Corsair shows why budget PSUs aren't so great - bit-tech.net Forums

CardJoe · 17th Jul 2008, 14:02

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/07...n-t-so-great/1

Ever wonder why we test PSU's to their limits? Ever bought a "budget PSU? Corsair combined the two with explosive results.

M4RTIN · 17th Jul 2008, 14:05

i thought this was about to say that corsair psu's are all going to explode lol.. my vx550 was ready to be switched off

Krikkit · 17th Jul 2008, 14:10

If only this video could be imprinted onto the mind of everyone who thinks about buying a budget, no-name PSU.

It's just a good job that most systems don't come close to using what their PSU's are rated to, really.

wuyanxu · 17th Jul 2008, 14:11

the heatsink is right behind one of the fan! surely that would mean it gets enough airflow.

Corsair Hx620w is teh cheesecake factory

pistol_pete · 17th Jul 2008, 14:19

If only this video was out a couple of weeks ago! I could have showed it to my dad before he went out and bought a 500W PSU for £25, without consulting ME first, how rude!.

Hg · 17th Jul 2008, 14:23

this is why you should alwasy buy a good quailty PSU!
its scary how many people don't do so after spending a load on new hardware while building a new pc, i dont feel sorry for them if there PSU's blow up as they were to narrow minding while buying a Q-tec etc

icyo · 17th Jul 2008, 14:25

check the video to see some MOSFET* popping action.

hitman012 · 17th Jul 2008, 14:43

The internals of those power supplies look identical to two generics that died on me over 3 years ago. I would guess that most of the no-name power supplies are OEMed by only one or two companies and just branded with an arbitrary rating - often the 500W rated models have identical insides to the 300W ones.

That said, not all "quality" PSUs are fantastic. Some older Antecs used cheap capacitors which went pop if they were loaded heavily over a year or two. Their newer units, though, OEMed by Seasonic/CWT (as are Corsair's, IIRC) and are much better quality.

Snafu-X- · 17th Jul 2008, 14:44

Anyone notice the coolermaster box in the video?

MrMonroe · 17th Jul 2008, 14:50

I'm loving the picture caption.

Xlog · 17th Jul 2008, 14:57

well, they are drawing over 300W from atx power connector in test 3, so I don't think that test is very accurate

Tile · 17th Jul 2008, 15:07

Deleted

RTT · 17th Jul 2008, 15:17

What's a "MOSPHET" ?

Cobalt · 17th Jul 2008, 15:22

My friend came to me for advice about buying a PSU recently for a xfire setup. I impressed on him the importance of buying a branded power supply with some extra capacity beyond what he thought he would need but then he goes and buys a 700W PSU for £30 off ebuyer. Why should I even bother?

Mankz · 17th Jul 2008, 15:26

That was an awesome video. I liked the music

Bindibadgi · 17th Jul 2008, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTT

What's a "MOSPHET" ?

Fixed, I'm too used to writing phosphor, sulphur, etc

naokaji · 17th Jul 2008, 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitman012

The internals of those power supplies look identical to two generics that died on me over 3 years ago. I would guess that most of the no-name power supplies are OEMed by only one or two companies and just branded with an arbitrary rating - often the 500W rated models have identical insides to the 300W ones.

The majority of the super cheap and blowing up psu's are made by allied (known under many different brandnames and very popular among the big system integrators for record low prices).
Usually they dont blow up just because people think they need a 700W psu for a E4500 2GB ram single hdd and integrated graphics so most people who buy prebuilt pc's never even notice the psu they have is overrated by 400W because there computer wont even use 200W, but if you take a device that can actually draw as much power from a psu as is written on the label then a firework is almost guaranteed.

on top of that, psu's changed in design over the last few years, the majority of the power used to be on the 3,3V and 5V rails, there are still such psu's out there sadly even though those rails are almost worthless these days and the "action" is on the 12V rail(s).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snafu-X-

Anyone notice the coolermaster box in the video?

not sure, but it looks too big to me for a psu box, more like the box of a case size, but then I'm going by memory of what I've seen in the video yesterday and cant watch it now thx to work pc blocking it.

Risky · 17th Jul 2008, 15:51

Well I've only had two PSUs blow. One was a mATX unit and the other was a rather pricy Enermax, though it was many years ago.

Liquid K9 · 17th Jul 2008, 16:01

wow

great music with that vid

I would have prefered a more scientific test, with various manufacturers, loads and price points. but it was pretty nonetheless in a destructive kind of way, the best kind

-equilerex- · 17th Jul 2008, 16:09

ive had 2 noname psu's on my old pc... first one ran for 4-5 years. as the fan had started to make noise out of old age, i replaced it with some "fancy" led one that broke down in a few days, burning out the psu (no bang though). the second one is still running... although their only like 350w

upgraded to a laptop myself but the parents still use that rig...

17th Jul 2008, 14:02	#1
CardJoe Player Character bit-tech Staff Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,940	Corsair shows why budget PSUs aren't so great http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/07...n-t-so-great/1 Ever wonder why we test PSU's to their limits? Ever bought a "budget PSU? Corsair combined the two with explosive results. __________________ this is joe's non-bit-tech blog

17th Jul 2008, 14:10	#3
Krikkit Don't panic! Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Lancs, UK Posts: 15,141	If only this video could be imprinted onto the mind of everyone who thinks about buying a budget, no-name PSU. It's just a good job that most systems don't come close to using what their PSU's are rated to, really. __________________ \|E8400 @ 4.4GHz\|WC: 2*120.1 GT's, MCP350, Storm G5\|4GB Dominators\|DFI LT X48-T2R\|8800GT\|74GB Raptor\|Chieftec BA01\|OCZ ModXStream 600W\|Dell 2208WFP\| The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, The LOL!!1!!1!, The Zlad!, The Kempness, The Braaaaaains...

