Voltages are low, not PSU problem.

4

4W4K3

VIP Member
My NF7-S is really killing my voltages from all 3 powersupplies i've tried on it. I've tested them all in another NF7-M board and they are solid, but on my NF7-S all voltages are very low.

Is there any mods i can do to the voltage regulator on this board? Any quick fixes? Anything at all?!?! This board used to be awesome, but now all the voltages are falling gradually. :mad:

See? They are right on with NF7-M board.


But with NF7-S i'm getting:

12v - 11.6-11.8
3.3v - 3.0-3.3
5v - 4.8-4.9 (not too bad)
 
test the rails on your PSU directly with a multi meter to be sure. Mother boards can output voltage crappy when they degrade, your board may be in worn out. its a DFI board correct?

im using a DFI board and I have the rails turned up manually on my PSU its a OCZ powerstream 520w. +12v is set to 13, 3.3 is set to 3.8 and +5 is at 5.53.

I get very steady volts like this giving more then enough juice to the board.
 
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well i appreciate the comments, but i think you've missed the point. the PSU's are fine, all 3 work perfectly in other computers. only in my mobo are they reporting bad rails, which leads me to believe my mobo's voltage regulator is corrupt.

Just for the record:
1 PSU Linkworld (POS lol) 430w (came with another case, works fine, but not in NF7-S).
2 PSU old Enermax 330w (Also reports good voltages, but not in NF7-S)
3 PSU Rosewill 550w (brand new practically, reports incredible results in other mobos, but not in my NF7-S)

My mobo is an Abit NF7-S v2.0, used to work perfect. Now it's not distributing power correctly, and i'm looking for an answer as to why. Also looking for a solution to fixing it (if there is one) or i will have to go out and buy another one.
 
Could have a bad circuit somewhere, no real way to check (unless you wanna get into the real nitty gritty). Or it could be that the board is just suckin' more voltage than it should be. You ever think of just RMA'ing the board and getting a replacement?
 
Lord AnthraX said:
Could have a bad circuit somewhere, no real way to check (unless you wanna get into the real nitty gritty). Or it could be that the board is just suckin' more voltage than it should be. You ever think of just RMA'ing the board and getting a replacement?
Click to expand...

lol RMA! this board is far past warranty, and i've definetly voided the warranty if its not pas RMA date (vold mod, replace NB cooler).

I was thinking about jsut getting a new one, but i've found that they are hard to find, or are way overpriced. Then i thought about a DFI Lanparty Ultra-B, and they as well are all soldout or overpriced. This is a major drain on my wallet, i dont want to spend $100 fixing an outdated PC.

I might jsut forget about ever overclockign this thing again and keep the mobo (works fine stock). But it sure is a waste, great processor and RAM, brand new PSU, working HDD, heck everything still seems great to me besides mobo.:(

I'll have to wait and see, might sell it later on, might keep it as F@H/backup rig. Don't want to replace mobo though, too much money :(
 
Does the PSU you're using have adjustable rails? If so then why don't you just up the voltages (as long as it can take it) and let it run at that. As long as it's not damaging the PSU to be running 'em low (which they didn't look DANGEROUSLY low).
 
Lord AnthraX said:
Does the PSU you're using have adjustable rails? If so then why don't you just up the voltages (as long as it can take it) and let it run at that. As long as it's not damaging the PSU to be running 'em low (which they didn't look DANGEROUSLY low).
Click to expand...

no, it doesn't have adjustable pots. really it doesn't need them, works fine in all other motherboards even under load. but it'd be nice if it did.

lowest it's ever been is 11.1v on 12v, and that was for about 2 secs (i think it read it wrong really) usually 11.8-11.92v idle and 11.67v load. Keeps me from overclocking though.

EDIT: actually i take that back, it just went down to 10.88 and it stayed like that for a few refresh periods (i guess maybe 6-8 secs). Never goes that low in BIOS, maybe jsut bad Windows reading? BIOS is always 11.74-11.80v on 12v rail.
 
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Hello 4W4K3 i have been reading about this for you and trying to find a solution. if you are using a 550 w PSU i cannot see what the problem is.. Can you tell me how you connect your power to the board as people are reporting 2 ways.. also read these articles i have found....
http://forums.bit-tech.net/printthread.php?t=50681

Also The NF7S is an extremely power hungry board, try a bigger power supply, P4 rated and use both power connector plugs to the motherboard, on this board the cpu is powered from the samll 4 pin molex connector.

http://forums.pcper.com/printthread.php?threadid=272068

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40733

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/t8322/s.html

Hope this helps....
 
If this board needs more than 550 watts then there is a major problem. When i first bought it used 330w just fine. MY PSU is p4 approved (sticker thingy says lol), has a 4-pin connector that i am using, and works with the NF7-M v1.21 jsut fine (similiar to the NF7-S.)

I am using a modded BIOS i believe it is the D26 BlackMantaray CPC-OFF with L12 mod correction.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182010 That is the PSU i am using, it has wonderful specs and should be able to run my computer easily.

I'm only running 1 HDD, 1 DVD-ROM, 6 system fans, and what is in my signature. Nothing that even requires more than 350w really.

I've got most of the fans connected through molex extensions, only DVD-ROM and HDD run straight off the PSU. CPU/NB/Vid card fans are running off Mobo directly. The other 100000 wires from the PSU are unused and just tucked away.
 
I agreed with you that 550w should be and is more than enough to run the average battle ship.. and power your machine... As i have not ever had this MOBO i can only go through what might be the problem...

Have you tried linking both types of power conectors to the board at the same time?

Maybe try a different Bios Mod???
 
