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Igor_Kavinski
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PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 10, 2019 7:24 am

Why is everyone recommending Seasonic? Is it because of the price/performance ratio? I remember reading that EVGA's power supplies provide super clean power so kinda confused why not even a single recommendation for EVGA.
 
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 8:33 am

Seasonic makes consistently excellent power supplies. EVGA doesn't build any in house - some are excellent and some are garbage depending on the model/year.
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 8:49 am

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
Why is everyone recommending Seasonic? Is it because of the price/performance ratio? I remember reading that EVGA's power supplies provide super clean power so kinda confused why not even a single recommendation for EVGA.


Mostly because you can go buy a Seasonic, and get the same/better performance than the hand massaged, one-off power supply that every other vendor sends in for reviews. The Seasonic you buy is actually the same unit used in reviews, as they generally don't supply review sites. Until that changes, they are the gold standard.
 
Igor_Kavinski
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 9:47 am

So what's the longest running and still performing great Seasonic PSU anyone's ever had here?
 
bitcat70
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 10:38 am

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
So what's the longest running and still performing great Seasonic PSU anyone's ever had here?


Please don't hijack my thread.
 
Igor_Kavinski
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 11:12 am

bitcat70 wrote:
Igor_Kavinski wrote:
So what's the longest running and still performing great Seasonic PSU anyone's ever had here?


Please don't hijack my thread.


I'm sorry. That was not my intention. I was just curious.
 
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Re: Putting together a quieter computer

Tue Dec 10, 2019 12:25 pm

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
bitcat70 wrote:
Igor_Kavinski wrote:
So what's the longest running and still performing great Seasonic PSU anyone's ever had here?


Please don't hijack my thread.


I'm sorry. That was not my intention. I was just curious.

No problem. You might get better answers for this question in the "Cases and Power Supplies" subforum.
 
Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 5:59 am

So I've decided to get the pretty cheap Thermaltake Lite 550W PSU for my Ivy Bridge with RX 580. I figure if it blows up my system, it would give me an excuse to buy a better PC. Any objections? :lol:
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:13 am

Quality of Thermaltake PSUs was all over the place back in the '00s. Some people claimed their higher-end stuff was decent, but every Thermaltake PSU I owned either died an early death, or acted up in strange ways (intermittently refusing to power up, or powering down randomly). And they tended to use crappy fans that got noisy after a few months. I have no idea if their current stuff is any good, because they have been solidly on my "avoid" list for about 10 years.

I doubt it'll blow up your system, but let's just say I also don't expect it to make a positive contribution to system stability...
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Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:17 am

just brew it! wrote:
Quality of Thermaltake PSUs was all over the place back in the '00s. Some people claimed their higher-end stuff was decent, but every Thermaltake PSU I owned either died an early death, or acted up in strange ways (intermittently refusing to power up, or powering down randomly). And they tended to use crappy fans that got noisy after a few months. I have no idea if their current stuff is any good, because they have been solidly on my "avoid" list for about 10 years.


If you don't mind, what was the model of the last TT PSU that failed for you? What kind of workload was it handling? Ambient temperature when it failed?
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:25 am

That was 10+ years ago so I am not certain, but I think at least a couple of the failed ones were "TR2" series. Generally moderately loaded (I tend to size my PSUs to run at around 50% load), and typical indoor room temperatures (68-75F). Pretty sure I had 100% flaky/failed rate, across something like 5 units over several years. I don't think any of them lasted more than a couple of years.

I've been quite satisfied with Corsair and Seasonic lately, and see no reason to ever buy another Thermaltake PSU. Even if their quality has taken a turn for the better in recent years, all the past aggravation they have caused me means I am disinclined to give them any more of my money.
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Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 9:42 am

just brew it! wrote:
I've been quite satisfied with Corsair and Seasonic lately, and see no reason to ever buy another Thermaltake PSU. Even if their quality has taken a turn for the better in recent years, all the past aggravation they have caused me means I am disinclined to give them any more of my money.


