Voltage adjustment - what is the safe voltage

[johnymst]

I have build my own PC and I need some guidance on what voltage I should set for my system as I find that it freezes randomly and needs a reset to get it back up.

My specs are:
RAM: XMS3 — 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Mobo: Gigabyte z68AP-D3
CPU: i5 3570K 3.4Ghz
GPU: Nvidia 660TI (1046Mhz)
PSU: Alpine 700w
SSD: Samsung 256gb
HDD: WD 2TB

I believe that my system hangs due to the voltage settings.
I might be wrong, but still I'd like to know what is the recommended for my PC

 

[zolton33]

Are you over clocking? Or are you using the mobo bios over clocking feature? If so those may be causing it. You could run a program to monitor your voltage such as speed fan or cpuid this would give you a rough idea of what you are using. Only things i know voltage wise is that it is effected by the psu (meaning could be a faulty psu) and that you can increase it through your bios settings which is used to over clock the cpu and memory.

http://www.cpu-world.com/

Has a lot of detailed info on cpu's and their power. So it is either a bios setting you changed or your psu going bad if power really is the culprit.

 

[johnymst]

Are you over clocking? Or are you using the mobo bios over clocking feature? If so those may be causing it. You could run a program to monitor your voltage such as speed fan or cpuid this would give you a rough idea of what you are using. Only things i know voltage wise is that it is effected by the psu (meaning could be a faulty psu) and that you can increase it through your bios settings which is used to over clock the cpu and memory.

http://www.cpu-world.com/

Has a lot of detailed info on cpu's and their power. So it is either a bios setting you changed or your psu going bad if power really is the culprit.

Thanks for the reply.
My PSU should be good. My system ran great with my old CPU (i5 2300 2.8ghz) I installed the new CPU and suddenly this problem occurred. would you be able to give me the correct voltages that should be set to run my system?

 

[zolton33]

PSU's are strange creatures to be honest. They can go out at the drop of a hat and lose voltage fast especially if not constructed correctly. The psu you are using at times delivers half what it says. That means the cheap psu is delivering you 350 watts not 700 watts as it is supposed to. And happens a lot with cheaper psu's. And it is why many suggest putting out the extra cash to have a more reliable one. If power is your issue then a newer better psu from a more trusted and reliable company that makes a better more reliable psu will solve the problem.

The psu is the heart and soul of a system. Without it working correctly nothing will operate as it should as your cpu and your gpu will not be getting the power they need to operate as they should. It may of worked fine in your other system but your other system may not have needed more then the 350 watt out put your psu puts out while this one may require a lot more. Knowing the wattage put out will not help out as trying to up the wattage trying to pull more power from a weak psu is like trying to squeeze water from a stone and just not going to happen.

With 32 gigs of ram alone your pulling quite a bit of power. And using the 3570k you are pulling quite a bit and pulling even more if you are over clocking it. And if you are over clocking it that also could be a cause for the freezes. If your bios is automatically over clocking it then its pushing more voltage to your cpu. I strongly suggest looking into a better quality psu in either case. A few short google searches on your psu and reviews can show you what i mean by that psu.

 

[johnymst]

thanks for your replies.

I am looking at some good brands ones

Do you have any suggestions on what watts I should buy and the brand you recommend ?

 

[zolton33]

Antec has been very reliable and some swear by corsair and some seasoncic. But any psu that you consider i would look up a review on it. Why? Because some good psu makers can make mistakes as well as some products are out sourced to be built so may not be the same quality as another. Its best to make sure its 80 certified meaning that the manufacturer tested it and it will give 80% of its max. Confusing i know that a 1000 watt psu is only good for 800 watts of power huh? But that is how it works with psu's. Yours is a 700 watt max but was only delivering half its full watting so you really had a 350 watt psu strange i know. Generally 500-600 gets most people by especially with no overclocking or sli/crossfire.

I would just check out reviews on any psu you check out. An example i bought a antec VP450 psu that is not 80 certified but puts out at least 80%. The certification for being 80 certified is high and it just barely missed it so was priced as a psu that is not 80 certified. That is one example of how i may of over looked it if i was not looking carefully. I read a review on it and saw this and picked it up. I don't ever sli or crossfire or over clock so the 450 watt was perfect for me. You using so much more ram and such i would stay above the 500 watt mark at the least and closer to 600+ at best. Some times you can find great deals on psu's it just requires a bit of research into them. Antec seems to be well trusted in psu's so in most cases you can not go wrong with one.

I would read up on how they are categorized such as 80+ bronze gold platinum psu's. 80+ is fine bronze is a bit better gold a bit better then bronze and platinum is the top of the line. So you can search within these to find the psu you need for your system. Then read up on it to see what others think of them. That way you can make the best informed decision possible. And keep in mind that learning about psu's while daunting is a great thing to do especially if you build your own pc's. The more leg work you do now the less you will have to later on.