Best way to test powersupply

[Peen]

trying to see how my thermaltake 480w is doing (ya i know its weak,only 18amp 12v). I got CoreCell reading and a good Fluke meter reading 12v off of a Molex connecter.

Anyways, this is what I found out

Prescott @ 4ghz 1.6v (Actual about 1.48v)
Radeon 9800Pro @ 425/380Mem
Running Prime on max power test, and SuperPI 32m
Have them assigned to there own logical CPU
Also have ATI scanning artifacts to put some load on videocard.
Also running many windows of Firefox, and Winamp going. Temps good.

Lowest I see on Fluke is 11.90v
Lowest I see on Corecell is 11.66v?

In bios I found that it said 12.7v in bios, but multimeter said around 12v exact

ok heres the funny part, I wanted to try with a low power videocard. Its a SiS Xabre 200. Well I guess I was wrong on the low part! Under same conditions, It went all the way down to 11.18 in Corecell and 11.58-11.7v in multimeter? I find it strange that a POS card like that takes THAT much more power.

ok so the real question, is it a reliable way to test powersupply with a Fluke to a molex? I did all these readings on same molex

[Squid_Spit]

Yes, using a DMM will give you accurate results.

[Peen]

Why do guys call Thermaltakes crap then? im running a ton of 120mm fans HD's prescott @4ghz more then stock volts.... video cards blah blah.

Only thing I can think of is that it says 18a 12v rail which seems incredibly low! Interesting though :toast: oh well I think my psu has the power still, just this Xabre was running alot of power through the AGP slot, causing huge voltage spikes.

[CTKP]

Don't read from the molex, read from the ATX connector. Ground on the molex and read by wedging the lead between the plastic and the 12/5/3.3v wire on the atx connector.