Not enough voltage? on +12v

Status
Not open for further replies.

waynosss

Posts: 18   +0
Hello there,
i was just doing a bit of a research and i came a cross PC Wizzard, and i was just wondering, if my voltage is running fine for games? because i have been experiencing quiet alot of FPS lag on all my games. i have just re-formatted my computer and put all the drivers on there. but still running BAD FPS LAG.

Here is my Stats for the voltage and ect:

PC Wizzard:
Hardware Monitoring : Winbond W83627DHG
Voltage CPU : 1.14 V
+3.3V Voltage : 3.31 V
+5V Voltage : 5.06 V
+12V Voltage : 11.19 V
Processor Fan : 860 rpm
Processor Temperature : 7 °C
Mainboard Temperature : 35 °C


Processor : Thermal Diode
Intel Pentium Dual-Core (Core 1) : 41 °C
Intel Pentium Dual-Core (Core 2) : 41 °C

NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT :
GPU Diode : 55 °C
GPU Fan : 100.00%

Hard Disk Monitoring : S.M.A.R.T
Hard Disk ST3250310AS (Assembly) : 34 °C
Hard Disk ST3250310AS (Airflow) : 34 °C

System Summary:
Mainboard : Asus P5KC
Chipset : Intel P31/P35
Processor : Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 @ 2500 MHz
Physical Memory : 4096 MB (2 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM )
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Hard Disk : ST3250310AS (250 GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NS30
Monitor Type : V193W - 19 inches
Network Card : L1 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Controller
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3
DirectX : Version 10.00


Can you please tell me if my voltage is fine? or is it bad? i need to know because i don't no if i need to go out and buy a new PSU or something,
thanks
 
Hi waynosss,
what is generally accepted for a PSU in the way of tolerance is +/- %5 (12.6v - 11.4v) so if your 12v reading is being reported correctly, your 11.19v is indeed low and out of the acceptable tolerances.
i would try another program to back this up(assuming you do not have the equipment to test yourself) to confirm. your 5v and 3.3v readings look good.
 
Providing the PSU model would be a help and it's approximate age.
Testing of a PSU's power delivery is ideally accomplished while the PSU is under load. Most PSU's will (within reason) provide a stable 3.3, 5 and 12 volt flow at idle, but gaming increases the power draw significantly.
Running OCCT's PSU stress test, or torture test will show whether the power delivery is adequate when the PSU is under load. It will also detect and show voltage ripple, Vdroop and any voltage spikes when the CPU quickly comes off load.
 
reply

Cheers, thanks for that
umm, i have downloaded prime95 and its testing the CPU AND RAM usage and stuff like that, what i was told to try out, its doing some torture test, and it said it tests abit of everything, and i think you have to leave it on for 24 hours. soo ill leave that on and just let it run.

Question :
seeming that my 12V connector is running really low, and if i back it up from another program
do you assume i take my PSU back for a refund or buy another one? i don't no if there is anything i can do to fix it if this is the case?

PSU - Coolmaster eXtreme power duo 600w
[RP-600-PCAR]
 
Prime95 is more a stability test to make sure your CPU is all good. It gets each core to calculate mathematical problems (finding a prime number) to stress each core. Handy for determining if your CPU is stable and whether the temps are acceptable- 8 hours is plenty unless you're overclocking or lowering Vcore. In this instance I probably wouldn't bother running it.
This program -OCCT has a dedicated PSU test. When it has finished the test (default is 1 hour but you can change it whatever you like) the program will make a folder and store graphs of each parameter of the test for easy reference-like this one


This one happens to be for the 5v rail. You will have seperate graphs for 3.3, 5 and 12v (I just uploaded the wrong one to Imageshack, duh)
(BTW this test was run on a Corsair TX750W)
You can also run video card tests and CPU tests.
You can download OCCT here: http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download
The good thing about this program is that you can print off the test graphs and have hard evidence to accompany any RMA.

If the PSU cannot maintain a reliable 12 volt power draw then-if it's under warranty- you can replace/get a refund dependant on the maufacturers/retailers conditions.

I'm personally am not a fan of CoolerMaster PSU's, but that is mainly having to replace them in systems that get brought to me.
 
voltage graphs

Alright,
i left my computer to do a few voltage graphs using -OCCT
like you said.
here are the results.
2010011520h20volt3.png


2010011520h20volt5.png


2010011520h20volt12.png


2010011520h20vcore.png


I had no games running while i did these tests.
 
Your 12v line isn't good -The ATX standard calls for the 12 volt rail/s to maintain between 11.4 and 12.6 volts and a maximum ripple of 120mV. While the voltage is within the accepted range your ripple is 170mV.
I would RMA (return) this PSU or at least get a qualified electrician to test the unit. The fact that the PSU cannot maintain anywhere close to 12 volts and the amount of ripple it's showing doesn't bode for a long life for your harddrive.
 
Thankyou

Thanks so much for the help
i got a tax invoice from the shop that i brought the PSU from
i'm going to ring the bloke up and talk to him then hopefully return it and get another one
if i do i'm just wondering will my games run better perhaps?
thanks alot.
 
