I plan to do are pointless lol:

Check wall socket & surge protector for proper voltage supply
Check PSU power cable resistance
Check 3.3v, 5v & 12v output during POST, boot, Vista startup, idle, full load and shutdown.

Additional Questions:
I take it the voltage output from the PSU should be stable and within 5% of the stated voltage?
When doing the full load test, is Prime95 (4 threads) okay or should I be running Crysis instead or maybe Prime95 & Crysis together?
When testing voltage output is it okay just to check from the back of the mobo connector or do I also need to check every other individual connector?
How do I avoid death?

Thanks in advance for your help guys (and Grace

)

procupine14 · Aug 8, 2008, 02:23 PM

Sounds to me like you have a pretty good idea of what to do.

You would also be correct in saying that through the load you should see very minimal fluctuation on your rails' voltages

Judas · Aug 8, 2008, 03:29 PM

usually most psu will see a sudden small drop in voltages or a movement of some kind when a sudden change from idle to load occurs... but durring the loaded cycle.. the rails to remain quite steady

avoiding death......hmmm don't know about that

cozumel · Aug 8, 2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cozumel

I take it the voltage output from the PSU should be stable and within 5% of the stated voltage?
When doing the full load test, is Prime95 (4 threads) okay or should I be running Crysis instead or maybe Prime95 & Crysis together?
When testing voltage output is it okay just to check from the back of the mobo connector or do I also need to check every other individual connector?

Any feedback then on these questions. In particular questions 2 & 3.

Thanks

IEMC · Aug 8, 2008, 05:09 PM

Every site I've read says the most accurate point of testing is on the motherboard. Also that 5% is the max it should be out of spec.

When I tested mine, I was weary of doing that, so I tested the 12v and 5v lines on a loose molex connector, and then checked the 3.3v on a loose SATA power plug.

Wouldn't hurt to test all points, I think. I guess it would make a difference if you had more than one rail.

And if you can manage not to lag out with Prime95 and Crysis running at the same time, again, it wouldn't hurt. It would be better, too, as your graphics card would be drawing max power (granted you decide to run on Ultra High or whatever the setting is) along with your CPU and memory at full load.

Just remembered: Some PSUs come with test points on the side of the PSU itself, I do believe. That may be interesting to find out you have those on yours.

Judas · Aug 8, 2008, 05:38 PM

yeah 5% is max flux..

i usually recommend 3% as max..

generally i like to se no more then a 1% though.... (all within the rails reguardless of load)

Durring any point in time, the rails shouldn't be hopping around all the much at all, only mear decimal point changes should occur.

Grace · Aug 8, 2008, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cozumel

Additional Questions:

I take it the voltage output from the PSU should be stable and within 5% of the stated voltage?
When doing the full load test, is Prime95 (4 threads) okay or should I be running Crysis instead or maybe Prime95 & Crysis together?
When testing voltage output is it okay just to check from the back of the mobo connector or do I also need to check every other individual connector?
How do I avoid death?

Thanks in advance for your help guys (and Grace

)

First of all, you should stick the multimeter's reading pin on a cable which is being used, such as the PCIe connector which is feeding your card or the ATX connector. The reading pin is usually thin enough to fit from the rear side of the connector. Use the ATX connector for 3.3V-5V readings but the CPU 12V connector or the PCIe connector for 12V readings.

The voltage output should be within 5% of the stated voltage but that may be a bit too much. The 12V line should be between 11.4V-12.8V in my opinion for example. The readings should be somewhat stable when the system is under a steady load too, fluctuations when the system is idling or while you are playing any game are not a good thing.

Just run Crysis...that's stressful enough.

And you cannot avoid death. It's natural though so don't worry about it. All life fears the reaper.

procupine14 · Aug 8, 2008, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grace

And you cannot avoid death. It's natural though so don't worry about it. All life fears the reaper.

I like the hint of darkness on the end here

cozumel · Aug 10, 2008, 08:37 AM

Good news is:
PSU rock solid stable with good voltages. Played Crysis for load voltages

3.3V @ 13.378 - 3.401
5V @ 5.107 idle & 5.113 load
12V CPU @ 12.19 idle & 12..11 load
12V PCIe @ 12.19 idle & 12.13 load

And the bad news, I can't even Prime95 v25.6 with 4 threads. Fails after max of two minutes and that is with CPU (and everything else) going at stock speeds.