I've seen one star reviews of both Corsair and Seasonic PSUs on Amazon so I guess no PSU manufacturer has mastered the art of making good value PSUs. One Seasonic model did have low (only like 3-4%) one-star reviews but it also cost almost double compared to competitors.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 9:59 am

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
just brew it! wrote:
I've been quite satisfied with Corsair and Seasonic lately, and see no reason to ever buy another Thermaltake PSU. Even if their quality has taken a turn for the better in recent years, all the past aggravation they have caused me means I am disinclined to give them any more of my money.

I've seen one star reviews of both Corsair and Seasonic PSUs on Amazon so I guess no PSU manufacturer has mastered the art of making good value PSUs. One Seasonic model did have low (only like 3-4%) one-star reviews but it also cost almost double compared to competitors.

Yeah, no brand is perfect. And a one star review can be someone who just got really unlucky and received a defective unit, or someone who did something stupid. Seasonic costs more because they do tend to be better, they've been considered the "gold standard" for a while. I generally view Corsair to be a reasonable compromise between quality and price. Even their cheaper units are generally "good enough".
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Re: PSU longevity question

Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:29 pm

Igor, after doing some PSU sleuthing, how did you arrive at buying Thermaltake? (That feels like doing reliable car shopping and ending up with an Alfa.)

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
So I've decided to get the pretty cheap Thermaltake Lite 550W PSU for my Ivy Bridge with RX 580. I figure if it blows up my system, it would give me an excuse to buy a better PC. Any objections? :lol:
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Wed Dec 18, 2019 12:18 am

Yeah, that surprised me as well. TT has never been on top of the stack for quality of...well...anything.
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Re: PSU longevity question

Wed Dec 18, 2019 12:59 am

I have used a similar number of Corsair PSUs over the past decade to the number of Thermaltake PSUs I used prior to that. Comparable price range and wattages. Difference in reliability has been night and day. Basically 100% vs. 0%.

No idea if current Thermaltake models are any better since I haven't touched one in years and don't plan to inflict one on myself again any time soon.
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Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:05 am

DrCR wrote:
Igor, after doing some PSU sleuthing, how did you arrive at buying Thermaltake? (That feels like doing reliable car shopping and ending up with an Alfa.)


I was going to get the EVGA SuperNova G3 but then I thought, what if I'm unlucky and despite spending this much end up with the rare bad PSU that trashes my components/whole system? That would be depressing. So I figured I will save money and give TT a chance and if it works, great and if it doesn't, well, what follows next depends on the exact nature of the misadventure. As I said before, my system is pretty old and most TT PSU users seem to be doing fine.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Wed Dec 18, 2019 12:08 pm

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
DrCR wrote:
Igor, after doing some PSU sleuthing, how did you arrive at buying Thermaltake? (That feels like doing reliable car shopping and ending up with an Alfa.)

I was going to get the EVGA SuperNova G3 but then I thought, what if I'm unlucky and despite spending this much end up with the rare bad PSU that trashes my components/whole system? That would be depressing. So I figured I will save money and give TT a chance and if it works, great and if it doesn't, well, what follows next depends on the exact nature of the misadventure. As I said before, my system is pretty old and most TT PSU users seem to be doing fine.

It's fairly likely that you increased your odds of being unlucky by doing this. In fact, if their quality is anything like it was a decade ago, you probably need to be lucky to not have problems.
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Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Thu Dec 19, 2019 3:51 am

just brew it! wrote:
It's fairly likely that you increased your odds of being unlucky by doing this. In fact, if their quality is anything like it was a decade ago, you probably need to be lucky to not have problems.


Nine out of twelve positive reviews on the Amazon product page lead me to believe otherwise. I don't want it to be awesome. I just need it to be cheap and reliable enough to work and fulfill my needs.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Thu Dec 19, 2019 5:00 am

Amazon PSU reviews << JonnyGURU reviews.
https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2018/07/ ... er-supply/
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Re: PSU longevity question

Thu Dec 19, 2019 7:21 am

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Amazon PSU reviews << JonnyGURU reviews.
https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2018/07/ ... er-supply/


Seasonic ain't gonna give me an increase in FPS or result in massive visual fidelity. All it will give is peace of mind and years of service and as I have stated elsewhere, I don't believe that I have years left in me. So thanks everyone but I will be sticking with TT for now.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:29 am

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
JustAnEngineer wrote:
Amazon PSU reviews << JonnyGURU reviews.
https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2018/07/ ... er-supply/

Seasonic ain't gonna give me an increase in FPS or result in massive visual fidelity.

