# Power/Monitor problem: every 2 boots!



## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Hi all. New poster with weird problem.

Set up:
AMD K7, 256Mb memory, AMI bios
Video from NVidia GEforce FX5200 2048kb, AGP
Running WinXP Pro

Recently replaced my PSU when the old one gave ceased working.
OK, confession time. The old one gave up when I was trying to connect up an extra hard drive, so I fear that I may have fried something through static.

Anyway, new PSU is XPower ATX-400TD. The old one that it replaced was the 300W model that came with the case.

When I now press power button to switch on, fans come on, lights for CD flash and all sounds as per usual. Except that the monitor doesn't always come out of sleep. 

If I hold down the power button to switch off and then try again, the monitor will then wake up and all is fine. 

But if I then reboot again, back to square one - fans, lights but a sleeping monitor!

I've taken the new PSU back in case it was faulty - got an identical replacement and got identical problems.

Outputs of old/new PSUs as follows:

Old. Maxima 300W:

+3.3V 16A
+5V 20A
+12V 10A
-5V 1A
-12V 1A
+5VSB 2A

New. X-Power ATX-400TD 400W:

+3.3V 30A
+5V 28A
+12V 17A
-5V 1A
-12V 1A
+5VSB 2A


Ideas anyone? Here are my thoughts to date:

1. PSU faulty? Unlikely as I've just swapped it out again.
2. PSU not up to the job? Also unlikely as my old 300W unit has been replaced with a 400W unit which delivers at least as much power on each rail?
3. Poor Power_OK signal from PSU? If this is the case, why does it work on the second boot but not the third? 
4. Damaged motherboard or video card? Possible, but why this regular works/doesn't work pattern?

Expect I'm going to have to replace more parts, but which to try next?


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

What motherboard and amd cpu?

Remove the video card and very gently rub the contacts with a pencil eraser and reset the card.


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

How many hard-drives are you connecting... just two altogether?


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Hi,

Download and run the SensorviewPro program under my signature are and post the Voltages that it gives you.


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Doby said:


> What motherboard and amd cpu?
> 
> Remove the video card and very gently rub the contacts with a pencil eraser and reset the card.


ASRock K7S8X motherboard and AMD K7 - control panel reports it as 1.25 GHZ


I'm away from PC at the moment but will try the pencil eraser trick at the weekend.


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Kalim said:


> How many hard-drives are you connecting... just two altogether?


Kalim - yes, one Exelstor 82GB (master) and one Seagate ST340823A 40GB (slave)


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Tumbleweed36 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Download and run the SensorviewPro program under my signature are and post the Voltages that it gives you.


Tumbleweed - Ok, I'll try at weekend (can't before then, unfortunately)


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Tumbleweed36 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Download and run the SensorviewPro program under my signature are and post the Voltages that it gives you.


OK, does the following help? (Observed min/max over a number of minutes):

VCoreA 1.66V: 1.65- 1.66
+3.3V: 3.28- 3.28
+5V: 4.92- 4.95
+12V: 11.50- 11.60
-5V: 1.89- 1.94
12V: 0.64- 0.80
+5VSB: 4.92- 4.97
+VBAT: 0.00- 0.00


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

all the lines are showing under voltage if the bios lists your volts double check them in there
if the same take it back for a 450w


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## Kalim (Nov 24, 2006)

Look at your battery reading -- its reading dead. 

Is the BIOS reading the same?

Also was this reading taken while your PSU was under a little load (a few demanding processes running)? If it wasn't your voltages would be out of acceptability when you do and its a naft PSU -- probably too low for the spec you require. 

I wouldn't go with that PSU because its bound to cause problems later on. Get something decent and known trustable.


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

dai said:


> all the lines are showing under voltage if the bios lists your volts double check them in there
> if the same take it back for a 450w


Bios gives the following:

Vcore 1.674V
+3.30V 3.340V
+5.00V 5.056-5.084V 
+12.00V 12.193V

So bios showing higher voltage than Sensor Pro.

But in any case, the PSU is sold with tolerance of +-5% on each rail (+-10% on -12V) ... so it looks to me like each of the rails is within spec?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

go by the bios readings
how many amps is the psu putting out on the 12v+ rail you need 18a


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

dai said:


> go by the bios readings
> how many amps is the psu putting out on the 12v+ rail you need 18a


Dai: can't see any way of checking the ampage via software (?) but the PSU specs quote 17A at +12V.

Why do you say I need 18A ... good rule of thumb or more categorical? (The previous PSU was 300W and only delivered 10A on +12V. OK, this whole saga started when the previous PSU gave up but that was after a few years of happy PC power with no upgrades to the system to lead to a higher drain).


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

MalkyH said:


> I'm away from PC at the moment but will try the pencil eraser trick at the weekend.


... Update. Just to report that I tried removing the video card and cleaning the contacts as suggested. No difference though, unfortunately.:sigh:


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## MalkyH (Jan 28, 2007)

Kalim said:


> Look at your battery reading -- its reading dead.
> 
> Is the BIOS reading the same?
> 
> ...


My Bios doesn't appear to monitor the battery. I would guess that this may also result in the nil reading from SensorsView? (In any case, I have now replaced the battery with a new one... it is still reading as 0V).

I've tried monitoring the voltages with a few applications running (Word, graphics, Powerpoint and Media Player, all together) and the readings have been broadly the same.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

because that is the amps recommended for agp from xp onwards


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