ASUS voltage problem?

[Veer]

Hi!

I recently purchased a new PC with a ASUS P4800 SE mobo. Am having a problem however. Whenever I play any games after about 10 mis or so I get a warning that my 3.3V is too low (drops to about 2.9v). Once I exit the game (even alt-tab) the voltage goes back to normal. If I keep playing I get a corrupted display (lots of lines and gibbrish).

Any help on what this is - and why it is happening would be helpful.

For reference my specs are:

P4 3.0E Mhz
512 MB RAM
ASUS P4800 SE Motherboard
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB Videocard
Generic case with 350w PS.

Temps during idle are about 40 C for CPU and 35 C for Motherboard, rising to 55 C for CPU and 45 for motherboard during gaming.

Help please?

 

[Paul]

Hi!

I recently purchased a new PC with a ASUS P4800 SE mobo. Am having a problem however. Whenever I play any games after about 10 mis or so I get a warning that my 3.3V is too low (drops to about 2.9v). Once I exit the game (even alt-tab) the voltage goes back to normal. If I keep playing I get a corrupted display (lots of lines and gibbrish).

Any help on what this is - and why it is happening would be helpful.

For reference my specs are:

P4 3.0E Mhz
512 MB RAM
ASUS P4800 SE Motherboard
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB Videocard
Generic case with 350w PS.

Temps during idle are about 40 C for CPU and 35 C for Motherboard, rising to 55 C for CPU and 45 for motherboard during gaming.

Help please?

most generic power supply's are over rated power than what they actly tell you with a sticker slapped to the outside of the case,Most run at 200 to 250 max,the vid card you are running needs lots of juice,If you are running the proper driver on this card and you still have the same problem replace your power supply with a good quality 350 watt.

 

[Veer]

Thanks!

I believe I have the newest drivers - Catalyst 5.1 (Running XP Pro) from the ATI site. Does it make a difference for the drivers if i have a Sapphire card? I believe the sapphire site has the latest catalyst as 4.12 ?

Would the PS account for the corrupted display as well? Aslo, why would only the 3.3v be affected and not the 5v or the 12v? Is there any kind of utility i can use to check the PS output?

 

[Paul]

Thanks!

I believe I have the newest drivers - Catalyst 5.1 (Running XP Pro) from the ATI site. Does it make a difference for the drivers if i have a Sapphire card? I believe the sapphire site has the latest catalyst as 4.12 ?

Would the PS account for the corrupted display as well? Aslo, why would only the 3.3v be affected and not the 5v or the 12v? Is there any kind of utility i can use to check the PS output?

If you have the proper drivers thats great.Sapphire drivers will work.
I dont know of any utility that you can use to get exact readings but you must probe the connections while running your pc to get voltage readings coming from your psu wires,and to do this you have to push the probe between the end of plugs going into the board which they call back probing,I dont recommend you do this your self unless you feel you are capable,i have heard of plenty shorting and frying the board,You are better off bringing it to a shop to get this done,But for the cost of this check you are better off just buying a better power supply while your there.Your Question ? Would the PS account for the corrupted display YES.

 

[foycur]

Upgrade that PSU!!!

I was having a similar problem with my home built system. PC Probe was reading a 2.9 to 3.0 voltage on the 3.3 V rail, and all kinds of goofy stuff was happening. I upgraded it with a Thermaltake 480 W power supply and now all is good. My system sounds real similar to yours, and I didn't really start having issues until I upgraded from my 9600 SE to the 9800 Pro. It takes more juice than you think!

Upgrading the PSU may void the warranty if it's a prebuilt system, so be sure to check with the manufacturer before you do it. If it's a home built system that you bought, upgrading the PSU is a snap. Of course, if you already know this stuff and think I'm an ***** for even mentioning, that's fine too
:stickout:

 

[Paul]

I was having a similar problem with my home built system. PC Probe was reading a 2.9 to 3.0 voltage on the 3.3 V rail, and all kinds of goofy stuff was happening. I upgraded it with a Thermaltake 480 W power supply and now all is good. My system sounds real similar to yours, and I didn't really start having issues until I upgraded from my 9600 SE to the 9800 Pro. It takes more juice than you think!

Upgrading the PSU may void the warranty if it's a prebuilt system, so be sure to check with the manufacturer before you do it. If it's a home built system that you bought, upgrading the PSU is a snap. Of course, if you already know this stuff and think I'm an ***** for even mentioning, that's fine too
:stickout:

Foycur pc probe is excellent on voltages but for tracking your heat on cpu and mb its off by about 4-6 degrees both ways which really would not matter much but it gives you a good idea on where your temps stand.I run a enermax 460psu in my system and found swapping many cards i found i have plenty of steady juice,It is really hard to tell when running a good ps which video card needs the extra power.So i did some tests running a generic 450 box and swapped out a half a dozen top line cards,Here i started to notice a differents running some games,#1 screen flashing on your monitor was one thing and #2 Jitter on the screen during extreme action in the game and last#3 Some games screen faded and then returned.And no your not a ***** you are just aware of the many problems with psu's.It is very good that you mention this in this thread because many have problems like this with video cards and people think it is the cards problem or defective card.power supply's are a wise item to spend your money on next to a motherboard,I have seen more than many boards being trashed due to the cause of a poor generic psu that is included with a cheap case.

 

[foycur]

Paul, thanks for the guidance. I feel like all my reading and experimenting are finally starting to pay off. Maybe it's time to build that water cooled system I always wanted :hotbounce