What to look for in a psu to provide high, stable vcore

[EllTheGamer]

I've been racking my brain and i cannot think for the life of me which rating informs you whether a psu will supply vcore healthily. I ask tyhis because i just upgraded my e4300 system by putting in the legendary giga-byte 965p-ds3 and i have overclocked from 1.8ghz to 3.4ghz i can only keep 3.4 stable when i up cpu voltage from 1.2v to 1.6v but when i do this i see the vcore failing in the bios's health section i can only maintain 1.55v stably without vcore failing. I assume this is my cheap ebuyer 550w PSU i doubt it is the board as it is ready to go way past 2v.

Does anyone know what part (which voltage) i should be looking at to be able to supply my system with a good vcore?
Also does anyone know a good budget overclockers PSU?

p.s. if it helps my psu specs are as follows:
+3.3v : 28A
+5v : 35A
+12v : 30A
-5v : 0.5A
-12v : 0.8A
+5vsb : 2.5A

Edit: Okay i decided to have a look to see if my voltages were fluctuating and i installed speedfan and i'm quite worried about the results:

-12v : -16.97v
-5v : 8.58v
Thats really got me worried but i'm not an expert when it comes to electronics so i'm not sure what that could mean for me, anyone here able to shed some light?

Something else that has me a bit baffled but not worried is the fact that core 1 reads 1.55v exactly as i set it whilst core 2 is supposed at 2v, anyone know if i should be worried bout this?

[Clunk]

Cheap PSUs often end up frying other components.

You dont say what the rest of your system is, so just look for a decent branded PSU from Seasonic, Enermax, Corsair.

[EllTheGamer]

Sorry i used to have it in my sig but my sig was like 15pixels too tall with it and i got an infraction so i removed it and i forgot.

Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8Ghz
Giga-byte 965p-ds3 Rev 1
HIS x800xl iceq turbo 2
2x 1gb PQI DDR2 800

As you can see i know what to look for in fact i used to have a hiperpower 480w type r psu but i REALLY needed money a little while back just haven't been keeping up with psus for a while.

[dave87]

More often than not the high and stable vcore is down to the motherboard. To get the best system stability, Seasonic Corsair and Enermax like Clunk suggested are good choices

[EllTheGamer]

Ok thanks i will go see if i can't find one at a good price. Thanks to both of you.

[EllTheGamer]

So This is a good option?, i read a review and all the + voltages were completely stable (+/- 2%). Unfortunately no word of the - voltages but it seems a quality unit do either of you agree?

[dave87]

Yea, its a good PSU, though I think the Corsair HX520 would be worth the extra tenner or so

[EllTheGamer]

Oh what the hell why not, i'm going to get £10 thanks to google anyway. Just need to collect money from people from things i have sold.

[SiM]

Its definitely not worth risking your system on a cheap psu. You have made a good choice.

On a similar note, Speedfans says my psu has 12.65V on the 12V line... Is this within acceptable levels?

[chuckskull]

First of all don't worry what speedfan says about your voltage, it's rarely right. If you have a good PSU dont worry.

For Ell I reckon the HX520 is a solid suggestion. But stable Vcore/Lack of Vdroop is also largely affect by the motherboard.

[dave87]

For Ell I reckon the HX520 is a solid suggestion. But stable Vcore/Lack of Vdroop is also largely affect by the motherboard.

Yup, though with Core 2 Duo it is less of an issue than it was under P4s, especially Northwood & Prescotts.

[amjedm]

Isn't it best to measure voltages with a Multimeter rather than accepting BIOS/Speedfan readouts?

In this instance you still need to get a decent PSU as the cheapie ebuyer is one I wouldn't trust.

[EllTheGamer]

Just to clarify in my original post i knew my psu was bad and that a cheapie ebuyer psu was bad i was just asking what to look for in a quality psu.

p.s. on a lighter note i would use a multi-meter if it wasn't for a terrible habit of swinging the wires around at high speeds, its a shame they always have to snap .