PSU analysing software

[Darren]

Quick question..anyone know of software that can analyse your PSU in real time?

• Temp
• effiency
• Wattage usage

Edit: My hard disk drive keeps failing to boot the operating system whenever I attempt to overclock the CPU ever soo slightly. However the bios says that it is 100% save and all other devices work fine, a friend alerted me that my PSU may be under powered, a full specifcation will be posted later.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Well, the efficiency would be impossible for software to measure because you would have to compare the power going in to the PSU with the power coming out - which would require some monitoring equipment between the mains and the PSU.

I haven't ever seen software like this myself, and unless your PSU plugs into one of the fans slots on the motherboard (some do) I doubt temperature monitoring is possible.

 

[Darren]

Well, the efficiency would be impossible for software to measure because you would have to compare the power going in to the PSU with the power coming out - which would require some monitoring equipment between the mains and the PSU.

I haven't ever seen software like this myself, and unless your PSU plugs into one of the fans slots on the motherboard (some do) I doubt temperature monitoring is possible.

What if later tonight I give a full specification of my system, and devices plugged into it. Would one be able to estimate whether a new one is required?

 

[Wayward]

Jimmy_2004 is right. Without extra equipment, measuring efficiency and power usage are not an option. I have seen power supplies with internal thermal diodes that can be read through an extra motherboard plug, so undoubtedly software temperature monitoring is possible, granted your PSU supports it.

As to whether or not your PSU is underpowered, we can try to figure that out based on your system specs, once you post them. We can estimate roughly, but in the end, it's up to the quality of the PSU itself to determine if it can supply even the rated wattage.

 

[WarEagleAU]

it would seem you psu is underpowered based on what you just said. If OCing even a few mhz causes this problem, then either the rails are too thin (not enough amperage) or its a low quality PSU or not enough wattage. Ripple and dirty power could play a role as well.

EDIT: What PSU are you currently using and what all is attached to it?

 

[Ketxxx]

Use a multimeter and a infrared pen sensor. Software is so unreliable.

 

[d44ve]

For wattage usage you can use this :

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/?tag=tec06d-20

 

[Sasqui]

For wattage usage you can use this :

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MDBU/?tag=tec06d-20

That's a great gadget, I have one myself. As for efficiency, you indeed need to measure the voltage, amps ...wattage of all power coming out of each harness and know the wattage coming in from the plug. Efficiency = Load wattage / Source wattage, and this will change depending on the load. You really additional equipment to measure the load wattage.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

What if later tonight I give a full specification of my system, and devices plugged into it. Would one be able to estimate whether a new one is required?

I'm sure someone here will be able to give you a rough idea. Make sure you give the make, model and power rating of your PSU as well. The generic (cheap/no name) PSUs can be very inefficient, and a 350W may be supplying less than 200W to your system depending on whether you were lucky or not.

 

[suraswami]

What if later tonight I give a full specification of my system, and devices plugged into it. Would one be able to estimate whether a new one is required?

There is a website in which you can put in the components u have and will give how many watts you need to operate safely.

Don't remember now. But google. Called power wattage calculator or something.

 

[oily_17]

There is a website in which you can put in the components u have and will give how many watts you need to operate safely.

Don't remember now. But google. Called power wattage calculator or something.

Yeah you could try either of these sites to roughly calculate your required psu wattage

http://www.3dcool.com/PWC.php

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

 

[Jimmy 2004]

There is a website in which you can put in the components u have and will give how many watts you need to operate safely.

Don't remember now. But google. Called power wattage calculator or something.

They tend to over-estimate how much you need in my experience.

 

[Darren]

Ok i'm back with a full system spec

Cpu: AMD athlon 3800+ x2 512kb - the engergy efficient version
Motherboard: Asus MV2 AM2 N-force 3
Memory: 4GB DDR2 @ 667 mhz (1GB x4)
CD Drive: DVDRW 24x16x48 SATA
Soundcard: Auzentech X-meridian, attached to Sony AV reciever
Graphics: Asus ATI Radeon 1600 pro 512mb DDR2
Storage: 320 GB segate SATA
Fans: 2 80mm, 1 92mm, Freezer 64 for cpu
PSU: EZCOOL 600 watts

Thanks d44ve, i'll be definately be purchasing that device

 

[infrared]

I think Onetruewill has that power supply. Aparently it's pretty poor quality, so it could well be what's causing your problems.

 

[Darren]

I think Onetruewill has that power supply. Aparently it's pretty poor quality, so it could well be what's causing your problems.

I really hope its causing the problem, i'm looking really forward to overclocking this CPU, so an easy fix is ideal. I just dont want to break the bank, I never spend more than £25 on PSUs. Suppose I can go all out and purcahse an expensive unit and return it if it doesn't solve the problem?

 

[infrared]

Maybe check out antec, they do very good quality psu's, and aren't overly expensive. It's probably a good idea not to skimp too much on such an important component though.

Very odd though, i would have thought your current psu would be ok for small overclocks. My brother's rig is on a 250w psu, and that's got a PD 805 @ 3ghz, and an x850 in it, without any problems. It won't survive long though, it gets really hot.

 

[Darren]

Maybe check out antec, they do very good quality psu's, and aren't overly expensive. It's probably a good idea not to skimp too much on such an important component though.

Very odd though, i would have thought your current psu would be ok for small overclocks. My brother's rig is on a 250w psu, and that's got a PD 805 @ 3ghz, and an x850 in it, without any problems. It won't survive long though, it gets really hot.

Thanks for the advice...

 

[Poisonsnak]

If you're still looking for that monitoring ability you talked about in your first post these new gigabyte PSUs seem to have it:

http://www.techpowerup.com/archive.php?31632

Though you would need the wattmeter previously mentioned to determine input power and thus efficency, the PSU will tell you output power and temperature

 

[Jimmy 2004]

BTW, make sure you are overclocking correctly - you first need to lower the RAM speed (should be able to set the ram divider in your BIOS) and you may need to up your voltage slightly.

This power supply is very efficient and should give you plenty of room for future upgrades, TBH 350W would probably be fine, this is just extra in case you upgrade.

 

[W1zzard]

there's no way to measure this by software only .. you need external circuitry to measure this