A buddy recently bought a system from a local mom/pop type PC business. He's running a health/monitoring program for the PC. I've never used one. He claims the proggy is showing the -3.3V peaking alot around -3.6 to -3.9V. Is this common or a symptom of a bad PSU? Thanks.

Hello TonyS,

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

Here's a quote from our Mothership the PC GUIDE:

Output Voltage Range: For each output voltage, the range that the power supply guarantees its output to be within. Power supplies can't say that they will produce, for example, exactly +5.000 V. There's a range, and that's not a problem since systems are designed with this in mind. Generally speaking, the smaller the range the better, although I've never seen small differences here make a practical difference in using a supply. Either specific numbers will be provide (e.g., +4.8 V to +5.2 V) or a "+/-" percentage will be given (which would be +/- 4% to result in a range of +4.8 to +5.2 on a +5 voltage.).

You might want to check on the +/- specifications for the actual power supply in question.

I suspect if you were to use a power backup with voltage conditioning that the variations would likely not flucuate as much. Some of the other folks might know for sure.

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Whyzman

Agree with the Whyzman on not knowing the specs on that PSU, but assuming that a 20% increase is a little high.
Does your friend notice any other problems with his system?
Has he checked the 3.3 with a quality multi-meter?
These monitoring programs are notorious for being somewhat off.
I don't much care for them myself as they are using up resources, are not very accurate, and kind of like a warning buzzer on an outboard boat motor. By the time you hear it and react, the motor is already gone.(Johnson 115, pumped up just a tad, running at about 55mph across Clearlake. Picked up a patch of weeds on the coldwater inlet. Heard a loud buuuuzzzzzz as the nose of the boat nearly dove completely under. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif )

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