Using Digital Multimeters
One simple test you can perform on a power supply is to check the output voltages. This shows whether a power supply is operating correctly and whether the output voltages are within the correct tolerance range. Note that you must measure all voltages with the power supply connected to a proper load, which usually means testing while the power supply is still installed in the system and connected to the motherboard and peripheral devices.
Selecting a Meter
You need a simple digital multimeter (DMM) or digital volt-ohm meter (DVOM) to perform voltage and resistance checks on electronic circuits (see below). Only use a DMM instead of the older needle-type multimeters because the older meters work by injecting 9 V into the circuit when measuring resistance, which damages most computer circuits.
A DMM uses a much lower voltage (usually 1.5 V) when making resistance measurements, which is safe for electronic equipment. You can get a good DMM with many features from several sources. I prefer the small, pocket-size meters for computer work because they are easy to carry around.
Some features to look for in a good DMM are as follows:
- Pocket size—This is self-explanatory, but small meters that have many, if not all, of the features of larger ones are available. The elaborate features found on some of the larger meters are not really necessary for computer work.
- Overload protection—If you plug the meter into a voltage or current beyond the meter’s capability to measure, the meter protects itself from damage. Cheaper meters lack this protection and can be easily damaged by reading current or voltage values that are too high.
- Autoranging—The meter automatically selects the proper voltage or resistance range when making measurements. This is preferable to the manual range selection; however, really good meters offer both autoranging capability and a manual range override.
- Detachable probe leads—The leads can be damaged easily, and sometimes a variety of differently shaped probes are required for different tests. Cheaper meters have the leads permanently attached, which means you can’t easily replace them. Look for a meter with detachable leads that plug into the meter.
- Audible continuity test—Although you can use the ohm scale for testing continuity (0 ohms indicates continuity), a continuity test function causes the meter to produce a beep noise when continuity exists between the meter test leads. By using the sound, you quickly can test cable assemblies and other items for continuity. After you use this feature, you will never want to use the ohms display for this purpose again.
- Automatic power-off—These meters run on batteries, and the batteries can easily be worn down if the meter is accidentally left on. Good meters have an automatic shutoff that turns off the unit when it senses no readings for a predetermined period of time.
- Automatic display hold—This feature enables you to hold the last stable reading on the display even after the reading is taken. This is especially useful if you are trying to work in a difficult-to-reach area single-handedly.
- Minimum and maximum trap—This feature enables the meter to trap the lowest and highest readings in memory and hold them for later display, which is especially useful if you have readings that are fluctuating too quickly to see on the display.
Although you can get a basic pocket DMM for as little as $20, one with all these features is priced closer to $100, and some can be much higher. RadioShack carries some nice inexpensive units, and you can purchase the high-end models from electronics supply houses, such as Newark or Digi-Key.
Measuring Voltage
To measure voltages on a system that is operating, you must use a technique called back probing on the connectors. You can’t disconnect any of the connectors while the system is running, so you must measure with everything connected. Nearly all the connectors you need to probe have openings in the back where the wires enter the connector. The meter probes are narrow enough to fit into the connector alongside the wire and make contact with the metal terminal inside. The technique is called back probing because you are probing the connector from the back. You must use this back-probing technique to perform virtually all the following measurements.
Back probing the power supply connectors.
To test a power supply for proper output, check the voltage at the Power_Good pin (P8-1 on AT, Baby-AT, and LPX supplies; pin eight on the ATX-type connector) for +3 V to +6 V of power. If the measurement is not within this range, the system never sees the Power_Good signal and therefore does not start or run properly. In most cases, the power supply is bad and must be replaced.
Continue by measuring the voltage ranges of the pins on the motherboard and drive power connectors. If you are measuring voltages for testing purposes, any reading within 10% of the specified voltage is considered acceptable, although most manufacturers of high-quality power supplies specify a tighter 5% tolerance. For ATX power supplies, the specification requires that voltages must be within 5% of the rating, except for the 3.3 V current, which must be within 4%. The table below shows the voltage ranges within these tolerances.
| Voltage Ranges | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loose Tolerance | Tight Tolerance | |||
| Desired Voltage | Min. –10% | Max. (+8%) | Min. (–5%) | Max. (+5%) |
| +3.3 V | 2.97 V | 3.63 V | 3.135 V | 3.465 V |
| +/–5.0 V | 4.5 V | 5.4 V | 4.75 V | 5.25 V |
| +/–12.0 V | 10.8 V | 12.9 V | 11.4 V | 12.6 V |
The Power_Good signal has tolerances that are different from the other voltages, although it is nominally +5 V in most systems. The trigger point for Power_Good is about +2.4 V, but most systems require the signal voltage to be within the tolerances listed here.
| Signal | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Power_Good (+5 V) | 3.0 V | 6.0 V |
Replace the power supply if the voltages you measure are out of these ranges. Again, it is worth noting that any and all power-supply tests and measurements must be made with the power supply properly loaded, which usually means it must be installed in a system and the system must be running.
