Power Supply Testing

[amdcrankitup]

I should maybe know this but is there any software out there that will sufficently and properly test a power supply os that going to require a tool only! Ive got 2 power supplies that are questionable and one of them is new!! So of course Im very concerned in regards to the new one! The other one I have has a very paculiar problem Ive never seen before ever but if I can at least take care of the new one and verify if it is a power problem its under warranty!Any help would be appreciated!

[kalniel]

You need more than just software for proper testing. Most you can do with software is push the limits that the rest of your hardware will demand from the PSU - but that will always be limited by the other hardware.

But if you want to do that, pick some demanding tools like OCCT or prime 95 and run them alongside a GPU loader like furmark. The idea is to generate load on the components that use the most power. By using benchmark tools like these you can reproduce the same test, so if you need to return a part you can say exactly what you did to cause it to fail, which helps the shop test themselves.

[amdcrankitup]

You need more than just software for proper testing. Most you can do with software is push the limits that the rest of your hardware will demand from the PSU - but that will always be limited by the other hardware.

But if you want to do that, pick some demanding tools like OCCT or prime 95 and run them alongside a GPU loader like furmark. The idea is to generate load on the components that use the most power. By using benchmark tools like these you can reproduce the same test, so if you need to return a part you can say exactly what you did to cause it to fail, which helps the shop test themselves.

Thanks for the advice I figured of course a tool to properly test the power supply would probably be the proper way to go but did not really want to invest in a tool that would set around and collect dust for the fact of limited use coming only when I test my own Power supply for problems or maybe testing friends units when they fail! I do on the other hand do repairs on PC,s to try to raise some additional income but dont think it would be used enough to justify the cost of the unit, that is unless I could find one that is cost effective and does a real world job of testing with a great amount of accuracy! My idea like you said was using available software to stress the system like HW moniter and others to be able to watch voltage ranges and drop under a load like using OCCT 3D Mark PCMark and prime! That way I could see the change in real time! Hopefully! Thanks for your time kalniel I appreciate you taking the time out to help!

[phil4]

I used a simply and cheap Power Supply tester from Maplins. This allowed me to isolate the fault, and ensure it was PS not the Mobo or something else. Past that I've seen odd behaviour caused by many thinks, so much so I've always used a "known good spare" to further isolate power supply issues.

The oddest one I had was an Antec Quattro and a 8800GTX. While the Antec power supply supplied the correct and required power 99.99999% of the time, it didn't manage it just as the PC was turned on, leading to the 800GTX switcing to it's "safe mode", and running very much below what was expected of it. No errors, warnings or similar... just a case of using a known good supply to demonstrate the 8800GTX worked ok, and thus the problem was with the other power supply.

This was a while back, but hope it helps show how fickle these things can be, and tricky to isolate.

[amdcrankitup]

Thanks for the info on the power supply tester! I dont readily have a xtra power supply I can use at this time but just try to use a monitering software while stressing the system! Hasnt acted up in the last couple of days also have had questions on power surges in the apartment I live in so for the time being Ill keep my trusty surge protector in the link! Thanks phil4!!