Any HW voltage experts here?

[nate42nd]

I have noticed some readings on HWMonitor for my newest build. Maybe I haven't noticed it before but are these readings correct? The BIOS shows the 12 and 5 volt readings fine so I assume this is normal or a software "thing" do you know if this looks okay?

 

[stormy13]

First let me say that software is one of the worst ways to read things like voltages, the only accurate way is to use a voltmeter. Different programs can report different readings. That said it can be any of the following,

bios
sensor chip
the program itself

Are all those readings reported in the bios? If so do they look OK? If so then it can still be a bios/sensor chip reporting issue (which you can't do anything about, unless the board manufacturer has a bios update that fixes it), or the program doesn't have the necessary bits in it to read the specific sensor chip on the motherboard.

P.S. If it helps any HWMonitor doesn't even read the 12V on mine at all. Neither does Asus' own Asus Probe (and both will report the 3.3V reading at around ~1.15V). The only program I have used that reads mine properly is Everest

 

[nate42nd]

As I said in the 1st post, the BIOS shows the 12 and 5V fine.

I can't even find the voltage "section" in Everest.

I'm sure everything is fine. It's a new P55 motherboard. Maybe it's a new sensor chip and the software has not caught up yet.

For all I know these are correct. I am not an electronics wizard. I don't even know why there is a "-12" and "-5 and have no idea what the "+5 VCCH" is. The BIOS only shows the 12V and 5V. They are fine according to the BIOS.

 

[stormy13]

I can't even find the voltage "section" in Everest.

It's under Computer - Sensor.

Also with Everest if you haven't found it yet, it has full Sidebar support in & and Vista (look in File-Preferences) depending on whether your version is recent enough (anything from 4.xx and up I believe). If you have an older version you can give the latest beta versions a test from here,

Lavalys - Comprehensive IT Security and Management

 

[nate42nd]

I though there might more comprehensive values like HW Monitor but I found them. They look fine but I have a "trial version" of Everest but it's a 5.xxx beta. I really like SIW better. I was wondering if maybe someone could look at their HW Monitor values and see if mine are about the same. I think i will get a voltage meter.

 

[chuckr]

I though there might more comprehensive values like HW Monitor but I found them. They look fine but I have a "trial version" of Everest but it's a 5.xxx beta. I really like SIW better. I was wondering if maybe someone could look at their HW Monitor values and see if mine are about the same. I think i will get a voltage meter.

Everest Ultimate 406, under XP Pro, Gateway:

(I don't have SATA)

What does your SIW show for voltages ?

 

[nate42nd]

SIW and HWMonitor must grab the use the same sensor and give all information. Everest looks like it uses a different sensor or reads it different. Here is SIW and HWMonitor side by side.


I think the sensor on this new motherboard may be faulty. I have never seen the +12 like this before. I may need a multi-meter.

 

[nate42nd]

The voltages come up (except the -5) during load. I don't now if this matters.

Load


Not under load

 

[Creer]

Don't trust any software when you try to get information about current voltage.
I have top model of the strong Tagan PSU and for example for years SpeedFan shows me this voltages (in attach)

Fortunatelly I have multimeter and I can by self manually check this, and you know what? Voltages are always stable and OK in my case.

My advice - buy simple multimeter or voltage-meter and check voltage by self, I'm sure it will be OK (you have good PSU model)

 

[stormy13]

Don't trust any software when you try to get information about current voltage.
I have top model of the strong Tagan PSU and for example for years SpeedFan shows me this voltages (in attach)

Fortunatelly I have multimeter and I can by self manually check this, and you know what? Voltages are always stable and OK in my case.

My advice - buy simple multimeter or voltage-meter and check voltage by self, I'm sure it will be OK (you have good PSU model)

Yep,

First let me say that software is one of the worst ways to read things like voltages, the only accurate way is to use a voltmeter.

Also nate42ndif any of those 12V readings that are showing in all those screen shots of yours were accurate, your computer either wouldn't boot (too low) or something would be fried (16V peak, I don't think so).

