PSU How often do you replace your PSU?

I've upgraded nearly all of my computer.
The only component that I haven't upgraded in the last year is my PSU.

Corsair RM650 Silence ATX 12V V2.31 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply Active PFC 135mm Fan - purchased Dec 2013

Should I look into replacing this? Are newer models much more efficient or should I hold onto it for another couple of years?

 

Me? When it goes bang.

My last Be Quiet died after about 10 years, i think the final shipping back to the UK did it in.

Should have replaced it when it was starting to get the odd issue i couldn't put my finger on TBH.

Edit: that RM series though, not sure if it has Japanese caps or not. Check out jonnyguru for in depth PSUs btw, i gave it a good look over before getting mine.

 

That is one of the issues for me. I have had issues with stability for a while and did not know if it was the MB, GPU, cooling or PSU.
I replaced most everything and now have significantly better airflow.
My issue the PSU, how would I know if issues are related to it? I don't know any way to test a PSU.

 

I only consider it when my existing PSU starts playing up (or expires outright). Back in the day I had to upgrade once or twice due to needing more POWER (usually following GPU upgrades) but the current trend of increasing performance per Watt means that's not been an issue for me for some time.

All that said, I am toying with the idea of upgrading my SFX PSU because I've been on a PC silencing kick recently and the loudest component in my build is my PSU (at least at non-gaming loads). But my current 600W SFX PSU is working fine apart from that despite being, by my guess, about 7 years old - I bought it second- or possibly third-hand and it's still going great guns.

 

I wouldn't worry. A good quality PSU that isn't hammered 24/7 and is probably over specced anyway should go on and on and on and on and... Efficiency wise things haven't moved on all that much. The gold rating still stands up so at very best you'd gain a few % for quite a lot of £, and even then that won't necessarily be reflected across all loads.

If everything seems stable and it's comfortably powerful enough I'd stick with it and spend my money elsewhere. No point in "upgrading" for the sake of it.

 

If this question is related to your stability thread (suspected GPU lockup at 80C), then I think that, rather than replacing what is a good Gold rated PSU, you need to do some trial and error testing.

See if you can beg, borrow or steal another GPU for example, see if it also locks up - which would point to one of your original components.

As said above, there is no point replacing it for the sake of it, it is a good quality PSU. Only replace it if, by a process of elimination, it is proven to be the root cause of your issues.

 

As @Fingers66 said if you can it would be best to borrow a PSU before forking out on a new one.

 

This is a good point. Currently, I think I have everything stable. I will have a better idea after a week of testing and gaming. it seems that the 480 G1 is just a hot card.

 

The 1kW Be Quiet in my sig died in its sleep while I was away at the weekend.
Turned the PC off normally on Saturday morning, came home Sunday evening & it was totally dead.
Currently running with a spare (an XFX 550W that's about a decade old), so no gaming until I replace it.

Thanks for the Jonny Guru linky, I'll take a look before ordering a new PSU.

 

Don't tell me i've posted something useful, crap, i must be slipping.

 

EVGA's calculator says that the 550W I'm currently using is just about enough for my system. (The 1kW was bought when I was running a pair of 780Ti's)

But since it's the thick end of a decade old, I think I'll replace it anyway, with a 750W supply for future proofing. Any recommendations from you lot?

 

Some modular Seasonic jobo.

 

After going through jonnyguru's reviews myself a little while back i ended up on the EVGA 750W G3 - for the price it seemed pretty decent in the review and i can't fault it at all.

Edit: Currently £95 at Scan if you have free delivery

 

I believe I do indeed have free delivery. Thanks @adidan . I'll order one now.

EDIT:- Tried to link my Hexus & Scan accounts. "Account already linked" - but to where??? Nothing on Scan shows the link.

 

Mine was done aaaagges ago, it says in a banner at the top when I click in 'Account Overview' - it says free carriage for orders over £20 there.

 

Beginning to think it didn't transfer over when I changed email address. I'll have to talk to Scan tomorrow.

My old 1kW must have a dry joint somewhere. I tried starting it by shorting green to 0V and it started right up.

 

If You haven't ordered yet I just moved to a Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W. £79 on Scan, really really highly rated on JonnyGuru (the 650W is at least). I'm finally replacing my aging Enermax Revolution as it's getting a bit long in the tooth and the fan bearing is beginning to go, although that'll probably go into a work machine with my old parts

 

I haven't yet. Still trying to resolve the free shipping thing with Scan.