Warning! +5 volts 4.494v message...help?

[bowz]

I just bought and put together a new computer from Newegg.
The set up went fine, installation of Windows 7 was fine, and installing the drivers for everything went fine.

Now when I am basically doing anything on the computer, I will randomly get a blue box that has an exclamation point (!) inside of a triangle that reads-
Warning!
+5 volts 4.494v

The second set of numbers is not always the same, but stays in the 4.4ish range (just popped up 4.473v this time).

This occurs fairly often.
I installed League of Legends onto my computer to give it a test run. The game loaded fine, but once I got in game it froze. I was still receiving the warning box message as I set up the game. After it froze, it stayed frozen (although I could still move my mouse cursor). Eventually, about a minute or so after, the computer 'crashed' went to a fuzzy screen for an instance and then restarted.
When it restarted, Windows 7 failed to launch.

This entire process has happened twice for sure, and possibly a third (technically the first time) when installing the game. I'm not sure as I had left the computer as it downloaded and installed.

I'm not sure if the motherboard, power supply, or some other piece of hardware is at fault, but I'm just guessing it was the motherboard.

I do not know what software is displaying this error message.
The computer has been running for about 4 hours and has crashed 3 times already.
I have already called for support from the power supply and motherboard companies, and neither helped or knew about this problem.

If it helps, this message has popped up well over 15 times while I typed this post.

Any help or input would be appreciated.

I have-
Asus M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 Processor 3.0GHz 2.0MB cache AM3 socket w/ heat sink fan
Radeon HD 6670 Graphics card
4GB DDR3 Ram
Raidmax RX-730SS ATX Power Supply

 

[JLK03F150]

to the forums.

Raidmax RX-730SS ATX Power Supply

I'm gonna go out on a (pretty sturdy) limb and say the problem is your power supply. Raidmax isn't known for quality when it comes to power. Voltage tolerance is +/- 5% and +4.5 volts is 10% below spec.

RMA your PSU, then sell the replacement on Craigslist.
Get a Quality PSU to go back in your system.

 

[EarthDog]

SOME raidmax pus's are actually good. This one may be one of them.

Before you return it, software is not usually accurate. Measure with a multimeter.

 

[bowz]

Thank you for the reply.
Before I go through with your suggestion, I'd like a more definite answer. I've already spent a week waiting on a new motherboard because my initial one (an MSI) was defective out of the box.

I should also mention that the power supply support tech had never heard of the problem and didn't believe the problem to be the supply, even though it seems to be directly related to it.
As for the asus support tech, he basically check compatibility and had me do a reset.

-Also
Does anybody have a recommendation on what wattage I should get if I need to replace the power supply?

 

[RGone]

Isn't how much the overall wattage is BUT if the wattage and voltage are what they are supposed to be rated for. I know one gave a plus for Raidmax power supplies but I have had a few of them in my first days of beginning to overclock and my Raidmax's were very poor. YMMV. But you sure need to have one that puts out a full +5V since most any power supply today can put out a solid +5V since there is not much use of +5V in a modern computer.

 

[trents]

Borrow a PSU from another computer, plug it in to your stuff and see if you still get error messages and also check the +5v rail with HWMonitor.

 

[bypolar1]

Get one of these plug in into any molex red and black leads,just jamb the meter leads into the back side of the molex fire the computer up and report back on what voltage it reads.

Also USB uses 5v so any external USB devices should be checked or unpluged to trouble shoot the issue.

 

[bowz]

Thanks again for the replies.

I checked out the HWMonitor software and I think that pretty much solidifies that there is a power supply problem, whether it be software or the actual device itself.
Here are my readings for 12v and 5v.

12v- Min-10.63 Max-11.53
5v- Min-4.45 Max-4.89

The readings are supposed to be over 12 and 5, not under, correct?

edit- I think i should also mention that the reading on the 3.3v had a min of 1.62

 

[Bobnova]

HWMonitor isn't always accurate, in fact it rarely is. That said, it isn't usually off by that much.
Grab yourself a digital multimeter from Harbor Freight or somesuch (HF has pretty good ones for $7 or so) and see what the voltages really are.
If they really are that low, send the PSU back and buy a better one. It sounds like they may well be.

Just FYI:
My Raidmax RX-530SS died around noon today while operating within it's rated wattage range.

Same series, maybe some of the same internals maybe not. Personally, I would return the one you have and buy a quality PSU.

 

[bowz]

Well I already went out to Best Buy and picked up a Corsair GS600.
I haven't opened it yet, but I need this computer to work so once I decide it's the power supply, I'll replace it and file my RMA. I'll check with a multimeter if I can get my hands on one and I plan on taking it to a local computer store tomorrow to see if they'll let me test out a different PSU.

 

[tRidiot]

Maybe your first MSI board wasn't really DOA....? Could've been working within tolerances and just wouldn't boot with low power and the new one you have now happens to be more "tolerant" of low voltages and actually let you get fully into Windows.

 

[EarthDog]

If the voltages really were that low all around, or on any rail, your pc wouldn't boot at all.

Im mobile so can't go to jonnyguru to confirm the quality if that Psu.

Edit: I thought 5vSB is for isbn devices....?

 

[Bobnova]

5vsb is sometimes connected to USB, and otherwise powers a small chunk of the motherboard that is concerned with the front panel switches.
It also gets fed down the green wire in the ATX so the mobo can signal when to turn on.
For bonus points it powers the CMOS memory generally, as well as things like the ROG Connect chip on Asus ROG mobos. Essentially anything that is active with the PSU turned off via the front panel button or OS initiated shutdown.

 

[bowz]

Update for you all-
I installed the Corsair, replacing the raidmax.
The computer is running beautifully.
I ran the HWMonitor program again and have been receiving 12.08-12.13 and 5.06-5.06.
The power supply was apparently the problem, and a big problem.

Thank you guys for the quick responses and helpful info.

 

[EarthDog]

Amazing the software was remotely accurate... Glad you found the problem!

 

[RGone]

Update for you all-
I installed the Corsair, replacing the raidmax.
The computer is running beautifully.
I ran the HWMonitor program again and have been receiving 12.08-12.13 and 5.06-5.06.
The power supply was apparently the problem, and a big problem.

Thank you guys for the quick responses and helpful info.

Good deal and thanks for letting us know the outcome. I know you are glad to be able to finally do some computing. Good luck to you.

 

[trents]

Amazing the software was remotely accurate... Glad you found the problem!

Earthdog, I get the impression you're not a HWMonitor fan. Guess I haven't had the problems with it you have. It's not perfect but neither is CPU-z, CoreTemp or the other stuff we commonly use. None are perfect but all of them are useful.

 

[EarthDog]

Thats my entire point and a thought commonly held across forums; software monitoring is not accurate and it should be tested with a MM...I wasnt thinking HWMonitor alone for the record (I dont like it as its too much information for me for normal uses).

With the voltages he gave, that PC shouldnt have even booted. So that tells me altough HWM was in the ballpark...a big ballpark though.

 

[Bobnova]

HWMonitor is only as good as the motherboard voltage sensors, which are generally dubious at best.
It's not HWMonitor, it's the source of the data.