I've never had a PSU fail. Mostly because I usually buy ones that can easily deliver way over double what I need. I had an AX1200 for about six years, never missed a trick. Using a 1550w Platimax now.
Looks like, from my sample size of 1, plus Pete’s comment, that good quality PSU will rarely fail, just slowly decrease in its ability to deliver power as it ages. So over spec a good quality PSU is in a way buying longevity.
Oddly enough I've never even seen a PSU failure. Mostly because the first thing I was ever taught when building a PC was "Don't use a **** PSU".
I have saw a cheap one explode under limited load, wish I had a video camera. Was brought from Pc world and returned to PC world meant to be 700 watt was for a kids pc that was been done cheap
In fact no, I lied ! I bought a brand new FSA silver and it blew up when I plugged it in to test it. From the feedback on Amazon it was a whole batch that failed. I forgot all about that it was years ago, but it sent a nice blue spark out of the back LOL.
What temperature would people operate their PSU at? If given the choice? The Superflower LeadexIII gives me the option to have the fan start at 45c or 65c (see below). The 45c setting is rather annoying during light workload. The fan would spin up for 10-15s and stop every 10-20 minutes. Is it okay to use the 65c option long term? Temperature might hover around 60c for prolonged period of time.
My EVGA has a 'if it's not too hot i'll stop the fan' option but I never use it. I'd prefer to have air flowing at all times and not have it stop/start but that's based on no particular reasoning and because I use headphones (not that it's audible over other things anyway).
This PSU also have the same option, the fans to run at constant minimal speed. But I run all my main components with the philosophy: "if it's not too hot, run it passively to reduce dust buildup" and "fans only exist to prevent components overheating, no point cooling something down to room temperature" I actively seek out fan-stop GPU's. The CPU fan when the cooler can handle idle load. The case fans are set to only run at absolutely minimal speed when temperature allows. That temperature being below 60c. So I'm wondering, can the PSU, which is different to ASIC's, handle being run at around ~60c almost 24/7?
A bit? Should still last 7-9 years? considering warranty is 7 years. I should still be able to pull 700w at 7 year birthday? The Seasonic with 5 years warranty probably couldn't output 500w at its 5 year birthday. Considering trying to pull 400-450w made its 12v drop below spec a few months before its 6th birthday.