...but based on past history of the respective brands, it is significantly less likely to give you a system that will leave you cursing and scratching your head trying to figure out why the system randomly refuses to POST, crashes, or shuts itself off in the middle of a game. High FPS and great visual fidelity mean nothing if the system isn't stable.

Hey, it'll probably be fine. At least for the first few months until the fan starts to fail. All I'm saying is, the brand has a spotty record; by "cheaping out" you have increased your odds of having trouble.
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DrCR
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Re: PSU longevity question

Thu Dec 19, 2019 10:24 pm

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
I was going to get the EVGA SuperNova G3 but then I thought, what if I'm unlucky and despite spending this much end up with the rare bad PSU that trashes my components/whole system? That would be depressing. So I figured I will save money and give TT a chance and if it works, great and if it doesn't, well, what follows next depends on the exact nature of the misadventure. As I said before, my system is pretty old and most TT PSU users seem to be doing fine.

You had concerns of your your components/whole system being trashed ... so you went with something of lower quality? In reflection, do you have buyers remorse or does this still make sense to you?

Regardless, good luck, and if your system ever gives you a hard time in the future, you can cross that bridge at that time.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Fri Dec 20, 2019 10:33 am

Every ThermalTake power supply I've had blow up took at least one component with it. Usually a GPU or motherboard/CPU combo. RAM once as well.

To be clear, that number is > 4 failures with them. I only used them for review rigs (sponsorship sucks sometimes) but they killed more hardware than they were worth many times over. I wish you luck, I do not understand your reasoning.
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Re: PSU longevity question

Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:24 am

Waco wrote:
Every ThermalTake power supply I've had blow up took at least one component with it. Usually a GPU or motherboard/CPU combo. RAM once as well.

Wow... guess I was lucky then. In my case, the one that blew up didn't damage anything else, and the rest of them just stopped wanting to power up (or started wanting to power down at inconvenient times, in some cases due to a dead fan).
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Igor_Kavinski
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Re: PSU longevity question

Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:37 am

Waco wrote:
I wish you luck, I do not understand your reasoning.


I'm beginning to think that most folks here with TT PSU failures are extreme power users who ran really heavy loads on their PCs that exposed the weaknesses of the cheap components used by TT and caused the PSUs to fail. My Ivy Bridge is running on a literally no-name brand called HuntKey 400W. I haven't put in the RX 580 into it yet and don't really want to as I'm sure that will make the poor PSU croak and die. Granted, I haven't given the Ivy Bridge the time it deserved due to my console gaming but HL:Alyx will hopefully test its limits next year and I will report on what happened and if I was able to complete HL:Alyx with my system intact.
 
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Re: PSU longevity question

Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:44 am

Igor_Kavinski wrote:
I'm beginning to think that most folks here with TT PSU failures are extreme power users who ran really heavy loads on their PCs that exposed the weaknesses of the cheap components used by TT and caused the PSUs to fail.

If running at 50-60% loading is a heavy load...you might have a bad PSU. :)
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Re: PSU longevity question

Fri Dec 20, 2019 11:49 am

Yeah, I almost never run my PSUs over ~75% or so (I will say that the one that actually exploded was likely an exception to this). But a well-designed PSU is supposed to shut itself down when overloaded instead of emitting sparks, smoke, and bits of charred epoxy through the vents.
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Re: PSU longevity question

Sat Dec 21, 2019 5:32 pm

I hope you did not get that TT at the current Amazon price of 54.99. Today Newegg Shellshocker has the Seasonic 650W (even more amps!) at 59.99 and a 20 dollar rebate.
https://www.newegg.com/seasonic-s12iii- ... 6817151228

Corsair and SS you can always wait for a sale and/or rebate deal and can easily get 500-600W for <=$50.

That TT also has only 2 year warranty, which is inadequate when even the EVGAs feature 5. To me it is a sign of quality. And now I have shown you the price argument to be somewhat moot, unless you got it for like $20.
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Re: PSU longevity question

Sat Dec 21, 2019 10:55 pm

I'm kind of gobsmacked that people are willing to try to convince Igor of anything after his excursions into pseudoscientific woo and insistence on staying there.
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