System freeze and voltage error

[itfellow]

Hi all,

I've inherited a box running SCO Unix on PII, Asus P2l97-DS motherboard. I recently experienced a complete system freeze (no monitor output, no network repsonse, no reboot), and apparently the system experienced a system reboot a couple of weeks ago for an unknown reason.

This system freeze made me suspect some kind of heat-type problem, and I found the BIOS logging a voltage error of 3.7v where the +3.3v should be. Now here's where my ignorance comes in: I've never dealt with a voltage problem before. Would this problem be caused by a faulty power supply? Faulty motherboard?

Thanks.

 

[dad200uk2000]

It's most likely to be the power supply. If you have annother one or could borrow one to try it that will soon tell you if it is the PSU or the MB.

John

 

[itfellow]

OK - a couple of follow up questions:

I swapped out the old PSU (250W) with a new one (300W) and rather than having just the one category (+3.0v) out of range, I now had almost all categories out of range. For example, my +12.0v was at +12.6, the -12.0v was at -11.9,+5.0v was at +5.2, etc. I returned the old PSU and everything returned to normal except the +3.0v, which is still at +3.6v. Is the more powerful power supply incorrect for this board?

Also, how much of a part does heat play in this? I understand the +3.0v to be the CPU, so if my CPU isn't getting cooled properly, would I see an increase in volts as resistance goes up (I don't see any alerts on CPU temp)?