DFI K6BV3+ V Regulator?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ralph D.
  • Start date Start date
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Ralph D.

Hello,

I am dealing with a DFI K6BV3+ with a K6-2+ 450 @ 500. 2 sticks 128M SDRAM.


This board doesn't do much work around here anymore (mostly the kid's
machine), but it used to take a thumping for a couple of years when it was
my box and ran clocked at 600 24/7.

Some time ago it started seeing some odd freezes in 98SE. I assumed it was
the PS as you can hear a gentle 'plink' just as it happens (with the case
off) and has happened simultaneous with (but not always with) a warning from
Genesys SysMon that my 12 V was over.

This thing consistently ran the 12V at 12.91 for the last while, even though
it used to run at a few hundredths under 12 when it was the workhorse (the
alarm defaults at 13.20).

I replaced the PS with a 400W Powmax with overcurrent protection and
reloaded Windows as the last freeze hammered some files, only to have a
freeze again in 24 hrs followed by alarms and voltages at 13.28.

Q: What is the Normal voltage coming off the 12V rail on this board?

Q: How high is too high for safety's sake?

Q: Is this the Voltage regulator on the MB giving up? (it just seems that
two very different supplies should not be giving the same high numbers)




Thanks
 
Hello,

I am dealing with a DFI K6BV3+ with a K6-2+ 450 @ 500. 2 sticks 128M SDRAM.


This board doesn't do much work around here anymore (mostly the kid's
machine), but it used to take a thumping for a couple of years when it was
my box and ran clocked at 600 24/7.

Some time ago it started seeing some odd freezes in 98SE. I assumed it was
the PS as you can hear a gentle 'plink' just as it happens (with the case
off) and has happened simultaneous with (but not always with) a warning from
Genesys SysMon that my 12 V was over.

This thing consistently ran the 12V at 12.91 for the last while, even though
it used to run at a few hundredths under 12 when it was the workhorse (the
alarm defaults at 13.20).

I replaced the PS with a 400W Powmax with overcurrent protection and
reloaded Windows as the last freeze hammered some files, only to have a
freeze again in 24 hrs followed by alarms and voltages at 13.28.

Q: What is the Normal voltage coming off the 12V rail on this board?

Q: How high is too high for safety's sake?

Q: Is this the Voltage regulator on the MB giving up? (it just seems that
two very different supplies should not be giving the same high numbers)




Thanks
Click to expand...

There is no 12v regulator on the motherboard. That is all done in the
powersupply. The 12v is probably used for very little on that motherboard,
as most super7 board did the cpu/logic voltages from the 5v line. It
supplies the motor power to all of the drives in the system. If I saw 12v
jumps, and heard clinks/tinks, I would think hard drive first, as that is
normally a recalibrate that happens during attempted error recovery. Likely
one of your drives is going. Probably time to backup everything important
and get a new drive.

JT
 
JT said:
There is no 12v regulator on the motherboard. That is all done in the
powersupply. The 12v is probably used for very little on that motherboard,
as most super7 board did the cpu/logic voltages from the 5v line. It
supplies the motor power to all of the drives in the system.
Click to expand...

Thanks... that's the point of my post... I cannot see anything much but the
fans that run off the board, but I can't believe that this spike is a
red-herring anymore and wondered if there was something that I'm missing

If I saw 12v
jumps, and heard clinks/tinks, I would think hard drive first,
Click to expand...

Even before the case was open and the plink heard (it's only one plink and
not a series, by the way) I suspected the drive and ran the Maxtor Power Max
4.06 and it reported as good, though I did not do the low-level test

as that is
normally a recalibrate that happens during attempted error recovery.
Click to expand...

So, here's the part I had not considered at all... is this to say that my
supply will adjust up and down according to a mechanical condition with the
drive? Would this make my power spike or am I going overboard thinking that
13.28V is too high even if it's from two different supplies?

Likely
one of your drives is going. Probably time to backup everything important
and get a new drive.
Click to expand...

I can't seem to find the sales slip for this drive, but it is marked as
manufactured in June 2002, though it seems like it was much later than that
when I replaced a failing 10G Quantum Fireball with it... How's Maxtor these
days when it comes to these situations?



Thanks for replying
 
Thanks... that's the point of my post... I cannot see anything much but the
fans that run off the board, but I can't believe that this spike is a
red-herring anymore and wondered if there was something that I'm missing

If I saw 12v

Even before the case was open and the plink heard (it's only one plink and
not a series, by the way) I suspected the drive and ran the Maxtor Power Max
4.06 and it reported as good, though I did not do the low-level test

as that is

So, here's the part I had not considered at all... is this to say that my
supply will adjust up and down according to a mechanical condition with the
drive? Would this make my power spike or am I going overboard thinking that
13.28V is too high even if it's from two different supplies?

