14 Replies Latest reply: Jan 5, 2010 1:41 PM by Powered by Design RSS

    I Need a way to test computer Power Supply

    Powered by Design Community Member

      Im running a 2005 Dell XPS

      Intel Pentium 4  3.4GHz

       

      I get a BSOD (Blue Screen of DEATH) every once in awhile.  Mostly at startup.

       

      The code seems to be something with hard drives.

       

      Now being an old maching and adding 2 more drives for a total of 3 i had to us splitters to power everything.

       

      I also have a Nvidia 9800GT card with 1024MB RAM with 2 six power ran to it also.

       

      I have looked on the outside of my case but cant see what my PSU power is.

       

      I know I could open it up but was wondering if there was any software kinda like CPU-Z that could read what is inside my computer ?

       

      Maybe something that could add up all that is inside and see how much is being used ?

       

       

      I will be building a new i7 soon but for now this is what I have.

       

      I ran the PPBM4 test and think im going to take over the LAST spot.

       

      Here are the results:

       

      Powered by DESIGN,   Personal or Computer ID
      DELL,  Computer Manufacturer
      XPS,   Computer Model
      329.6,  secs Total Benchmark Time
      54,  secs AVI  Encoding Time
      179.6,  secs MPEG Elapsed Time
      96,  secs Rendering Time
      Intel,    CPU Manufacturer
      Pentium 4 550,    CPU Model
      3.4,    GHz CPU speed
      1,    Number of CPU chips
      1,    Total Number of Cores
      3,    GB RAM
      4.2.1,    APP Version PPBM4 DV
      XP 32,    OSVersion
      SATA,    OS Disk Interface
      1000,    GB OS Disk Capacity
      7200,    OS Disk Speed
      SATA,    Project Disk Interface
      500,    GB Project Disk Capacity
      7200,    Project Disk Speed
      750,    Preview Disk Interface
      500,    GB Preview Disk Capacity
      7200,    Preview Disk Speed
      SATA,    Output Disk Interface
      500,    GB Output Disk Capacity
      7200,    Output Disk Speed
      Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT,    Graphics Board
      This test really shows how slow my computer is,    Comment

       

       

      ENjoy:  GLenn

        • 1. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
          Chuck A. McIntyre Community Member

          Glenn:

           

          On most motherboards I've owned there is a Hardware/Health area of the BIOS where voltage problems are indicated. The power supply is one of the most neglected pieces of hardware on a computer.

           

          There was a time when Dell used power supplies on their computers that had the positive and negative leads that connect to the motherboard reversed. Of course the motherboard was designed to accept this reverse setup.  This pissed a lot of people off, because a standard replacement power supply would blow out the board. I don't know when Dell discontinued this practice, but you should check your Dell model before replacing the power supply.

           

          I recommend you find your power supply model# and then use one of the online power supply wattage calculators to see if your power supply is supplying enough wattage. I believe newegg.com has one of these calculators.

          • 3. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
            Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

            Glenn,

             

            In this link I gave a link to a very good PSU calculator. I suggest you get the Pro version: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/504907. It is cheap and well worth the few $$$ and may serve you well with your new system as well.

             

            Can you post a screenshot from HWMonitor and Speedfan? Both give you some indication of voltages supplied and temps. Also compare these figures with the BIOS info that Chuck mentioned. Unfortunately the calculator Chuck mentioned is very limited. It does not allow for more than 4 memory sticks, no overclocking, no raid controllers, and a whole lot of other stuff, such as capacitor aging and average loads.

            • 4. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
              Powered by Design Community Member

              I went into the BIOS but could not find what Chuck said.

               

              I went line by line but maybe I missed it.

               

              Here are those screen caps Harm.

               

              picture103.jpg

               

              picture104.jpg

               

              From these I cant tell ?

               

              Glenn

               

              EDIT:  Here is the info from the speed fan info page:

              Scanning SMBus at $ECE0...

              Decoding DIMM #0

              Memory type is DDR2

              Module Ranks : 1

              Levels : 1.8V

              Parity : NO PARITY

              Refresh Rate : 7.8us

              Total Size : 512MB

              Decoding DIMM #1

              Memory type is DDR2

              Module Ranks : 2

              Levels : 1.8V

              Parity : NO PARITY

              Refresh Rate : 7.8us

              Total Size : 1024MB

              Decoding DIMM #2

              Memory type is DDR2

              Module Ranks : 1

              Levels : 1.8V

              Parity : NO PARITY

              Refresh Rate : 7.8us

              Total Size : 512MB

              Decoding DIMM #3

              Memory type is DDR2

              Module Ranks : 2

              Levels : 1.8V

              Parity : NO PARITY

              Refresh Rate : 7.8us

              Total Size : 1024MB

              • 5. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                Glenn,

                 

                Maybe your mobo does not support this (being somewhat older), but I would be interested to see results like this:

                 

                PC-Temp HWM.jpg

                 

                and

                 

                PC-Temp Speedfan.jpg

                 

                because that will show the voltages on the different rails.

