A7A266 voltage drop

  • Thread starter Thread starter steve
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steve

I noticed some heat problems with my A7A with a 1200 athlon, it is
about 2 years old, so I cleaned out some dust and started running pc
probe, I noticed my +12 drops to about +7 several times a day, I am
going to upgrade to a new processor, now that every thing is clean the
1.2 run at 52c, with the side off 45c, should I also be shopping for
some new fans or a case and a power supply
 
I noticed some heat problems with my A7A with a 1200 athlon, it is
about 2 years old, so I cleaned out some dust and started running pc
probe, I noticed my +12 drops to about +7 several times a day, I am
going to upgrade to a new processor, now that every thing is clean the
1.2 run at 52c, with the side off 45c, should I also be shopping for
some new fans or a case and a power supply
Click to expand...
now I am also getting very high temp spikes on the cpu, just for a
second, and drops in voltage in vcor,e the +3.3v, and+5v,I am not sure
what is messed up this machine has been stable for 2 years
 
steve said:
now I am also getting very high temp spikes on the cpu, just for a
second, and drops in voltage in vcor,e the +3.3v, and+5v,I am not sure
what is messed up this machine has been stable for 2 years
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

Have you tried a different, known-good power supply?

Jim
 
steve said:
not yet I think I will start with that
Click to expand...

If you run two programs, such as Asus Probe and MBM5 at the same
time, that can corrupt the readings. The problem is, Asus Probe
doesn't use the semiphore that MBM5 has, and the two programs
can request data via the SMBUS at the same time (10KHz serial bus,
AFAIK). A dead giveaway, would be if the fan speeds are crazy too.
Only install one of those programs at a time.

It is possible your power supply is bad, but I would use a voltmeter
to verify how it is doing. A disk drive cable, and a hacked Y adapter
can give you easy access to +5 and +12V. If your PS has a 1x6 AUX
connector, I think +3.3V is on there. Those are the important
voltages.

HTH,
Paul
 
steve said:
I noticed some heat problems with my A7A with a 1200 athlon, it is
about 2 years old, so I cleaned out some dust and started running pc
probe, I noticed my +12 drops to about +7 several times a day, I am
going to upgrade to a new processor, now that every thing is clean the
1.2 run at 52c, with the side off 45c, should I also be shopping for
some new fans or a case and a power supply
Click to expand...

If you just "started" running PC Probe, that is, you don't know how PC Probe
behaves then Probe is most likely the problem. I have the same setup A7A266,
1.2G processor and Probe frequently gave bad readings. Motherboard Monitor
is much more reliable but it will sometimes get a bad reading.

If you get a couple of readings where the temperature shoots up and back
down it is most likely bad readings. If your heatsink was loose it is very
unlikely it would bond properly such that the temps would drop quickly. When
voltages fail they usually drop and stay that way, yes, I know, not always
true.

Billh
 
If you just "started" running PC Probe, that is, you don't know how PC Probe
behaves then Probe is most likely the problem. I have the same setup A7A266,
1.2G processor and Probe frequently gave bad readings. Motherboard Monitor
is much more reliable but it will sometimes get a bad reading.

If you get a couple of readings where the temperature shoots up and back
down it is most likely bad readings. If your heatsink was loose it is very
unlikely it would bond properly such that the temps would drop quickly. When
voltages fail they usually drop and stay that way, yes, I know, not always
true.

Billh
Click to expand...
I went ahead and replaced the power supply since it was just the
standard one that came with the case, the new one is much quieter, I
am glad I changed it, every thing seems stable with mbm program, I
also changed the cpu to the xp 2400, my temp is about 55, that is a
little bit higher than the Athlon 1.2, is that normal.Thanks for the
tip about mbm it is a much better program
 
Paul said:
steve said:
If you run two programs, such as Asus Probe and MBM5 at the same
time, that can corrupt the readings. The problem is, Asus Probe
doesn't use the semiphore that MBM5 has, and the two programs
can request data via the SMBUS at the same time (10KHz serial bus,
AFAIK). A dead giveaway, would be if the fan speeds are crazy too.
Only install one of those programs at a time.

It is possible your power supply is bad, but I would use a voltmeter
to verify how it is doing. A disk drive cable, and a hacked Y adapter
can give you easy access to +5 and +12V. If your PS has a 1x6 AUX
connector, I think +3.3V is on there. Those are the important
voltages.
Click to expand...
Seriously, if the +12, really does drop to +7, most hard drives will make
the 'self park' noise, that is normally heard when you power a system down.
This normally triggers at about 11v. Similarly, there would be a massive
change in the notes of the fans. If there are no such signs, I'd really
suspect that the problem is a conflict with another monitoring program as
outlined above.

Best Wishes
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Roger Hamlett said:
Paul said:
steve said:
On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 22:45:22 -0400, "ohaya"



Seriously, if the +12, really does drop to +7, most hard drives will make
the 'self park' noise, that is normally heard when you power a system down.
This normally triggers at about 11v. Similarly, there would be a massive
change in the notes of the fans. If there are no such signs, I'd really
suspect that the problem is a conflict with another monitoring program as
outlined above.

Best Wishes
Click to expand...
I agree with your analysis except that Probe is quite capable of conflicting
with itself - no outside help required.

Billh
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
steve said:
I went ahead and replaced the power supply since it was just the
standard one that came with the case, the new one is much quieter, I
am glad I changed it, every thing seems stable with mbm program, I
also changed the cpu to the xp 2400, my temp is about 55, that is a
little bit higher than the Athlon 1.2, is that normal.Thanks for the
tip about mbm it is a much better program
Click to expand...

Don't know about the xp2400, but I have same setup (a7a266+1.2GHz Athlon
Tbird), and the temperatures you cite are identical to what I've always
gotten: 47 to 55C, depending of course on ambient room temperature, with the
PCI bus fully populated and two high speed SCSI drives. The a7a266 has a
reputation for running on the warm side, but I've had this setup for 3 years
now with zero problems, so the temperature issue seems to make little
difference, at least over the period that you're likely to have a given CPU
installed. I've also noticed spikes in voltage and fan speed readings,
recorded either by MBM, AsusProbe, or the bios itself -- but I think the
previous posters' responses are accurate: the software often befuddles
itself, and the spikey data are just transient artifacts that do not
persist. I finally removed all the monitoring software. HTH--
 
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