Interesting -12V reading

[bonzai_cyberninja]

Hi all, I've noticed something rather interesting whilst looking at my hardware monitor today, that I haven't seen before, but may have been occuring for quite some time!

The -12V reading appears to be sitting around the -9.5V to -11V range.
Is this a cause for concern?
Is this infact normal for -12V?
Is my computer about to explode?
Perhaps a need a new psu as my trusty thermaltake toughpower 750W cant handle my pc anymore?!

Looking at all the other voltages they dont seem to have anywhere near the ammount of fluctuation that the -12V has, perhaps this is due to my overchocking antics, and if so should I declock my pc until a suitable replacement can be found?????????????????????

I also just noticed that when I wack on a run of prime, the -12V jumps to -11.33, and then goes down -10.9 and move around that region, however the +12V is rock solid, with 0.01V fluctuation.

I shall await you learned comments with great anticipation!!!

 

[95Viper]

If you are using software for that reading... take it with a grain of salt.
Software is not totally reliable.

Use a Digital Multi-meter to get true readings.
Just my opinion.

 

[bonzai_cyberninja]

Ok, ill have to chace one down somewhere and attempt to get a reading!
Any ideas, or guides on how to go about doing this???

Is software really that bad at getting accurate, or atleast semi accurate readings from things like voltages? I curious as I see the same kind of results from different programs, and it might help explain why I seem to be suffering from regular random crashes!

 

[AsRock]

9.5v ?. you get system shutdown if it was so. Check in your bios see what that tells you.

Other wise do what Viper said get a Digital Multi-meter

 

[bonzai_cyberninja]

Ok, ill have a look in the blue screen and see what I can see see see.
Hopefully that sheds some light on things.

 

[bonzai_cyberninja]

Well, my wonderful bios only enlightens me in reguards to the +12V reading, which was 11.98V, so that wasn't much use. looks like ill have to try and find a multimeter and probe my supply.

I dont suppose that the psu being atleast 5 years old and being run a lot, with an always O/C ed system would contribute to such odd readings?

Which holes do I wanna wack the multimeter probes into for the 12V reading?

 

[slyfox2151]

your PSU is more than enough for your system... unless its really dieing... unlikely unless you are having problems such as random shutdowns and/or freezing when running under heavy load.


my Hardware use's more power then yours and i have a much smaller PSU, (500 watts Antec Neo) and its coming up to 6 years old and still going strong.
my 6 Core CPU is clocked at 3.8 and my Video card has 20% overclock and soft volt moded.
HDDs really use bugger all power once there spun up.


for the +12volt, you can use the Molex connectors.... for the -12 i think the only place you will find that is on the 20/24 pin ATX connector.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Wasn't -12V removed from the ATX standard eons ago? If it wasn't, somebody tell my why I haven't been feeding fans 24V for years.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Just as long ast it doesn't go -11.3 and above you are ok. That's if your software readings are true. Get a digital multimeter as mentioned previously.

EDIT:

Also use the multi-quote function. It's there for a reason

 

[bonzai_cyberninja]

your PSU is more than enough for your system... unless its really dieing... unlikely unless you are having problems such as random shutdowns and/or freezing when running under heavy load.

I do get random events on a regular basis, that has caused me to wonder about it for a while now, I seem to get a random freeze or shutdown generally atleast once per day, although sometime I get lucky and get none. However, this is less frequent than when I had water cooling and my hd4890 where it was happening all the time.

Wasn't -12V removed from the ATX standard eons ago? If it wasn't, somebody tell my why I haven't been feeding fans 24V for years.

I wasn't aware of this, ive been doing that with some case fans for a while now, using a seperate power supply to get some extra cooling flow in the case! Works like a charm. However the little led's in the fan dont like the extra juice.

ps. I figured out how to multi quote. WOOT

 

[Deleted member 3]

I'm a liar

Pin 20 (formerly −5V, white wire) is absent in current power supplies; it was optional in ATX and ATX12V ver. 1.2, and deleted as of ver. 1.3.

So somebody tell me why I haven't been using that -12V for evil purposes in ages.

 

[JrRacinFan]

I'm a liar

So somebody tell me why I haven't been using that -12V for evil purposes in ages.

-12v is a low amperage design. Could end up having a big peice of plastic toast.

 

[Deleted member 3]

-12v is a low amperage design. Could end up having a big peice of plastic toast.

Enough for a fan though.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Enough for a fan though.

Barely, I do see your point but wouldn't risk it. That's what meanwells are made for.

 

[sy5tem]

-12 V: This voltage is used on some types of serial port circuits, whose amplifier circuits require both -12V and +12V. It is not needed on some newer systems, and even on older ones not very much is used, because the serial ports require little power. Most power supplies provide it for compatibility with older hardware, but usually with a current limit of less than 1 A.

 

[Arctucas]

Well, my wonderful bios only enlightens me in reguards to the +12V reading, which was 11.98V, so that wasn't much use. looks like ill have to try and find a multimeter and probe my supply.

I dont suppose that the psu being atleast 5 years old and being run a lot, with an always O/C ed system would contribute to such odd readings?

Which holes do I wanna wack the multimeter probes into for the 12V reading?

http://pinouts.ru/Power/atx_v2_pinout.shtml