Antec 430w TruePower: Any way to Vmod this ??

[rms]

Hi, I'd like to raise the 5v and 12v lines on my Antec 430w TruePower, does anyone know how to go about doing this? I haven't found any obvious potentiometers when opening it up. thx!

rms
rsquires@flash.net

[saaya]

i thougt its on the back side of the psu...

[Johnny Knoxvill]

there are no pots on the antec truepowers...

[rms]

My truepower is a good unit, but I'm bummed that it has no trim pots to tweak the output. Does anyone have links to forums that talk about PSU tweaking or that give model numbers that are adjustable? thx!

rms
rsquires@flash.net

[dykz34]

Ya, Im curious about this too as my rails are a bit low at 4.9 and 11.9. :(

[Tekime]

Antec True480 over here, and I'm curious too. I'll post if I find any info but so far I haven't had much luck in my search :(

[berkut]

Its very easy... there are sensor cables on your atx connector, you have to cut them and put rezistors over there, ill post some diagram later.. its very easy and effective

[Tekime]

That makes so much sense, and soo much easier than opening up my PSU :)

Could you identify which pins are sense?

http://www.fury-tech.com/images/user/Tekime/atxConn_atx2.1.gif

[xigfrid]

hoho , i 'm waiting with impatience berkut response :D :toast:

[berkut]

ok...

no blue prints, ill just tell you how to do it ;]

on your atx connector cable are high power 5V, 3.3V and 12V cables and one of these cables (one of them) will be doubled, one will be very thick and the second one will be thin... the thin one is a monitoring cable, you have to buy a high power resistor which can be regulated, dunno the needed resisstance.. Now you cut the signal cable, set the resistor to 0ohm's and solder it there... than start your computer in the hardware sensors page and start increasing the resistance... VERY SLOWLY... this should work but if it doesent ill post some more info... ok, i gotta get some sleep...

[rms]

We need more info. The wire sizes are all the same, and this is too important to make stupid guesses on.

rms

[xigfrid]

As far as I understand, and what i'v seen , U have 1 thick and one thin wire for 3.3V , 12V and 5V :D

I made that for ppl who don't really know the colour, but we still need the Power/Dimensions of the variators :)

Have sweet dreams berkut but come soon for us :taost:


http://membres.lycos.fr/xigfrid1/forumhardware/Antec_Vmod.JPG

[berkut]

Yea, your blueprint is correct

[rms]

The question here is what value and wattage rating to try for the series resistors placed in the sense lines. If you assume a .4v drop across the resistor (assuming they just do a simple voltage drop reading), and .1mA current (who knows what's correct) in the sense line, that gives a value of 4kohms.

The power consumed in this case is negligible, so if all this is correct a standard 10turn 5kohm trim pot should do the trick. So what values are people using?

rms
rsquires@flash.net

[Tekime]

The ATX 1,2 spec has a lot of info:

http://www.formfactors.org/developer/specs/atx/atx12vPSDGV1.pdf

The only mention of sense line was on 3.3v though:


The +3.3 VDC output should have provisions for remote sensing to compensate for excessive cable drops. The default sense should be connected to pin 11 of the main power connector. The power supply should draw no more than 10 mA through the remote sense line to keep DC offset voltages to a minimum.

I don't really know how you would determine what resistance or wattage to use. :(

[xigfrid]

well i'm considering to get 3 10turns variators of 100ohms or 1kohm (the lower the sharper you will regulate the rail)

btw, i think that all 10turns variators get about the same wattage tolerance (i hope so)

anyone who did the mod. can confirm ?

[macci]

I cut my 3.3V sense wire and soldered a 10ohm fixed resistor there (I tried w/ 220ohms first but PSU didn't like about that idea :D). Then I grounded this 10ohm w/ 1kohm VR.
So now the 3.3V can be adjusted by lowering the 1kohm value.

Pic

[xigfrid]

Thx macci, i ll try it as soon as i ll have enough time :D

thx for all others who helped here.

Any advises for the resistor value for the 5V rail ?


Regards.

Xigfrid

[texuspete00]

Very interesting indeed.... see sig ;)

[rms]

Ok, I'd like to avoid having a separate pulldown resistor, and just use a single inline resistor. Has anyone tried this? I'd imagine its effectiveness would depend on the impedance of the voltage sensing circuitry, and how much current is flowing in the sense line.

rms

[xigfrid]

inline resitor would not work properly : you need a voltage lowering, that can be done by 2 impedances ( though, u can consider to use only 1 variator, all 3 legs connected as below :

1 => ground
2 => to PSU thin line
3 => voltage rail you must fix (thin line)

Btw , i will avoid any trouble by applying 1 impedance of 62 ohms to 3) then a variator used as single variable impedance on 2)

I think PSU need at least a little current to work properly that the variator would not be able to feed

[macci]

Actually something like 10ohm fixed with 1k VR is better for that 3.3V Vsen. The higher the fixed resistance is set the more the voltage fluctuates for some reason (200ohms was way too high and 60ohms is also a bit too high).

[rms]

How are you people physically arranging the pots and resistors on the cable? Having 6 resistors and pots hanging off the power cable has got to be a godawful mess. I'd like some tips on making this mod a little more aesthetically acceptable!

rms
rsquires@flash.net

[xigfrid]

Hehe , thx to all !

I ve done the 3.3V mod only and now i'm getting Vdimm rock stable on a NF7-s rev2.0 and reaching few more Mhz on FSB :D

I did use a 15 ohms resistance + 1K var. as macci suggested

[rms]

It seems to me that on the nf7-s anyway, that the 3.3v and 5v are the most important ones.

3.3v because I've noticed after doing a Vdimm vmod that I can't get beyond about 3.2v, and I figure this is because the memory voltage regulator is hooked up to 3.3v.

5v because I've read that the Radeon videocards use 5v for their main power, and that raising this made a large difference in the overclockability of the card.

12v doesn't seem useful to me. I figure they resorted to using this mainly to relieve load on the 5v lines for power to the cpu.

rms

[xigfrid]

i didn't mod yet the 5V, but for the moment i tried :

15ohms + 1K var on 3.3V i love this :D

10 ohms + 2k var. on 12V rail => variator going too hot and Vdimm unstable like hell

56 ohms + 10k var on 12V rail => seems better and 12V rail is stable , but Vdimm unstable upper than 3.2V :/

I had to decrease AGP voltage when i did up the 3.3V rail, now i 'm standing at 3.4V seems ok

Thx for all contribution ;)

[rms]

One thing to be careful about when overvolting. Apparently Radeon cards have no thermal protection against overvolted rails, so they can get very hot and I've seen reports of failure due to this. Monitor card temps carefully!

rms

[Golias]

does this also work with the antec 550W? I would suppose it does...

I have a really weak 5v (it´s standing at 4.89) and 12v (currently at 11.67) so the 5v mod would be really apreciated guys.

Can you put some pics of the 3.3 mod that is already done?

Thanks in advance.

[Jethro]

awesome mod DOods!! time to pick up some vr's my 3.3 is at 3.24 this could really help me out. thanks a bunch!

[jinu117]

Now what would be potential downfall of having ground involved in sense line with resistance in between? Stability? Fluctuaction under different load?

[Hell-Fire]

I dont quite follow your diagram macci. Are you soldering the fixed res to the think line, then fixed to vr and other end of this line?...kinda like a "T- Section" ?

Thx

[xigfrid]

here some pics of the connections I made :

http://membres.lycos.fr/xigfrid1/forumhardware/antec_430W/mod_alim.jpg


and here the final result.

http://membres.lycos.fr/xigfrid1/forumhardware/antec_430W/mod-PSU2.JPG

[Golias]

Do you think this also works with an antec 550W?

[Hell-Fire]

Yes Golias...it will. I just did it to my TruePower550 and will also do it for the 5v and 12v rails since they all have the sense lines connected to the ATX connector.

I will post pics soon when I am done.

Right now I am holding steady at 3.4 for my 3.3 rail.

I recommend doing it around half way up the chord bundle as it makes for easier adjustment to the rails. Or you can do what I am doing and add the fixed resistor, then add a wire so that you can add the vr and glue it to the crossbar at the top of most cases...very easy to to get to and adjust.

[Golias]

thank you for your reply, i really have to do the mods to the 5v ans 12v rails. They are really weak on the bios reading.

My epox 8rda+ reads the 3.3v has being the vagp, therefore i can´t find out what my 3.3 rails stands at the moment.

So what is the best fixed resistance for the 12v mod?
And the VR should be ????

Best Regards

[Hell-Fire]

Just finished up my 5v and 12v rails. Its easy as pie on the Antec 550.

Getting 12.46 and 5.45 now.

use a 60 or so ohm fixed resistor, then connect a 10k 15 turn VR to that...at the top of the fixed resistor...as in Xigfrid's picture.

make sure the VR is turned all the way up to 10k ohms before soldering it to the fixed resistor. Then just turn the vr clockwise to lower the resistance and raise the voltage.

[Golias]

Perfect!

[Hell-Fire]

Ahhhhh shucks Golias. :explode:

[Golias]

Dont be like that...:toast:

i´m gonna try it, then i´ll post the results.

[Hell-Fire]

Good luck.

If you have any questions before you start the mod, reply here and I will monitor this thread to see if you need any pointers.

Especially since we use the same psu.

[jinu117]

Gonna do it over weekend on my true 550. Now, what are the wattage req for those resistors? I don't think it would be too high but would like to make sure before I burn anything.

[Hell-Fire]

For easy adjusting, I used a 68ohm fixed and a 10k 15 turn per rail.

You can use a 20k VR alone if you like....just be very careful when you start adjusting as you dont have the a fixed resistor to add some resistance if ya go to high.

[Chris85]

Can somebody post some pictures maybe, of how to do the mod? I never modded a psu before, but my lines are really low. Maybe someone can give a list of what I need to do the mod.

[Hell-Fire]

You need to state what psu you are using Chris. :hehe:

[Chris85]

Oops :rolleyes: I have the truepower480
But I'm maybe going to sell this one and buy a truecontrol550, does somebody know how much you can adjust the rails with the front bay it has?

[Garrett]

It's supposed to be adjustable to -5% and +5%

[Hell-Fire]

Not sure actually Chris.....do a search for the TControl550 here and see what ya come up with.

Also, if ya look at long threads in the Overclocking forum, you may see someone has it listed in the SIG....just PM them and ask what they are getting.

Modding hte TP480n should be pretty much like doint what I did with my 550.

