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Author Topic: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test  (Read 5531 times)

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PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« on: January 09, 2012, 04:09:30 PM »
I need some suggestions for programs that will take my CPU and GPU to maximum load and hold them there. Now this may sound a little strange but I want to disprove that I am in some way overloading the 12V rail of my power supply. There should be no way that I am exceeding the limit but I would be happier if I could rule it out.

[Parent thread: Reboot Madness]

I should have the best CPU stress test software saved... but unfortunately I can't remember it's name and well my hard drive is a mess :P

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2012, 07:20:28 PM »
CPU = Prime
GPU = FurMark.
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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #2 on: January 09, 2012, 09:48:21 PM »
IntelBurnTest for your CPU: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Benchmarks/IntelBurnTest.shtml Run it on Standard, 1024MB, for 10 passes. If your system gets unstable in the process it will tell you. It puts a greater load on the CPU than Prime95 or Orthos: http://majorgeeks.com/IntelBurnTest_d5987.html and http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?197835-IntelBurnTest-The-new-stress-testing-program
8 Mins Linpack = 24 Hours Prime95.

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2012, 04:32:36 AM »
System ran stably...

Just about the only way that I can reproduce the the problem with any guarantee is to play skyrim and stand somewhere that it snows...

Seriously, the RAM is fine, the GPU is fine, the CPU is fine, the temperatures are fine, the OS is fine, the PSU is fine. What is wrong with this machine?

Why does this thing keep rebooting? :'(

Raptor

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2012, 05:25:59 AM »
Bug in Skyrim?

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2012, 11:23:54 AM »
That would be an impressive bug considering that I've had this problem long before I owned Skyrim and infact before it was released.

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2012, 11:31:23 AM »
How did you determine the RAM is fine ? ?
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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2012, 11:57:22 AM »
That would be an impressive bug considering that I've had this problem long before I owned Skyrim and infact before it was released.

Ah, I misread. I thought it happened when you made snow-angels in Skyrim.

So what's the temperature at when it reboots?

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2012, 06:45:46 PM »
Ah, I misread. I thought it happened when you made snow-angels in Skyrim.

So what's the temperature at when it reboots?

No idea, the system (generally) hangs on a garbled screen with a skyrim induced crash. So a temp reading is impossible. Not that it's a concern as I have stress tested the CPU and GPU for overheating issues. There are none.

How did you determine the RAM is fine ? ?

Memtest I think was the name, one of these boot time test programs. Passed several runs flawlessly.


On a side note though with Skyrim, the only surefire way I have of reproducing the problem, the reboots/freezes get progressively worse the longer that I attempted to run the program. Sounds like a temperature problem doesn't it? But it's not, unless the power supply was overheating and becoming unstable but you tend to notice the unmistakable smell of burning plastic during these events. Also reboots can occur at random, I turned the computer on once and after 15 minutes it rebooted on the screen saver (it had only been left to idle).

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2012, 07:43:13 PM »
Quote
unless the power supply was overheating and becoming unstable but you tend to notice the unmistakable smell of burning plastic during these events.
When I took my exam that was NOT one of the right answers for determining Power Supply performance.

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2012, 05:03:09 AM »
Tried updating all your drivers?

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2012, 12:22:59 AM »
Tried updating all your drivers?

I think that I have tried almost every driver ever written for my hardware, including a few different BIOS's.

When I took my exam that was NOT one of the right answers for determining Power Supply performance.

My point more over was that a heat related instability could raise the temperature of a PSU to easily above 100°C and would be quite hard to miss. (Not that I haven't known "experts" that have missed melting PSU's)

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Re: PSU 12V Rail Stress Test
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2012, 12:37:31 AM »
A good PSU has a thermal overload as well as current overload protection. And even an old-fashioned fuse.
If you really think the PSU is causing upset, just try another PSU. It is very, very unlikely that two PUS's, each a different model, would ever have a rare undetectable instability. (A quirk so quick you don't see it.)

Also, to really test a PSU the proper method is using analog monitoring with a recording device. Which can be another computer with an external device suitable for the job.
Something like this:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/11/scopeonpc-turn-your-pc-in.html