PSU Deterioration Info

[GreenD]

Hey guys

I was just wondering how much a PSU can be expected to deteriorate after time, I know their is alot of factors to include but I just want the general info, I have a power supply from my old computer, Thermaltake toughpower 775, ive had it for almost 10 months now, what deterioration can I expect, I keep it fairly dust free and its not using its full wattage, its probably using around 500 watts on load

Thanks

 

[kiddagoat]

How often did you/do you plan on running the unit? What is everything that you are going to be plugging into it??

Need some more information here.

 

[GreenD]

Well it ran to fairly standard usage, I would say around 3 hours a day on general surfing, such as internet and emails, for games around 6 hours a week. (haven't been using it that much because of lack of internet at the moment)

I was just wondering how it could have deteriorated since then, because I am planning on upgrading a few components, such as adding a new motherboard and GTX 670/680 and doubling the RAM, it has a stock Core i7 2600k, but I might check into a slight overclock, so im wondering how much i still have to work with.

Thanks

 

[slyfox2151]

i wouldnt worry about it, should run just fine....
its likely not even exceeding 350watts while gaming.



Oh and my psu is around 3 - 6 years old ... not sure as i bought it 2nd hand .


but my antec 550watts psu is also still working in a simmiler system with an amd 1090 and GTX570.

 

[GreenD]

i wouldnt worry about it, should run just fine....
its likely not even exceeding 350watts while gaming.



Oh and my psu is around 3 - 6 years old ... not sure as i bought it 2nd hand .


but my antec 550watts psu is also still working in a simmiler system with an amd 1090 and GTX570.

One thing im quite happy about is that the new generation of Nvidia Cards Dont seem be to very power hungry

 

[slyfox2151]

One thing im quite happy about is that the new generation of Nvidia Cards Dont seem be to very power hungry

not in the slightest

 

[erixx]

Hi GreenD, but are you feeling any problems? 10 months!
As for being future-proof, your wattage is great. I have a similar one, similar CPU and a GTX470, all overclocked and haven't seen yet more than 350 W, as per indication of my APC.

 

[GreenD]

Nah im not facing any power problems, but my system is very un-intensive now, and the upgrades im planning are going to use alot more watts at load and idle

 

[Aquinus]

How about you fill in your system specs so we know what you're running?

550-watts is about how much my tower uses at full load on both 6870s and the CPU with both overclocked.

 

[GreenD]

IT has:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k (Stock)
Motherboard: P8-H67-m PRO
Graphics card: Gigabyte Gtx 550ti
RAM: 8gb of DDR3 1333 mhz ram
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 775

thats about all that matters so far

It will have:
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600k (OC)
Motherboard: Asus Z77 Sabertooth
Graphics card: Zotac GeForce GTX 680 AMP! Edition
RAM: 16gb DDR3 1600mhz dual channel
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 775

Thats about all the important parts i think

 

[slyfox2151]

you could heavily overclock everything in your PC and still have PLENTY of power spare.


You might peak upto 500 watts... but 370-450 would be closer to the mark

 

[Widjaja]

Your PSU will last much longer than 10 months and not notice any deterioration.

if anything you would most likely see it will just not go rather than have performance/reliability degradation.

I ran an Enermax Noisetaker 600w for at least 4 years without any notice of performance degradation.

 

[GreenD]

cool, ive been told tough power series is also very good at lasting long, I was just curious though

 

[nleksan]

I have a 420W Thermaltake Toughpower PSU from 2003 that, as far as I know, still powers up my first self-built rig (AMD FX51 @ 2.325Ghz (I believe) with a Thermaltake Silent Tower HSF with 92mm PWM Fan, ASUS SK8V, 1GB Corsair XMS3200RE Twin-X Registered Dual-Channel DDR400, ATI X800XT PE 256MB GDDR3 @ 595Mhz-Core/635Mhz-Memory, Western Digital WD800 80GB E-IDE 7200rpm HDD, Samsung Spinpoint 120GB E-IDE 7200rpm HDD, Western Digital Caviar Blue 120GB 7200rpm SATA1 HDD, Lite-On 8x DVD-R/RW Drive, Samsung 12x DVD-ROM/CD-R/W Drive, 4 80mm Fans, 3 92mm Fans, an old Floppy Drive, and so forth).
Given the age of most of that hardware, the age of the PSU, and the fact that I ran it the equivalent of 24/7 for 4-5yrs (I only OC'd it for a short period.. Had to get more fps in some game from '07...); it is amazing that it is even still even in existence! I can't say for sure that it works, as about 2-3 years ago I tried turning it on and kept getting errors before I could even get to the BIOS, but I didn't want to deal with it so I just let it sit in my storage office until just a month or so ago when I took it out and stripped it down to try and rebuild it with better cooling, a big part of which is not having an almost-literal rat's nest of cabling!

Anyway, point being... I paperclip jumped the PSU after thoroughly cleaning the dust away and it powered right up! I just need to add some sewing machine oil to the fan (does pure silicone lubricant work?) as it is struggling.
They really are good power supplies, at least durable. "Tough"-power is an accurate name.