Accuracy of reported voltages?

[EvanC]

I currently have a duron 650 stable @700(100*7.0). Now, I'd like to go a lot higher but I have a problem. I set the core voltage in bios(Abit KT7) to 1.675 but the VIA monitor program reports it at 1.74 :/

Is this value inaccurate, am I reading it wrong, or, do I have a motherboard/power-supply problem? I currently have a 300W power supply which is supposedly AMD approved(I can't find it on the list though) but I had a similar problem with another 250W one.

Here's what I get in VIA HM(other monitoring programs give same results):
Vcore=1.74
3.3V=3.35
5V=5.10
12V=12.01

The other power-supply gave me slightly different(but no better) results.
I'm not too keen to increase the core voltage much higher because I'm a little worried about frying the CPU.

Anyone else have same thing happening?

EvanC

 

[PieDerro]

I had my voltage set to 1.8 on my KT7 and VIAHWM was reporting it as 1.85V. I think this is a design characteristic of the Abit motherboards. They return a slightly higher voltage to improve stability.

 

[GaryTcs]

Toms has an article about increasing the voltage on an A7V. This might not apply to you, except they made it above 2.1v safely. Linked for your convenience. Don't worry about the voltage being a little high, unless you can't cool it.

 

[Neos]

The MSI progie(PC Alert III) I have reports the 1.60 voltage as 1.67. I just figured it was more accurate.
Neos

 

[miken]

My KT7 does the same thing, I set it to 1.75 and it reads 1.8 or 1.81. I flashed the BIOS and it reads 1.85. The KT7 FAQ says that differences of .05 are Power Supply issues, and are safe. I think that's a load of BS and Abit's Voltage regulator/reader is broken.

 

[EvanC]

Cheers guys, thnx for the info.

I guess I'll just bump up the volts a bit and see what happens 🙂

-Evan C

 

[dman]

I don't think it's the board that's wrong. I put two systems together using MSI K7tPro2a and Tbird 650. In one machine (a stirling case) all the voltages are slightly lower than the rated value (maybe 2-3%). In the other, using an enlight case and powersupply, all the voltages are about 10% over. Both were ATX 250Watt supplies.

 

[DaddyG]

The only way to determine the ACTUAL voltages is with a high quality DVM.

 

[bolomite]

I've had this situation for a long time now. Slot A Athlon 650 on an Abit KA7, and overclocked to 800 with a GFD. I set the voltage to 1.85V both in the BIOS and on the GFD, with the dipswitches. Yet VIA HM shows 1.89 - 1.91 (yikes!). Nearly nine months running this setup, though, and no problems.

 

[IHYLN]

this problem is NOT due to power supply issues.

I've tested 3 different Abit boards. A KT7, KT7-R, and a KT7A-RAID

The KT7 reported a max voltage of 1.85v when set to 1.85

KT7-R reported 1.92v when set to 1.85

KT7A-Raid reported 1.91v when set to 1.85

Used with the same exact power supply and components. Hey, I'd personally take the higher voltage. 🙂