17th Jul 2008, 14:11	#4
wuyanxu quad fuelled, GTX200 powered Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: in a room near Soton Uni. UK Posts: 3,938	the heatsink is right behind one of the fan! surely that would mean it gets enough airflow. Corsair Hx620w is teh cheesecake factory __________________ Death to consolification !!!Core i7 860 @ 4Ghz Cooled by Corsair H50 // Asus P7P55D Deluxe // 8GB of Corsair Dominators @ 1528Mhz 8-8-8-24 // BFG gtx260+ OC2 MaxCore 216SP 896MB // Samsung 64GB SSD // WD Raptor 74GB + Black 1TB + Green 1TB // Corsair Hx620w // Antec p182 // Samsung 24" T240

17th Jul 2008, 14:19	#5
pistol_pete Air Cooled Fool Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Derby, via Scotland Posts: 709	If only this video was out a couple of weeks ago! I could have showed it to my dad before he went out and bought a 500W PSU for £25, without consulting ME first, how rude!. __________________ - Q6600 G0(9x333) -- Asus P5k Premium -- 2GB Ballistix DDR2-800 -- BFG 8800GT 512MB -- TRUE120 -- 500GB Samsung Spinpoint -- Antec Quattro 850W -- Samsung Syncmaster 206BW -- Razer Lycosa, DeathAdder, and Destructor -- Antec Nine Hundred -- Pistol Pete's Project Perspiration Project Log

17th Jul 2008, 14:23	#6
Hg The game known as life Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Stourport, UK Posts: 201	this is why you should alwasy buy a good quailty PSU! its scary how many people don't do so after spending a load on new hardware while building a new pc, i dont feel sorry for them if there PSU's blow up as they were to narrow minding while buying a Q-tec etc __________________ LIVE Gamertag: Hg80uk PSN: Hg80uk Showmyfps.com- Whats your FPS? Trident Case mod with custom cooling - Project Log

17th Jul 2008, 14:05	#2
M4RTIN Ultramodder Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Birmingham, UK Posts: 1,257	i thought this was about to say that corsair psu's are all going to explode lol.. my vx550 was ready to be switched off

17th Jul 2008, 14:25	#7
icyo What's a Dremel? Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	check the video to see some MOSFET* popping action.

17th Jul 2008, 14:43	#8
hitman012 What is a Dremel!? Moderator Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bristol / London Posts: 4,811	The internals of those power supplies look identical to two generics that died on me over 3 years ago. I would guess that most of the no-name power supplies are OEMed by only one or two companies and just branded with an arbitrary rating - often the 500W rated models have identical insides to the 300W ones. That said, not all "quality" PSUs are fantastic. Some older Antecs used cheap capacitors which went pop if they were loaded heavily over a year or two. Their newer units, though, OEMed by Seasonic/CWT (as are Corsair's, IIRC) and are much better quality. __________________ "Nothing is more practical than a good theory" - Kurt Lewin

17th Jul 2008, 14:44	#9
Snafu-X- Multimodder Join Date: May 2005 Location: KY, USA Posts: 131	Anyone notice the coolermaster box in the video? __________________ Careful. We don't want to learn anything from this.

17th Jul 2008, 14:50	#10
MrMonroe Multimodder Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 195	I'm loving the picture caption.

17th Jul 2008, 14:57	#11
Xlog What's a Dremel? Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Vilnius, Lithuania Posts: 13	well, they are drawing over 300W from atx power connector in test 3, so I don't think that test is very accurate __________________ The universe is so big and we are so small, what we can really ever choose is whether we are good or evil. Last edited by Xlog; 17th Jul 2008 at 19:20.

17th Jul 2008, 15:07	#12
Tile Banned Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 376	Deleted Last edited by Tile; 3rd Nov 2008 at 01:21.

17th Jul 2008, 15:17	#13
RTT bwarp Moderator Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Berkshire Posts: 12,981	What's a "MOSPHET" ? __________________ This post is non-negotiable. All terms and conditions apply. Arguing on the internet is like competing in the special Olympics. Even if you win you're still a retard.

17th Jul 2008, 15:22	#14
Cobalt Multimodder Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 248	My friend came to me for advice about buying a PSU recently for a xfire setup. I impressed on him the importance of buying a branded power supply with some extra capacity beyond what he thought he would need but then he goes and buys a 700W PSU for £30 off ebuyer. Why should I even bother?

17th Jul 2008, 15:51	#18
Risky Mod Master Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Wiltshire....for a few days more Posts: 2,276	Well I've only had two PSUs blow. One was a mATX unit and the other was a rather pricy Enermax, though it was many years ago. __________________ As a rule watercooling can be simple, affordable and effective... I guess I just like to break the rules.

17th Jul 2008, 16:01	#19
Liquid K9 Human programmer.. heh Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 3,111	wow great music with that vid I would have prefered a more scientific test, with various manufacturers, loads and price points. but it was pretty nonetheless in a destructive kind of way, the best kind __________________ - Subverting reality since 1999

17th Jul 2008, 16:09	#20
-equilerex- Multimodder Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Estonia Posts: 183	ive had 2 noname psu's on my old pc... first one ran for 4-5 years. as the fan had started to make noise out of old age, i replaced it with some "fancy" led one that broke down in a few days, burning out the psu (no bang though). the second one is still running... although their only like 350w upgraded to a laptop myself but the parents still use that rig... __________________ -Project $0 scratch mod-