how can i tell if my power supply iznt performing as well as it should be. i have a 400watt on a system and if i overclock at all i get random restarts like i dont have enough power. so is there a program that can test it for me?

Voltage tester or DMM. If you can get a digital multimeter (DMM), its Better and has more funcuality. (Spelling I know).

You can check voltages and amps, you can also try many free programs that could tell you the rails, but they aren't as accurate. One such program is speed fan 5.

depends what your hardware is... if it's old enough then it might be supported by mbm5 (google it) and you'd be able to monitor 12v rail fluctuations under load which would be a tell-tale sign...

might be an idea to create a short signature briefly listing the most important parts of your rig so people can answer your questions with more relevance to your set-up

asus p4p800-x
512mb 266 gay micron ram
5700 ultra
2.4ghz 533bus p4
ask what else

well if you have a lot of harddrives and opticals, fans and lights, you might be pushing it when overclocking especially if it's a no-name piece of junk psu...

the absolute BEST way is to test them directly via a high end multimeter. id reccoment a fluke series 80 or the sort. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/fluke/dmm/80Vseries.htm

The P4P800 has a terrible voltage droop problem. So bad that it caused untold reboots in my sons rig. I now have given him my IC7 maxIII to use and guess what no more rebooting. I am using it with a p4 1.6a that did 2.66ghz on the maxIII now i cant get it to 2.3 with the same hardware minus the board.

yea even tho asus is one of the best ive heard this board is one of their worst

I would say definitely use a DMM to test voltages....just hook it up to an empty molex and get readings for 12 and 5 volts load and idle. If they aren't within 10% of what they should be (I prefer to stay within 5%), then you need a better PSU.

i guess ill leave this computer alone and just leave my heart to my new one ill be buying. it will have a G71 nough said.