finch
02-21-2008, 09:36 AM
hi folks,
today im trying to decide if i buy a new psu or not. and im seeking on some advice that will help me make up my mind.
specs:
e8400 wolfdale @ 4.3ghz
zalman 9700hsf with leds (soon to go with the geminII with 2x scythe ultra kaze on it)
ga p35 ds3r
2x1gb crucial ballistix tracer 1066mhz @ 1120mhz
the ocz active ram cooler with 2 little fans (cant remember name)
Galaxy 8800gt 512mb (it uses 2 pci-e plugs)
200gb sata drive
dvd burner
the antec 900 case with 4 120mm led fans and one 200mm fan
enermax fmaII 460w 30a on 3.3v, 30a on 5v, 22a on 12v1 and 20a on 12v2.
i had the enermax fmaII before building this setup and i never realy had a problem with it. but today i noticed that the 12v rail was a little low on idle and even more on load. i have tested the 12v with a multitester and i get those results:
note that the 5v rail seems fine and stays at 5v no matter what
idle: 11.83v
using atitool artifact scanner: 11.73v
3dmark06: 11.73v and sometimes it drops to 11.70v for few seconds
playing crysis on all max except on aa 2x: 11.74v
i did some other tests like orthos but that one didnt go lower then when on idle 11.83v.
its evident that i get voltage drops when using graphic intensive apps. i have also calculated that my setup approximatly uses a max of 400w when on full load. for sur with the psu i got i only have a 60W of head room. but regardless that im worried about the voltage drops and especialy that i only get 11.83v on idle wich to me seems low.
i had my eye on the corsair hx520w, and i heard it has solid rails. now i know many ppl here are fan boys about those corsair psu. and that some will deffinetly tell me to change my psu with the corsair one. but the goal here is to figure out if i realy need to change my current psu cuz if i dont need to then i wont spend cash on it. for what i am worried is that my current psu limits my overclock. at least my gfx overclock because many ppl with the same gfx as mine will reach something like 750/2000/1000 on 1.3v and i get 703/1800/1000 on 1.3v, over that i get artifacts in atitool. so i am wondering if a new more solid psu will help me out for this. it is hard to say "yeah it will help you for sure at 100%" we can only make speculations here but at least im seaking for opinions
thank you very much
edit: before ppl ask i forgot to mention that my case is modded with cold weather intake( dont ask questions) but my gpu temps dopesnt exceed 30c on idle and 60 on load and it has the stock cooler on it.
today im trying to decide if i buy a new psu or not. and im seeking on some advice that will help me make up my mind.
specs:
e8400 wolfdale @ 4.3ghz
zalman 9700hsf with leds (soon to go with the geminII with 2x scythe ultra kaze on it)
ga p35 ds3r
2x1gb crucial ballistix tracer 1066mhz @ 1120mhz
the ocz active ram cooler with 2 little fans (cant remember name)
Galaxy 8800gt 512mb (it uses 2 pci-e plugs)
200gb sata drive
dvd burner
the antec 900 case with 4 120mm led fans and one 200mm fan
enermax fmaII 460w 30a on 3.3v, 30a on 5v, 22a on 12v1 and 20a on 12v2.
i had the enermax fmaII before building this setup and i never realy had a problem with it. but today i noticed that the 12v rail was a little low on idle and even more on load. i have tested the 12v with a multitester and i get those results:
note that the 5v rail seems fine and stays at 5v no matter what
idle: 11.83v
using atitool artifact scanner: 11.73v
3dmark06: 11.73v and sometimes it drops to 11.70v for few seconds
playing crysis on all max except on aa 2x: 11.74v
i did some other tests like orthos but that one didnt go lower then when on idle 11.83v.
its evident that i get voltage drops when using graphic intensive apps. i have also calculated that my setup approximatly uses a max of 400w when on full load. for sur with the psu i got i only have a 60W of head room. but regardless that im worried about the voltage drops and especialy that i only get 11.83v on idle wich to me seems low.
i had my eye on the corsair hx520w, and i heard it has solid rails. now i know many ppl here are fan boys about those corsair psu. and that some will deffinetly tell me to change my psu with the corsair one. but the goal here is to figure out if i realy need to change my current psu cuz if i dont need to then i wont spend cash on it. for what i am worried is that my current psu limits my overclock. at least my gfx overclock because many ppl with the same gfx as mine will reach something like 750/2000/1000 on 1.3v and i get 703/1800/1000 on 1.3v, over that i get artifacts in atitool. so i am wondering if a new more solid psu will help me out for this. it is hard to say "yeah it will help you for sure at 100%" we can only make speculations here but at least im seaking for opinions
thank you very much
edit: before ppl ask i forgot to mention that my case is modded with cold weather intake( dont ask questions) but my gpu temps dopesnt exceed 30c on idle and 60 on load and it has the stock cooler on it.