Could The Power Cable Be Affecting My PSU's Voltage?

[Vanchatron]

I have an Antec Basiq 500w Power Supply in my PC and after checking the 12v voltage using 'Everest' it is reading at only 11.37 V. Somebody told me that this means I have a faulty power supply but I'm not too sure as I've only just bought it.

Could the low voltage be the fact that I'm using a different power cable to the one that came with the Power Supply? The original power cable was left at a PC repair shop and I never thought of asking for it back as I had a spare power cable which was used for my old PSU (which was 350w).

What I mean by 'power cable' is the cable that comes from the PSU to the Wall socket as shown below:

http://www.subzeropcs.com/sitebuilder/images/cable_power_supply_6ft_universal_power_cord_europe an-255x171.jpg


HK

[azzey]

Voltages should never exceed 10% above or below the recommended voltage (in this case, 12V)

11.37V is only 5.23% away from 12V! There is nothing wrong with 11.37V. Don't worry about it.

[Vanchatron]

Thank you! :)


HK

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Just a little Electricity 101:
Power = wattage = voltage x current

Most cords are rated for 15 amps at 120 volts or 7A @ 220V
220 x 7 = 1570 watts
Surely a power cord is capable of supplying a power supply in a pc which is only rated to not much more than 500 watts these days.

Just so you know :)

[jlreich]

Also don't assume Everest is reporting the correct figures.

Go into the BIOS and have a look there. It should be under "hardware health monitor" or similar.

You should always compare any software to what the BIOS says. If there is a difference, which most likely there will be, the BIOS is correct. But then you can see how far off the software is and know how much to add or subtract to get a fairly accurate reading from the software.