MOBO? PSU? getting 4.9v on 12v...

[jduhgee]

Hello, I just made my computer.
the specs are

phenom 9950 BE 2.6Ghz quad
Asus m3a78-T
g.skills 4gb (2 X 2GB)
g.skills 2gb (1 X 1GB)
hd4870 1gb 256bit
BFG Tech 800w PSU
Samsung 180GB HD
seagate 500GB HD
Samsung 1TB HD
mid tower case..

Well, with this... i'm only getting 4.9v on +12v..
Weird thing is that Bios reads it as 11.902v
but I used everest and speedfan and they both read it as around 4.9v
so far.. i have tried few things..
1. I took out new GPU (hd 4870) and ran windows with integrated VGA and still had 4.9v
2. I took out G.skill 2GB out and ran windwos and got 4.9v
3. I reset CMOS and ran windows and got 4.9V

Is it that PSU cannot handle all hardwares attached to it? CPU, GPU, 3xHDs.. ??
or because RAM? but I have no clue how to start about checking RAM...

My comp Works Just Fine..... It plays video games fine at 1600X1200 with High Setting so far..
I went through benchmarking and did finish with no prob.. Even Prim95 does ok for few hours at default setting...
I also got upto 3.0ghz CPU by overclocking and benchmark goes fine except prime95 had errors..
I tried to OC both CPU and GPU (of course one at a time), but when I found out i was not gettin enough 12v... I put all the settings to default...
I just hope PSU is bad, then i can RMA and atleast get another one... but... if CPU or MOBO.. i'll go crazy...

I have attached the picture of voltage measures..
did not know how to post right on the board..

Can anyone please help me!!!

[shadowpr]

If it runs fine, I wouldn't worry.

And I wouldn't trust the software over the bios readings.

If it was really that low, you would notice.

[HAL9000]

Agreed, look at the BIOS readings.. if the 12V rail were really 4.9V, I doubt the computer would even run.

[glc]

If you want to use software to monitor voltages, use Asus Probe.

[jduhgee]

Thank you for reply everyone. if bios is right, then do you think I can overclock little bit? or just leave it alone...

[shadowpr]

It may be possible.

Just go slow, and make sure you test stability properly after each adjustment.

[jduhgee]

Thanks! may i ask one more question?

as mentioned above, i have two diff g.skills Memory..

one with 4gb(2x2gb) ddr2 1066 and 2gb(2x1gb) ddr2 800.

Im using both of them, so basically all four memery slots are used.
I was going almost all forums and info's that i could basically learn about pc.
and found out that using those two memory together is actually bad and makes a computer go slower...
is it true? should i just use 4gb (2x2gb) only? and set memory speed as 1066 in bios? since i have phenom x4 cpu?

[shadowpr]

I would.

[jduhgee]

Thank you!

[larrymoencurly]

4.9V is just 2% below nominal, and ATX specs allow ± 5%, or as little as 4.75V. So don't worry, especially if that voltage reading was taken by the mobo hardware and not a digital 3.5 digit multimeter.

But do you really want to overclock, considering how little it matters?

[glc]

Larry, that's 4.9 on the 12 volt rail....................

[crjdriver]

I had a similar issue with speedfan and a gigabyte 790 chipset. It would show the fan speed incorrectly. The latest version of speedfan works OK.

I agree for an asus board, asus probe would be the best monitoring software to use.

[chuck4456]

Originally Posted by glc Larry, that's 4.9 on the 12 volt rail....................

We all know (by now) that it's next to impossible to find a monitoring utility that gets along with later AMD platforms.
Also, if ASUS PROBE works as well with AMD platforms as it does with INTEL then I sure wouldn't trust that. The PROBE was lousy on my P5QE.
I'd trust BIOS first.
The latest compatible revision of EVEREST should help. The FREE version will tell you most of what you need to know. I use the FULL versions - they have been incredibly accurate with every motherboard that I have ever used, as long I was using the correct revision.
But yeah.
If you had 4.9v on the 12v rail you would see too much activity!