Is my psu causing my problems?

[MeteoricSnax]

My pc have been acting weird for the last couple of days. it had no warning shutdowns. no BSOD, no odd behavior pre shutdown or anything else. then i read a bit and started to see if i could find the source of the problem that made it shutdown. i started with clearing the Cmos so that everything would run at stock speed. that didn't help and i went on to check the ram. they weren't the problem. so that left out the psu, so i grabbed a multimeter and checked the voltages.

what is saw was the 12 volts read 12,25 volts. the 5 volt read 5,10 volts. is that okay? or could something else be the problem?

 

[Bobnova]

Almost certainly something else, but there is a chance.
Run a heavy GPU load and check the voltages again. If they're still in the same ballpark the problem lies elsewhere.

 

[MeteoricSnax]

So after letting the gpu run kombuster for around 10 minutes the 5 volt started around 5,25 volts this time and when i put load on the gpu, it went up to around 5,50. 12 volt were at 12,23 at idle and 12,32 at load. 5 volt sometimes spikes to 5,5 at idle, but not for long. I have also uninstalled ccc 13,5 beta, driver cleaned, and installed 13,4. It hasn't crashed yet, so i hope that might have fixed the problem, but i will do more stability testing tomorrow.

But still, 5,5 volts made me really uncomfortable, as i think i have heard that max deviation should be around 3%

EDIT: i have played some league of legends, and it lasted the whole game, so im confident that the problem was that beta driver

 

[Bobnova]

5.5v, if the multimeter is being accurate, is too high. That in and of itself is a RMA worthy offense.
5% deviation from nominal is the maximum allowed by ATX spec, except for 12V at 100% load, which is allowed 10%.

Is this on the AX850?

 

[MeteoricSnax]

I will try to find another multimeter to check if it is the multimeter. I hope that the multimeter is incorrect
because i really don't want to spend more time on my laptop that i already have.
but if the multimeter is correct should i RMA it?

And yes it is the AX850 from my sig

 

[Bobnova]

If the multimeter is correct, it's RMA time in my opinion.
5V should not jump when 12V is loaded.

Where are you testing the voltage and what are you using for a ground point? I recommend a Molex (old style HDD) plug for both.

 

[MeteoricSnax]

i have been using a Molex for testing, just like the guide in your sig.

 

[MeteoricSnax]

So I just come home and decided to test if the pc still gets weird voltages.
now there is no fluctuation like there was before and the 5 volt is steady at 5,06 volts and the 12 volt is also steady at 12,28 volts.
volts are the same at both idle and load, when the CPU, GPU or both is loaded.

I figured that I should show how I measure the voltage. It would be nice to know of I'm doing it right.

 

[EarthDog]

Attachments do not work...

EDIT.. now they do, LOL!

 

[Bobnova]

Yup you're doing it right.
Those voltages are almost exactly what I would expect from that PSU, too.

 

[MeteoricSnax]

That is weird as i have done nothing to change anything, but is guess that if it works now there should be nothing wrong in continuing using it? I think that I will check the voltages again tomorrow and see if it still is within reasonable volts.

Earthdog: i have been lurking enough in here to know that you will come after me if i don't attach the images

 

[MeteoricSnax]

So it seems that the psu has fixed itself. the voltages are the same as yesterday. Thanks for the help