Hi and thanks for you help:

I am running a program called MProbe~ Its pretty good it shows vlotage PS supply stats CPU temp as well as MB temp. Well from time to time my PS voltage goes down from 12V+ to 10.18+ it did it 4 plus times last night alone I have a 250W power supply. My Friend has a 1.4 Athalon Tbird with a 300w dualfan (Leadman i think) PS and his does the same. Trying to research the issue myself I can understand if this is a normal prob or a bad issue.
System stats for both~ 800 duron 256mem 2 40 gig HD (Maxtor)(Wd), K7sem MB
250 ps tower case with 4 bays. Not sure of the brand of the PS
System stats 2: 1.4 tbird 640mem 2 40 gig HD (Maxtor) (Samsung) 300 watt PS
amd boxed cpu fan...

Thanks for all your help and the prog is called mprobe if you have any expirence with it this will be greatly appreciated... THX

More likely than not, the power supply, or in this instance, supplies that you are using are defective. It is normal at times for voltage levels to drop, however, dropping close to 2 volts below standard in any instance is not good for the system itself. You have to ask yourself this question -- Can you really afford to replace every component in a PC, if the source of the bigger problem is something that costs roughly 40 bucks? Granted, it seems power requirements have become absurd over the last few years, hendering specific requirements based on clock speed and form factor {AT, ATX, etc}, however there is reason behind that. Each factor runs in a different manor, and thus requires different modulations in voltage, and frequency -- if you don't want to get a new power supply just yet, to be on the safe side, underclock your system if your bios allows this -- this will cause the processor to use less voltage [it still will require 12V] but will more than likely end the drops in voltage.

Just to give you some insight, you can check amd's webpage for a listing of their "approved" power supplies. I myself have a duron 900 with an Enhance 300w power supply [which is the minimum they "ask" you to use for that model type].

As for your inquiry on your 2nd system -- which I believe you stated was a 1.4 ThunderBird, using a 300w Power Supply is just asking for trouble. Yes, amd's site states that on some models 300w will suffice, but I've encountered several problems with 300w supplies on 1.4's. And to finish that off, stay away from Powmax power supplies [powmax is known as LeadMan] they are poor quality [even though they list as amd approved on their boxes -- they are in fact only rated up to Duron 1.0 last time I checked].

Nonetheless, bottom line is, the system requires a reliable stream of power. If the power its getting is not enough, then it's just a bigger problem waiting to happen. As for the reliabilty of MBProbe, I couldn't say myself, but I do know the software has no control over the flow of temperature and/or voltage settings, all it does is report what its getting from your boards sensors.


StandOFF

Originally posted by Standoff:
More likely than not, the power supply, or in this instance, supplies that you are using are defective. It is normal at times for voltage levels to drop, however, dropping close to 2 volts below standard in any instance is not good for the system itself. You have to ask yourself this question -- Can you really afford to replace every component in a PC, if the source of the bigger problem is something that costs roughly 40 bucks? Granted, it seems power requirements have become absurd over the last few years, hendering specific requirements based on clock speed and form factor {AT, ATX, etc}, however there is reason behind that. Each factor runs in a different manor, and thus requires different modulations in voltage, and frequency -- if you don't want to get a new power supply just yet, to be on the safe side, underclock your system if your bios allows this -- this will cause the processor to use less voltage [it still will require 12V] but will more than likely end the drops in voltage.

Just to give you some insight, you can check amd's webpage for a listing of their "approved" power supplies. I myself have a duron 900 with an Enhance 300w power supply [which is the minimum they "ask" you to use for that model type].

As for your inquiry on your 2nd system -- which I believe you stated was a 1.4 ThunderBird, using a 300w Power Supply is just asking for trouble. Yes, amd's site states that on some models 300w will suffice, but I've encountered several problems with 300w supplies on 1.4's. And to finish that off, stay away from Powmax power supplies [powmax is known as LeadMan] they are poor quality [even though they list as amd approved on their boxes -- they are in fact only rated up to Duron 1.0 last time I checked].

Nonetheless, bottom line is, the system requires a reliable stream of power. If the power its getting is not enough, then it's just a bigger problem waiting to happen. As for the reliabilty of MBProbe, I couldn't say myself, but I do know the software has no control over the flow of temperature and/or voltage settings, all it does is report what its getting from your boards sensors.


StandOFF

Thx for the response considering your a first timer i would have to assume you know my friend cuz you said the exact same thing, in dam near the same wordage. HAHA, but thanks again.. and I will see how many more people have the same concensus...

Are you running any CD ROM drives? CD ROM drives hard drives and fans all use +12V. The power supply provides power on demand and when a CD ROM drive spins up it demands more power and you will see a voltage drop until the power supply can compensate for the greater demand. This is normal. If you are having other problems ie... spontainous reboots hard drive read or write errors or add more drives or fans get a larger power supply! Read this (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/output_Power.htm) for more power supply info.

Is your power supply 250W or 300W?

QUOTE I am running a program called MProbe~ Its pretty good it shows vlotage PS supply stats CPU temp as well as MB temp. Well from time to time my PS voltage goes down from 12V+ to 10.18+ it did it 4 plus times last night alone I have a 250W power supply.

System stats for both~ 800 duron 256mem 2 40 gig HD (Maxtor)(Wd), K7sem MB
250 ps tower case with 4 bays. Not sure of the brand of the PS
System stats 2: 1.4 tbird 640mem 2 40 gig HD (Maxtor) (Samsung) 300 watt PS
amd boxed cpu fan...


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Alright who messed it up this time!



[This message has been edited by rond36 (edited 10-29-2001).]

Hey,

You really should have at minimum, a 300watt power supply for that 800Mhz Duron. ~$40 at CompUSA, and it's AMD certified. Don't wait too long, upgrade the PS now.

Big Blue 66




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I couldn't find "Mprobe", but "MBprobe" is freeware (http://web.bham.ac.uk/jst829/mbprobe/download.html).

There are only two 250W PSUs that AMD (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/TechnicalResources/0,,30_182_869_1039^1053,00.html) recommends for 1.4GHz T-birds. The 300W Leadman is only recommended up to 800MHz. (The 3.3V and 5V current is the critical factor.)

Motherboard Monitor 5 (http://mbm.livewiredev.com/) and Hmonitor (http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,10615,43551,.html) are two other utilities, but I haven't kept track of the 12V on my systems.


[This message has been edited by kenja (edited 10-29-2001).]