The ripple isn't off the scale by any means-it's just not good.
Less ripple usually means better harddrive performance, so your seek, read and write times will be more consistant which should help, especially if you are getting instances where the screen freezes momentarily as opposed to just stuttering. It may not cure all the lagging and I would run checkdisc (M$ walkthrough here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265 ) and defrag the harddrive. Also if you're running an older game that you can rip through at high average framerates then enabling Vsync could help too.
Run OCCT on your new PSU, also running the GPU memory test would be a good idea too just to eliminate failing Vram from the equation. If the card has been in the system for a while, or if the chassis is quite dusty then I'd recommend cleaning the fan and heatsink first.
 
Gpu graph

This is the Graph of the GPU Temperature and FPS
i don't quiet no if its good or not, seems to look like the graphics card is overheating o.O im not to sure

2010011520h20gpu1.png
 
Yeah, that pretty hot !although you will never reach that temp in normal operation- remember this is a one hour torture test- Your card should only be running at approx 75C at max loading.
I presume you have a card that has a full shroud over the card and a blower fan-like this http://origin.arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nvidia-9600gt-review.media/9600GT.jpg (although possibly with a different sticker). Did you remove the shroud and clean the dust out of the fan and card? Or is the card relatively new?-if it is then blow as much dust out of it as possible but leave the shroud intact as it could negate any warranty claim.
Also, what kind of case cooling do you have?
To double check that this temp is correct I would download a GPU monitoring tool. EVGA's Precision is the best of these: http://majorgeeks.com/EVGA_Precision_d6209.html
You can monitor the GPU temp and cards PCB temp. The utlilty is primarily an overclocking tool but works just as effectively as monitoring software. You can run the program and minimise it to the tray while gaming, then alt+tab out of the game at different point and check your temps, clocks and fan speed for the previous thirty seconds or so by placing the mouse pointer over the graph lines. You should see temps (during intense gaming) run at no more than 65-75C for the GPU. Also check to make sure the fan is running at 100% when the temp is anywhere over 50C approx. If it isn't uncheck the Auto tab next to the Fan speed slider in EVGA Precision and hit the "Apply" button and resume gaming and recheck the temps after a few minutes. Anything higher than 75C indicates a problem and the card will indeed be the cause of the lagging, stuttering or freezing.
I would still return the PSU as it's not helping matters and it's ripple problem could fry your harddrive.
 
Personally, I wouldn't think that an inadequate 12V rail will cause lagging issues. Like heat, inadequate 12V rails should cause artifacts (random shapes/colours on the screen).

I'm thinking the 9600GT might be a little underpowered, maybe you can tell us what sort of games, on what sort of settings you've been playing?
 
reply

Hello,
Yes i can see your point,
The games i have been playing are

World of warcraft, full graphics without shadows
Call of duty modern warfare 2 full graphics
Crysis and Crysis Warhead both on High graphics
Counter-strike source full graphics
ect, ect

They have never ran bad before ever!
just all of a sudden when i reformated my computer with
Windows xp home edition its fell to ****.
i have re-formatted it twice now and still ****.

i was originally using windows xp Black editon (windows xp professional with Vista conponents)
 
I just downloaded EVGA precision
and ran Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 at full graphics
and the temperature was siting on and of 52 -53 degrease then after a few more minutes it just sat on 34 for 3 or so minutes.
so i think the temperature is fine i blew all the dust out and it didn't seem to do much
as there wasnt much dust on there, the card is roughly 10 months old and has never played up before with the graphics.

Also my Graphics card fan dosent spin anymore, dont no how long it hasnt spun for, but i can say it was not spining for a while, even when my computer could run everything well.

Card : http://www.it-oczone.com/Image/512-EN-9600 GT ASUS.jpg
 
reply

Hey

I just Reseated my GFX card into another PCI-E slot
and gave it another dust down and plugged the fan in another connector on the GFX card.
and i turned my computer on and monitored it with EVGA and it red 30 Degrees.

I opened up World of warcraft and it wan smooth (like it did before) but still a little bit of like slight slutter, like bobbing your head back and forth. itr wen to about 36 degrees while running WoW.

I then booted up Call of duty MW2 and ran it on ultra graphics and it runs really smooth as it did before also, still a slight bit of slutter running through some parts, but its fine

The fan is now spinning my GFX card
There was a cable in it blocking it hahahah.

Still thinking about replacing my PSU Though,

Well, at least my Card is running at a lot lower temperature 42 max on COD MW2

What are your opinions?
 
The easy way to rule out if it's the card would be to select lower settings on a game and play it. If you drop the eye candy and play through the game and it doesn't lag/stutter then the card is underpowered for the level you are trying to game at.
You can also download FRAPS and play the game and visually see how the framerate appears during intensive scenes http://www.fraps.com/download.php.

The ripple on your PSU is less likely to affect the graphics card than it is the harddrive.
Harddrives are very susceptible to fluctuations in voltage. Running checkdisc will ascertain the hdd's health.
 
Yea true, i can understand that
but what i can understand is that it worked fine a while back for ages its just all of a sudden started to play up now
argh, ima just get that new PSU and try and solve this issue
cause its ****ing pissing me of i just want it to run normal again.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back