Misdiagnosing voltage output readings

Many end users use the BIOS voltage readings as a gauge of the performance of the power supply and when they find this reading to be too low, they mistakenly think that the PSU is faulty. The voltage readings in the BIOS, however, are not always accurate.

At times when the system has stability issues, at first sight the symptoms can seem to indicate a problem with the power supply, but the motherboard or the motherboard’s VRM can also be the cause of the instability.

To troubleshoot which component is at fault, testing the PSU with another motherboard or connecting the motherboard to another power supply could immediately show which component does not function properly.

In other instances, when the end user has access to and knows how to use a voltmeter, testing the power supply in this manner will give very accurate voltage reading results.