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What are acceptable readings for 12volt output?

N

nine9s

Senior member
I recently a had a graphics card die, so I downloaded Asus PC Probe to check voltage and found the 12 volt was at 11.93. I doubt that is any concern and it remained 11.93 for an hour so it seems very steady but I cannot find what acceptable ranges for 12 volt output are.

What are acceptable ranges for 12 volt output?
 
Even though what HOOfan said is technically accurate, I get suspicious of any power supply that is under 11.8V or so. Anything decent shouldn't be much under that, or much above 12.2V. I prefer to keep +/- 2-3% at max variation. I have had higher end systems get a little squirrelly with volts lower than 11.75V on the 12V rail when under load.

11.93 is fine, however, like HOOfan said, software is rarely accurate. Sad really, since a $5 chinese DMM from harbor freight is more accurate than the monitors on a $200 motherboard.

What power supply are you using? There is more to it than just voltage output, there is also ripple and stuff which is actually more deadly to hardware than a voltage that is a bit high or low.
 
SparkyJJO said:
Sad really, since a $5 chinese DMM from harbor freight is more accurate than the monitors on a $200 motherboard.
Click to expand...

Just as a $5 quartz wristwatch keeps better time than the RTC on most motherboards! :biggrin:

Use a DIMM to be sure.
Software errors are usually caused by lack of calibration. This is why the hardcore enthusiast boards have testing pads. 🙂
 
It is better for it to be higher than lower. Most motherboards and pc hardware now implement dc-dc connverters and don't use the 12V directly. A friend tested out what the limits were with a p4 motherboard since we were both curious. It got to 16.8 volts before failing and then only because some capacitors blew. The 3.3V supply is the one to be the most critical of. There are still circuits that use that voltage directly.
 
SparkyJJO said:
What power supply are you using? There is more to it than just voltage output, there is also ripple and stuff which is actually more deadly to hardware than a voltage that is a bit high or low.
Click to expand...

Corsair TX750. It is a little over two years old.
 
TX750 is good, odds are you won't have out of spec ripple with that. I don't think your PSU is the cause of your video card death.

Not saying that it isn't possible - anything is possible - but it is highly unlikely.
 
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