Can ya send a pic of it,,,unless you are gonna grab the TC550, then dont bother obviously. :hehe:

[Chris85]

I ordered the truecontrol, I could sell the 480 for a good price so this is a bit easier ;) I would have like to mod it though, but I'm not sure if I can do it, and I don't want to trash this psu :p:

[jinu117]

Originally posted by Chris85
I ordered the truecontrol, I could sell the 480 for a good price so this is a bit easier ;) I would have like to mod it though, but I'm not sure if I can do it, and I don't want to trash this psu :p:

Truecontrol sucks... its good PSU but adjustable rail right now is maxed at 12.1 (which I am okay with) but... 4.97v and 3.26v under MBM? gimme a break. And to top it off, the control uses 2 1k vars and 1 .5k var. With 0 ohm being the maximum setup. (so you can't modifiy this easily by just swapping them)

Yeah I bought mine yesterday too and plan to return it as soon as I get my PC&P -_-;

[xigfrid]

heheh , some more works on this Antec TP 430 W :D

here my new recommandation to get better Rails' stabilisation :
U 'll need to cut a part of the 92 mm sucking fan to allow it to cold the heatsink that isn't in the normal airflow.

I'm sory i don't have nor a webcam , nor a camera for pictures, so i went as usual, with the hand, your imagination will help a lot ;)

http://membres.lycos.fr/xigfrid1/forumhardware/antec_430W/Mod_ventilo.JPG

[Hell-Fire]

Upon forther research, the TControl550 does indeed suck balls.

Looks like a marketing scheme to me! I would go with the standard Antec vmod for your psu. You should have a sense wire for all 3 rails running down the length of the ATX connector.

You can always PM or email me if you have any questions. If possible, send that damn TC550 back and get a refund...buy either the TPower550 (its hella cheaper than than the TC550), or the TTGI that was reviewed by OPP.

Both are easily modded, and I think that after taking the cover off the TTGI there are actually installed pots to tweak!

[RaZoR]

A third option is to check out PC Power and Cooling's web site.
I recently dumped my Antec TP 430 for a PCP&C Turbocool ATX 510. Rock solid supply with trimpots inside. I had them drill access holes in the case for the trimpots. I have not had to touch them. 1% regulation and a 5 year warranty.

[jinu117]

I ask again...in total lostness.
What are the fixed resistor used in this mod?
those high AMP power resistors or regular 1/4w-1/2w resistor? TIA.

[Hell-Fire]

JINU117-----

You need to use a 68ohm fixed resistor...I dont think it matters which you use as in 1/4w or 1/2w, but I always use the 1/2w cause higher almost always is better.

Use the 68ohm fixed in series with a 10k VR.

[Ragnarok]

sorry for the grave digging :)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antecmod.JPG

now where is it supposed to go? 1 or 2?! (I connected to position 1, it seems to work for me) or it doesnt matter?

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
sorry for the grave digging :)

http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antecmod.JPG

now where is it supposed to go? 1 or 2?! (I connected to position 1, it seems to work for me) or it doesnt matter?

You connect the fixed resistor, then connect the VR in position 1 according to your picture.

The VR would be connected to the top leg of the fixed resistor, away from the ATX connector.

If the black rectangle in your picture is the fixed resistor, then yes, position 1 is the best place for the VR.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by pc ice
haha......Hëll ‡ Fîrë.......what's up buddy.......keep on modin........;)

Sup ice ice.

lol...a moddin we will go a moddin we will go.....

Waiting on my grabbers to get here so I can redo the vdd. Also, found the data sheets for the ICs on my Ti4200..cant wait to vmod this thing and see if she breaks 16k or so.

[Ragnarok]

worked good

now i have 3.4V...

w00t, FSB already looks better


http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antec1.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antec2.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antec3.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~zzhang/antec4.jpg

Antec quality is a bit overrated, if u ask me it looks like a pile of poo the internals...

[Hell-Fire]

Nicely done Rag.

Keep an eye on yer 5v rail as well when upping vcore.

[Fewture]

I did the mod.. Didn't see any difference at first, but when I was pushing the board the other day my Vddr got stuck on 3.23V. I looked at the Vio and saw it @ 3.28. I upped it to 3.45V and started benching again. After a few benchies checked voltages again and saw the Vddr @ 3.30V :eek: :D Whoopsie :p:

Gues the mod works like a charm then only it doesn't help me right now. Something else is holding the board back.. Stuck on 237MHz right now.. 240 is bootable but highly unstable. My Corsair Twinx needs 3.2V @ 220MHz so maybe I should get some better ram first..

[Fewture]

pc ice,

Would you think modding the 12V rail would help getting 240 stable? Or would that only stabilize Vcore?

I cant find the problem m8.. Had Twinmos BH5 in the board yesterday..no luck. The ram was better but still the board crapped out at 240 (241 real).

Also..when I'm at say 7 x 245MHz the system boots perfectly but the screen is in 16 colors (or 256). Like it won't load the vga driver, Argghh :( This 240 thing is driving me crazy :D

I didn't mod the 12V yet because I think my PSU is max now.. Getting really hot.. It's and Antec TP clone 380W. 12V is dropping a little when on high Vcore. 5V is 4.95 as it always is.. 3.3V is 3.45. NB is flat and watercooled.

[Kunaak]

can any post actual pics of the mods?

Pics of the mods done are fine, I just need to see this myself.

also, heres what my antec true control does when maxed out.
the 3.3 volt line is actually lower then my vantec 400 watt, which comes at very strong rails at 3.5, 5.3, and 12.6.
but I've always used that PSU for power fans when benchmarking....

maybe time to give it another look ;)

[Golias]

Originally posted by Hëll ‡ Fîrë
Nicely done Rag.

Keep an eye on yer 5v rail as well when upping vcore.

So on the 12v rail it´s a 68ohm + 10k vr. What about on the 3.3 and on the 5v rails.

[jonspd]

Bump

[Ragnarok]

3.3 use 10ohm + 1K VR

output u get is Vout = (VR resistance)/ (VR resistance + 10) * Vin

[tMQ]

any ideas how to mod psu that has no thin orange cable ? it is cheap 300w psu

I'd like to practise a lil' bit before I'll do mod to my true480

[HMB]

Is it possible to use a 10K or 1K VR and skip the fixed resistor for modding the 5V-rail? Its extremely low atm, 4.7V on molex and 4.3V reported in bios. If so what should I choose, 10K or 1K and how am i supposed to connect it? Just solder one connector to the 5V-sensorcable and the other connector to ground?

[lazytech]

uggggg two dam local radio shacks and neither og them have any of what i need. Imagine that.

[STEvil]

3.3v: 10 ohm fixed, 1K variable.
5v: ? (24 ohm fixed, 5K variable?)
12v: 68 ohm fixed, 10K variable.

A moddin' I shall go... 8-) :toast:

EDIT

Theres no 12v sense on my 400 watt Antec (generic) 8-(

[Jethro]

strange i just bought one of these and it rocks, no vmods required all the rails are perfect.

Awesome PSU! i love how quiet my puter is using all me fans on them fan only headers :D

[La1kr0diZ]

Does this mod apply to Sirtec High Power PSUs?

[STEvil]

It applies to any PSU with sense wires to the ATX header.

My Antec holds 5v/3.3v/12.5v pretty well perfectly all the time, but I want more... hehe.

[HMB]

Go figure, PSU was fried :rolleyes: A capacitor was blown :D Gonna RMA it soon and report back if im going to Vmod it.

[Ragnarok]

I got a TC550 today, gonna do the mod on it as well, its 3.3V adjustment just dont go high enough ..

[xDUCK]

What will happen if I use a 68ohm fixed and a 1K VR on the 3.3v line? Will anything explode :) or is will it fluctuate like crazy, or what? What about the 5v line, is 68/1K ok with that?

Also, I wanted to know... The fixed resistor only has two contact points, and the VR has three, of course. From what I understand, I connect the fixed inline with the 3.3v sense line, and then I choose one of the lines contact points on the fixed resistor and attach the VR. Then I ground the VR. The setup should look like this, yes?

[STEvil]

Right on duck, but I would use a 10k for the 3.3 and 20-35k for the 5v.

[xDUCK]

Any reason (other than quicker & more responsive adjusting)? I just did my 3.3v and 5v, both with the 68/1K combo. Worked like a charm. The only problem is that it took forever to turn the damn 1K and get ANY sort of noticeable rise (talk about fine tuning :)). It did work just fine, though.

Anything I'm overlooking?

[STEvil]

Lower ohm gives more stable rail, as was said earlier... although if 68k works, 68k works.

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by STEvil
Lower ohm gives more stable rail, as was said earlier... although if 68k works, 68k works.

Yeah, that's why I asked about fluctation. So far, though, it's absolutely rock solid at 3.39v (BIOS reading). :) (and 5v is stable at 5.08v).

:thumbsup:

[j2me_tech]

hi guys,

i'm just wondering if i can just change the pot on the front panel of a tc550w?

[asw7576]

Very nice OC !!! I think this is the best OC I've ever made. Right on the power source!!!! I'm gonna try with 10ohm to 60 ohm plus 5K ohm variable resistor.

Mine is HEC 475 watts true power ( I think the company is marketing this PSU under Enermax brand for US market ).:banana:

[tomati]

hi,

good idea this mod , but i've not understand how you can determinated the value of the resistor and the pot ;

3.3v=1k vr (pot) + 10 ohm (r)
5 v = 20k vr? (pot) + 68 ohm (r) ?
12v = 10k vr (pot ) + 68 ohm (r)

that's for the antec true power 430w , 480w & 550w .

the 5v value seems right ?

somebody could show me these formula with the correct value :

vout = vr/(vr+10)*vin

vout=? 3.3,5,or 12 ???
vr=?
why 10?
vin=?3.3,5 or 12???

[STEvil]

wont need a 20vr or 68 ohm for the 5v.

5k and 30ohm would be about perfect probably.

[tomati]

thanks stevil for your reply , may be could you explain how you can find these value ? wath is the formula ?
kind regards ,tomati

[STEvil]

well, if 3.3v uses 10 ohm and 1k, and 12v uses 68 ohm and 10k, then somewhere in the center is ~30ohm and 5k...

If you want to get really technical...

3.3v.......12v...........5v
10ohm 68ohm = 22ohms
1Kohm 10Kohm = 2.9K ohms

10ohm/3.3v to 68ohm/12v is a 6.8/3.2 times increase.
1Kohm/3.3v to 10Kohm/12v is a 10/3.2 times increase.

Going to 5v, we would get

approximately 22ohms and 2.9Kohms..



I used a graph to do the more specific measurements, btw. My guess wasn't too far off.. 8-)

To do the graph yourself, grab a chunk of graph paper and label one axis 1-10 and the other axis 1-12 (center point where they touch being 0). 1-12 is your voltage line, 1-10 represents ohms or Kohms.

Ohms: plot at 3.3v/10ohms (1 on 1-10 scale) and 12v/68ohms (6.8 on 1-10 scale), then draw a line and where it crosses 5v should be about 22 ohms (2.2 on 1-10 scale).