                 

                BTW, your disk temperatures are pretty high as are the CPU and GPU. These are of course older components and these run hotter than current CPU/GPU so one can't really compare these to modern components, but cooling may be an issue. When was the last time you cleaned out the interior of your case, removed all the accumulated dust on the CPU cooler and cleaned your system fans?

                • 6. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                  Powered by Design Community Member

                  Thanks for the screenshots.

                   

                  I guess im not going to worry about it to much.

                   

                  I can wait for my new build. 

                   

                  At that time i will take 2 of my drives out and put them in the new rig.

                   

                  I put in a new clean hard drive and installed windows clean about 5 months ago and got a can of air and cleaned out allot of junk.

                   

                  it was doing it here and there before.

                   

                  Its just an old system.

                   

                   

                  Thanks for all the help:  GLenn

                  • 7. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                    Bill Gehrke Community Member

                    Glenn, I looked up the histroy on the XPS family.  From your date you may have a XPS 400 or earlier.  The XPS 400 had a 375 watt power supply, way to little for what you are doing.

                    • 8. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                      Powered by Design Community Member

                      Thanks.

                      You would think it would be easier to find out what is inside the computer.

                      Kinda like: right click your computer select power supply.  something like that.

                      It only goes to the BSOD once in awhile so its not to bad, and it usually only on startup.

                      Were in the middle of trying to buy a new house.  Its a short sale and it takes forever to get the banks to even look at our offer.

                      So im planing on building a new computer once we move and taking 2 of the drives out of this and taking the Nvidia 9800GT out and putting back in the slower Nvidia that was in there before I put in the faster card.

                      Once I take those out I think it should go back to a more stable usage of the power supply that is in there and should be OK.

                      Of course it will still be slow but its a good e-mail and other stuff computer for girlfriend.  Let this system take the daily abuse and have the new system clean.

                      At least when I run the computer I know what not to allow or install.

                      I guess I didnt take last place after all.

                      One person with a slower system then mine.

                      I will do better once we move.  I will run it again.

                      Thanks for setting that up. 

                      It helps others see what works and what doesnt.

                       

                      ENjoy:  GLenn

                       

                       

                       

                      Date: Sat, 2 Jan 2010 14:07:44 -0700

                      From: forums@adobe.com

                      To: gmo_web@hotmail.com

                      Subject: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply

                       

                      Glenn, I looked up the histroy on the XPS family.  From your date you may have a XPS 400 or earlier.  The XPS 400 had a 375 watt power supply, way to little for what you are doing.

                      >

                      • 9. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                        Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                        Glenn,

                         

                        This may be worthwhile to see your voltages: http://www.hwinfo.sk/beta/hw32_334_475.zip

                        • 10. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                          Powered by Design Community Member

                          That is a cool app.

                           

                          Thanks Harm.

                           

                          Here is a screenshot.

                           

                          picture111.jpg

                           

                          Thanks:  GLenn

                          • 11. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                            Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                            Glenn,

                             

                            The interesting page for your purposes is this one:

                             

                            5-1-2010 18-45-37.jpg

                            You can find it by using the Sensors optionin the main menu.

                            • 12. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                              Powered by Design Community Member

                              Yea I looked at those too.

                               

                              Mine isnt as good as yours.

                               

                              picture113.jpg

                               

                              Old computers just dont have all the good stuff.

                               

                               

                              Thanks:  GLenn

                              • 13. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                                Harm Millaard CommunityMVP

                                Sorry Glenn, I just thought I could give you some more handy tools to get the info, but unfortunately, if the sensors are missing....there is not much we can do to help you.

                                • 14. Re: I Need a way to test computer Power Supply
                                  Powered by Design Community Member

                                  Thanks for trying.

                                   

                                  Once we move in the next month I will be building a new system and this one will just be for backup and internet junk.

                                   

                                  I think it will run better once I pull out one of the hard drives and put back in the original graphics card that uses less power.

                                   

                                  I can wait.

                                   

                                  Now I have one more tool for when I do get a better system.

                                   

                                   

                                  ENjoy:  GLenn