When To Change The PSU?

[Jetster]

When they come out with new tech ie Uranium power cells

 

[AsRock]

5 years as i will only buy quality psu's, although they need cleaning though out that time to keep them is top condition

Hitting that 5 year marker my self and think it has more time in it as it shown now issue's as of yet.

 

[LagunaX]

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.

Exactly - upgrade if:
1) It breaks
2) It is not powerful enuf for your power hungry new video card or overclocked processor
3) It doesn't have the connectors you want for SLI/crossfire/and or 8 pin pci-e
4) It is so inefficient (70's) that a newer bronze/silver/gold/etc. PSU would make you feel greener.
5) You read a review that the voltage leaks/ripples/noise make it a dangerous PSU for your $500 gpu or $300 cpu or $200-300 mobo.
6) It clutters your case so much that you really want modular.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

But its been going good for 5 years now and they are Japenese caps.

Yep mines still going strong too like 4 years now.

 

[flmatter]

I just upgraded mine because the price was right. Brand new antec 850 watt replaced 6 yr old BFG 650 watt went from reasonably loud to really quiet I am happy I would have kepy my 650 but the price was so good I could pass it up

 

[TRWOV]

I have an old 20pin ATX PSU that's been running a P3 s370 since 2000 (used today as a POS).

I'd say that if you haven't noted any stability problems and the PSU isn't heavily loaded you should be fine.

 

[Melvis]

It better have sparks and smoke coming out of it before i upgrade my PSU

 

[mrw1986]

I'm on 4 years 24/7 with my Corsair HX620 and it doesn't show any signs of letting up. I monitor the voltages on all rails and they are still as steady as the day I bought it.

 

[50eurouser]

5+ years for Delta APS 500Watt. ~8years for a FSP 400 Watt only fan changed.

 

[DonInKansas]

5 days before the warranty is up.

 

[specks]

I changed my 4 year old generic psu when it crapped and burned the 4 pin on my mobo. Luckily, it did not take the house with it.

 

[Super XP]

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.

Wow, the manufacturers love you. For me it depends on whether I add more HD's and a Crossfire setup. Then I would upgrade IF I need to.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

The 750w dell PSU I am using at the moment is from 2004, I cleaned it out and inspected it, no bad caps, it was fine inside.

 

[xBruce88x]

unless i get another gpu that needs more power, i'll probably keep this 450w at least another year or two... it has a standard warranty of 3 years so i guess its a safe bet to consider replacing it by then

then again... i do have an old Pentium MMX 233 rig that has an "enlight corporation" 200W psu that still works lol

 

[Jeffredo]

I get a "forced change" about every three years. Even though I buy brands like Antec and PC Power and Cooling they either fail or fry about that length of time.

 

[maleficarus]

Change it when you need to is what I say. I currently have an Antec 500W Earthwatts that I have been using now since 2009 and it still is working no problems...

Before that I had an Enermax 350W that I used for over 7 years problem free. It started heating up after 7 years so that is when I knew to replace it, that and 350 was getting to little for todays upgrades.