KOhms: plot at 3.3v/1Kohms (1 on 1-10 scale) and 12v/10Kohms (10 on 1-10 scale), then draw a line and where it crosses 5v should be about 2.2Kohms (2.2 on 1-10 scale).

I hate math... 8-)

[STEvil]

Keep forgetting I cant upload an attachment after i've posted.. oh well.

Heres what I mean, done with psp6 and the grid function 8-)

[tomati]

good explaination stevil , i like understand what i'm doing , no need to like math with your drawn , the best way for learn , thanks man , tomati.

[STEvil]

np

[asw7576]

I find this japanese website talking about modding 3.3V and 5V for Antec 430 watts:

http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/octo/pc/

http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/octo/pc/power/power.files/image010.jpg

http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/octo/pc/power/power.files/image011.jpg

http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/octo/pc/power/power.files/image012.jpg

keep on moddin!!:banana:

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by asw7576
http://www005.upp.so-net.ne.jp/octo/pc/power/power.files/image012.jpg

keep on moddin!!:banana:

What a horrible place to put your VR's. You won't be able to turn your screwdriver 360 degrees.:confused: :p:

[STEvil]

i'd stick them on the back like that, but so they point right off the left hand side of the PSU in that pic... then you just gotta pop off the side and turn them, plus less worry about people messing with them since they would have to know they were there.. 8-)

[R-a-Y]

hi,

i've done this with 10ohm + 1k for 3.3v rail
68ohm + 10k for 5v and 12v rails ...and it works nice..but when i push 12v rail up to 12.2v or something (bios reading) my cpu goes unstable...any logical explication for this? :( before the mod it was @ 11.67v...

[]'s

[STEvil]

get a reading at the molex.

Your bios may be reading low and your motherboard may not like going too high.

[McMurphy]

Good and informative tread you have here! I had no fixed resistors at home right now so i couldnt do the mod to my TP550 tonight. But i had some 20 turn VRs, so i tried just soldering a 20k one to an old PSU i was about to get rid of.

http://promodders.dajm.com/anv/upload/mcmurphy/Vridpott.JPG

It was no problem adjusting the 3.3V(the only rail with a thin sense line)

But im not willing to do this to my TP550 if i don´t get an ok from you experts:) Would there be any problems when not using any fixed resistors you think? like to much fluctuation or whatever?

[STEvil]

It was mentioned as working earlier in the tread, I believe.

I tried that with a shottkey diode, as it was also mentioned as working, but it wouldn't work for either of my PSU's.

Whatever works.. 8-)

[asw7576]

I did the mod. There are two TL431 voltage reference IC inside my PSU ( HEC 475 & 525 ). One to control 3.3V, and another one to control 12V & 5V together.

All I need is to add variable resistor to pin 1 & 2 on TL431. a 10K VR for 3.3V, and 100K VR for 12&5 V. They are set to 5K ohm and 60K ohm respectively.

The mod run succesfully, I can go up to 13V, 5.7V, and 3.9V. Of course, I don't recommend these number for use. It's just too much!!! Additional 3% to 5% increase is about right. For examples: 12.36V, 5.15V, 3.40V measure on its connector.

Infact, my system lose stability with very high voltage. So, I use 3% method.

I have another question: My another PSU is going mad. I suspect there is something wrong. The voltage is going up to 14V very fast and it cut off. One thing for sure, If you mod the PSU three times ( solder the VR and replace the VR again and again ) It gonna screw up something, may be the controller IC is screwed up. Do you guys suggest to test it again with mobo connected? I think, It's screw up because there is no load reason.

Anyone ever had this issue?

[Saffire]

Anyone have pictures of their mods? I can't seem to visualize this (and if I can't see it, I'm not doin it!) ;D

[asw7576]

Originally posted by Saffire
Anyone have pictures of their mods? I can't seem to visualize this (and if I can't see it, I'm not doin it!) ;D


OK.... I have some voltmod pics. I need somebody to host the pics. Do you know anybody?

[CSOFT]

I can host pics, PM me.

I broke the leg off my last 1K VR so I used a resistor instead, 500ohm gave my 3.52V, 1K gave 3.44V. (No load, was at 3.37V before mod)

I didnt use the 60ohm, I just hooked the sense wire to the 500ohm resistor (instead of the 1K VR) then to a ground.

Heres my pics of what I got so far....
Before
http://s88708673.onlinehome.us/pics/antec_psu_mod/IMAG0018.JPG
grounded the resistor to a ground on the 20pin
http://s88708673.onlinehome.us/pics/antec_psu_mod/IMAG0020.JPG
results
http://s88708673.onlinehome.us/pics/antec_psu_mod/IMAG0023.JPG

[CSOFT]

Did the 5 and 12V, I used 10K's to the same ground wire I used for the 3.3V. I set them both to about 1.4K and the power supply came on the first time when I was doing the 5 and the 12V.

[Ichwillspeed]

are there any other suitable locations, where i could ground? wanted to solder it half way up the chord, like hell fire suggested!

also more pictures would be highly appreciated! ;)

[CSOFT]

You could ground it to anything, the case if you wanted to (but I wouldn't suggest it). I grounded the 5V and 12V all to the same place. Just use any black wire. I would take more pics of mine but I already taped it up.

Good luck and welcome to xtremesystems

[Ichwillspeed]

thanks for the nice welcome. :D

thought about putting the mod under the nylon. just in case i have to rma the psu! :|
but maybe i try it the way you done it! why should i fry my psu? *g* vdimm worked also out just fine!

[CSOFT]

If you do the mod test it before you hook the PSU back to your computer. If the power supply has problems coming on after the mod that usually means the voltage is out of safe range.

You might want to try doing the mod inside the power supply. It was a little to crowded for me to get to the wire but im sure if i spent more time on it i could.

[Ichwillspeed]

did the mod yesterday. everything worked out like it wanted it to! :D
3.3 rail raised from 3.26 before the mod, to 3.47 after!
will to the 12v and 5v today!

[Hell-Fire]

At a boy Ichwill, have fun a moddin' Crank it up fookers!

[Hell-Fire]

Man, school is kicking my nutz bro. Got Advanced Java II, 2 hardware engineering classes, advanced Physics II, Statistics..thats not counting the 3 labs that are part of those courses....arghhhhhhhhh. Fire needs an adult beverage and maybe some, uhhhh, mmmmmmm toasty. :hehe:

Stupid ASUS and Kingston still havent gotten off there asses and fixed my HyperX stability issue. The damned new bio release allows up to a whoppin 600fsb, but my HyperX crumbles at 215. And for 24/7 usage I have to stay around 200. ACK!!!

I heard they released some new chips, but a poor college guy cant go buying another gig of HyperX after he already spent $300+ bones on the first set. If ya ask me, they should take these damn sticks back and send me more.

Hows things with you oh wise and powerful modder?

[STEvil]

Dont all kingston sticks come with a lifetime warranty?

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by STEvil
Dont all kingston sticks come with a lifetime warranty?

Yes, as long as you don't remove the heatspreaders (not sure if that is "fixable" ;), since I've never done it to my sticks).

[Hell-Fire]

Yeh, they have life-time warranty, doesnt mean they will take em back jsut because of a compat issue with a certain board. Wouldnt hurt to ask I suppose.

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by Hëll ‡ Fîrë
Yeh, they have life-time warranty, doesnt mean they will take em back jsut because of a compat issue with a certain board. Wouldnt hurt to ask I suppose.

Actually... Kingston will and does do that on a regular basis. These high-end RAM companies are EXTREMELY good about RMA's. :toast:

[Hell-Fire]

Da Fire will take a shot at it....why not try atleast. I have modded this board to hell and back and still cant do 215+ stable. Will do 215fsb for benching, but eventually craps out. Nothing worse than being in the middle of fraggin some nazis and puter goes bye bye.

[STEvil]

lol, no kidding 8-)

Darn server I play DoD on is full.. argh.

[Hell-Fire]

What ya think of CoD man? Lil thread hi-jackage neva hurt a soul. :hehe:

[CSOFT]

I'm downloading the "preview" now :D

[Hell-Fire]

Many of my friends play it and think its pretty awesome. Grpahically it is suppose to e superior to all FPS out there at the moment. Better than Medal of Honor, Raven Shield, and Battlefield.

[STEvil]

UT2K3/Halo/U2 have it beat in graphics if you ask me, but all i've played it on is a GF4 Ti4200.. Its just the quake 3 engine.

Personally I like DoD better, CoD seems like a bit much of a rip-off and the aiming system is horrible 8-(

[Hell-Fire]

Thats all I am using as well - Ti4200-.

I like many things about DoD over most games...especially its gaming translation. It just seems to play so damn smooth.

[STEvil]

do this in the console:

gl_texturemode "gl_linear_mipmap_linear"

Trilinear texture filtering.. you might ahve to do it each time you start dod, though.. it doesn't want to stick for me..

Ti4200 was at an internet cafe place.. i've got my 9700np.. 8-)

[Saffire]

Looks like this will be my weekend project.

Can I just ground it to my psu casing (slap some electrical tape on it or something? Or should I solder it on there :( :() I wish I somewhat understood what I'm doin here haha.

Also, to measure the voltage from a molex connector, does it matter which holes you stick it in? (no perversion please ;) serious question!!)

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by Saffire
Looks like this will be my weekend project.

Can I just ground it to my psu casing (slap some electrical tape on it or something? Or should I solder it on there :( :() I wish I somewhat understood what I'm doin here haha.

Also, to measure the voltage from a molex connector, does it matter which holes you stick it in? (no perversion please ;) serious question!!)

Yes, you can ground it on your PSU casing. Like you said, though, it has to be completely secure. Ideally, you don't want any weight pulling the ground wire down, because if it falls, not only will your rails drop (and likely result in a system crash/BSOD, and possibly even hardware damage), but it could contact something on your mobo and fry it!

IIRC, solder won't work... My solder wouldn't bond with the PSU casing, for some reason (I didn't really spend too much time on it, though, so don't take my word for it :)). Personally, I use SMD grabbers and attach them to the grill on my PSU. :).:toast:

On a molex, the grounds are irrelevant, (IIRC), but the red line is 5v and the yellow is 12v.

[Saffire]

Wonderful! No soldering makes the job look that much easier. Guess I get to make a trip down to the Radio Shack.

[STEvil]

I'd just do everything internally and stick the pots on the back poking off the side so you can turn them witha screw driver.. solder the grounds right onto the mass of black wires and you're set.. 8-)

[Saffire]

If I had pictures of one modded internally, I'd prob do that ;) But as it is, I'm pretty clueless as to how to go about doin it (those pics from the Japanese website aren't helpin, all I see is some holes and xxohms stuff :D

Sucks to be electronically impaired.