Classic_house said:
I agreed with you that 550w should be and is more than enough to run the average battle ship.. and power your machine... As i have not ever had this MOBO i can only go through what might be the problem...

Have you tried linking both types of power conectors to the board at the same time?

Maybe try a different Bios Mod???
Click to expand...

Well i've tried just using the ATX connection without the P4 4-pin one, and it still runs low. Then i tried both at the same time and still low voltages.
I noticed b4 Windows had fully loaded Speedfan reported 12.04v on the 12v, but as soon as everythign was loaded it went back down to 11.8v:(

I'm going to install an OFFICIAL Abit BIOS and see if there is any difference. Then move back to a modded and see if it starts up again. This might give me a few answers. Thanks for your help :D
 
Wow, well i've tried the official Abit BIOS (27) and it totally doesn't like me. Can't even load Windows on 200*10 defaults. I had to load failsafe jsut to get into Windows, and voltages are still low 11.8v.

I guess it's back to a modded BIOS for me, at least it was stable at defaults.
 
Is there anyway you can power the MOBO with 1 psu and then run all your fans etc off of a second.. see if the MOBO is the cause of the power drain of maybe the fans are causing a problem???
 
Classic_house said:
Is there anyway you can power the MOBO with 1 psu and then run all your fans etc off of a second.. see if the MOBO is the cause of the power drain of maybe the fans are causing a problem???
Click to expand...

Well, i could just unplug everything besides CPU fan and HDD. I'd need a switch to use 2 powersupplies on one computer and i'm not 100% sure on how to do all that. But i can try.

I tried 5 diff BIOS's, and each one gave me blue screens unless i ran on fail-safe defaults (800MHz) :( Definetly something worng, but now im on the original BIOS i had before and runs smooth as butter...jsut with low raisl still. Ughzors, after i test everything unplugges i'm jsut not gonna worry about it anymore. Thanks.
 
I gave you a link to an oc tool...
8rdavcore
Is able to set voltages (VCore, Vdd, Vdimm, Vagp) and the FSB on different mainboards.
Configuration of chipset settings like memory-timings and controlling the fan speed (depends on board) is also possible.
OS: 8rdavcore runs under 2000/XP (9x/ME)
So with your Bios modded and using this tool you should be able to bring te voltages up in windows this should make your system more stable.. If you do not wish to OC... http://www.hasw.net/8rdavcore/

It is usable on the Abit NF

I read on a fourum somwhere that the bios for your board v2 (18) not 27??(maybe they got it wrong)??

Also i have just found this have a read all of the posts they reckon they have a bios mod that you can change to enter the bios and change voltage??? http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=30778&perpage=15&highlight=bios+nf7s&pagenumber=1
 
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Classic_house said:
I gave you a link to an oc tool...
8rdavcore
Is able to set voltages (VCore, Vdd, Vdimm, Vagp) and the FSB on different mainboards.
Configuration of chipset settings like memory-timings and controlling the fan speed (depends on board) is also possible.
OS: 8rdavcore runs under 2000/XP (9x/ME)
So with your Bios modded and using this tool you should be able to bring te voltages up in windows this should make your system more stable.. If you do not wish to OC... http://www.hasw.net/8rdavcore/

It is usable on the Abit NF7

Also isnt the bios for your board v2 (18) not 27??
Click to expand...

thats program does nothing for the voltage regulator of the mobo. I can get any voltage i want from BIOS, but it still reports low 12v, 3.3v, 5v. If it could adjust the potometers of the PSU that would fix the problem, or lower/raise the resistance on the voltage regulator, but it doesn't do either:( i dont think ANY program will do that, so i'm kinda screwed.

I used it on my mobo yesterday and it BSOD'd me when i was messing with it. Highly unstable. I've already got AbitEQ, Nvidia System Utility, SpeedFan, CBId, CPU-z, they do the same things as the 8rdavcore program.

The newest BIOS for NF7-S v2.0 is v.27, it installed jsut fine and i was able to set up BIOS. But for some reason it refuses to load Windows and BSOD's everytime. Now i'm back to Merlin's modded one and it runs fine stock.
 
I have just found this have a read all of the posts they reckon they have a bios mod that you can change to enter the bios and change voltage??? http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthrea...7s&pagenumber=1

If you can get into the bios to change the voltage that will probably sort it out yes??

I am sorry i am not being much help... I am reading like crazy.. But i cannot see what is dragging your system down...
 
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Classic_house said:
I have just found this have a read all of the posts they reckon they have a bios mod that you can change to enter the bios and change voltage??? http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthrea...7s&pagenumber=1

If you can get into the bios to change the voltage that will probably sort it out yes??

I am sorry i am not being much help... I am reading like crazy.. But i cannot see what is dragging your system down...
Click to expand...

your concern is much appreciated, you've given me more help than anyone has of yet and i've got this question up on 2 forums. :D

Yes, if i can get in the BIOS and mess with the voltage regulator that would help. But that link doesn't work when i clicked on it. I will search there database.
 
http://forum.abit-usa.com/
ABIT USA Forums > Socket A Motherboards - Non MAX > NVIDIA chipset based motherboards > New modified bios for NF7/NF7-S v2.0

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?threadid=30778&perpage=15&highlight=bios+nf7s&pagenumber=1

here is a new link should work... If not just follow the forum links posted above...

One of the guys has moded the bios for your MOBO and added an updated INI file to allow entry into the bios settings for voltage... I hope this helps and that this bios version is stable on your machine.. I am interested to know if it fixes the problem... LOZ

Ps. you will need to read all the posts on the first page to get the info you need...
 
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