Can anyone shed some light on my unusual low 12 volt readings?
Did I forget to plug something in? lol

nitrotrike check your bios for your volts,
software based monitors can be buggy at times and give false readings.
Trust your bios.

Thanks B-shot, I will. Everything seems to be working fine, so I'm sure it's a glitch.

One thing I noticed though, and the reason I asked if I may have left something unplugged... - This Asus board has a 4 pin connector that they had capped off with a black cover. My power supply had a plug that would go in this. Is there a reason they have it capped? They have no mention of it in the manual, and I don't recall seeing one before. The model is an Asus M4A79T Deluxe.

Any ideas?

I would guess it's capped for people who have only 1 plug. If you have two use them both. IIRC my mobo was the same.
Do ASUS mobos still come with PCprobe? That might have more realistic readings. If Vin1 is your cpu vcore then wow, it's messed up. Mine goes from .99v to 1.38 by default.

-------------------------
Spider: Phenom II 955, Antec Kuhler 920, GA-MA790FX-DS5 (F8g), ASUS 5870/V2, ASUS Xonar D2X pcie,
OCZ2N1066SR2GK (4x1gig @800), Antec Truepower New 750, Fractal Design's Arc Midi Case.
#2: A64 X2 4200+, ASUS A8V-D, SAPPHIRE AGP 1950PRO

My Gigabyte has the same. The manual says that its not needed under normal circumstances and thus capped. It is recommended for power hungry CPUs to use the additional pins.

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Phenom II 940 @3.40GHz 1,35V|Xigmatek HDT-SD964|Foxconn A79A-S|4GB Kingston HyperX 1066 CL5 2.0V|Sapphire HD4830 512MB|Sharkoon Avenger|LC6600GP2 600W
http://www.sysprofile.de/id99196

Thanks guys. I just checked again real close at the manual. They don't even SHOW the connector on the board diagram in the manual - just the 8 pin one next to it, which they are calling the "EATX12V" connector. Another forum mentions that it is for using dual PCIE cards, but my two cards already have their own power connectors, so maybe they are referring to an older board. Who knows... if it isn't broke - don't fix it I suppose.

**Nitrostrike** The capped 4 pin connector is for when you run in crossfire mode (at least on my ASUS M4A78-E) The board requires additional juice to run multiple video cards properly. So if you only have one video card I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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System Specs:
Motherboard: ASUS M4A78-E
Memory: 8 Gig (4 x 2Gig) G-Skill 1066 DDR2
CPU: AMD Phenom II x 4 955 BE @3.8Ghz
Cooling: AC Freezer 64 cooler
PSU: Corsair 750W
GPU: Gigabyte GV-R489UD-1GD HD 4890
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64

I am running two Gigabyte 9600 series cards, but they each have their own power supply connector.

I found no info on an additional connector besides the EATX12V, which is for CPU power supply. Also your board doesn't support SLI, did you try running only one Geforce 9600?

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Phenom II 940 @3.40GHz 1,35V|Xigmatek HDT-SD964|Foxconn A79A-S|4GB Kingston HyperX 1066 CL5 2.0V|Sapphire HD4830 512MB|Sharkoon Avenger|LC6600GP2 600W
http://www.sysprofile.de/id99196

I am actually not running them (or trying to run them) in SLI mode (would defeat the purpose of having dual cards as only one GPU can be used in SLI mode - that's how my old mobo was anyway). The voltage numbers are just confusing to me, and as other have said, most likely inaccurate.

Run the PC under load, take a multi meeter to a 4 pin molex connector and test the 12+ rail. If its 11.88 volts or lower then your PSU is a fail.

Ideal is to be in the 12.2 to 12.4 range under load.

Volts being low is a dead sign the rail is not delivering its full rated amps.

black to black and in most cases red to yellow on the 4 pin molex.

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AMD phenom II 1090T @ 4.23 Ghz custom water cooled
Asrock 890 FX deluxe 3 mother board
4 GB DDR 3 1600 @ 1688 Mhz 7 7 7 24 T1 2688 Mhz NB
2x 1 TB WD Sata III 64 mb cache HDD,s raid 0
2x 5870 HD @ 1015/1300 Asus reference
Dual OS win 7 x64 ultimate & win 7 x32 Ultimate (bench os)

Edited: 09/15/2009 at 05:17 PM by PC-GURU -

If your CPU is operating at a higher temperature than normal. That normal means that the CPU is over clocked or the Heat Sink is not the right one for the CPU, or missing thermal cupeling between the CPU and the heat sink. The best way to resolve that issue is to increase the sizes of the heat sink of the CPU and fan. Also to make sure that you have the right amount of thermal cupeling between the CPU and the Heat sink.

AMD does have specification of recommended heat sink and manufactures of that part.

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Conrad Burroughs

It seems that I and Mr. Youssef_che are sharing the problem of overheating the AMD 955 BE with a stock cooler set in a Gigabyte Setto 1000 case.

I am just running Prime95 after I have tried to arrange the cables as best as possible, and I am having (8 minutes into the test) temp. of CPU: 62 C, with all four cores showing 59 C.