Specialized Test Equipment
You can use several types of specialized test gear to test power supplies more effectively. Because the power supply is one of the most failure-prone items in PCs today, you should have these specialized items if you service many PC systems.
Digital Infrared Thermometer
One of the greatest additions to my toolbox is a digital infrared thermometer. This is also are called a noncontact thermometer because it measures by sensing infrared energy without having to touch the item it is reading. This enables me to make instant spot checks of the temperature of a chip, a board, or the system chassis. They are available from companies such as Raytek (www.raytek.com) for less than $100. To use these handheld items, you point at an object and then pull the trigger. Within seconds, the display shows a temperature readout accurate to +/–3°F (2°C). These devices are invaluable in checking to ensure the components in your system are adequately cooled.
Variable Voltage Transformer
When you’re testing power supplies, it is sometimes desirable to simulate different AC voltage conditions at the wall socket to observe how the supply reacts. A variable voltage transformer is a useful test device for checking power supplies because it enables you to exercise control over the AC line voltage used as input for the power supply. This device consists of a large transformer mounted in a housing with a dial indicator that controls the output voltage. You plug the line cord from the transformer into the wall socket and plug the PC power cord into the socket provided on the transformer. The knob on the transformer can be used to adjust the AC line voltage the PC receives.
A variable voltage transformer.
Most variable transformers can adjust their AC outputs from 0 V to 140 V no matter what the AC input (wall socket) voltage is. Some can cover a range from 0 V to 280 V as well. You can use the transformer to simulate brownout conditions, enabling you to observe the PC’s response. Thus, you can check a power supply for proper Power_Good signal operation, among other things.
By running the PC and dropping the voltage until the PC shuts down, you can see how much reserve is in the power supply for handling a brownout or other voltage fluctuations. If your transformer can output voltages in the 200 V range, you can test the capability of the power supply to run on foreign voltage levels. A properly functioning supply should operate between 90 V and 135 V but should shut down cleanly if the voltage is outside that range.
One indication of a problem is seeing parity check-type error messages when you drop the voltage to 80 V. This indicates that the Power_Good signal is not being withdrawn before the power supply output to the PC fails. The PC should simply stop operating as the Power_Good signal is withdrawn, causing the system to enter a continuous reset loop.
Variable voltage transformers are sold by a number of electronic parts supply houses, such as Newark and Digi-Key.
- Power-Use Calculations
- Power Savings: 80 PLUS, Energy Star, Advanced Power Management
- Power Savings: Advanced Configuration And Power Interface
- Power Cycling
- Power Supply Troubleshooting: Basics, Overloading, Cooling
- Power Supply Troubleshooting: Test Equipment
- Power Supply Recommendations
- Power-Protection Systems: Surge Protectors And Line Conditioners
- Power-Protection Systems: Backup Power Options
- Real-Time Clock/Nonvolatile RAM (CMOS RAM) Batteries

AMD Phenom II x4 980BE OC'd
4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 memory
2x NVidia GTX-580 SLI'd
4x SATA HDD's
1x SATA DVDRW
7x FANs (Water cooled system)
Comes to 1150W recommended. I have a Corsair HX-1000 1000W PSU.
The only reason you'd need more than 500W is if you need to power more than one GPU.
Of course, as stated in the article, not all 500W PSUs are equal. The Enermax Liberty was among the best 500W PSUs in its day, and its quality is still exceptional even by today's standards.
It has dual 12V rails with 22A on each with a combined output of 32A total. Most of the dual-rail 500W PSUs sold nowadays max out at 18A per rail.
The Enermax was definitely ahead of its time, and in general, PSUs sold directly by their manufacturer (OEMs such as Enermax, FSP, Kingwin, Seasonic) tend to be of superior quality than those sold by third-party rebranders (Antec, OCZ, Thermaltake, Corsair, etc.).
Another important point that folks have a tendency to forget is 'electrolytic capacitor aging' which over time takes their once 650W and after a year or so reduces it to 520W~500W aka Capacitor Aging.
Great PSU Sizer -> http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/
Peak:
100% CPU Utilization (TDP)
100% System Load
30%~35% for Capacitor Aging
Very informative article by the way!
Yeah, me too! I had significantly underbudgeted power for fans (9), ODD/HDDs (8) and USB devices (3), and was going nuts trying to figure out why the system was unstable at times. I thought I had a bad MoBo, or HDDs, or GPU, or ??!?!@#$? Now I know.
I found the article of some interest (and will revisit the sleep settings on my own system), but some of it was also years out of date. That's probably hard to avoid on a writing project of this magnitude.
On efficiency, most people leave out the fact that we tend to use air conditioning here in the USA a good part of the year. Here in the mid Atlantic, we tend to use A/C for about ~ 7 months annually. This adds a thermal penalty to any heat that you dump into the office/home air during those months. With most A/C systems, the cost to remove 1W of heat is an additional 0.5W of A/C power (50% overhead). Taking the above numbers and some rounding, I use an overhead rating of 30% total for any heat dumped into my home / office. So take your power loss numbers and multiply by 1.30 to get the total cost impact to your wallet. This also should be done for using CFL and LED lighting. They are not allowed to use A/C cost in their advertising, so the public does not get to see the true possible savings.
