My motherboard is undervolting severely? What to do?

[RussianSensation]

My system:

P4 2.6@3.2ghz
Abit IS7 BIOS 2.3
2x 512 PDP 3200
Radeon 8500
2 cd drives
2 Hard drives

My computer has been constantly crashing when I game (vertical lines). Since I dont play a lot of games this hasnt bothered me for 6 months or so. I previously had a TurboLink 350W PSU => 3.3v@24A, 5V@34A, 12V@12A. My 3.3V rail was always showing somewhere between 3.01 and 3.15 (way below 3.3). I thought that is the cause of my videocard lockups. I recently purchased an OCZ 420 PSU and installed it. However, my 3.3V rail is still severely undervolted as before and the computer is still crashing (sometimes even randomly under no load). New specs are 3.3@28A, 5V@30A, 12V@30A. The voltage rails are adjustable but I dont know if I want to overvolt to get the 3.3 back in line. At the back of the PSU, 3 LEDs show voltages - GREEN means within norm - as all 3 of them show.

Is my motherboard going bad/has gone bad? How can I make sure it's the motherboard and whats the importance of the 3.3V rail (videocard?) Should I increase the voltage on the PSU?

 

[RussianSensation]

bump

 

[Navid]

How do you know the voltage on the 3.3V line?
Have you measured it or are you relying on a software utility?

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Navid
How do you know the voltage on the 3.3V line?
Have you measured it or are you relying on a software utility?

I am relying on 2 software utilities (Hardware Doctor which comes with the Abit motherboard and Motherboard Monitor version 5.3.7.0). Could it be that my bios is reporting it incorrectly?

 

[Navid]

I would only trust a digital volt meter. Even then, I would check the meter by measuring the voltage of a battery to make sure that the meter is not malfunctioning.

 

[boshuter]

Never rely on software for accurate voltage or temp readings. Measure the 3.3v rail with a good dmm at the atx connector.

 

[boshuter]

Originally posted by: Navid
I would only trust a digital volt meter. Even then, I would check the meter by measuring the voltage of a battery to make sure that the meter is not malfunctioning.

I don't think measuring a batter voltage (batteries are never going to be a constant voltage) is a valid test of your dmm. How would you know EXACTLY what volts the battery has in it? If you can't trust your dmm then either buy a better one or take it somewhere to be tested.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ok guys thanks for your help. You actually took the time to read my problem and responded. Well i figured out what the problem is. My floppy connector is too close to the ATX connector and the little clip on the back of the 20-pin connector was interfering with my floppy connector. When I opened the case the 20 pin was half way out. I unplugged my floppy in order to secure it properly, adjusted the voltages at the back and now Motherboard Monitor reads average at load: 3.3V@3.29, 5V@5.03, 12V@12.06. I can't use the floppy now, but I can live with that.

So problem is solved and my old PSU was junk just as I had expected.