I think I might need to replace the powersupply in one of my computers. My rails are dropping to 11.72 with a load and fluctuate to 11.76. This is not good? Yes? any suggestions?

its within the 5 or 10% right? Personally, i think its better to have more voltage than less, but thats me.

While still in the 5% allowable range, I wouldn't feel comfortable with my 12v rail dipping below 11.8v. Of course if you haven't done so already check your voltages with a digital multimeter.

always i rather be safe than sorry

Those rails are pretty low alright. I would go ahead and get a new power supply. Just out of curiousity what kind of PSU do you have now?

check with a dmm (if those measures arent with that). onboard sensors are usually more off than even the temp sensors.

The one on this computer is a raidmax 420W.

therein lies your problem...not to be disrespectful or to bash your stuff but i honestly would throw that thing away and get a new PSU as those and other's are notorious for that kind of thing... (raidmax, powmax, kingmax<--not so sure about this one) <--they are the cheaper PSU's around.

but they are the MAX... i thought that meant best!?!?!

raidmax psu are pretty cheap stuff. they are not made with quality in mind but more of value per watt. i would invest in a good power supply, it helps not only now for stability but down the road for upgrading too.

i think theres always one esay solution just get the bigest one you can find

erm... no lol

seriously htough, a 600 watt generic will be vastly outpowered by an antec or OCZ 480. and dont get me started on PCP&C.

Or Enermax! Don't forget them!

Definately don't forget Enermax!! I absolutely love my 600W.

Hienrich

Ok I think i'll get the ocz powerstream 520w. So you all think this might be a reason why i can't get my oc over 220 fsb? even with relaxing the ht to 3 and relaxing the fsb on my ram to 180 mhz.

You'll never know unless you try. I'm getting that psu too because my chip maxes out at 2.6ghz stable, which is a pretty paltry oc for a 3500+. It guess its promising in a sense tho, considering my PSU has steadily gotten worst and now my 12v rail dips to an ungodly 11.1v when I have everything on!! Vcore is real jumpy to boot - and thats with a droop mod >.<. In the stripped state its in now(no side panel, seperate psu for graphics card, no case fans), I'm lucky if I idle at 11.3v - and thats with a 500watter. With power supplies you get what you pay for - going cheap now will hurt you later on.

High watts doesnt mean high quality!

Ok enermax people what's the difference between the noisetaker ax and p series besides the price? bith specs look the same to me.
Now's your chance to convince me to get the enermax over the OCZ.

One of the things that comes to mind is the Acive PFC. That is a really good feature that ensures clean power.

Puls, I am not sure about the OCZ PSU's, but the fans on the Enermax continue to run for about 2-3 minutes after the computer is shut off to ensure that everything is good and cooled off.

IMHO Enermax = Good psu.

Hienrich

NOTE:
Not having ever used an OCZ, my opinion may be biased.

OCZ's fans do not run after the PSU is off. As far as I know Enermax has the only powersupplies that do that (well as far as regular consumers are concerned). Also how many of you knew that OCZ powersupplies are just rebadged "Topower" ones? Not saying they are bad or anything, infact I know them to be a quality PSU, I just don't think so many people would use/reccomend them if they were the "Topower Powerstream".