[morphling1]

Hello
One q. so if I got that correctly there's no way I can fix +3.3 line on my Antec TC550W ?
Mine's at +3.2V when I have pots on max voltage, pretty bad and it's holding me back a little.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by morphling1
Hello
One q. so if I got that correctly there's no way I can fix +3.3 line on my Antec TC550W ?
Mine's at +3.2V when I have pots on max voltage, pretty bad and it's holding me back a little.

There should still be a sense line running the length of the ATX connector cables. Look at one of the corners of the ATX connector for a thick and a thin orange wire. They should both run into the same "slot" on the connector. The thin wire is the sense wire and is the one to mod. I would be surprised if you couldnt mod that psu regardless of its already added benefit of having the rail adjustments built in.

[morphling1]

Yes the sense line is present, and I did the mod, but I used 100ohm fix res and 50k VR (Pilsy's mod). And when I slowly lower the resistance nothing happen. Is the problem in material that I used ?

[Ragnarok]

I suggest u try it with the 10ohm fixed and 1Kohm variable resistor...

macci said if u use a large fixed resistance it might cause some fluctuations.. are u using a 15/25 turn VR? if so u prob just need to turn a bit more aggressively :D

[morphling1]

Yes I'm using 20 turn VR. But I did turned it all the way down, till the PSU just restarted, so something is changing but it's just not showing on voltages. I'll try 10 ohm in 1k to see if there's any changes

[Hell-Fire]

Are you measuring the 3.3v rail from the psu cable?

What are you grounding to btw?

[morphling1]

No I'm looking in bios, is that the problem ?
I'm grounding to case.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by morphling1
No I'm looking in bios, is that the problem ?
I'm grounding to case.

My bios readings are close to 0.5v or more off on 2 of the 3 rails, so I would check directly from the cable.

Use the real thin plug from the psu that has the 6 small slots in it. Ground to anything you like (case) and its easier to just stick something metal into a slot (paper clip is good) that has a orange wire running into it. Obviously stick the paper clip into the slot with the psu unplugged or ya may get a lil jolt. :hehe:

After you boot up the machine, just stick the black probe from the multimeter to any good ground and then touch the red probe to your paper clip to get the reading. Go into the bios and check how the bios is reading versus what your multimeter is reading to see how accurate it is. Thats in fact a good thing to do with the 12v and 5v rails as well. You can check those rails by using one the molex connectors from the psu. Those are the ones you plug into hard drives/cd roms, etc. The black wire is obviously the ground and plugging into the slot with the yellow wire gives you the 12v reading and the red wire gives you the 5v reading.

GL.

[morphling1]

Hello again

I finaly got time to buy new Antec TP 430 psu, to replace my old loud 300W psu on second rig, and I mod +3.3V rail right away. Now I used 30 ohm fixed resistor and 1k VR, well it works. Voltages are now adjustable.

And today I try the same mod on Antec TC 550 psu, and the mod works like a charm on this psu too. Great feeling when you can up the +3.3 rail as high as you want and not get stucked with max 3.2 V on this otherwise great psu.

Thanks guys

[Hell-Fire]

Happy everything worked out for ya.

This place has a wealth of information.

[Hell-Fire]

Something tells me that pc ice may like da NF7, but I am not sure about this.... :hehe:

[Minnyboy]

Hi, just a quick question from a relative nOOb to volt modding.
I have had a bit of experience with my 9800pro but would like to clarify some things B4 I go ahead with these PSU mods.

The question is:
What do i set the 10K VR to? Max resistance (10K) & then lower the resistance as I go along?

[Swiftech]

I don't get it. Why do we have to use a resistor and another VR ? Can't we just solder a VR between the sensor wire ?

[Minnyboy]

I'm a nOOb at this but I think it's the same as the IC7 mem mod, just in case your VR/trimmer's ground comes loose you'll still have power without it shorting.

I'm probably wrong in my assumption though. Just a guess. I'm only following what the senior members have done as it's proven.

Just my little 2 nOOb cents...

[STEvil]

If you read farther into the start of the thread its noted that just putting a resistor/VR/Diode directly into the vsense line doesnt work on all PSU's.

A VR from ground to the vsense line may work without an inline, but nobody has tried as of yet or not noted their results here.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by STEvil
If you read farther into the start of the thread its noted that just putting a resistor/VR/Diode directly into the vsense line doesnt work on all PSU's.

A VR from ground to the vsense line may work without an inline, but nobody has tried as of yet or not noted their results here.

Thats a true statement there STEvil. I have done the mod with just the VR on the sense wire, but also done it where it wouldnt work without a fixed resistor running inline with the VR. The psu wouldnt power up with em both.

Depends on the psu, some run fine with just the VR while others require both for some reason.


Originally posted by Minnyboy
Hi, just a quick question from a relative nOOb to volt modding.
I have had a bit of experience with my 9800pro but would like to clarify some things B4 I go ahead with these PSU mods.

The question is:
What do i set the 10K VR to? Max resistance (10K) & then lower the resistance as I go along?

Yes, set it to max resistance and go from there is the best thing to do. With it set to max resistance, there will be only a marginal increase in voltage based on what VR you used.

[lalPOOO]

I did the 3.3v sense line mod, and the 5v sense line mod on my 400w antec "smartpower". Next time I have it open I may take some pictures just incase people are still struggling. (I also kind of want to show off the nice clean job I did :D )
One thing to note is that as I raised the 5v line the 12v line decided to tag along, which was quite a nice surprise for me consider that there was no 12v sense line.
Right now I've got the rails set like this 3.3v@3.46v, 12v@12.23, 5v@5.16v. If anyone thinks these rails are too high, lemme know.

If you look at these results, I don't really any reason to buy a "truepower" version of the antec power supplies.

Thanks!:D :D :D

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by lalPOOO
I did the 3.3v sense line mod, and the 5v sense line mod on my 400w antec "smartpower". Next time I have it open I may take some pictures just incase people are still struggling. (I also kind of want to show off the nice clean job I did :D )
One thing to note is that as I raised the 5v line the 12v line decided to tag along, which was quite a nice surprise for me consider that there was no 12v sense line.
Right now I've got the rails set like this 3.3v@3.46v, 12v@12.23, 5v@5.16v. If anyone thinks these rails are too high, lemme know.

If you look at these results, I don't really any reason to buy a "truepower" version of the antec power supplies.

Thanks!:D :D :D

On many power supplies, the 5v and 12v rails are "connected" so to speak. If there arent individual sense lines, 99% of the time the adjustment to the 5v rail will bring the 12v with it.

Just for future reference. ;)

[Malves]

I did the mod sometime ago following this guide here. Here's how I did it. :) Did it using a 10ohm resistor w/ a 1k pot.

[Hell-Fire]

Looks nicely done. :cheers:

[Minnyboy]

Malves, that's looking real good.
Just a bummer I'm no good with a soldering iron. Have to wait for my m8 to do the mods for me. I'll be joing you guys at the extreme end of things.

It's a pity that the TP 550w PSU can't hold its lines too good. Apart from that they're very good (cheap) in AUS.

Tryin to get 100 posts up so I can go to the buy/sell part of XS forums. Wanna get some decent BH-5 ram to try these volt mods I'm doing.

[makatee]

Sorry if Im reposting any, but ive read through this thread and this is gonna be my first volt mod so i wanna get things right. Im gonna run to Radio Shack and pick up a multimeter and some resistors as soon as i get a confirmation as to what is best. From what ive read, these are what i need:
3.3 - 10 ohm fixed resistor and 1 K VR
5 - 36 ohm fixed and 10 K VR
12 - 68 ohm fixed and 10 k VR

Do those look right? Also, Im gonna have the same multimeter as Malves does, so after I get all this done, where do i measure volts at? Thanks for all the help guys.

[Minnyboy]

makatee,
I've asked a few members on the exact subject you're asking & fromwhat you posted, you are right.

All you need now is to dop the mod & you;re set to get a big boost to your PSU lines.

I'll be doing the mod ASAP, most likely after I get meself some volt lovin' BH-5's.

good luck with your mod m8. Should be a cinch if you're capable with a soldering iron which I'm not.

[makatee]

Minnyboy-
Thanks for the confirmation of what parts i need. Now i just need to know where exactly im going to measure the voltages at and how...Ive never used a multimeter and never done a volt mod. I can work a soldering iron fairly well though. Anyone else wanna help me out with that stuff?

[Minnyboy]

makatee,
measure with the multimeter to max resistance on one of the outer pins.
Lets say you measure 10K Ohm on the pin closest to the screw. Snip the othe pin on the outer die & make sure that the trimmer/VR is set to 10K Ohms.
Do your fixed/VR mod and then just adjust from there. if your mobo lets you see what your 3.3v line is then maybe you can adjust it on the fly.
I have done that before on my Vmem IC7 mod but a safer option is to know which way to adjust for lower resistance and have the PC off & adjust a quarter turn, Boot up & check the 3.3 line and if you're going in the right direction then just keep doing the adjusting til you get what you want.
I'd say 3.5v is a safe limit but don't quote me on that.

Good Luck M8.

edit: spelling

[Malves]

Originally posted by makatee
Minnyboy-
Thanks for the confirmation of what parts i need. Now i just need to know where exactly im going to measure the voltages at and how...Ive never used a multimeter and never done a volt mod. I can work a soldering iron fairly well though. Anyone else wanna help me out with that stuff?

Set the multimeter to 20v.
Turn on the PSU - short the green wire and a black wire (ground)next to it in the ATX connector of your PSU. You can use a wire for or a piece of solder. Make sure the PSU's power switch is on the off position before you short the pins.

Ground the multimeter to the PSU case (see black lead on lower left corner of my pic?) and insert the other lead in the 3.3v line pin in the ATX connector. Usualy, the orange one. That's all.

I also have to recommend to NOT make any adjustments on the fly.

[Minnyboy]

Malves,
Just came back from getting all 3 mods done. In the middle of changing those weak-as Antec Fans with more powerful ones from my dead Enermax 350w. Gonna test it to see if it works & then report back.

IC7-G VTT mod to be done on Monday & then getting some XMS-3500 & I'm there:banana:

Cheers for the advice M8
:toast:

edit: It's a pity my OCZ Gold 466 don't like high voltages & my A-Data DDR500 won't do any more than 544@2.5-5-4-4 mo matter what amount of volts I give it

[Malves]

Hey, Minnyboy

Good to hear on the mods.:) I still gotta get my lazy @ss outta the chair and do the 12v rail mod. :D

Good luck, my friend. Hope you get some crazy MHZ. ;)

[makatee]

ALright, well I modded the 3.3 line succesfully ( my first VOLTMOD!!!!! ) and now im goin to the 5 v and 12 v. here are my questions b4 i get started. i have a 33 ohm fixed resistor and a 10 k vr for the 5 v line, but what resistance should i set the vr to b4 i solder it and start up? also, for the 12 v line i have a 68 0hm resistor and a 10 k vr, and my same question earlier applies to this....what resistance should i set the vr to b4 soldering? thanks guys. this thread just gave some new life to a power supply that i thought sucked...:toast:

[Minnyboy]

makatee,

set the resistance of your 10K Ohm VR to max resistance (10K Ohms) so that when everything has been modded, you won't get much of a rise on your lines.

