Cheapo psu voltage fluctuation

[shovenose]

i am running a system on a 300w LOGIC PSU.
system specs:
amd athond 64 3500+
1gb ddr266 ram(2x512mb)
160 wd sata hard drive
nvidia quadro fx 3000 agp 256mb.
ata zip and dvd drive, and a floopy drive.
k8n-neo2 platinum motherboard

the question is:
are the following volatges ok?they are measures by msi corecell
idle: 12.08, 5.08, 3.31
prime95 32bit inplace large ffts: 11.96, 5.11, 3.30
also, the computer insides squeal (i think its the mobo or the psu i cant tell even with the side off putting my ear right up to it)
also, im running xp home sp1...

 

[saaiello]

Those voltages are fine all within specs.

To find your squealing open up the case and when you hear the squealing stop the cpu fan for a second and see if its still squealing if it is then you know its the PS.

 

[shovenose]

its an electronic squeal not a fan-noise squeal. its not any of the fans.
that psu smells funny, i open it to see why...
leaky capacitor! does it matter? i want a different psu but this is the only one i have right now. i think i can get a new one tomorrow...
is sparkle power good? i hear its made by fsp.
the reason i ask is because that is one of my options tomorrow.
thank you.
aslo, is 15amps on the 12v OK?

 

[obsidian86]

sparkle is not on the top of the list of good power supplies

antec(not bp series),seasonic,corsair 380-450 watt should easily and safely power your system

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Corsair and Seasonic are two brands that have a reputation for high quality power supplies that consistently earn high marks in technical reviews. They are reliable, stable, and come with a 5 year warranty. Some of the newer models come with a 7 year warranty. Lately we've been seeing a few other brands offering some high quality units. One example would be the Antec Earthwatts and the Antec TruePower New series which are major improvements over Antec’s older psu’s like the Basiq models.

 

[shovenose]

yes i am aware of whats good, as i often do make those recommendations to people in this forum. i can get a used 300w sprakle fsp free tomorrow. should i do that? should i open it up and check the capacitors first?
is sparkle/fsp better than LOGIC?
thanks.
i do not want to spend lots of money on this build.

another questioin:
can i use the same stock heatsnink that i have with an athlon 64 3500+ with an athlon 64 X2 chip?

 

[jsc]

is sparkle/fsp better than LOGIC?

Toss a coin.

I'd put a Corsair 400CX (30 amp 12 volt rail) in:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
and stop worrying.

 

[shovenose]

50 bucks. i understand thats great psu...
new question:
if i upgrade to an x2 chip, will that kill my psu?
i just used the extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp
and it siad 242 watts. however, im not sure whick x2 chip is available so i guessed...