Power Drops . . .

There’s been complaints about the Epox 8K7A and (often) Enermax power supplies giving low 5V results.

It should be noted that the people who are having this problem seem to be really cranking it up: very high VCore and DDR and MHz. Those a tad bit less zealous don’t seem to be having this problem.

Well, I don’t have that Epox, but I have a relative, the MSI K7Master, and I am using an Enermax power supply, the EG451P-VE, one of those being complained about.

So I cranked the machine up to 1575Mhz, 1.94V VCore, and began running combinations of Prime95, SETI, WMP, etc. while watching the voltage meters.

Running the AYHJA at default speed and voltage leaves me with about 5.22V at idle.

Bringing the speed up to 1575Mhz and VCoree up to 1.94V dropped 5V to about 5.13V.

Running combinations of programs dropped 5V to as low as 4.93V, but even then, the numbers would usually jump back up closer to 5V during the exercise.

A Little Reading

If you look at the specs of the EG-451P-VE (or for that matter, the EG-651P-VE, you’ll see that it’s rated for 1.8A at +5Vsb.

If you look at its successor, the PEG465P-VE (you’ll see a boost to 2.2A for +5Vsb). There’s at least one apparent reason for this; USB wake-up on at least certain mobos require 2A.

Maybe there’s more. Can’t swear to it, but it seems like the PSs that don’t have a problem do provide 2A for +5Vsb.

Simple enough way to find out.

If you have an Epox 8K7A and a PEG465P-VE (we know some EG-451P-VEs are having problems), are you running into this problem?

When you write, also tell me:

Speed and FSB of the system

Your voltage settings

What voltage readings are you getting while the machine is under full load (MBM or any other program that monitors voltage is fine)?

If we find that people are having the same problem with the brand-new Enermax, then this isn’t the answer.

If they aren’t, then it might be.

Email Ed

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