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Thread: Higher than normal Core & Aux voltages

  1. #1
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    Higher than normal Core & Aux voltages

    Hi all, wonder if you could assist pls ?

    I'm running a 2600+, 768MB, ASUS A7N8X m/board with an old BIOS Rev 1019 Beta 003 T2 it says, and a 9700Pro

    According to a little Hardware Monitor program it says my core and aux voltages are running between 1.68 and 1.7 which it says are too high ??

    Any ideas if this is the case and if so what could i do to bring them down ?

    Thx for any help provided

  2. #2
    PC Aficionado MJCfromCT's Avatar
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    Are you reading this voltage in Windows or in the BIOS itself? If its in windows, go into the bios and see what it says, the windows programs sometimes don't get it right. According to newegg.com, the stock voltage on a 2600+ is 1.65 volts. See if any voltage settings have been manually changed. If so, change them to "auto" . You could also try updating your BIOS to the latest revision.

  3. #3
    Gone Fishin' ukulele's Avatar
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    Don't sweat it if it's working right. A little high is better then a little low.

  4. #4
    Ultimate Member Strawbs's Avatar
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    Don't be scared to tell us the name of the monitoring program you're using to get these readings - we may know of better alternatives!


  5. #5
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    LOL Strawbs

    The name of the program is Hardware Sensor Monitor v4.1

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member Strawbs's Avatar
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    Any particular reason for that old beta BIOS?

    If not; you can d\l a newer one at >nForcersHQ<, be sure to pick the right one for your board revision and model. A new BIOS may have the added benefit of lowering your voltages and thus your temperatures. I recommend one of the Uber variety.

    There's also a temp\fan\voltage monitor that is supplied with your mobo called "Asus Probe" that is likely to be more accurate, and >Motherboard Monitor 5< has a plug-in that sets it up for your board automatically! Then there's >SpeedFan< which monitors fan speed, temps and volts.

    The point is, there's no need to trust only one app when there are plenty of others out there for free that you can use for comparison.


  7. #7
    Ultimate Member Magua's Avatar
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    check the Vcore in bios. Stock setting for the 2600+ is 1.65

  8. #8
    Gone Fishin' ukulele's Avatar
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    All monitoring programs get their data from the same source which is bios, so it is not possible for any monitoring program that worked at all to give a different reading then bios reports in the first place. It is very possible that the chip that measures the voltage is inaccurate. That is why even the best DVOM has to be calibrated for precision work. As I said before, if the system is working good then don't worry about what it reports. The last two MBs I have owned were not exactly right either.

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member Strawbs's Avatar
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    it is true that there are only a certain amount of sensors in a motherboard\etc, but some software will read different sensors and label them differently!

    A case in point is Aida32 Enterprise Edition has my Mobo & CPU temps switched (see pic)! I know better because I don't put all my eggs into one basket.

    you can also see my voltages are at 1.7v - but I don't trust the program in this respect because it's obviously not reading the sensors too well and probably wasn't released with this board in mind.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Strawbs; 10-04-2004 at 05:26 PM.

  10. #10
    Gone Fishin' ukulele's Avatar
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    That's a programming error. The sensors are read by bios and the information stored in a special file (I can't remember the name of it at the moment) along with the rest of the system information. It is updated after a set number of clock cycles. Any data found on a monitoring program of any type (including AEIDA32) is read from that file. The program does not read the sensors. If there is an error like you described it is because of the order that the program read from the file. It is listed in an order according to an established standard. If the programmer get's it wrong it may be listed wrong, but the information is the same as reported in the first place.
    Last edited by ukulele; 10-05-2004 at 02:35 AM.

  11. #11
    Ultimate Member Strawbs's Avatar
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    The correct reading of temperatures, voltages and fan speeds is also based on the programmer applying the right multiplication tables to the board in question. Multiplication\Sensor reading locations for the A7N8X are often mis-calculated by monitoring software, I know this because I have one and noticed the problem a long time ago!

    If you run MBM5 in default mode - for example - even though it claims to support the board, it will report wrongly! That is why the plug-in should always be used.

    There was a reported "bug" for A7N8X boards with MBM5 that displayed skewed voltages, the plug-in supposedly provides a fix. Personally I think Asus did a sloppy job with the sensors\math on this thing and tried to compensate with later BIOS updates. I have read a ton of posts at other forums over the past 18 Months concerning the sensor readings for this board! Some have been fixed by BIOS updates, others have not! This is by no means an isolated incident, but most have learned to live with it.

    The bottom line for me is not to fully trust software monitors for any reading on this board. I have an Aerogate II for fanspeed settings & temperature readings, + 2 temperature probes built into my case! Voltages - I set the BIOS to Auto and don't worry about it! If the CPU requires more - it will pull more, as long as I know the temperatures, I don't need to worry about vCore unless it consistently blue screens or begins to overheat - of which it never does either! It's also one of the reasons that I have a 500w PSU.

    I can understand others' concerns about accuracy though, so I always recommend a BIOS flash and trying different monitoring programs with this board.

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