Very similar to your 3.3v mod. You set your 1K Ohm VR to 1K Ohm before you started right?

Godd luck with your mods. Mine's doing really, really good m8 & I hope your's turns out just as well as mine did.

Cheers :toast:

[shimmishim]

This is good reading... glad i made it to the end before posting any questions.

I think makatee's questions and the answers everyone gave is going to make this mod easy.

I have a few questions myself though. Does it matter if you do the mod closer to the ATX connector or closer to the actual PSU case?

Also for the "ground". People keep referring to the black cables or whatever. I know in the ATX connector diagram that there are black cables that are referred to as ground.

So as a ground, can i strip the black cable and attach the ground wire from the potentiometer to this wire?

I just want to make sure this is possible before I did the mod as well.

Also, I'll be cutting the thin vsense lines correct so I can add in the resistors?

[Malves]

From top to bottom:

1. Doesn't matter if it's close to the ATX connector, inside the PSU, or half way between both.:)

2. Yes, you can use the PSU's ground (black) wires for your ground.

3. Yes, the sense line is the one to be modded.

[Minnyboy]

shimmishim,

I actually got my friend to do the mods for me.

What I got him to do was open up my PSU & do the job inside & have the VR coming out of some gaps where the cables come out since I have to put it in my Vapo & my PSU has to mount sideways. I have double-sided taped the VR's I have so I can easily acces it.

My friend actually done the it really neat as I think that having the mods done closer to the ATX 20pin makes it a bit hard to mount the VR's without cable clutter.

I have included a pic of where I've place my VR's.

What the guy mean when they say that you can just use a black cable is just cutting the insulation of one of the black cables from the ATX 20pin connector & soldering the ground to that as the black cables you see on the 20 pin sonnectors are basically ground cables.

My M8 did it a bit differently, he actually took the PCB of the PSU out & soldered the groung to one of the ground cable soldering joints underneath the PCB of the PSU.

Ignore my writing on the VR's, I just did it so that I know which way to turn the screw on the VR to give it more volts. I did it wrong though but haven't been bothered to scrub that ink off & do it in the right direction.

Good luck with your mods M8.

edit: I used the smaller 25 turn (I think VR) as I think it is better looking..hehehehe

[Hell-Fire]

Looks nice man. Buy your friend a 6pack. :hehe:

[makatee]

THanks everyone for this great thread. I finally did the mod and now all is well and this power supply is finally worth what i paid for it....this is my first vmod!!! and it worked! :toast:

[shimmishim]

Thanks guys!

I'll be doing this mod as soon as I get back to school.

It'll be my Friday afternoon project :)

Then I'll be settin' up the prommy WOO HOO!

[shimmishim]

i can't seem to find a 36 ohm resistor on the radioshack webpage.... does anyone have the exact part number?

thanks!

and if i can't find a 36 ohm, would 47 ohm fixed resistor be okay for the 5 volt line?

thanks!

[shimmishim]

sorry i was able to find a 33 ohm resistor at radioshack.com.. i think that should suffice :)

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by shimmishim
sorry i was able to find a 33 ohm resistor at radioshack.com.. i think that should suffice :)

I used a 36Ohm fiexed resistor with a 10K Ohm VR so that 33 Ohm fixed resistor should be fine.

[Ragnarok]

if u need ground, dont even need to cut any ground wire, there's several spots on the PSU pcb u can use as a ground point..

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by Ragnarok
if u need ground, dont even need to cut any ground wire, there's several spots on the PSU pcb u can use as a ground point..

That's exactly what my frien did for me. Works beautifuly as well. if I ave the time i will open up my PSU & post some pics of what the inside of my PSU looks like. He actually soldered the ground to one of the ground points underneath the PSU.

I'm wrapped that my friend didn't listen to me & persisted on his method. I gave him some old slot1 P3 mobo's as a gift for doing the mods for me. he's done my IC7-G Vmem mod, 9800pro Vgpu & Vdd mods as well as my PSU mods. He has surprised me in the quality of workmanship he has done for me.

Next up is my IC7-G VTT & 9800XT vmods.

BTW, has anyone experienced any problems when setting the 12v & 5v lines over 5.3v/12.3v? My 550w Antec TP has this prob where if I set the lines I mentioned any higher than 12.3v my PSU won't start.

Pity he doesn't drink beers, otherwise I'd shout him a few slabs.

[shimmishim]

I wasn'[t planning on cutting the ground wire. I was just going to strip a part of it so I could attach the ground wire from the VR to the black ground wire.

:)

Just strippin' it.. not cuttin' :)

:banana:

[Minnyboy]

shimmishim,

I know that you weren't going to cut the "ground", as I wouldn't either.

If you do the "open PSU" method, check where one of you ATX 20pin ground leads go to & flip the PSU pcb over & solder a ground onto that.

Works good for me. Anyway you do it & it works is good so get at it m8. Good Luck while you're at it m8.

3 more days & I'll be able to test this GREAT mod out, my BH-5's are on the way.:banana: :banana:

I was kinda shattered when i bought the Antec as it would not hold it's rails like my Enermax 430w. B4 the mod, my Antec was 3.2v, 4.8v, 11.7ishV while my Enermax was 3.35v, 5.15v, 12.26v.

After the mod, I'm as happy as can be:banana: .
Was comtemplating on getting the 550w Enermax but that can wait til one of my PSU dies now. hehehehehe

[shimmishim]

thanks for the tip minnyboy!

i'll do that instead...

but all three wires should fit there right? (one ground from each volt rail)

i haven't busted open my antec yet.. i will do it this afternoon.

[shimmishim]

just finished up the mod!

looks good...

except i measured teh voltages as

3.3 --> 3.65
5 --> 5.3
12 --> 12.5

volts show up as

3.47
5.16
12.11

board to blame?

up the volts now?

thanks!

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by shimmishim
just finished up the mod!

looks good...

except i measured teh voltages as

3.3 --> 3.65
5 --> 5.3
12 --> 12.5

volts show up as

3.47
5.16
12.11

board to blame?

up the volts now?

thanks!

Absolutely normal, everybody's board does that. Since no electrical components are 100% efficient, some voltage is actually "lost" (converted to heat) as it zips through your motherboard's power circuit. This is the reason electrical components output heat.

[Minnyboy]

shimmishim,

I measured my voltages with my MM & it's shows up right but through the mobo bios it loses some volts.

Better to believe what the multimeter says.

Anyways, good to see your mod turned out well.

Where'd you end up soldering the ground to?

When I opened up my PSU, I could ony see 1 ground wire for my mods. I presumed that my friend had soldered the three grounds to that 1 & then soldered it onto the back of the PSU ocb.

[shimmishim]

i ended up using the black ground cables after all...

everything works great!

except after i stuck in my new 3.0C, my board just died.. no boot or anything :(

so i gotta get a new board... but i can't figure out which one to get...

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by shimmishim
i ended up using the black ground cables after all...

everything works great!

except after i stuck in my new 3.0C, my board just died.. no boot or anything :(

so i gotta get a new board... but i can't figure out which one to get...

Off topic but WTF happened? Too much power? another IC7-G would be good & doesn't cost mucho for the mods.

Maybe PSU killing the board?


__________________________________________________ __

P.S 100 posts finally!!! Now to go into the goodies shop

[shimmishim]

i doubt it..

it booted before with my 2.4C

it was only after i switched the cpu did i start having problems...

with the hardware monitor for abit board...

3.3 --> 3.47
5.0 --> 5.16
12 --> 12.11

i setup the voltages as 3.65, 5.3, and 12.3 and measured with a multimeter.

[shimmishim]

my new voltages are:

http://www.johnshim.com/mods/psu mod.JPG

seems that lots of energy is loss between the psu and the mobo.

i tweaked the voltages a little more

3.3 --> 3.7
5 --> 5.4
12 --> 12.4

it's amazing how much it drops. oh well! thanks for the help everyone!

[STEvil]

Yeah, it is... they should design their boards better if you ask me.

[Minnyboy]

shimmishim,

Maybe the 430w Antec's are able to sustain more volts bcos my 550w Antec can't go past 12.3, 5.3 on those rails. Any higher & my PSU won't power up.

Wonder what's wrong with mine?

[shimmishim]

yeah that's very strange!

i knwo i accidently turned my 5 and 3.3 up too high and the overvolt kicked it... good stuff...

maybe the overvolt is kickin' earlier than it should? dunno... but that really stinks...

[Deathangel]

I done this mod to my antec tru430 and it seems that my 3.3 line is still low, at least as far as any software says MBM5 says 2.88 and Sandra 2003 says the same ? I modded all the lines and the 5V reads as it should at 5.30, which is where i had it modded to. Also my 12V line reads at 12.20 which is where I put it. But the 3.3V still reads at 2.88. After the mod I read it with my multimeter right off the ATX header and it read 3.60. Is the software wrong or is my mod screwed ? I used the inline resistor with a VR for all the mods. I used a 10k VR with a 68 ohm inline for the 12V line. A 22 ohm with a 10 k VR for the 5V and a 10 ohm with a 1k VR for the 3.3. It reads right on the Header but not in anything else ? Any ideas ? Or am reading it form the right place ? Thanks to everyone for all the info in this thread and thanks in advance to anyone that has an idea as to why I am getting this :toast:

[Minnyboy]

Mine reads 3.4 on the atx 20 pin header but mobo monitor & in the bios my max is 3.2v.

Believe what your MM says I reckon..

edit: best to read it from the line you modded if you get my drift.

[Deathangel]

Yay thats what i trust is the multimeter but do you think maybe the sensor is just reading it wrong ? I was reading it with the meter right off the atx plug. So it has 3.6 there but all my other lines reported the change just not the 3.3 ? I guess I'll mess around a bit more and see what I can find.

[Minnyboy]

Deathangel,

What mobo are you using?

Not sure if that has anything to do with it but my IC7-G is only a bit off with the readings, say under .2v off me thinks.

[Deathangel]

I got a Epox 8RDA+ Rev. 1.1, I am gonna try to find a schematic and read it with my meter straight off the mobo if possible and see what it really is reading. I think maybe just the sensor is a pos and it doesnt like 3.6 lol hopefully anyway or maybe my psu is taking a dump not sure yet.

[vgiozo]

I hope you guys can help me on an issue that has been troubling me for some time
I have a chaintech Zenith mobo that has a vdimm as high as 3,2...
...The problem is that it cannot keep a vdimm higher than 2,8...
The first thing one would suggest is that there is something wrong with the motherboard...
However, I have come to the conclusion that it takes up too much juice of the 3.3 line.

