PSU Problem?

[envisioncs]

I have a PC that randomly locks up etc. It is a 1000GHz T-Bird on an ASUS A7V133. I have updated the bios to the latest version. Today, I noticed in the ASUS Probe software having the Power supply voltages with fluxuations at both 3.3v (fluxuate up to 3.6) and 12v (flux to 12.3-12.5).

I know this isn't good, but how much can I trust the software to be accurate. Could the faulty power supply be the cause of by problems? I don't want to drop money on it if it won't help.

Thanks

 

[Willoughbyva]

I take it you are using win9X? when is the last time you did a clean format and install? I'm not to sure about the voltage readings and how accurate they are.

Have you installed all the latest drivers?

Will

 

[envisioncs]

Yeah, the PC is running 98. It's not my PC. The user says it locks up almost constantly at home, without rhyme or reason. When she brings it in I cannot get it to fail. I have tested all the hardware (except PSU), run burn in test and still nothing. She has done several clean reinstalls with no luck. They only thing I can find wrong is the PSU issue, but like I said I don't know how accurate that is.

She has her hard drive on the RAID channed (set to ATA100), could that cause problems? Would it hurt her data to move it to the normal ATA port? I'm not sure what version of the VIA 4n1 are installed, but I plan on updating them to the newest stable release.

Also she is using a G42 MX400 card, should I get those drivers too? What is the latest stable version of those drivers for 98?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[CoDerEd]

You could go to the BIOS and see the voltage reading from there, it's more accurate.

 

[bozo1]

Those voltages are all within acceptable range. However, if it fluctuates often, it may be that it is fluctuating higher or lower than what you are seeing now and thus causing the problems.

What you might want to do is install Motherboard Monitor, configure it for that board, and have it give an alarm if the voltages stray too far. You can log the alarms to a file if you want and check the file after she has another lockup.

 

[TheBull]

I'm not an engineer/electrician, but could it be a bad outlet at her hourse ??? Have her move to a different room or to an outlet closer to the electical panel. Perhaps a bad ground or no return leg.

 

[smokeitifugotit]

I believe it's something she's doing since you can't reproduce the lockups.The voltages are within tolorance,but software is not the best source for precise monitoring.I just don't feel it's the psu,but maybe just grasping at straws.Have her keep a log of just what she was doing everytime it locks up if you can't monitor her on the machine.After all 98 is not known for stability.

 

[Bozo Galora]

big question:

when she brings it in, do you use your mouse kybrd or does she bring hers in?

 

[envisioncs]

Ok, to answer questions: No, I am using my keyboard and mouse.

I found that the PSU was not the problem. The reason the voltages were out of range on the charts is the the A7V133 is jumpered to 3.56v by default, while the monitors default to the standard 3.3v. Looking at it that way, they were well in range.

Some of the stuff I looked at online suggested that the higher default voltage may be causeing the issues, and that it was okay to set the jumper to 3.3v. I did this and haven't had any problems yet. Could this have caused the lockups? Maybe my RAM or something didn't like the 3.56 setting.

It won't hurt anything to have it set at 3.3 instead of 3.56, right?

I did manage to reproduce some errors before knowing about the voltage stuff. I installed the latest drivers for the GF2 MX400 and it rebooted without a mouse. I didn't tell me I had no mouse, it just wasn't there. It just got worse from there. I rebooted and it couldn't find the 'system disk.' I rebooted, got to windows and locked up instantly (with still no mouse). This happened several times until I went into safe mode and removed the video and mouse from the device manager. When it rebooted everything was fine.

Right now, my guess is a motherboard gone bad.