 

[nate42nd]

I have come to believe the ITE sensor chip is bad on my new motherboard. The BIOS shows good voltage and it works fine. Now I have to decide whether or not to send it back because of this. I hate to send it back but I would like the board to function right.

Would this be a reason to take your computer apart and send the board back? I don't know. It overclocks and runs fine......

 

[Creer]

I have come to believe the ITE sensor chip is bad on my new motherboard. The BIOS shows good voltage and it works fine. Now I have to decide whether or not to send it back because of this. I hate to send it back but I would like the board to function right.

Would this be a reason to take your computer apart and send the board back? I don't know. It overclocks and runs fine......

It's up to you, anyways... why it is so important to you? I mean every single Hi-end PSU has built-in all voltage control management system, if smth is not correct with voltage then PSU stop working. You don't have to control it by self all the time.

 

[nate42nd]

I have come to believe the ITE sensor chip is bad on my new motherboard. The BIOS shows good voltage and it works fine. Now I have to decide whether or not to send it back because of this. I hate to send it back but I would like the board to function right.

Would this be a reason to take your computer apart and send the board back? I don't know. It overclocks and runs fine......

It's up to you, anyways... why it is so important to you? I mean every single Hi-end PSU has built-in all voltage control management system, if smth is not correct with voltage then PSU stop working. You don't have to control it by self all the time.

I just like perfection. I will probably just deal with it. I hope no other problems will come up.

 

[Creer]

I have come to believe the ITE sensor chip is bad on my new motherboard. The BIOS shows good voltage and it works fine. Now I have to decide whether or not to send it back because of this. I hate to send it back but I would like the board to function right.

Would this be a reason to take your computer apart and send the board back? I don't know. It overclocks and runs fine......

It's up to you, anyways... why it is so important to you? I mean every single Hi-end PSU has built-in all voltage control management system, if smth is not correct with voltage then PSU stop working. You don't have to control it by self all the time.

I just like perfection. I will probably just deal with it. I hope no other problems will come up.

As I said before, test it by self. No one here can tell you that everything is 100% OK we can guess it is not the same. Keep in your mind that even hi-end products can be not perfect because eg. one item from x thousand is damaged. So if you have still warranty on that, better will be test your PSU by multimeter - 1 minute and you will know if everything is OK or not.

 

[nate42nd]

It's up to you, anyways... why it is so important to you? I mean every single Hi-end PSU has built-in all voltage control management system, if smth is not correct with voltage then PSU stop working. You don't have to control it by self all the time.

I just like perfection. I will probably just deal with it. I hope no other problems will come up.

As I said before, test it by self. No one here can tell you that everything is 100% OK we can guess it is not the same. Keep in your mind that even hi-end products can be not perfect because eg. one item from x thousand is damaged. So if you have still warranty on that, better will be test your PSU by multimeter - 1 minute and you will know if everything is OK or not.

FYI - I took the motherboard out, put my EP45-UD3P into the system and replaced (of course) the CPU, and memory with the correct ones. The PSU is fine and the voltages are showing fine on the P45 board. The ITE chip or something else was bad on the P55 board. I sent it back for a replacement. I will be happy with a new one. That way I will not have to guess the voltages or go to the BIOS if I need to know them.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will wait a week for my new board. I have a nice P45 board here with a Q8200 and 8GB of RAM. I'll be fine. haha

 

[nate42nd]

I thought I would give an update. If anyone is getting a P55 Gigabyte board, keep in mind you will get odd voltage readings from HWMonitor. I have done 3 now. 2 P55-UD4P and 1 P55-UD3R and none have worked correctly with HWMonitor. Here's an example next to Gigabyte's own monitor. My PSU is VERY high quality and the other 2 were just as good. It's almost like it's showing the +12 in the -12 row. On other boards it shows all kinds of odd stuff (-5 and -3) and it's unpredictable. I have seen all kinds of weird stuff.