• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.
  • The forums have been upgraded with support for dark mode. By default it will follow the setting on your system/browser. You may override it by scrolling to the end of the page and clicking the gears icon.

When To Change The PSU?

When do you change your PSU?

  • Total voters
    43
TheMailMan78

TheMailMan78

Big Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,598 (3.44/day)
Location
'Merica. The Great SOUTH!
System Specs
System Name TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage 256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s) LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores Benching is for bitches.
When do you guys change your PSU? I've had mine for about 5 years. Just curious.
 
Mine are still months old. :laugh:

I have no idea when they would be replaced. :p
 
I generally switch out power supplies once a year, but considering how good this XFX 750 black and Corsair TX650 have been, I've held on to them for a year and a half so far.
 
Paulieg said:
I generally switch out power supplies once a year, but considering how good this XFX 750 black and Corsair TX650 have been, I've held on to them for a year and a half so far.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the case with the TX series.
 
TheMailMan78 said:
That seems to be the case with the TX series.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised though. I really prefer modular. However, the TX is in one of the family rigs which doesn't get messed with much. Nothing but modular for my bench rigs.
 
I voted 5 years, as my Corsair HX 1000 is still running strong after 4 years of usage :D Totally cleaned it out and dusted the innards out too, so its almost as good as new. That and there has never really been a stress on the PSU, i purposely bought a 1000w so i wouldn't need to replace it for a good long time.
 
I trade a lot and this includes the PSU too
PSU won't reach 6-12 months at most but for the moment I think i'm settled with my CM Silent Pro 850W.
Maybe I'll switch it before 6months if I smell a good deal or I'll wait until it burns down the whole building...
 
I have an enermax liberty 620w that's still running one of my rigs, almost 7 years old now, I have several much older than that.


Now for my main rig, I buy the beefiest one I can find and hang onto it until it's no longer powerful enough to handle the load My current one is 5.5 years old and still going quite strong. In fact the next time I upgrade my rig it will likely be overkill to the extreme based on the current power trends.

Get a quality, highly efficient, large psu and then set it and forget it.
 
Well if you look at my system specs I dont think I am even pushing what I have. I'm just wondering when I should do a preemptive strike and replace it.
 
when you "feel" it is time;)

I usually find myself replacing them after they go, but I have an extra PSU or two on hand at any given time. If you are looking for preemptive approach, I will rephrase my first reply. When you and your wallet "feel" it is the right time. Don't forget, if the old PSU isn't dead it's sell-able. That can help offset the cost rather than waiting for it to die and be worthless to everyone.

Another good way to go by is when the warranty status is up. Even if the PSU is still good, you have no other option then but to buy a new one rather than working with the warranty for an RMA if it does go belly up.
 
Considering the quality of todays caps My HX1000 will last awhile. I think its important to change lower end PSUs under high load ~2 years in. but the higher the quality I would push about 5. Personally. I take amps into consideration. Know how your PSU works. it may only be drawing 200watts. but if your continuously pulling 80amps from the same rail your going to wear it out.
 
When ever I feel I need more power to power my computer.
 
Keep it clean and working within spec and it should last a long, long time. Having owned and owning several piece's of vintage audio/electronics i can safely assume that. Of course initial build quality is a factor as well, if you start with crap you end up with crap.

That being said i would only upgrade if neccessary, thing's like hardware change's may call for more capacity.
 
I only replace them when I need more power otherwise they stay unless they fail which my ToughPowers don't seem to do.:toast:
 
I've been thinking about changing it just because its hitting that 5 year mark. Not for any other reason honestly. I mean I don't want it to go and it take the rest of my rig with it ya know? I mean at the VERY most it has 43800 hours on it. That's if I ran it 24 hours a day for 5 years......which I haven't. It has 100,000 life on it according to Corsair.
 
I pulled out a 10 yr old 420w PSU (20 Pin ATX) for a bench build 2 days ago. Worked like a charm. I'd only change for an upgrade, like others have said.
 
TheMailMan78 said:
I've been thinking about changing it just because its hitting that 5 year mark. Not for any other reason honestly. I mean I don't want it to go and it take the rest of my rig with it ya know? I mean at the VERY most it has 43800 hours on it. That's if I ran it 24 hours a day for 5 years......which I haven't. It has 100,000 life on it according to Corsair.
Click to expand...

look at the caps then. if their flat and not bulging or venting roll with it.
 
I voted 5 years, but my server has an enermax 350w PSU for about 7 years 24/7!
 
Isn't MTBf calculated using the PSU @ 90% capacity and a given temp? So if you run it lower than 90% and keep it cooler it would last longer?

Solaris17 said:
look at the caps then. if their flat and not bulging or venting roll with it.
Click to expand...

And if you are sooooper paranoid bust out the DMM and check the main's to see if they are still in spec
 
m1dg3t said:
Isn't MTBf calculated using the PSU @ 90% capacity and a given temp? So if you run it lower than 90% and keep it cooler it would last longer?
Click to expand...

Yeah. No way have I pulled 750w for any period of time. And I keep it blown out of dust. I mean honestly I'm not gonna "upgrade" I was just wondering how people on TPU handle older PSU's.

Could I pull it apart and check the caps? Sure. But its been going good for 5 years now and they are Japenese caps. Good stuff. Pulling it apart might even CAUSE an issue. Had that happen once with an old amp. :laugh:
 
I change them when they begin to be whinny, when the computer begin to strangly shut down or refuse to start when its humid in the house, and when the fan begin to be noisy. I still have an older psu that i have put in older p3 rig and its from the 90's 250w.
 
I have a 1994 AT (not ATX) PSU around here some were that still works, its 125W I believe.
 
My 600w Strider has been running fine for at least 3 yrs now :toast:

As many have said, I will consider replacing if my power requirements change... will definitely stay with modular units :cool:
 
I still have a 350W running, probably should upgrade though.
 
Upgrade when it fails, or if it can't run your shit, or if it's so old there's 4 degrees of efficiency between it and current models.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top