varying voltage on 3.3v on Asus motherboard

[jariwalakrunal]

hi

i'm having
2.4 P-4, 256 MB RAM, Asus P4VP-MX motherboard.,,, Win XP Pro SP-2
installed, PCTV Card from pinnacle using

i'm running asus pc prob for monitoring hardware temperature..

recently, i've noticed that, voltage monitor gives signal of low
voltage on +3.3v for sometime & without doing anything come back to
normal..& then suddenly after some time it again gives me signal of low
voltage (somewhere around 2.80-2.92) & continues this way..

this has been started since last two week.. & i'm worried why it is
happening ?

i'm a normal user & didn't know much about hardware... i want to know
which component of mother board uses this voltage.. +3.3 & does this
have effects on the performance of windows xp? or does it mean there is
something wrong on motherboard or power supply?

What are the causes of this ? & how to stop it?

thanks
krunal

 

[Paul]

hi

i'm having
2.4 P-4, 256 MB RAM, Asus P4VP-MX motherboard.,,, Win XP Pro SP-2
installed, PCTV Card from pinnacle using

i'm running asus pc prob for monitoring hardware temperature..

recently, i've noticed that, voltage monitor gives signal of low
voltage on +3.3v for sometime & without doing anything come back to
normal..& then suddenly after some time it again gives me signal of low
voltage (somewhere around 2.80-2.92) & continues this way..

this has been started since last two week.. & i'm worried why it is
happening ?

i'm a normal user & didn't know much about hardware... i want to know
which component of mother board uses this voltage.. +3.3 & does this
have effects on the performance of windows xp? or does it mean there is
something wrong on motherboard or power supply?

What are the causes of this ? & how to stop it?

thanks
krunal

If you enter the BIOS, when you start the computer, then
go to the hardware monitor page, does the 3.3V readout
give the low voltage readings there as well ? If the reading
is perfectly stable in the BIOS, it might means PCProbe
is not working well.

The 3.3V is used to create lower voltages for use by the
memory DIMMs, and other voltages to run the chipset. It
might be used by PCI cards or the video card. Many things
are powered by 3.3V either directly or indirectly, so
it is an important voltage.

You might find someone who owns a multimeter, and get
them to independently verify the voltages coming from
your power supply. It could be that the power supply is
weak, and is about to fail. Power supply failures are
one of the most likely causes of a computer to fail.
If you can find someone to measure the voltage, that
will reduce the risk of buying a replacement power
supply for no reason.

A well equipped repair shop might also have a clamp-on
DC ammeter. I have one of those here, and it is handy
for measuring the current that the computer uses. It
can help a technician to see, if the motherboard is
shorting out or not.

Another test you can do, is to remove the motherboard
from the computer case, and sit the motherboard and
the power supply on a table. That is called a
"cardboard test", because you place a piece of cardboard
underneath the motherboard while it is operating. The
purpose of a cardboard test, is to make sure that nothing
inside the computer case, is shorting to the motherboard.
If PCProbe reads a steady 3.3V when the computer is
booted while sitting on the tabletop, then something
must be shorting to the bottom of the motherboard when it
is in the computer case.

As you have said you are not an experienced user, I am
not recommending the "cardboard test" for you, and perhaps
you can get a friend to help you troubleshoot the source of
your problem. Buying a replacement power supply is certainly
the easiest thing to try, but is not guaranteed to solve
the problem. At least try alternate methods of measuring
the voltage first, to make sure this is not a measurement
problem.

Paul

 

[jariwalakrunal]

Thanks Paul

As i have experienced, it was not low constatly, but it is varying
constatly. Below, i have given the ranges. But sometimes it goes
beyound 2.97 to 2.92-93 or more.

If you enter the BIOS, when you start the computer, then
go to the hardware monitor page, does the 3.3V readout
give the low voltage readings there as well ? If the reading
is perfectly stable in the BIOS, it might means PCProbe
is not working well.

I've checked in BIOS, it is still varying following is what i have got:

BIOS Hardware Monitor PC Probe
Vcore 1.312 to 1.344 1.278 -1.31
3.3v 3.024 to 3.056 2.97 to 3.056
5v 4.623-4.677 4.73 - 4.95
12v 11.77-11.904
11.648-11.776

looking at both it doesn't give much difference as i've looked hardly
for 3to 5 minutes at BIOS hardware monitor page & i've taken pc probe
figures from its recorded history page of last few days... sometimes
3.3v goes below to 2.97 & at that time pc probe gives me warning. when
it goes down it was somewhere around 2.92-95 range or below. but after
some seconds may be 10-15 seconds, it goes back to normal range 2.97 to
3.056 and stays there in pc probe.

The 3.3V is used to create lower voltages for use by the
memory DIMMs, and other voltages to run the chipset. It
might be used by PCI cards or the video card. Many things
are powered by 3.3V either directly or indirectly, so
it is an important voltage.

Does it normally varies, or it is special case when it start varying
between 2.97-3.056 ranges. I've hardly found any record in history when
it is on stable 3.3v or even more than 3.056v. Does it gives any
potential threat to my system or other components?

You might find someone who owns a multimeter, and get
them to independently verify the voltages coming from
your power supply. It could be that the power supply is
weak, and is about to fail. Power supply failures are
one of the most likely causes of a computer to fail.
If you can find someone to measure the voltage, that
will reduce the risk of buying a replacement power
supply for no reason.

is this voltage varying is fault of power supply? or may be on
motherboard. Sometimes ago my motherboard got failed without any
unusual thing happend & i got it replaced under warranty. Along with
motherboard, my P-4 processor & Ram also got failed & i replaced both
under warranty. It got failed just as the next morning the system
couldnt start. So i'll find someone with multimeter & got power supply
checked soon.

Also, i'll reply again when i got it checked with multimeter & clamp-on
DC ammeter.

Thanks again Paul
krunal

 

[gavinda]

i also have the same problem, i remove the AGP ang connect monitor to ONBOARD vga. then problem was solved. but what do i have to do to AGP to get normal status. i can't remove it.please reply me with a solution
thank you