Likely

I can't seem to find the sales slip for this drive, but it is marked as
manufactured in June 2002, though it seems like it was much later than that
when I replaced a failing 10G Quantum Fireball with it... How's Maxtor these
days when it comes to these situations?



Thanks for replying
Click to expand...
 
Thanks... that's the point of my post... I cannot see anything much but the
fans that run off the board, but I can't believe that this spike is a
red-herring anymore and wondered if there was something that I'm missing
Click to expand...

The 12v is Global to the system, not just the motherboard. The spike is
probably from something like a hard drive, cd, case fan, etc. that is not
connected to the board power.
If I saw 12v

Even before the case was open and the plink heard (it's only one plink and
not a series, by the way) I suspected the drive and ran the Maxtor Power Max
4.06 and it reported as good, though I did not do the low-level test

as that is

So, here's the part I had not considered at all... is this to say that my
supply will adjust up and down according to a mechanical condition with the
drive? Would this make my power spike or am I going overboard thinking that
13.28V is too high even if it's from two different supplies?
Click to expand...
There will be variations according to the load on the 12v lines. Also, the
12v normally follows the 5v regulator. When the 12v jumps, are the other
voltages stable, or do they move as well.
Likely

I can't seem to find the sales slip for this drive, but it is marked as
manufactured in June 2002, though it seems like it was much later than that
when I replaced a failing 10G Quantum Fireball with it... How's Maxtor these
days when it comes to these situations?
Click to expand...
Maxtor is OK, but any drive can fail prematurely. Sometimes you just get
lucky.
Thanks for replying
Click to expand...

JT
 
JT said:
The 12v is Global to the system, not just the motherboard. The spike is
probably from something like a hard drive, cd, case fan, etc. that is not
connected to the board power.
Click to expand...

And since it seems to coincide with the sound and the freezes... We'll look
at the HD.
There will be variations according to the load on the 12v lines. Also, the
12v normally follows the 5v regulator. When the 12v jumps, are the other
voltages stable, or do they move as well.
Click to expand...

No. The other voltages seem to vary by none to very little
Maxtor is OK, but any drive can fail prematurely. Sometimes you just get
lucky.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks... I'll give them a call when I can find the time and see what
they have to say. I'm hoping that this drive falls into the group that is
seeing the longer warranties again.
 
Ralph D. said:
I am dealing with a DFI K6BV3+ with a K6-2+ 450 @ 500
Click to expand...
it used to take a thumping for a couple of years when it was
my box and ran clocked at 600 24/7.

Some time ago it started seeing some odd freezes in 98SE. I
assumed it was the PS as you can hear a gentle 'plink' just
as it happens (with the case off) and has happened simultaneous
with (but not always with) a warning from Genesys SysMon that my
12 V was over.

This thing consistently ran the 12V at 12.91 for the last while,
even though it used to run at a few hundredths under 12 when it
was the workhorse (the alarm defaults at 13.20).

I replaced the PS with a 400W Powmax with overcurrent protection
and reloaded Windows as the last freeze hammered some files, only
to have a freeze again in 24 hrs followed by alarms and voltages at
13.28.

Q: What is the Normal voltage coming off the 12V rail on this board?
Click to expand...

ATX says 12V, +-5%, is acceptable, but measure with a digital meter
since onboard hardware is notoriously inaccurate.
Q: How high is too high for safety's sake?
Click to expand...

Most 5V chips have absolute maximums of about 6.0-6.5V, I believe, and
overvoltage protection in power supplies is designed to come on at
+20%. Assuming your readings are accurate (and there's no way to know
this), 13.2V is out of tolerance but safe.
Q: Is this the Voltage regulator on the MB giving up? (it
just seems that two very different supplies should not be
giving the same high numbers)
Click to expand...

It seems much more reasonable than 2 power supplies in a row being
bad, and while Powmax is hardly the best, it's not total junk, and the
90-120W that your system likely draws should be no problem for it.
This board has a CPU voltage regulator in a corner near the front,
between the CPU and BIOS chip (32 pin rectangular package), but it
also has a 3.3V regulator in the opposite corner, between the memory
sockets and power connectors, because it's made for both AT and ATX
power supplies an doesn't draw 3.3V from the supply but uses its 5V
and converts this down to 3.3V. There are 2 large transistors or
diodes (black 1/2" square, 1/8" thick plastic with metal tab at one
end (soldered to board) and 3 pins on the other end, with middle pin
just a stub), and nearby are elecrolytic capacitors (upright cylinders
covered in shrink wrap). If any of those capacitors is bulging or
leaking at top, then replace all of them in the vicinity (use only
high-frequency types rated for 105 Celcius -- www.digikey.com,
www.mouser.com, www.bdent.com), but capacitors can be bad and still
look normal. The voltages can be measured by attaching a meter probe
to the metal parts of the transistors or diodes, taking care not to
short any 2 together, but you'll likely read 0V, 5V, and 2 voltages
close to the output value.
 
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