Low +12V current

[Murilo_A]

My PSU is running fine for almost 3 years and I haven't had any problem, until now. I was doing some stress tests with AIDA 64 and FurMark to see how much the chassi fans would affect CPU and GPU temperatures, and noticed that the +12V is very low, I've heard from specialists that the recommended is 12V +-5%, which is 11.4V, the problem is, at idle, it's normal, at 11.9V, with CPU load, it goes to 11.8V, but when I put load on the GPU, it goes down to about 11.414V, it's stable, but very low. I don't have money now to buy a new PSU, so I was thinking if there's something I can do to reduce this problem. Also, I've put my hands on the PSU surface and at load it's quite hot, not anything extreme, but it's noticiable.

 

Case temperature is normal.

All the results I got are from the mobo sensor.

+5V and 3.3V are normal.

Complete specs can be found in the signature.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Don't trust the readin in the mobo. Get a nice multimeter if you really want to know the voltage.

 

11.4 is still in spec

[APasz]

This is within normal operating specs. 12v +/-0.75v, 5v +/-0.4v, 3.3v +/-0.2v. If it goes outside these ranges you've got problems.

[jools]

actually sounds normal....if you had monitored the 12v rail over 3yrs then I mite think psu failing.

 

open psu and clean out dust and fan, check for doming(rounding of cap heads) of large caps, this is the main cause of spiking psu's 

[Murilo_A]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Don't trust the readin in the mobo. Get a nice multimeter if you really want to know the voltage.

Stores are closed so I can't get a multimeter until monday. Also, where can I measure the voltage?

 

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

11.4 is still in spec

It's on the limit, I'm not really comfortable with that.

[Murilo_A]

2 minutes ago, jools said:

actually sounds normal....if you had monitored the 12v rail over 3yrs then I mite think psu failing.

 

open psu and clean out dust and fan, check for doming(rounding of cap heads) of large caps, this is the main cause of spiking psu's 

I wrote it wrong, I have never monitored it, until today, when I said I have never had any problems, I meant it never shut down, killed a component or anything like that

[Murilo_A]

4 minutes ago, APasz said:

This is within normal operating specs. 12v +/-0.75v, 5v +/-0.4v, 3.3v +/-0.2v. If it goes outside these ranges you've got problems.

I know it's in the normal range, but it's on the limit and I'm not very comfortable running like that.

[APasz]

3 minutes ago, Murilo_A said:

I know it's in the normal range, but it's on the limit and I'm not very comfortable running like that.

Well you're gonna be replacing the PSU every year then. When the demand goes up, the efficiency goes down and the PSU's ability to keep a stable 12v, 5.5 or 3.3 also goes down. This is a way oversimplification of how it works.

When we say that this is within normal range, we mean this is how PSU's work and every component is designed to work with the ups and downs that occur.

 

One thing you can do is to plug the PSU into a UPS which can even out, basically clean the power coming in from the national grid. The good ones are very expensive though.

[jools]

replacing large smoothing caps best cheap option

[Murilo_A]

30 minutes ago, jools said:

replacing large smoothing caps best cheap option

Not a really professional here to do that. I think I'll run with it until I can buy a new PSU.

[Murilo_A]

1 hour ago, APasz said:

Well you're gonna be replacing the PSU every year then. When the demand goes up, the efficiency goes down and the PSU's ability to keep a stable 12v, 5.5 or 3.3 also goes down. This is a way oversimplification of how it works.

When we say that this is within normal range, we mean this is how PSU's work and every component is designed to work with the ups and downs that occur.

 

One thing you can do is to plug the PSU into a UPS which can even out, basically clean the power coming in from the national grid. The good ones are very expensive though.

 

1 hour ago, jools said:

replacing large smoothing caps best cheap option

I was checking, while on GTA V, the +12V line is at 11.5V, still not perfect, but I'm more comfortable with that. Next year I might get a CS550M, more because the cables on these are horrible

[alexhelvetica]

1. V or Volts does not equal Current, current is amps and volts is voltage, (Current = Volts / Resistance = Power / Volts)
2. Your PSU is fine, (assuming it is a good PSU) software readings are wrong and cannot be correct, look at this thread for more information 
3.  

Revision before posting:

The Cougar ST is probably shit, HEC (Cougar's Parent Company) are very much hated by important people in the PSU professionals. 

[Murilo_A]

11 minutes ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

The Cougar ST is probably shit, HEC (Cougar's Parent Company) are very much hated by important people in the PSU professionals. 

At the time I bought I didn't know how to build a PC, so I bought a pre-configured computer. This is the PSU that came and I don't know if it's good or not, I haven't found any reviews from this PSU. ST series is just forgotten, Cougar disappeared with that from their website, and the only things I've ever saw is some people that are not sure about the quality. I've seen only one review about one Cougar PSU, which the only thing they pointed was the effiency lower than specified.