This mean I should get a new PSU?

[wWooDd]

Thanks to those who helped me figure out it was not my HDD that was failing but rather my PSU potentially failing!

My computer ran fine but I could not help but thinking that my PSU is faulty on such a margin that I probably would of never known it was/might of been bad. I was reading up on a post I found on Toms Hardware about faulty PSU symptoms and saw the Mother Board Monitor 5 suggestion. With Mother Board Monitor 5 on hand, I checked the voltages to see if the stayed in the 5% margin as suggested. I found that all the rails stayed with in that 5% except for the +5.00 and -5.00 rails which fall under the 5% nearly all the time; usually hovering with in a couple .00 of it.

Since I am completely new to this, what does this tell me? If I had never known this issue existed (i.e. never had the system crash), what kind of symptoms would there be short of system damage? Thanks!

Specs:
Radeon 9800 Pro 256Mb
P4 3.0Ghz
MSI 875P Neo
Corsair XMS series 1024Mb
Western Digital 120Gb
Antec True 480 PSU

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Onboard software voltage monitoring is inherently unreliable. The only accurate way to measure your voltages is with a digital multimeter. $20 at Home Depot. Worth the investment if you intend to maintain your own computers.

On the "DC Volts" setting measure across any black and the red wire on a spare HDD power connector for 5 volt rail and across any black and the yellow wire for the 12 volt rail. Additionally if it's a dual 12v rail PSU you should also check the voltage across a yellow and black wire on the PSU mobo connector (you can insert the tips of the probes into the back of the molex connector while it's plugged in). You only need to worry about the +5, #+12 and +3.3 volt rails. Modern computers don't use the others.

If any of the rails is outside + or - 5% then I'd definately replace the PSU. A defective PSU can cause lockups and crashes at best, damage the hard drive or other components at worst.

Even if you're only suspicious of the PSU I'd replace it. It will never hurt to have a spare PSU on the shelf if it turns out to be something else.

 

[LiLithTecH]

The ANTEC 480 PSU +5V rating is 38A max load.
It is doubtful that you could put that kind of load on it.

The issue can also be caused by poor cooling of the components.

Have you check your CASE temps lately?
Is the PSU fan spinning fast enough to feel the air movement?

 

[FlyingPenguin]

But LilithTech, he could have a defective PSU, and as I pointed out in his previous thread the Antec True 430s and 480s are known to have had some batches with bad caps. I think he needs to eliminate that possibility as well.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin
But LilithTech, he could have a defective PSU, and as I pointed out in his previous thread the Antec True 430s and 480s are known to have had some batches with bad caps. I think he needs to eliminate that possibility as well.

Yes, it could be a defective PSU.

I was merely trying to point out there are other possibilities to the issue.
(poor airflow\cooling will mimic a bad PSU also [thermal shutdown] - eliminate the easy stuff 1st)

 

[wWooDd]

Sorry for the late reply. Any how, case temps are not a worry. When I built my rig I made sure for plenty of air flow including goodies such as round cables; and I monitored my temps for a while initally when I began over clocking and I had nice low temps; minding that I did check to see if the temp of the air from my PSU was hot at all since I had a previous rig's PSU go out like that. I have a good friend & computer specialist that may be able to led me a hand with my PSU situation as far as a digital multimeter. I couldn't ask him before due to a holiday rush (small business) but maybe now I can get it looked at. Thanks a lot guys!