Hardware monitor reports low +12 Voltage

Hello all!

The last couple of weeks my computer halts on boot and I get a message that hardware monitor found a problem. When I look in the BIOS I can see that my +12V voltage is quite steady 11V and never over. If I skip ahead WinXP starts just fine. I have not installed any new hardware in some months, so it is hard to understand what has happened. Does anyone have an idea of what might cause this? Does this affect performance? Is it critical? What to do?

PowerUnit: 325W
MOBO: ASUS P4T-F
CPU: P4 1.5 GHz clocked to 1.8 GHz
RAM: 512 RDRAM
HD: 3xIBM (120+120+60 Gb)
DVD: NEC 1300A
GFX: GeForce FX 5900 XT
SOUND: Audigy Platinum Pro, and Emu 1212M

 

you're cutting it quite close as far as power is concerned ... add to that you're overclocking ... your PSU might be burning out

 

If your 12V rail is too variable, then you can cause problems with fans, hard drives, optical drives and also the motherboard, which could cause system halts. Also, if fans are not being supplied correctly, then you could have thermal damage on the CPU.

These signs are classic for a dieing PSU... but it could be its having problems with the load.

Do you have a multimeter?

 

It's quite steady at 11.1 V according to the latest ASUS probe software. In BIOS it showed 10.95-11 V. I've been overclocking for a couple of years without this happening before.

I have a multimeter, but I'm not sure what measurements I should perform and how. Advice would be appreciated.

 

If you stick it on Volts DC, plug the probes in accordingly, and take the voltage over the red and black (either will do) terminals on the molex connector (drive power cable).

You can do this while your PC is on, however... it is possible to do if the PSU isn't plugged in. On the ATX connector (to the motherboard) short the green and black wires with, say, a paperclip. While these are shorted, the PSU will be turned on.

I would suggest unplugging the PSU and using this method to check whether its the load thats causing the problem. If you get a steady voltage when there is nothing connected to it, then I would suspect a component drawing too much current. If you get a wildly varying reading, then chances are the PSU is knackered.

 

Thanks for your help! I'll try this coming weekend. But it seems like no matter the outcome, it's time for a new PSU anyway since this one would be either to weak or knackered.

 

Well, possibly. If one of your components is defective, putting in a new PSU won't help; it would just blow the new PSU.

I would start looking for a new PSU though