Going to swap out memory and cpu when after I get some beauty sleep.

cozumel · Aug 11, 2008, 11:00 AM

Problem solved. One of the DDR2 sticks not seated correctly. Must have happened while decorating and moving stuff from room to room. Thanks for advice folks

Edit: I should have checked everything was seated correctly first. God I'm a dumbass

Aug 8, 2008, 01:34 PM	#1
cozumel I'm dangerous but cute... Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Under the waves... Posts: 3,577 Rep Power: 60 System Specs	PSU Testing I want to check my PSU as over the last week I've had strange happenings such as occasional artifacts, crashing during games and BSOD's when I was on the internet (once while replying to a thread on DH). I thought I would confirm stability of PSU as it is quite old now and the computer is generally switched on 24/7. So wanted to know if I am going to do this correctly. I am using a multimeter. I googled some guides but most of them are quite old and they all differ somewhat from one another so I thought I would kind of amalgamate them. Please let me know if any of the following is incorrect, if I have missed anything out or if parts of what I plan to do are pointless lol: Check wall socket & surge protector for proper voltage supply Check PSU power cable resistance Check 3.3v, 5v & 12v output during POST, boot, Vista startup, idle, full load and shutdown. Additional Questions: I take it the voltage output from the PSU should be stable and within 5% of the stated voltage? When doing the full load test, is Prime95 (4 threads) okay or should I be running Crysis instead or maybe Prime95 & Crysis together? When testing voltage output is it okay just to check from the back of the mobo connector or do I also need to check every other individual connector? How do I avoid death? Thanks in advance for your help guys (and Grace ) __________________ Don't worry about money - Be a beach bum! Scuba Rocks Last edited by cozumel; Aug 8, 2008 at 02:47 PM. Reason: correct typos

Aug 8, 2008, 02:23 PM	#2
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 58 System Specs	Sounds to me like you have a pretty good idea of what to do. You would also be correct in saying that through the load you should see very minimal fluctuation on your rails' voltages __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Aug 8, 2008, 05:09 PM	#5
IEMC Neighborhood screw up. Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: MI, US Posts: 770 Rep Power: 55 System Specs	Every site I've read says the most accurate point of testing is on the motherboard. Also that 5% is the max it should be out of spec. When I tested mine, I was weary of doing that, so I tested the 12v and 5v lines on a loose molex connector, and then checked the 3.3v on a loose SATA power plug. Wouldn't hurt to test all points, I think. I guess it would make a difference if you had more than one rail. And if you can manage not to lag out with Prime95 and Crysis running at the same time, again, it wouldn't hurt. It would be better, too, as your graphics card would be drawing max power (granted you decide to run on Ultra High or whatever the setting is) along with your CPU and memory at full load. Just remembered: Some PSUs come with test points on the side of the PSU itself, I do believe. That may be interesting to find out you have those on yours. __________________

Aug 10, 2008, 08:37 AM	Thread Starter #9
cozumel I'm dangerous but cute... Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Under the waves... Posts: 3,577 Rep Power: 60 System Specs	Good news is: PSU rock solid stable with good voltages. Played Crysis for load voltages 3.3V @ 13.378 - 3.401 5V @ 5.107 idle & 5.113 load 12V CPU @ 12.19 idle & 12..11 load 12V PCIe @ 12.19 idle & 12.13 load And the bad news, I can't even Prime95 v25.6 with 4 threads. Fails after max of two minutes and that is with CPU (and everything else) going at stock speeds. Going to swap out memory and cpu when after I get some beauty sleep. __________________ Don't worry about money - Be a beach bum! Scuba Rocks

Aug 11, 2008, 11:00 AM	Thread Starter #10
cozumel I'm dangerous but cute... Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Under the waves... Posts: 3,577 Rep Power: 60 System Specs	Problem solved. One of the DDR2 sticks not seated correctly. Must have happened while decorating and moving stuff from room to room. Thanks for advice folks Edit: I should have checked everything was seated correctly first. God I'm a dumbass __________________ Don't worry about money - Be a beach bum! Scuba Rocks Last edited by cozumel; Aug 11, 2008 at 11:17 AM.