i don't understand these voltage readings. Please help

I'm using winbond hardware monitor, and i'm getting readings like +3 3.25v, +12 12.05v, +5 5.16v. Does this mean that my power supply is getting an *** beating . I'm using a crappy enlight 300w (+3 +5 =maxload 165w) on this system


p4 2.4c
hyperx 3500 2x256
ati 9500
ic7

looks good to me. pretty much par for the course sir. dont take software monitor programs to much to heart. they are wildly inaccurate. ill bet you that if you probed with a multimeter, youd find that the voltages are different than what the proggy tells you. as long as the readings from the proggy arent fluctuating wildly, id say your dead on.

Admittedly a multimeter is a whole load more accurate than the system's inbuilt voltage monitors, they are not entirely useless - for instance if you are having stability problems, check what voltagaes your computer is running at.

If your +5v line is running at 4.52v (for example) during heavy overclocking, then you can see that your powersupply is struggling and needs replacing.

However, your voltages look fairly spot-on, so your PSU should be ok for now

Enlights aren't the worst power supply in the world. They are Sirtec units, as are Thermtakes and Vantecs. The 165W 3.3+5V rating does give pause, but if the machine is stable, the stability and the voltages don't drop when you OC it, and the supply isn't belching flaming hot air I'd drive it till it drops. One thing about PC components you can be sure of--they will be better and cheaper than ever in the futrure. You can never get hurt by waiting to buy something until you need it, so if the current supply is producing acceptable results run it.

Blueacid said:

If your +5v line is running at 4.52v (for example) during heavy overclocking, then you can see that your powersupply is struggling and needs replacing.

Click to expand...

I would still meter it to be sure... my own system hits 4.50v during heavy o/c'ing - on the meter the PSU rarely fluctuates from 5.03v indicating my board's voltage regulators are the culprit. But the system is always stable anyway, so I tend to ignore the hardware monitor