I have self-installed the PC (Gigabyte MA-790-XT, AMD 955 BE, Sapphire Vapor-X HD4890, 2x2 GB DDR3 Corsair 1333 MHZ, 9-9-9-24, WD640GB Black, Gigabyte Setto 1000 case) and there was some thermal paste installed on the stock cooler which I've attached to the MB and the CPU. Operating system: Windows 7 build 7100.

Although the system is stable and at the moment I'm not using anything that might nearly take my PC up to 100%, I'd also like to have some room for overclock and therefore I suppose I will need to get a better cooler.

Also, what is the most reliable program for checking temps? I am using Everest and SpeedFan.

-------------------------
AMD 955 BE @3.2GHz - cooler Scythe Kabuto
Gigabyte MA-790XT-UD4P
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4890 @870MHz
2 x 2GB DDR3 Corsair @1333MHz 9-9-9-24 (stock settings)
2 x WD 640 GB Caviar Black
Gigabyte Setto 1000 case (2x120 mm fans)
Corsair TX 650 W
Samsung 2433BW 24" - 1920x1200
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
3Dm06 15,994

AndorDrakon, an aftermarket HSF is a must for overclocking (well if you want to push the CPU), i would recomend some good thermal past also (TIM)
also good case airflow can really help to drop the temps-you gotta get the hot air out while getting the cool air in.

besides the bios, i use everest,HW Monitor and Core Temp to check my temps.


-dimwit-

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I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.

I've mentioned it in another thread, but it's worth mentioning in here as well.

Just went through this with two different 955be's of a fairly recent batch. Both chips run very hot at stock speeds using the stock cooler, and even fairly hot under water.

I figure this latest batch just runs hot for some reason.

Well, I have tried opening the case but it did not change anything. I suspect trying to get some extra airflow in the case with another fan on the side or possibly stronger fans on the front / back will not help reducing the temp of the CPU.

So it's time to consider a CPU cooler. I have noted the Arctic freezer 64 pro, I see however that it's on the market for some 3-4 years now.

I won't install the new cooler immediately, but pretty soon I am going to start testing it with Fallout 3, and Crysis should heat things up with the GPU also.

Which cooler do you recommend? I do plan to overclock a bit further in the future, but probably only up to 3,8 GHz.

-------------------------
AMD 955 BE @3.2GHz - cooler Scythe Kabuto
Gigabyte MA-790XT-UD4P
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD4890 @870MHz
2 x 2GB DDR3 Corsair @1333MHz 9-9-9-24 (stock settings)
2 x WD 640 GB Caviar Black
Gigabyte Setto 1000 case (2x120 mm fans)
Corsair TX 650 W
Samsung 2433BW 24" - 1920x1200
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
3Dm06 15,994

If you don't mind removing the motherboard to install the cooler, the Coolermaster Hyper12+ is an amazing value. Not a top of the line cooler, but you won't find anything that currently matches it in bang-for-buck.

I'm a former promoter of the AC freezer pro line, but the Coolermaster is now tops on my list for folks on a budget.

I seem to have the same problem with my 955BE, (44 idle, 56 load, 22 Troom). I'm still stuck using this stock heatsink since I cannot find a proper heatsink that can fit in my case, BTW I have a low profile case, I did some researching and I think I have found the heatsinks that I am looking for, I just can't decide what to get. I'm contemplating on whether I'll get the Zalman CNPS8700 NT or the Scythe Big Shuriken. What would you recommend?

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AMD Phenom II X4 955 (Stock)
MSI 790FX-GD70
2 Sapphire Radeon 5770 Xfired
2GB Gskill DDR3 RAM (1600 MHZ)
Thermaltake Element S
Thermaltake Bigwater 770
HEC Cougar 700W
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G500 Mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP2 32-BIT

I'd recommend the Zalman Fan as they have good reputation but, this particular model can't be used for overclocking as I read on the net(from a user's review,actually).Also, if you don't plan on overclocking then you'd better stick with your stock fan (Unless you can't live with the noise) because 56 C is smaller than this processor's safety limit (62C)



BTW,your case is about 8'' wide & that's enough room for more elaborate cooling solutions so,I'd suggest Scythe Mugen 2 or Vigor Monsoon III LT (Which is the same as Coolermaster Hyper N520 but with an extra fan)

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PII 955 BE//\\CM V6GT//\\MSI HD6950 2GB Unlocked//\\Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P//\\4GB KVR DDR3@1333MHz//\\CM Storm Sniper//\\Seasonic 750W//\\Roccat Kone[+] & TAITO Mousepad//\\Roccat Kave//\\120GB Vertex3 MI//\\Xonar DX//\\EVGA GTS450 SC for PhysX

Thank you for the recommendation, but I do plan to overclock, thats the reason why I got a BE. I guess the Scythe Mugen 2 or the Coolermaster Hyper N520 will do, I just have to look for it. Availability of such here is quite scarce. I just hope that the coolers will be able to fit in my case.

-------------------------
AMD Phenom II X4 955 (Stock)
MSI 790FX-GD70
2 Sapphire Radeon 5770 Xfired
2GB Gskill DDR3 RAM (1600 MHZ)
Thermaltake Element S
Thermaltake Bigwater 770
HEC Cougar 700W
Logitech G11 Keyboard
Logitech G500 Mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP2 32-BIT