I've seen one more user having the same trouble and he partially coped with it by modding the psu...so I'm willing to do the same...or something similar...

I have an Antec 480 TRuepower psu that I can mess with...
The other solution is to buy the 550 truecontrol psu that allows an overvoltage of the 3.3 line up to 3.45-3.49...
I've read other users' posts that had the same idea as me but where disappointed by the truecontrol...

But since I have no knowledge on electronics I would like to ask for your advice on what I should do to get the board to supply the requested voltage...

...have the psu 480 modded for me
or
Buy the 550 truecontrol?

All I want is to be able to use the 3.1-3.2 vdimm

Please any idea, advice, info would be very appreciated :toast:

[xDUCK]

Originally posted by vgiozo
I hope you guys can help me on an issue that has been troubling me for some time
I have a chaintech Zenith mobo that has a vdimm as high as 3,2...
...The problem is that it cannot keep a vdimm higher than 2,8...
The first thing one would suggest is that there is something wrong with the motherboard...
However, I have come to the conclusion that it takes up too much juice of the 3.3 line.

I've seen one more user having the same trouble and he partially coped with it by modding the psu...so I'm willing to do the same...or something similar...

I have an Antec 480 TRuepower psu that I can mess with...
The other solution is to buy the 550 truecontrol psu that allows an overvoltage of the 3.3 line up to 3.45-3.49...
I've read other users' posts that had the same idea as me but where disappointed by the truecontrol...

But since I have no knowledge on electronics I would like to ask for your advice on what I should do to get the board to supply the requested voltage...

...have the psu 480 modded for me
or
Buy the 550 truecontrol?

All I want is to be able to use the 3.1-3.2 vdimm

Please any idea, advice, info would be very appreciated :toast:

As long as you have a multimeter, I would recommend you just do it yourself. :)

Step by step guide:
1) Go to local electronics store and get a 30 or 60 ohm (or anywhere in between) fixed resistor and a 1k (1k = 1000) ohm variable resistor.
2) Come home, locate the 3.3v line (usually orange) and cut the sense line (the thinnest wire of the three) from the same socket in the ATX connector (top left)
3) Solder your 30 to 60ohm fixed resistor between the points of the sense line you cut.
4) Solder a wire from one of the sides of the fixed resistor to the front leg (the "front" has the circular adjuster) of the 1K variable resistor. Solder the middle leg
5) Power up by jumpstarting PSU and check your 3.3v line (using multimeter). Turn VR as necessary until you reach desired voltage.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. As long as you have the proper equipment (multimeter, soldering iron, and those two resistors), it will be no problem.

:toast:

PS: If you don't have that stuff, or you just feel really antsy about doing it, I can do it for you for free (but you pay shipping ;)).

[STEvil]

Use a digital multimeter and monitor the 3.3v rail under load and such to see if the PSU is faltering or the motherboard itself.

[vgiozo]

Thank you both for your replies, this voltage problem has been giving me headache...


Use a digital multimeter and monitor the 3.3v rail under load and such to see if the PSU is faltering or the motherboard itself.

I guess I should have done that first to clear out if the board or psu is at fault...
but I got a little lazy and just thought that it might be a combination of both...the psu not supplying enough volt for this power-hungry board and the board's average power circuit



If you don't have that stuff, or you just feel really antsy about doing it, I can do it for you for free (but you pay shipping

Ok were do you live? :D
Actually I can find people here to do it for me (but I wouldn't mind getting my hands dirty on a 400w Q-tec - it shall have an eroic death)


2) Come home, locate the 3.3v line (usually orange)
that's my best part of the guide, I wouldn't like to do the mod out on the streets :toast:

Right now I'm missing the soldering iron and the multimeter to get things started...

I've almost made up my mind to mod the psu, but first I would like to hear your opinion, from your experience, whether the 550 truecontrol will do the job...

I understand that for you modding can be fun and a learning experience, but for me that I'm not much into technology, however interesting it sounds - as has been my experience so far with computers - I just want to keep the modding solution as a last resort just in case something goes wrong

So judging from your experience, could the 550 truecontrol at 100% give me my precious vdimm options?

I'll have to measure 3.3 rail first to see what's up and give you some ground on which you can make an estimation of the specific situation, but of course I'd be very glad to hear (err...read) your opinion in the meantime...

[computerpro3]

so these are the proper values, correct?


12 volt = 10k vr 68ohm fixed
5 volt = 5k vr 30ohm fixed
3 volt = 1k vr 10ohm fixed

and all you have to do is cut the appropriate sense wires and solder the fixed resistor inline and then solder one leg of the vr to one of the legs of the fixed resistor (doesnt matter which one) and then solder the other leg to a black wire for ground. This will leave one leg of the vr unused, correct? does it matter which leg?

thx

[STEvil]

I found using a 1k on the 3.3 and 5k on the 5v was overkill...

500 ohm and 2K for 3.3 and 5 respectively would probably work much better.... and 5k on the 12v.

stick with 1k/5k/10k for 3.3/5/12 though since nobody has tried 500 ohm/1k/5k yet.. could kill the PSU.

Also, use the same legs on each variable resistor so you dont have to turn each one in the opposite direction to increase the voltage. The middle pin is the one that should be used for the ground.

[STEvil]

Put them on the outside of the PSU so all you have to do is pop off the side of your case and then you can turn them..

I put mine on the wrong side fo the PSU case when I was doing this though, lol :D

[Hell-Fire]

Thats exactlly how I do my psu mods as well STEvil.

Best plae for them is mounted on the psu housing IMHO.

[computerpro3]

alright im gonna try this mod today or tommorrow, depending on what time i get out of here (at my fathers work). It "should" be safe to get the lines to as follows, right:

12v @ 12.3
5v @ 5.3
3.3v @ 3.5

That should be good, right? How high can I go while being reasonably sure that this thing won't fry my system until the 3rd of 4th quarter of this year when prescott matures? I know nothing is guaranteed, but still....Whats the benefit of going higher on the 12v line, vcore stabilazation? I know the 3.3 is vdimm, the 5v line's benefit is increased Radeon voltage stability, but what's the 12v lines? Thanks.

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by computerpro3
It "should" be safe to get the lines to as follows, right:
12v @ 12.3
5v @ 5.3
3.3v @ 3.5
That should be good, right?

If I'm right, your Antec won't power up if you take it too far.. Better to jumpstart it without it hooked up to any components to check your lines...

My 550w TP won't power up if I try anything over 12.2v or 5.2v.. Auto shut-off feature me thinks...

As for my 3.3v line, I've got it up to 3.51v w/out the auto shut-off feature kicking in. Damn I hate that BS feature...

I wanted exactly the same adjustments as you... Pity the darn thing shuts off... Oh well, at least it didn't blow up like my Enermax 350w & Topower 520 (w/out mods...)

[computerpro3]

really, the antec won't power up with just .3 over the lines?!! Thats bs...And yea I am definetly going to jumpstart it first, just wanted to know if those voltages were good for everyday operation.

[CSOFT]

Originally posted by Minnyboy
If I'm right, your Antec won't power up if you take it too far.. Better to jumpstart it without it hooked up to any components to check your lines...

My 550w TP won't power up if I try anything over 12.2v or 5.2v.. Auto shut-off feature me thinks...

As for my 3.3v line, I've got it up to 3.51v w/out the auto shut-off feature kicking in. Damn I hate that BS feature...

I wanted exactly the same adjustments as you... Pity the darn thing shuts off... Oh well, at least it didn't blow up like my Enermax 350w & Topower 520 (w/out mods...)

Thats odd, try disconnection the sence wire from the ATX connector.


really, the antec won't power up with just .3 over the lines?!! Thats bs...And yea I am definetly going to jumpstart it first, just wanted to know if those voltages were good for everyday operation.

I wouldn't count on that, theres so much different §§§§ that goes on this PSU modding besiness. I like to go 3.3@3.5V, 5V@5.25, 12@12.25-12.75.

Most of the time it will offer atvatages of the stock ouputs, but it can't hurt (just kidding about the "it cant hurt" but if you carefull most of the time it will be all good.

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by CSOFT
Thats odd, try disconnection the sence wire from the ATX connector.

How to do that? Cut the darn thing??? Don't really wanna cut any wires other than the volt mods... Would I have to remove my mods??? Just cut it near the ATX connector???

I'm at a loss with your method, if I cut the sense wires for my 5v & 12v, then will my vio mods for them still work???

The overvoltage protection whatever kicks in really early for me....

My Enermax 430w is rock solid w/out any mods... 3.35v, 5.15v, 12.2v...

With the Antec, if I turn the VR 1mm after it hits 12.2v & try to jumpstart the thing, the damn thing won't start...

TIA

[computerpro3]

i did the 12v mod with a 68ohm fixed and a 10k 15turn trimpot and no matter how much i turn the pots, the voltage doesnt go lower and higher?!?! what gives?

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by computerpro3
i did the 12v mod with a 68ohm fixed and a 10k 15turn trimpot and no matter how much i turn the pots, the voltage doesnt go lower and higher?!?! what gives?

Silly question but did you follow the guides properly?
That's the only thing I can think of for your mod not working...
Did you ground it to a good place?
I had mine grounded under the PSU PCB on one of the ground wires.

[computerpro3]

sigh...yea and i also did it to the 5v and 3.3v lines. worked great for those. So i adjust the 5 to 5.2, the 3.3 to 3.5, go to the bathroom, and go to work on the 12. I turn the trimpot, and its still not changing. I keep turning. All the sudden, the psu shuts off. I'm like, wtf? I look at it more carefully, and it was the friggen 3.3v line. I set the resistance to 0 by accident, sending who knows how many volts through the 3.3v line. the thing will not turn back on now. I think i fried my psu. So much for overvolt protection :rolleyes: :( :eek: :mad: :confused:


quote from newegg's specs for the trupower 430

Over Voltage Protection: +5V trip point @+6.5V;+3.3V trip point @+4.1V;+12V trip point @+14.4V


does this mean its not fried because it should have shut off at 4.1v? Whats the max possible volts i put through this with a 10 ohm fixed resistor and the vr set to 0?

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by computerpro3
So much for overvolt protection
Over Voltage Protection: +5V trip point @+6.5V;+3.3V trip point @+4.1V;+12V trip point @+14.4V
Whats the max possible volts i put through this with a 10 ohm fixed resistor and the vr set to 0?

Okay, I think you farked it good:eek:
This is what I'd try to do in your situation...

1.) Ripp/unsolder the resistor & VR.
2.) If you've taken the mods off, temporarily reconnect the sense wire together & try & jumpstart your PSU & pray to the almighty eXtreme Sickness GOD that the thing fires up.

