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namanchavan
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Should I upgrade my power supply?

Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:29 am

Last year I upgraded all of my parts in my PC to what is in the list below, except for my PSU and case. I just upgraded my case last weekend, and while installing everything in the new case I realized that my PSU is 8+ years old and it's only bronze certified. It got me thinking that it may be time to replace it, but I have never had issues with it so I don't want to throw away a still working PSU. I also don't want my PSU to fail and damage my PC. Is it ok/normal to use a PSU until it fails? Are there any signs that it's time to replace one?
 
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Sun Sep 16, 2018 2:53 am

2 factors that I'd consider would be (i) how cheap and nasty (or otherwise) the existing one is, and (ii) if you can easily afford to put in a good one.

i.e. if it's a no-name piece of junk and 8+ years old, it's time for Silicon Heaven; if it's a decent high-quality one e.g. a Seasonic X-series, probably not so much (because it's less likely to fail at this age, and more importantly when it goes it's less likely to take out other things). Either way, if you can drop in a e.g. Seasonic PRIME series with a 12-year warranty and not really feel the financial hit, that's a no-brainer whatever 8-year old model you're currently running on.

(IMO, as one who views the PSU as the engine of a PC build.)
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demolition
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Sun Sep 16, 2018 5:25 am

Like the other poster, I'd say that if your PSU is a good quality brand and is not lacking power, then I see no reason to replace it. My PSU is also about 8 years old now, but it is an Antec PSU with internals built by Seasonic so I have no plans to replace it any time soon. It has served me well for 8 years, and I don't see any reason it cannot continue to do so for several more years. If your PSU is some low budget brand then I might replace it, but I would also consider that if it was just 1 year old. :-)

Newer PSUs might be more effective though - you mention Bronze rating, but while a change from Bronze to Platinum might save you a little on your electric bill, I'm sure that if you do the math it will never pay itself back the cost of the new PSU. If you have another computer that you need a PSU for, then it could make sense to buy a new for your main computer and use the old on the other build. That way the investment is much smaller as you would have had to buy a PSU anyway. Another reason for upgrading could be if the old PSU is noisy and perhaps you want one with a 0 dB (fan off) functionality which was not very common 8 years ago.
 
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:30 pm

namanchavan wrote:
Is it ok/normal to use a PSU until it fails? Are there any signs that it's time to replace one?

Stalled fans, crackling sounds, and funny odors are usually a pretty good clue. Had variations of all in the past.

Regardless, at 8yo I would expect something to be close to dead, and a pre-emptive replacement isn't a bad idea provided you get a good-quality unit. Like the poster above said, don't expect to recover the energy savings, but as an insurance policy for your new build, it's a good idea. Computer PSUs deal in high voltages, high currents, and high temperatures, all at the same time. Something will go at some point.
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Waco
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Mon Dec 03, 2018 10:17 am

If it's a good quality unit and not showing any signs of instability under load, I'd run it till it dies. I've had a few power supplies die in my time and not one has ever let the magic smoke out of the other components in the rig.
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HERETIC
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:16 pm

namanchavan wrote:
Last year I upgraded all of my parts in my PC to what is in the list below, except for my PSU and case. I just upgraded my case last weekend, and while installing everything in the new case I realized that my PSU is 8+ years old and it's only bronze certified. It got me thinking that it may be time to replace it, but I have never had issues with it so I don't want to throw away a still working PSU. I also don't want my PSU to fail and damage my PC. Is it ok/normal to use a PSU until it fails? Are there any signs that it's time to replace one?


What's make and model??
Has it been working HARD??
 
rinshun
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Thu Mar 28, 2019 11:45 am

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I have the same doubt. My PSU is about the same age. The model is Seasonic SII12Bronze.
 
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Fri Mar 29, 2019 4:44 am

With a good quality PSU you are most likely to have it bluescreen and reboot under load than for anything to go bang.

If you are having stability issues that you can't find the cause of, and your PSU is elderly, replacement is recommended.
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:31 am

Chrispy_ wrote:
With a good quality PSU you are most likely to have it bluescreen and reboot under load than for anything to go bang.

If you are having stability issues that you can't find the cause of, and your PSU is elderly, replacement is recommended.


I was gonna say the same thing!
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:53 am

HardOCP has done three ten-year-checkups on PSUs, two were utter failures and one was doing very well still with just a bit more draw - A seasonic survived, a cooler master and an EVGA failed
I also had an eleven year old (Corsair) PSU fail spectacularly and took a gpu with it.

I'd swap at a decade, seems like it's worth the peace of mind
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morphine
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Re: Should I upgrade my power supply?

Mon Apr 01, 2019 9:43 am

The HX520 in my NAS has been through three (four?) builds, is going on almost 13 years old. Its only artifact is a little ticking if it's not driven hard enough, but I set the drives to be spinning at all times (as it should be for longevity / speed) and that was the end of it.

So yeah, to repeat other posters' advice, if there's no funny business going on and it's a branded unit, I wouldn't sweat it.
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