There are several types of UPS systems that you should write about. The one you outlined is called a double conversion unit, which is always processing the power to give a clean regulated sine wave output. These are the least efficient and most expensive though. Double conversion is always taking the AC input, making DC, and using a PWM inverter to make regulated AC again for the output. Double conversion efficiencies are typically around 88-90% efficient, so this can impact you total system efficiency and operational costs. A cheaper UPS is the standby type, which allows the raw utility power to go straight to the load with some light duty surge clamping in between. When the input power voltage goes out of bounds, there is a switch over that is usually around 4-8msec which is faster than the PSU hold up time of 20msec. Since normal operation is straight pass through, the usual efficiency is close to 100% (minus the UPS internal power needs and charging). Note though that some UPS systems are crap and can use upwards to 100W just being plugged in.
I did not follow your discussion on the alarm buzzer indicating overcharge, which should never happen in any UPS. Most modern UPS system implement a battery test to make sure that the battery capacity and internal resistance is able to hold up the load. If the battery fails, they set off the buzzer. In almost all UPS systems, a buzzer alarm is critical - something is wrong. Some UPS systems also monitor the ground feed continuity and will alarm if the input feed ground starts to float making the UPS and the load unsafe to touch.
The UPS output waveforms are not all sine wave. Often the double conversion types are sine wave, adding to their cost. The standby UPS systems are usually step wave which is also called quasi-sine which is marketing term for step wave (to confuse the buyer). Most PC loads and monitors work fine with step wave (and are even more efficient on step wave!), although some PFC PSUs have problems. Magnetic loads can have real heartburn with step wave (motors, transformers) due to high losses and non-sinusoid voltage waveform effects.
Ferroresonant transformers are good voltage regulators, but the way they work is very lossy. A good ferro will only run around 90% efficiency. If your load is attached to a ferro, you are adding another power loss in your system. In my opinion, you are better off spend a few more dollars and getting a UPS (which there are ferro types still out there also).
There is no mention of oversizing your PSU also. Many HTPC and SOHO/home server needs are on 24/7 so power usage and efficiency are paramount to the cost of use / ownership. If you install an oversized PSU, you are taking a efficiency hit (for most brands) that increases your energy usage. The 80 Plus standards do not test below 20% load, so the efficiency of most PSU designs drop off quickly below 20% load. I have seen several that are below 50% with 10% loading. A good analogy on oversizing that I have used before is thinking about car engines. You cannot get a V8 car engine to run as efficiently as a 4 cylinder due to the physics (more friction/mass, etc.). That same effect occurs in a PSU. Larger magnetics, power devices, and other overhead lowers the efficiency at low power. proper sizing can save a good bit of money. Just don't get it too small, especially thinking about system start up (HDD spin up, fans, CPU local PSUs ramping up, etc.).
You comment on thermal shock is great, but there are many other factors to consider in reliability. Spinning down any HDD and fan loads reduces bearing wear for those mechanical parts. But keeping the main motherboard PCB powered and some operation continuing also helps with reliability. The minor amount of heat that is generated helps keep the PCB dry (PCB material is hydroscopic!), which one major part of the high voltage area in a PSU failing after a long storage (like right after purchase) causing a DOA. And as others pointed out in the comments, allowing the system to go into a sleep state will also cause a cool down thermal shock. The biggest problem with thermal shock is that it break solder joints and helps break bond wires/connections in ICs. It also speeds up electrolytic cap leaking and shortens the life. Does anyone remember the motherboard cap failure from a few years ago?
The absolute largest cause of computer failures is caused by ESD damage. The data from companies that keep statistics on this unanimously show this as a fact, but the PC enthusiast industry does not work to educate the end users of this well at all. In the electronics industry as a whole, ESD accounts for nearly 55-60% of all failures! This includes component suppliers, etc. So if you want a great topic for a future article, tackle ESD. It is real and it is very costly when ignored. Ever had a PC part that was DOA, i.e., that just "did not work at all" when powered up the first time and would not work at all? Good chance it was ESD.
Thanks for the article.
My system has an Intel Core I7-870, discrete video card, 2x2G RAM, 2 1Tbyte hard drives, an SSD and a DVD burner. It usually runs at 70 watts and has never exceeded 200 watts driven hard.
You have a serious bottleneck there bro
Yeah... that floored me as well, mine is 900 minimum.
1 x AMD Phenom II X6 1055T OC'd
2 x Geforce GTX 550TI
4 x 4GB DDR3
1 x SSD
2 x HD
2 x DVD-RW
5 x CPU fans (double heat sink)
I know now what's causing most of my heat issues is that I'm running an underpowered PSU (Corsair 750). I will definitely make this my next upgrade.
And that thing about putting systems to sleep, I'll do that more often.
PSU's in general start to get stressed once their over 80% of their rated output. Prolonged stress can cause components to wear out much earlier then before. This is why a PSU may be fine for awhile but then start to have random issues six months or more after installation. I just didn't think I was burning that much juice, but now it seems I am.