Can you explain it a bit more? I'm not sure whether you had the PC running & then adjusted(?) the VR on the fly. If you adjusted it while the PSU/PC was off & then tried to power up your rig, the overvolt protection BS would kick in & maybe save your PSU from becoming a messy/heavy/awkward paperweight....

If my resolution works (I'm praying for ya too) then you can use a multimeter to set your 1K Ohm VR to roughly 220-300 Ohms & re-do the mod. I suggest starting with 220 Ohms first though.

If all else fails...I heard that the Fortron 520w(?) PSU is excellent...No need to do any vio mods as I'm sure that they have some pots inside the PSU that you can adjust....

Wish I could get one here in AUS...The best one I can get (dearest as well) is the Enermax 550w PSU...

Anyways, I hope this works out well for you. I remember turning the 12v or 5v a bit too high& my PSU would not start up. That over-protection does help a bit...I hope it helps a lot in your case....

GOOD LUCK....

edit: Let me know how you go ok?

[STEvil]

The trimmers suggested for this mod are way too high I think.. between 3.3 and 3.8v with a 1k trimmer is under 1/2 a turn for me on my antec 400w smartpower.. 5/12v is just as bad, if not worse.

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by STEvil
The trimmers suggested for this mod are way too high I think.. between 3.3 and 3.8v with a 1k trimmer is under 1/2 a turn for me on my antec 400w smartpower.. 5/12v is just as bad, if not worse.

STEvil, what size trimmers do you recommend then?
500 Ohm trimmer for 3.3v, 5K Ohm trimmers for the 5v & 12v?

I can make fine adjustments with my 3.3v line. Got one of those 25 turn 1K Ohm trimmer set up on that line.

I'm gonna play with mine later 2nite to see if my 5v & 12v will play my game with me....

Will a 5K Ohm trimmer help me get any higher than 12.2v, 5.2v?
I'm doubting it but what's the harm in asking????

Is there a way to turn off that p.o.s BS overvolt protection? If not turn it off, is there a mod like replacing a resisitor/capacitor (if it is one of those that control the OVP???

Is it possible to say take a OVP (over voltage protection) device from say a dead Enermax 350w or Topower 520w PSU to raise the limits of my 550w TP????

Any comments? Is it do-able??Or am I just dreaming being somewhat a nOOb when it comes to PSU sh*t???

Cheers,
Minnyboy

[STEvil]

I would have used a 500k on my 3.3v, 1K for my 5v, and 2k for my 12v.

But whether that would work or not in reality...

To fix the overvolt protection I think we would need to find out what chip controls it then add a resistor to it...

[computerpro3]

IT WORKED! Thanx Minnyboy...I followed your suggestion about taking all the mods off and resoldering the lines together and it worked. I then did the 5v mod and it worked. i did the 12v mod and it still won't adjust but isnt hurting anything. i did the 3.3v mod and it wouldn;t start up again....i decided to swap out all the parts in the 3.3v mod for brand new wire, vr, resistor, etc. It worked beautifully. I guess i screwed up a resistor or something, weird. I'm sittin pretty at 12.08 (will NOT adjust) 5.2, and 3.5. Thanks everybody for all their help. My only question is why won't the 12v mod work? I've taken it off and reapplied it 3 times now...and it the lowest resistance it will give me is 9.01. it is the exact same pot i used for the 5v mod and that one goes almost to 0, what gives? I'm using radio shack pots, thats probably the problem. I wonder if its a bad one. No matter how much i turn it gives me the lowest 9.01k and the highest 9.78k. I hate radio shack pots...

[Minnyboy]

computerpro3,

what value resistor did you use for the 12v line?

I used a 68Ohm fixed + 10K VR.

Maybe go out & get yourself a few more 10K + 5K VR's to play with?

What I did was buy like 5 of each VR I needed & just used the MM to adjust them all to see what was the best ones to use & just throw the others somewhere (I marked their highest resistance(?) on them though for future use).

That way, I was able to be 100% sure that my mods worked first time round.

Maybe give that a shot?

Cheers,

[computerpro3]

I also used a 10k vr and 68 ohm fixed. I can't be arsed to remove the psu again from the case at the moment cause I did an hour long wiring job last night, but evntually I will try another 10k resistor. The 68 ohm is good according to the multimeter, but the 10k can't be adjusted lower than 9k ohms at all which is limiting me at 12.08.

edit: I mentioned at hardforums that i had modded my trupower and my pm box was swamped with questions about how i did it so i wrote a guide....I think i got everything right, but would like the experts to make sure (don't wanna fry anybody's pc lol). thanx heres the link

Psu Modding Guide (http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=726156)

[toolbox]

Would soldering a 10ohm fixed resistor and 1k VR on the 3.3v line void the warranty?

Also does cutting the wires on a PSU void the wires? Like if I were to remove the 6pin molex...completley.

[computerpro3]

lol yea the warranty would be gone

[toolbox]

Awww man...dont know if I should do this until I get my computer working (waiting on an OS)

I'll get the supplies anyways.

[toolbox]

I got a few Qs.

I was at Radioshack and they didn't have a 36ohm fixed resistor or 68ohm fixed resistor.
All I could find was a 33ohm fixed resisitor. Will this work for what I want to do or will I need 36ohm?

Also the 10ohm and 33ohm resistor I got are both 1/2 watt with 5% tolerance. Will these do fine?

Lastly, the VRs are both 1.25 watts and 15 turns. Will these suffice?

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by toolbox
I got a few Qs.

I was at Radioshack and they didn't have a 36ohm fixed resistor or 68ohm fixed resistor.
All I could find was a 33ohm fixed resisitor. Will this work for what I want to do or will I need 36ohm?

Also the 10ohm and 33ohm resistor I got are both 1/2 watt with 5% tolerance. Will these do fine?

Lastly, the VRs are both 1.25 watts and 15 turns. Will these suffice?

Where abouts in this wide world are ya? Reason for me asking is that I'll send some to ya by snail mail...

Any good electronics shop should have what you're looking for.

I've got meself like 50 x 68Ohm 1% fixed resistors & 80 x 10Ohm 1% fixed resistors lying around... I ordered like 10 of each & the vendor sent me 10 packs....Also got around 5 x 1K 25 turn trimmerss, 5 x 10K 15 turn trimmers, & a lot more 1K 15 turn trimmers as well as some others...

I'm offering to send some to you although it may take while if you're a long way from AUS...

I may be wrong but I think you sould use two of those 33Ohm resistors inline (66 Ohm total) & then solder the VR to them as per the instructions...

I'm not sure what you mean by 1.25w trimmers???? Ask the Radioshack guy (who by the looks of things doesn't know squat about electronics) for a 1K trimmer or whatever ones you're after.

Cos I don't know your whereabouts, I can't really help you much in finding another place that would stock the items you're after...

Remember, I'm willing to help you out & send you the resistors & trimmers to the values you need.

All you gotta do is ask or email me. Look under my profile or send me a PM with an address to send what you need & I'll get them to you ASAP....Normally takes roughly 7-10 days for me to send mail from AUS to US....

Other than that, I can't help you more....

[toolbox]

Wow man thats very helpful, but by snailmail it will take a week or so. Might be cheaper and easier to just find a place. I mean, I live in one of the biggest city in the world (L.A.) I think I could find a speciality store :P

Thank you very much for the offer.

But would the parts I just bought would they work?

[STEvil]

Toolbox - that should all work fine.

[toolbox]

Thanks. So 33ohms will do instead of 36ohms.

What could I use to try to get 68ohms?

I guess I might have to find a speciality store.

**EDIT**
Would you guys mind if I reposted this in another forum and used the images from this thread to help explain. Its a great easy mod and this has a lot of info that can be weeded out from the thread.

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by toolbox
Thanks. So 33ohms will do instead of 36ohms.
What could I use to try to get 68ohms?
Would you guys mind if I reposted this in another forum and used the images from this thread to help explain. Its a great easy mod and this has a lot of info that can be weeded out from the thread.

I ain't sure if I've broken any rules but I've linked to this forum before...Maybe ask the user who posted the pics. I'm sure they'll approve but it's just courtesy to ask.

As for the 68Ohm Q....Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but couldn't you solder the 33 Ohm resistors inline to to become a 66 Ohm resistor?

Basically you're just adding trhe values & the outcome is damn close to 68 Ohms....

[STEvil]

Yes, you can put two 33's inline to get 66, which would work fine with this mod.

[Gogeta]

Is there anything wrong with doing just the +3.3v mod and not the +5v and +12v? My Enermax 430w only has sense lines coming out of the +3.3v line, but I'd still like to do this mod to improve Vdimm stabilisation and memory overclocking.

Is the +3.3v mod worthless without the +5 and +12v mods?

[Minnyboy]

Originally posted by Gogeta
Is there anything wrong with doing just the +3.3v mod and not the +5v and +12v?

Yes you can do the 3.3v mod by itself.

If you got ram that likes volts or your 3.3v line sucks then the 3.3v mod helps heaps.

IMO modding the 12v line does not help in Ocing your CPU (might be wrong with my assumption though).

The 3.3v mod helps more IMO as it allows your ram to run to it's fullest potential (with the right ram, that is).

If ya got BH5/BH6 or maybe even CH5, do the mod. My theory is that even if your CPU doesn't OC as good, having your ram running really tight timings will boost perforamnce (probably know that already).

IMHO do the mod, why not? it's the 3.3v that helps the most for performance if I'm correct...

5v line doesn't improve your performance unless you go sick & mod a 5v line to your VC (iirc someone has done that).

12v line might improve your OC but if you don't have a sense wire to mod then you're stuck with maybe a 5Mhz less OC (again, this is just my opinion).

I gained so much more performance with my BH5's with the 3.3v mod. Couldn't do DDR433 @ 2-5-2-2 at 2.8v (IC7-G), now that my 3.3v is at 3.51v, my BH5 can do DDR510 (2-5-2-2-@3.3v Single Channel). Going Dual Channel, I can do DDR470 (same timings & volts).

Can also use GAT now as well at DDR460 (auto, enhanced, 5 clocks, enabled, enabled), B4 the 3.3 mod, I had to leave it at auto & disable the last 2 DAT settings..

I'm rambling now...
Do the mod, you won't regret it.

Cheers

[STEvil]

5v and 12v can each help depending on whether the CPU is driven by the 5v or the 12v rail.

If your board drives the ram with the 5v rail, then the 3.3v mod wont help...

All that aside, these mods finally pushed me over 19k (check sig) :D

[Gogeta]

Ok, thanks guys. I just got some Mushy PC3500 Lvl2, so I'm definitely going to do this mod. DDR510 at 2-5-2-2!!! Man, I'm hopin and prayin mine will go that high. If that happens, my 2.4b will finally see 3.6GHz (200fsb) :D

[Brian]

I am curious about this mod myself. I want to perform is because my 5V and 12V drop down kind of low after a OC. I wanted to know if someone here would be willing to perform it for me.

