Voltage problems?

[Glaistig]

Hey all

I'm having a few stability problems as we speak and as i'm not exactly sure what causes it, i might as well ask the experts ^^

Setup:

Asus P5N-E SLI
2X 7950GT in SLI
Q6600 B3 stepping (@ 3ghz unlinked oc)
2x 1024 DDR2
3x sata HD's
480 watt PSU

+3,3v +5v +12V1 +12V2 -12V +5Vsb
32A 32A 18A 18A 0.8A 2.5A
32A COMBINED

As i were saying i'm getting a few stability problems and i suspect its due to my PSU or mobo.

Idle CPU vcore fluctuates between 1.344-1.360v
+12V line stays stable at 12.10v

under 100% load the CPU vcore drops down to 1.23V (thats 0.95v less then the standard "1.325v" of the cpu) for a total drop in voltage of 0.13v !

Same thing for the +12v line drops from 12.10v to 11.97v (0.13v drop)

If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix this i would appreciate all help

 

[MarcVenice]

the vdroop on the cpu is HUGE. The fluctuating 12v line isn't something to really worry about me thinks. But 480w psu, even with 32a combined is prolly on the low side, considering you've got 2 7950gt's, a qaud at 3ghz, and 3 hdd's.

Heres a suggestion, rip 1 of those 7950gt's out, and see what happens then. Because with only 1 gt in there your PSU should be able to handle all those components. With 2 gt's I'm not sure.

 

[Glaistig]

Allready did take one card out and the +12v line raised abit BUT it would still both drop with 0.13v :s

Just on a side note: Same thing happens with standard speeds

 

[MarcVenice]

How old is your rig? What PSU do you exactly have ? This might have something to do with bad capacitators. http://www.badcaps.net/ to learn how to check for them. You could either and/or have bad caps on your mobo and PSU. Checking the PSU is a little hard but should be doable looking through the ventilation holes, checking the mobo is a lot easier.

Btw, what exact stability problems? Did you run memtest for example? Does the PC crap out under load, or does it do the same when idling?

 

[Glaistig]

mobo + cpu few days old
ram = 4 months or so
Psu about a year or so(it's not really an uber psu brand) sharkoon SHA480-9A (480 W) *ashamed*

Stability issues : Randomn freezes now and then, mostly when gaming, had a few freezes when i was browsing to but not that many.

Seasonic S12 80Plus - 650 Watt would it do the trick if it's the psu ?

 

[MarcVenice]

Yes that would do the trick, for 160$ that's a pretty darn good PSU. If you ever decide to go with higher-end SLI-ed videocards I would buy this one though: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16817703009

The 650w SHOULD be enough for even higher-end videocards in SLI, but with that one you simply know for sure and costs only 40$ more right now. If you want some really good advice on what you would need right now, you should ask on the PSU forum though. They can probably also say for sure if it is your PSU that's giving you instability problems, although I'm fairly sure it is.

 

[Glaistig]

thanks alot mate

 

[betasub]

sharkoon LOL

 

[myocardia]

Not that I'm disagreeing with Marc, because he's right about you needing the 750 watt Silencer 750, if you want to be able to run say, 8800/9800GTX's in the future. But, if you're only wanting to buy a psu that will have no problems with your current setup, and will have no problems running a single 8800GTX/Ultra (or 9800GTX, for that matter) in the future, this one will do just fine. BTW, you can send me the $80 difference if you'd like. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't complain if you sent me $60, and Marc $20.

edit: Oops, I forgot to include the official nVidia SLI power supply page link. The Silencer 610 is guaranteed to run two of your cards: http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone_build_psu.html