25 replies to this topic

[James Bolton]

recently my computer became slow and sometimes i would get a overflow error on the hypertransport when i first fired up my rig, so i made sure all my settings were default and it still it was unstable and started freezing in windows randomly so I checked my settings in the bios and went into system monitor to check temperature and voltages and here is what i found.
cpu temp 42'c (wont show anything other than 42'c unless above that limit dumb foxconn mb )
fan speed 1050 rpm
and the strange stuff

cpu core varies between 1.220v to 1.512v constantly changing
dram voltage stayed mostly at 1.848v
nb core voltage varies between 1.292v-1.308v hardly ever changing
+3.3v varies between 3.1v-3.5v
+5.0v varies between 4.852v-5.193v
+12.0v varies between 11.296v-12.325v
the last three voltages depending on how long it has been running when cold on a fresh start they are stable then they begin to climb and after an hour start to drop back off again!

the cpu core voltage is what is worrying me because it fluctuates wildly at first start up! is this normal or power supply or motherboard issue

I was thinking i was overloading my 600w power supply so I decided to hook up a 300w power supply to just the fans, water, pump, hard drives, lights, dvd drive, and let the 600w only power the motherboard and a small relay for kicking the other power supply on and it did help speed up the system alot but still getting freezing and errors at boot

ive been working on this system for 3 months because i dont have the money to just go out and buy all new parts at once

so the main questions is, is this normal voltage variances or something else? is this a power supply or a motherboard issue?

[SpikeSoprano]

Hey welcome, would help if you included your system specs, foxconn mb is not much to go on, do you have the mb version of cool and quiet enabled, this might explain the difference in the cpu voltage.

[paulktreg]

Motherboard voltage sensors are notoriously flaky. Do you have access to a digital voltmeter?

[Waco]

It sounds more like a dying motherboard versus the PSU. Normally PSU issues don't show up unless you load the PSU down a bit...not right at boot.

[James Bolton]

Hey welcome, would help if you included your system specs, foxconn mb is not much to go on, do you have the mb version of cool and quiet enabled, this might explain the difference in the cpu voltage.

sorry
A7DA-S 3.0
amd phenom II x6 1090t black edition
6gb kingston ram
800gb and 500gb hdd
asus lightscribe dvd-rw
2 12" cold cathode's
2 120mm led fan's
2 80mm led fan's
custom watercooling 6 l/m pump 2 80mm rad's (soon to be upgraded to 120mm rads) with dual bay 5.25 waterfall res
600w antek power supply (3 years old) + 300w hipoint power supply just for pumps fans etc

[Waco]

What's the model number on that Antec PSU? That seems like more than enough power for your setup all on its own...

[dragonsdontfly]

If you're using a seperate PSU for the pumps, fans and cold cathodes.. You might be utilizing too LITTLE of your PSU. I don't even see a GPU listed in that system, so 600W for just the Mobo, CPU, and RAM sounds entirely overkill to me.

Power Supplies have an optimum efficiency range, if you use too little (or too much) of it's TDP, it will operate flaky.

Try hooking everything up to the 600w PSU, including fans and pump, etc: And leave the 300w PSU out of the equation. See if that changes anything.

Check this site:
http://extreme.outer...n.com/PSUEngine


I calculated your system (you didn't include pump type, so I went with Swiftech MCP 655 as it's a commonly used brand and model):

It calculates the minimum at 290w, recommended at 340w. Meanwhile you've got 900w in that system.. And yes, I included fans and cold cathodes. You are probably under utilizing your PSU's TDP.

With 40% capacitor aging (about 24/7 3 year use) those numbers still only go to 406w-456w..

My system is being run on a 530W PSU, I'm utilizing about 80-85% of it's TDP, and it runs stable as anything.. Because my PSU wattage fits what I'm using it for. I advise at least removing the extra 300w PSU, if not getting one closer to your recommended wattage (going 50w-100w above is fine, but you're easily 500+w over what's ideal, and that's NOT good.

Edited by dragonsdontfly, 10 April 2012 - 11:23 AM.

[paulktreg]

Because you don't list a graphics card the Antec 600W will be more than enough and even with a fairly powerful graphics card it's likely still capable of easily running your system.

Are you running the onboard graphics or do you have a graphics card?

Whilst it's true that power supplies do have an optimum efficiency range, usually between 45-55% of their maximum rated power, they do not become "flaky" if you use too little or too much! Power supplies will operate within specification from let's say 5% to 100% of their rated output power. (I could of said from 0% to 100% of their rated power but some power supplies require a small load, a couple of HDD's will usually do it before stable voltage regulation kicks in).

I don't think capacitor aging is as much of a problem these days with the introduction of solid state devices and the wide use of good quality Japanese electrolytics rated at 85 deg C or better. High end power supplies are typically quoted with a mean time before failure of 100,000hrs and you should expect them to remain within specification for this time.

[Tjj226_Angel]

I am going to side with waco on this one and say it is a dying motherboard. Foxcon boards are usually a bad idea for a system like yours, and this situation does have some tell tale signs of bad voltage regulators.

I would say the quickest way to find out what this is, is go to your nearest tech store and buy a PSU. Plug it in. And if you experience the same issues, return it and you know the motherboard is the issue. If it fixes the problem, then you can keep the new PSU.

Super simple

[Coors]

I am going to side with waco on this one and say it is a dying motherboard. Foxcon boards are usually a bad idea for a system like yours, and this situation does have some tell tale signs of bad voltage regulators.

I would say the quickest way to find out what this is, is go to your nearest tech store and buy a PSU. Plug it in. And if you experience the same issues, return it and you know the motherboard is the issue. If it fixes the problem, then you can keep the new PSU.

Super simple

I'd have to disagree...their enthusiast boards were awesome! I believe they stopped making them though (last I heard anyways). Since the enthusiest market isn't as profitable as the mainstream consumer market


But in this case this mobo seems to be plauged with problems for lots of people. Not that I take Newegg reviews worth anything than a grain of salt but the reviews are looking pretty washy for it http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813186168

Do you have the latest BIOS installed? Might be worth a shot if the older BIOSes were full of problems.


edit: looks like P07 fixed most problems people had

Edited by Coors, 10 April 2012 - 02:01 PM.

[Tjj226_Angel]

I'd have to disagree...their enthusiast boards were awesome!

Zotac has replaced them for making decent motherboards oddly enough. I would not be surprised to see Zotac actually buying foxcon and Biostar. I am not saying that it will happen, I am just saying I could see it happening.

[Coors]

I would not be surprised to see Zotac actually buying foxcon

lol nobody is going to buy Foxconn. Nobody.