Ewww, my 5V line is at 4.3V Edit:Updated

[Chaotic42]

I've got a 550W Antec PSU. My computer is resetting on occasion when I move my mouse. Every perhipheral on my computer is USB, which seems to jive with the low 5V rail.

Outside of getting a new PSU, is there anything I can do?

Update:

Some odd news.

With only the CPU running (no fans, nothing else), the 5V is at 4.7V and the 12V is at 9.5V (this is wihtout the secondary 4-pin 12V connector). The ATX power connector also seems to be fused to the board. Yes, fused.

Update 2:

It looks now as if there is no hope. It's doing the same things that it did when the second CPU socket died. Boot failure, the resets, it looks bad.

 

[alzan]

Do you have any of your peripherals on an externally powered USB hub? That would take some of the strain off your PSU.

alzan

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: alzan
Do you have any of your peripherals on an externally powered USB hub? That would take some of the strain off your PSU.

alzan

Some of them. The mouse, digicams, and joystick. The keyboard is not on a powered hub.

 

[mechBgon]

Is that reading for real, did you check it with a multimeter?

 

[alzan]

Just took a look at your system rig. Maybe a second 550W PSU would cure the problem. Maybe if you moved all your peripherals to self-powered USB hubs, or a larger PSU, it would help, but you're asking an awful lot of that power supply with that rig.

alzan

 

[sharkeeper]

Is that reading for real, did you check it with a multimeter?

Cheers!

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Is that reading for real, did you check it with a multimeter?

Alas, no. I don't have a working multimeter. I may have to get one if the problem persists.

 

[mechBgon]

Could it be that your mouse cord is breaking? Although I wouldn't think it would cause resetting... But anyway, corded Microsoft mouses have a reputation for wire breakage where the cord emerges from the mouse. If you hold the mouse down and move its cord around where it emerges from the mouse, and it does cause a reset or the mouse drops and gets re-detected... yeah.

 

[Acanthus]

This is going to be a duh duh question, but its a truepower and not a truecontrol right? because you can adjust the truecontrol to accuracy.

Its possible with a truecontrol to bump the dials and screw it up as well.

 

[NewBlackDak]

The junk apple optical mouse are known for the same thing. I'd never heard of the MS mice problem, so that's what we bought to replace the dying ones. When an Apple mouse starts to go bad it just freezes. When a MS mouse starts to go bad some of the wires break and bridge. That's done everything from cause core dumps to locking up the machine to killing USB ports.

 

[ViRGE]

Considering that you have a 550wt power supply, I highly doubt that you're running short on power. Instead, you either might just be getting bad readings(unrelated to the resets), or you have a defective part somewhere.

 

[Chaotic42]

It's getting way worse now. It's happened like 5 times in the last 10 minutes. It might benewcomputer time.

 

[LTC8K6]

You haven't named any devices that use very much power at all, not even when added together.

I don't think USB devices use enough power to bother your PS, or any decent PS.

Unless there is a short in a cable or something, as the other poster said.

 

[Markfw]

First get one of these for $15
And if its low, replace it, if not, look elsewhere. Changing to a different mouse as some have suggested sounds easy also.

 

[Lyfer]

My bro's Allied 450W PSU had extremely low readings a few weeks ago when he bought it, returned and exchanged to the local PC Club he bought it from, and bam, stable voltages.

 

[Chaotic42]

Well, it also sometimes happens when I use my keyboard. I'm going to test it with my meter today or tomorrow.

 

[Chaotic42]

Update!

 

[quikah]

The ATX connector is fused to the board? I think you have a short in your MB. I would pry the power connector off and take some measurements with only the power supply or a different MB to see if the PS is blown.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: quikah
The ATX connector is fused to the board? I think you have a short in your MB. I would pry the power connector off and take some measurements with only the power supply or a different MB to see if the PS is blown.

How do I get the PSU to turn on if it isn't connected to the board.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: quikah
The ATX connector is fused to the board? I think you have a short in your MB. I would pry the power connector off and take some measurements with only the power supply or a different MB to see if the PS is blown.

How do I get the PSU to turn on if it isn't connected to the board.

If your motherboard is built to use the secondary ATX12V power plug, and you were not using it, then you were asking the single 12V wire on the main ATX cable to do the work of three, in the absence of its helper. That could result in the fusing of the connector (d'oh!) and your resulting low 12V reading.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
If your motherboard is built to use the secondary ATX12V power plug, and you were not using it, then you were asking the single 12V wire on the main ATX cable to do the work of three, in the absence of its helper. That could result in the fusing of the connector (d'oh!) and your resulting low 12V reading.

Well, I only ran it like that for about 10 seconds, and it was fused before then.

 

[mechBgon]

Hmm, pretty strange. Can you tell if it's just some of the wires in the ATX plug that are affected, and if so, which ones? Have you taken a look at the I/O shield to be sure the EMI springs didn't get into the USB ports? What motherboard is this again, the Gigabyte dualie that you had to replace recently?

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hmm, pretty strange. Can you tell if it's just some of the wires in the ATX plug that are affected, and if so, which ones? Have you taken a look at the I/O shield to be sure the EMI springs didn't get into the USB ports? What motherboard is this again, the Gigabyte dualie that you had to replace recently?

Well, I didn't replace the board. I'm trying to hold out.

Everything looks fine, except for the ATX connector, of course.

 

[Chaotic42]

Update