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Possible low voltage problem?

Forum CPU & Components : Power Supplies, PC Cases & Case Mods - Possible low voltage problem?

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Herr_Koos   10-16-2009 at 02:18:22 PM

Hi all,

Quick question: From reading these and other forums it seems that a 5% voltage deviation is the accepted level for a PSU. That comes to 11.4-12.6V on a 12V rail.. I use CPUID HWMonitor to keep an eye on max temps while I'm gaming, and I noticed that my 12V sometimes drops as low as 11.14. Is this cause for concern? I know the amps reading is probably more important, but I have no way to measure it.

The PSU is a 500W from a Chinese company called Huntkey. I don't have the exact model number, though.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

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Bronze CPUs badge Delluser1   10-16-2009 at 02:31:20 PM
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Software voltage readings can be off, use a multimeter to check.
99% of Huntkey's are total garbage, I'd look into a new psu without bothering to test the voltage's on the Huntkey.

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Herr_Koos   10-16-2009 at 02:55:30 PM
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Delluser1 wrote :

Software voltage readings can be off, use a multimeter to check.
99% of Huntkey's are total garbage, I'd look into a new psu without bothering to test the voltage's on the Huntkey.



Pity that.. I read a review or two that suggested the Huntkey was at least competent, if not top-of-the-line. It's been running for more than two years and hasn't given me any trouble so far. But I'll dig out my multimeter just to be sure.

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Bronze CPUs badge jsc   10-16-2009 at 05:37:45 PM
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I suspect that the computer based voltage monitoring circuits are fairly accurate. It's the negative voltages that they usually have problems with.

Assuming that the voltage indicated is accurate (good place to check would be between the yellow and black wires on one of the molex connectors), that tells me that the voltage monitoring circuits inside the PSU are not working. The PSU is supposed to electronically shut itself down when a voltage drops out of tolerance.

The reason the PSU has been running for more than two years without faults is because the 12 volt lines to the CPU and the GPU feed pulse width modulated (PWM) regulators that very efficiently step the 12 volts down to whatever the CPU and GPU need. If the input voltage drops, the regulators simply pull more current (about 8% more in this case).

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