Is 14 volts to high for PSU 12 output ?

I put in a new, less-noisy PSU - an ASPIRE AS420W model. It is a 'bulk' PSU
and there is very little info for it on the internet. The A7V266 BIOS says
the 12 volt power is 13.4 volts. ASUS Probe says it's 14.1 volts. I
believe there was very close agreement between BIOS and Probe for the old
PSU that I replaced with the ASPIRE. I have no idea why the two values are
so different now. But more important, the value was within 5% for the old
PSU. I am concerned that the higher voltage from the ASPIRE will cause
stress on something and cause a hardware failure. But maybe the high
voltage is Ok - I don't know. Maybe it's supposed to be this way, so if the
PC creates a higher load on the 12v output the voltage goes down but stays
within acceptable range. The load condition where I get the 13.4 and 14.1
readings consists of 2 hard drives and 3 expansion cards and CPU load less
than 5%. I can take this PSU back to the store and get an exchange. But
maybe the high voltage is Ok. I would appreciate hearing what anyone here
thinks about the high voltage readings and why there is such a difference
between the values reported by BIOS and Probe.

"Bill Schaible" wrote in message
. ..
I put in a new, less-noisy PSU - an ASPIRE AS420W model. It is a 'bulk'
PSU
and there is very little info for it on the internet. The A7V266 BIOS
says
the 12 volt power is 13.4 volts. ASUS Probe says it's 14.1 volts. I
believe there was very close agreement between BIOS and Probe for the
old
PSU that I replaced with the ASPIRE. I have no idea why the two values
are
so different now. But more important, the value was within 5% for the
old
PSU. I am concerned that the higher voltage from the ASPIRE will cause
stress on something and cause a hardware failure. But maybe the high
voltage is Ok - I don't know. Maybe it's supposed to be this way, so if
the
PC creates a higher load on the 12v output the voltage goes down but
stays
within acceptable range. The load condition where I get the 13.4 and
14.1
readings consists of 2 hard drives and 3 expansion cards and CPU load
less
than 5%. I can take this PSU back to the store and get an exchange.
But
maybe the high voltage is Ok. I would appreciate hearing what anyone
here
thinks about the high voltage readings and why there is such a
difference
between the values reported by BIOS and Probe.
I'd check with a DVM first, but say exchange it. The on-board voltage
sensors, are not that accurate, but no ATX supply should not be outside
+/-10% (many of the rails are required to be tighter than this). Even the
lower figure, puts you really out of spec. The normal reason for this, is
a PSU, that is regulated on one rail only, and is heavily loaded on this
rail, with not as much load as expected on the other. If the machine is
lightly loaded on the 12v rail, but relatively more heavily loaded on the
5v rail, and the supply is one that regulates on the 5v line, then this
sort of value would be seen. If the rail really is at 14.1, then it is not
just bad, but awful...

Best Wishes

You risk burning out some of your computer components with that
over-voltage. Return it.

--
DaveW

----------------
"Bill Schaible" wrote in message
. ..
I put in a new, less-noisy PSU - an ASPIRE AS420W model. It is a 'bulk'
PSU
and there is very little info for it on the internet. The A7V266 BIOS
says
the 12 volt power is 13.4 volts. ASUS Probe says it's 14.1 volts. I
believe there was very close agreement between BIOS and Probe for the old
PSU that I replaced with the ASPIRE. I have no idea why the two values
are
so different now. But more important, the value was within 5% for the old
PSU. I am concerned that the higher voltage from the ASPIRE will cause
stress on something and cause a hardware failure. But maybe the high
voltage is Ok - I don't know. Maybe it's supposed to be this way, so if
the
PC creates a higher load on the 12v output the voltage goes down but stays
within acceptable range. The load condition where I get the 13.4 and 14.1
readings consists of 2 hard drives and 3 expansion cards and CPU load less
than 5%. I can take this PSU back to the store and get an exchange. But
maybe the high voltage is Ok. I would appreciate hearing what anyone here
thinks about the high voltage readings and why there is such a difference
between the values reported by BIOS and Probe.