Well, I upgraded my gfx card about 2 months ago. Threw it in and didn't think anything of the power supply. My temps have been a little on the high end since then (sometimes would be 50-55c). Checked into it a little, but never really did any thing about it. So I'm sitting here, after an adware, virus, disk clean up, and defrag. Had SpeedFan up during it just to see afterwards. Well, I never really payed any attention to the voltage section at the bottom until now. The +12V there shows it as only getting 7.81V. I've checked forums and others with PSU problems usually report theirs at 10-11.5V and are told they need a new PSU. I haven't found any that report anything lower than 10V. Ofcourse now I will be getting a new PSU.
So, my question is will me having run my computer with that low of a voltage for 2 months now have any long term effects on my comptuer? Also, this could be a reason why my temps are high? I read somewhere that with a weak PSU could cause the computer to try and draw more current that it would normally try to draw, resulting in overheating, but that doesn't really make since to me. The computer still isn't getting as much power as it usually would, so with less power than normal wouldn't it actually be slightly cooler than it would be when it has a proper voltage? Just trying to see if I'm going to have to figure out a new cooling solution for when I pop the new PSU in, since the computer will have more power flowing through the components then.
BTW, I'm not a huge PC gamer, and don't have a $2,000 rig if anyone is wondering. Would like to avoid the usual "Post your specs" posts and such, as they aren't very good. :)
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