If interested PM me PLZ.


THX,

Brian

[AcEmAsTr]

i'd like to do my Qtecs rails, yet only the 3.3volt has a sense line

[G H Z]

Originally posted by j2me_tech
hi guys,

i'm just wondering if i can just change the pot on the front panel of a tc550w?


Originally posted by pc ice
yes you can but it wont do what you think it will.. i know i have tried it.

How about bypassing the 3.3v pot altogether? Just a straight wire.

As all the vr's I have measured (ie 10K/1K), do not go any lower than about 3K/250 ohm. If you removed the 1K pots from the TrueControl's front panel it seems to me that you would get less resistance and more voltage out of it.

Did you try that ice?

[Huhn]

well wanted to mod the 3.3v line on my antec trueblue 480. did the mod using an 10ohm resistance and put a vr (10kohm) to ground. well the mod seems not to work for me. voltage doesnt increase in bios and i turn the vr slowly towards 0 ohm and watch voltages in bios. then suddenly pc turns of and i must turn alittle bit in opposite direction?. any one an idea?

[Hell-Fire]

You are kicking in the ovp for the psu I am betting.

I wouldnt go by what the bios says for voltage, use a multimeter and plug it in like this:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rwbradl2/CSC251/images/New3.3.jpg

The red probe goes into that flat connector with the 5 wires running to it. 3 wires are black, 2 are orange, and one is red. The orange wires will give you 3.3v readings. I wouldnt go over 3.7v.

[Hell-Fire]

Originally posted by Minnyboy
Yes you can do the 3.3v mod by itself.

If you got ram that likes volts or your 3.3v line sucks then the 3.3v mod helps heaps.

IMO modding the 12v line does not help in Ocing your CPU (might be wrong with my assumption though).

The 3.3v mod helps more IMO as it allows your ram to run to it's fullest potential (with the right ram, that is).

If ya got BH5/BH6 or maybe even CH5, do the mod. My theory is that even if your CPU doesn't OC as good, having your ram running really tight timings will boost perforamnce (probably know that already).

IMHO do the mod, why not? it's the 3.3v that helps the most for performance if I'm correct...

5v line doesn't improve your performance unless you go sick & mod a 5v line to your VC (iirc someone has done that).

12v line might improve your OC but if you don't have a sense wire to mod then you're stuck with maybe a 5Mhz less OC (again, this is just my opinion).

I gained so much more performance with my BH5's with the 3.3v mod. Couldn't do DDR433 @ 2-5-2-2 at 2.8v (IC7-G), now that my 3.3v is at 3.51v, my BH5 can do DDR510 (2-5-2-2-@3.3v Single Channel). Going Dual Channel, I can do DDR470 (same timings & volts).

Can also use GAT now as well at DDR460 (auto, enhanced, 5 clocks, enabled, enabled), B4 the 3.3 mod, I had to leave it at auto & disable the last 2 DAT settings..

I'm rambling now...
Do the mod, you won't regret it.

Cheers

Sometimes modding the other rails can yield improvements...but only if they are low.

I would consider the 5v rail as the Radeon cards seem to drain it harshly.

Best thing to do is fire up the machine and put it under a heavy overclock and then put it under load -- loop 3DMark. Then check each rail while she is looping 3DMark. If you get readings that are low, time for the mod.

Its not the case on the 12v and 5v rails that pushing them really high helps, its that making sure they are atleast to spec and stable thats the important thing with these 2 rails.

[Gogeta]

My 12v and 5v both stay above rated under a heavy OC with 3DMark running, but my 3.3v drains down to about 3.1x. So I'm definitely doing the mod.

My only question is, will I get correct values on my digital multimeter if I measure the 3.3v line without the PSU being connected to my mobo/system?

edit: Also, I have a 10k Ohm 1/2watt resistor and a 1k Ohm 15-turn cermet potentiometer. Are these the right components for the +3.3v mod?

This too...please complete/correct!

http://home.mchsi.com/~246gts/Pics/3vrailmod.jpg

[STEvil]

You will know as they will either be way out or spack on where they should be.

[Gogeta]

please check my previous post stevil :)

[STEvil]

Just check the resistance between legs 1 and 2 and 2 and 3. 2 is the common "ground" (not really, but it works best that way if you use 2 as the ground all the time).

You want to start out at max resistance, so you can go to either 1 or 3.

[Gogeta]

Are you saying I should connect the wire coming from the 10k ohm resistor to either post 1 or 3? And can I connect the ground wire from the pot to a ground on a molex?

[bachus_anonym]

yep, just make sure that when u pick leg 1 as the one u solder fixed resistor to, u have your VR set to max resistance (measured with DMM between that leg 1 and middle leg on VR).
same if u decided to go with leg 3 (max resistance between that one and middle)...
and yes, middle leg of VR goes to ground (e.g. black wire on the molex)

[DjTonic]

I have one question. Is the same mod for the Antec Trueblue 480W?

[The Stilt]

Originally posted by DjTonic
I have one question. Is the same mod for the Antec Trueblue 480W?

Yup, only diffrence in TB is few blue leds added inside PSU
I used following resistors:

10ohm fixed + 1k ohm vr for 3.3V rail
30ohm fixed + 10k ohm vr for 5V rail
68ohm fixed + 10k ohm vr for 12V rail

[Gogeta]

Originally posted by bachus_anonym
yep, just make sure that when u pick leg 1 as the one u solder fixed resistor to, u have your VR set to max resistance (measured with DMM between that leg 1 and middle leg on VR).
same if u decided to go with leg 3 (max resistance between that one and middle)...
and yes, middle leg of VR goes to ground (e.g. black wire on the molex)
Cool, just wanted to be sure before I blew anything up :D
Thanks for the help guys...doing the mod this afternoon!

[Kameleon]

Hi guys,

I've been attempting to do this mod tonight, on my TrueBlue 480's 3.3v rail with a 10ohm fixed resistor and a 1K trimmer. I've been checking the voltages all the way through, and I've stopped because I got a little bit worried about a reading.

My wiring looks exactly the same as macci's and xigfrid's diagrams, but after soldering it all together, I decided to check the resistance between the two legs of the VR I was using (past all the wonderfully messy solder), and I got a reading of about 54 ohms, rather than the 1Kohm I was expecting. Now is this normal, or is it an indication that I've soldered something wrong/damaged the VR? The only way I can know for sure is to plug it in and turn it on, but I don't really want to kill this PSU. If this is right, and someone could explain to me why the reading is like that (I assume it's something to do with the fact that I'm not only measuring the resistance between the two legs, but also all around the circuit the other way) I'd be very grateful, but I only have an elementary understanding of electronics.

EDIT - BTW, I'm using a ground wire from the AUX connector, which I harshly chopped off, I don't think that would make any difference but any info I can give is good, right? ;)

Any help would be muchly appreciated :toast:

[STEvil]

unsolder one leg and see if its 1K ohms with no wire attached.

If it goes back to 1K then maybe this shows just how overkill a 1K ohm VR is ;)

[Huhn]

well i decided to measure volts myseld and not trust the volts showed in bios. and!! the 3,3v mod works fine for me . now 3,40v on the 3,3v rail. :banana: but the 12v mod doesnt seem to work for me. used a 47ohm resistor and a 10k vr. but at a point the fixed resistor gets hot as hell but the line stays at 12,1v all the time.any idea what this could be? thx to all who helped me by now ;)

[Kameleon]

Originally posted by STEvil
If it goes back to 1K then maybe this shows just how overkill a 1K ohm VR is ;)

I'll try that, but firstly, why would it give such a false reading? And secondly, how will I know when the solder is off whether it was my soldering or the circuit that was creating that reading? Basically I need an explanation of where that 54-55 ohms comes from, and someone with a lot of patience to explain it to me. I'm someone who needs to understand why he's doing something and what he's doing before he does it, I probably shouldn't have started this without full understanding, but I thought I knew enough ;)

[STEvil]

The 54-55 ohms came from one of two points (this is assuming you measured from the correct locations on the 1K VR and have it set correctly).

It either came from some internal resistances which are set to 54-55 ohms to make the 3.3 line 3.3v, or it came from setting the VR incorrectly, or measuring it incorrectly..


If you scroll up to Gogeta's picture then I am assuming you are measuring between pins 1 and 2 or 2 and 3, correct? Pin 2 should be the ground and pin 1 or 3 should be pre-adjusted to 1K ohms before attaching that pin to the sense line.

[G H Z]

It is not possible to measure the stand alone resistance of a resistor or potentiometer once it is soldered up as it becomes part of a circut.

You must measure it as Steve said with one wire unsoldered.

[Kameleon]

Originally posted by G H Z
It is not possible to measure the stand alone resistance of a resistor or potentiometer once it is soldered up as it becomes part of a circut.

You must measure it as Steve said with one wire unsoldered.

OK thanks. Do you think it's worth assuming that I've done it fine and just trying it?

[Huhn]

thanks to u all for their help and patience with me. all rails modded succesfully :banana: :banana: :banana:

[STEvil]

I think it may be a good idea if we were to make a clean version of this thread and sticky it..

Also, it could be a good idea to change the instructions to have the user measure the resistance between the ground and sense line before applying the mod (with the PSU unhooked from everything) and then use a VR approximately 100 ohms higher or so than the beginning resistance.. it would allow a much higher precision when adjusting the VR's.

[computerpro3]

well I wrote that guide on this based exactly on this thread...if you want I or you or a mod could clean it up and add in the tips...I know it would be a lot easier than searching through this entire thread like I did...

[Kameleon]

Originally posted by computerpro3
well I wrote that guide on this based exactly on this thread...if you want I or you or a mod could clean it up and add in the tips...I know it would be a lot easier than searching through this entire thread like I did...

Sorry, which guide? Am I missing something here? ;)

[computerpro3]

Sorry I posted it a few pages back I think...

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=726156

[Kameleon]

Originally posted by computerpro3
Sorry I posted it a few pages back I think...

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=726156

Ah thanks, didn't notice it before. Might help me out, but I reckon I know what I'm doing now, just waiting for some more VRs as this one I broke the pins off in a crappy soldering job seems to be the last 1k I have ;)

[HaLDoL]

Don't know if this was already posted, but here is a good newbie guide for PSU rail modding:

http://www.bleedinedge.com/guides/psu_3.3v_mod/psu_3.3v_mod_pg1.html

[Ninety6]

If I do the 3.3 mod, this will SLIGHTLY increase my VDDR/VDIMM also right? I want some increase in the VDDR voltage on my motherboard without an actually VDIMM MB mod.

I have an Abit NF7-S 2.0 board.

Thanks guys. I'm off to radio shack.

96