3.3volt rail is not stable!!

[gruvin2]

Just a quick question. I have an Antec truepower 330watt PSU. It is about 1 year old. Just recently i have been playing Vice City agin and have all eye candy turned on. The game has been causing bluescreen randomly, but doesn't seem to take too long in game. I havn't changed anything with my setup what-so-ever. I noticed with Asus Probe that my 3.3volt rail is steady at 2.95-3.01 I'm assuming thats what is causing the instability. If so is that the PSU or anything else? Help me out with any ideas.

[dustybyrd]

yeah the true 330 might be a little weak for that system in your sig...

you have 1 gig of ram with increased voltage as well...

it might be time to step it up to a truepower 430, 480 or 550 or fortron 530...

but you should check the voltages with a voltmeter first or try another more powerful supply first...

[gruvin2]

thanks for the reply dustybyrd. Whats baffling me is the fact that i've had this system up and running for 4 months and now i'm having these symptoms. Perhaps the PSU is just starting to strain a bit.

Is there anything i can do to up the 3.3v rail or is a new PSU the only solution?

[texasfit]

I am running a Tru480 on my P4C rig and the +3.3 line reads 3.15-3.2v pretty consistently. I doubt that the 3.3 line is causing your problems but it is possible. Have your temps increased now that hot summer heat is upon us? You may want to try removing the heatsink and putting on a new application of thermal compound, also.

[dustybyrd]

thanks for the reply dustybyrd. Whats baffling me is the fact that i've had this system up and running for 4 months and now i'm having these symptoms. Perhaps the PSU is just starting to strain a bit.

Is there anything i can do to up the 3.3v rail or is a new PSU the only solution?


it may or may not be the power supply...you should get a voltmeter to truly test the rails...

also...try another power supply and see if it is still unstable..

also...if it is the supply you might be able to adjust the pots inside the power supply...but you have to be careful because you can't touch internal components while they still have juice left in them...which i believe can take a day or more of being unplugged before the power is lost from the capacitors...

also...i don't know if there are pots inside or where they are...larva or another antec true 330 user may be able to help you there

[larva]

Sorry, I don't know much about adjusting pots on power supplies. Some 7K machines later I have yet to find a case where it was necessary. Calibration is usually pretty darn good on the settings, and you can't fix what isn't broken. You always need to use a voltmeter before acting on a voltage issue, but the voltage monitoring on late model Asus boards is usually pretty darn close on the 3.3 and 5V lines.

If a supply is overloaded enough for the voltages to drop, adjusting the pots is the most superficial of band-aids. Turning the pots cannot increase the power output of the supply, only change the voltage slightly. And at a higher voltage the supply will make even less current, as you are by definition at the power limit of the supply.

Video cards were a big draw on the 3.3V line, but I think they have moved to more 5V based designs. But the TP330 isn't a very stout supply, and it is entirely possible that your card is drawing enough 3.3V to give it trouble. I'd definately get a stronger supply, as your power consumption is beyond the capability a TP330 by no small margin. The TP430 or larger or the Fortron 530 are indeed the suitable candidates for this job.

You've got some nice hardware there, now it is time to get a power supply capable of letting it do its best work. Considering the sum total value of the parts hooked to it a 70-80 dollar powers supply is smart insurance as well as in your case likely a substantially performance enhancing investment.

[dustybyrd]

Sorry, I don't know much about adjusting pots on power supplies. Some 7K machines later I have yet to find a case where it was necessary. Calibration is usually pretty darn good on the settings, and you can't fix what isn't broken. You always need to use a voltmeter before acting on a voltage issue, but the voltage monitoring on late model Asus boards is usually pretty darn close on the 3.3 and 5V lines.

If a supply is overloaded enough for the voltages to drop, adjusting the pots is the most superficial of band-aids. Turning the pots cannot increase the power output of the supply, only change the voltage slightly. And at a higher voltage the supply will make even less current, as you are by definition at the power limit of the supply.

Video cards were a big draw on the 3.3V line, but I think they have moved to more 5V based designs. But the TP330 isn't a very stout supply, and it is entirely possible that your card is drawing enough 3.3V to give it trouble. I'd definately get a stronger supply, as your power consumption is beyond the capability a TP330 by no small margin. The TP430 or larger or the Fortron 530 are indeed the suitable candidates for this job.

You've got some nice hardware there, now it is time to get a power supply capable of letting it do its best work. Considering the sum total value of the parts hooked to it a 70-80 dollar powers supply is smart insurance as well as in your case likely a substantially performance enhancing investment.


well put larva ;)

i just checked his sig again...and i noticed he has the 9700 pro...that's a powerful video card, and if it's also drawing off the 3.3v, in addition to all those power hungry components...then the true 330 is probably a little too weak...particularly since larva's 350 watt sparkle is at it's limits with a similarly powered machine...and the 350 sparkle is more powerful than the antec true 330....

also, larva mentioned that some of the newer video cards might be drawing off the 5v rail....i think i have also read that some of the newest cards draw off the 12v rail...which suggests they are a substantial power hog in a system...

it all adds up to 310 watts not being enough for that system...

time to upgrade

[gruvin2]

Well the One thing that has changed in my setup is the heat factor. Lately it has been hot/humid here and my temps have gone up a good 5c i believe. I only have stock cooling, and 2 intake 1 outtake fan in the case with the side off for now. It never blue screened till i played Vice City with all eye candy maxxed, so my card is obviously drawing some more juice. I returned my PC to default settings and I can play without a hiccup. Seems it is indeed time to get a better PSU like TP550 and perhaps invest a little more in my cooling solution. Getting ready to add 2 raptors and a DVD-R in the next couple months as well so best to do it now. I appreciate again all the replys!! You guys have been a BIG help.

[texasfit]

Another point that I did not mention in my previous post above about temps is the stability issue between the 9700 Pro and the P4C800. Asus even mentioned this in the P4c800 manual. Ref: the part number being -30 or above on the ATI 9700. I installed a better cooling solution on my 9700 Pro and made some adjustments in the bios and windows to get my system stable with the 9700.

What I did:
Crystal Orb and sinks on the 9700 Pro Here (http://www.2cooltek.com/ati9700.html)
Set the vagp in the BIOS to 1.7vagp
Initially I turned off fast writes and write combining in the
display properties advanced settings options. These are back
on in my system at present.

You will definately need a better PSU when you start adding those other items. I would also suggest that you add another fan for output, since you have 2 pulling air in and only one for out. You always want to balance the cfm in vs. out for the airflow in your case.

EDIT: After installing the Crytal Orb on the 9700, I was able to overclock the ATI card better. I have a 2.6C running on my P4C800 @ 3406Mhz. I am using the Antec Tru480 PSU.

[gruvin2]

I saw that as well texasfit. My 9700pro has 11 on the label, but ignored it since i didn't have any compatibility issues untill now. I have had 1 blue screen since i reset all settings to default. No overclock, nothing in the BIOS is tuned up, all standard and such. I suspect it was a memory issue drawing too much power.

I was reading my TP330 manual and noticed that my regulation is not within spec...seems i may need to get my PSU checked to see if it isn't holding specs ( +/-3%). Thank goodness for 3yr warrenty. I will only RMA it if it is found not to spec. Regardless i do feel its time to upgrade my PSU for my Rig. Glad it was only this and wasn't my PSU going haywire and kill some components.

Lastly im still undecided on what to do for a cooling solution. I was thinkin nice HS and fans but even that can get costly and loud. Water Cooling was my 1st choice but still not sure i want to invest that much yet. THen there is always taking the plunge and gettting a Vapo setup...but bill are the priority and i have been content with my OC on stock (for now)