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PSU Should I wait for my PSU to die or replace it now?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by oscy, 30 Jan 2019.

  1. oscy

    oscy Modder

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    The fan whirs a bit noisier than it used to, it's especially crackly once in a blue moon when first starting up on a cold morning.

    It's a 750W Seasonic EVO 80. When I got it 4 years ago, it was a 2nd tier PSU.

    I had a random PSU in a pre-build die years ago, but it didn't damage anything.
     
  2. Blogins

    Blogins Panda have Guns

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    I take it that the crackle comes from the fan itself?

    If that's the case just give it a good clean with some compressed air. See how it behaves after.
     
  3. oscy

    oscy Modder

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    All been cleaned already. Well I had a fan cover so that needed cleaning, spraying in the PSU didn't seem to shift anything if there was anything left in there.
     
  4. Sentinel-R1

    Sentinel-R1 Chaircrew

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    Personally, having had a top tier PSU go pop and take out a motherboard with it, I wouldn't chance it. Mine was 6 or 7 years old when it popped smoke but there were no signs of impending doom for me to react to.

    If you're getting the warning signs, take action.
     
  5. Wakka

    Wakka Yo, eat this, ya?

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    Playing chicken with your PSU in your PC is like chancing your brakes on your car...
     
  6. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    I agree it lowers the risk. But, we all know of the law of sod where the chances of a brand new one going pop are equally as high.

    I would personally check the caps, read the voltages and feel relatively safe.
     
  7. Sentinel-R1

    Sentinel-R1 Chaircrew

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    You would advocate opening up a PSU to check the caps and therefore void any remaining warranty???

    That unit has a 5 year warranty so there's still a year left. I can't agree with you on this one matey and in this instance, I'd say that's poor advice.
     
  8. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    If it's under warranty leave it alone. I thought he said it was 7 years old, must have been mistaken.
     
  9. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    OP says in the first post that the PSU is 4 years old, but Sentinel mentioned that his PSU went bang when it was 6 or 7 years old :)
     
  10. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Too much going on in my brain haha.
     
  11. oscy

    oscy Modder

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    I bet if I posted it (which I have to pay for) to do the warranty thing, they'd just say it's fine. It's only like a decibel or 2 louder.

    I found out the noisiness of starting up on a cold day was from my CPU fan anyway (the good old Hyper Evo 212).
     
  12. liratheal

    liratheal Sharing is Caring

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    IMO, it depends how you run your other hardware.

    On the bleeding edge all the time? Maybe swap it at the end of its warranty and either sell it on here or shelve it for future projects.

    More than a few generations behind at any one time? Eh, bollocks to it. Replacing older stuff isn't so expensive.
     
  13. oscy

    oscy Modder

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    Still rocking the 2500K and GTX 780 I bought from here 4 years ago. :naughty:
     
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  14. MrRobot

    MrRobot What's a Dremel?

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    Replace it, maybe cash in something for it while you still can
     
  15. liratheal

    liratheal Sharing is Caring

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    Same. I was running my i7/X58 until June/July last year when it finally got replaced. With more mid-range kit! Graphics card gets swapped slightly more often, being a 480 4gb , but even that's not bleeding edge of anything.
     
  16. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Just playing devil's advocate.. How many threads do we see on here with people saying "My old PSU died and killed my hardware. I should have replaced it as it was very old". I don't count many.

    As I said before I would trust a PSU I have had for four years that has not let me down over a new one that could die within a few weeks. I had a DOA brand new PSU that I had to RMA. All it did was click.
     
  17. modd1uk

    modd1uk Multimodder

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    Spanner in the works...

    Built a PC for a mate of mine, brand new Corsair RM850x died within ten minutes of powering the machine on...without any substantial load.

    As VT says, just because something is new doesn't mean it's any better than something older and trustworthy.

    If the PSU in question was mediocre when it was new then yeah I can understand replacing it, if it was a decent PSU when it was new then there would be no need in my mind.
     
  18. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Bathtub curve, innit. Failures will cluster around the very start of expected lifespan (faulty component, manufacturing defect, design flaw) and the very end (wear and tear.) Doesn't mean one can't die in the middle of the curve, just means it's less likely than at either end.
     
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  19. Wakka

    Wakka Yo, eat this, ya?

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    That's because they are too busy crying over their lost hardware to make forum threads!
     
  20. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Nah. We know which PSUs are dodgy very quickly because they get a bad name for themselves. So example, Corsair AXi are rubbish but AX are awesome. Also, what is the point in spending tons on a PSU *for* build quality and reliability if we're just going to chuck them in the bin when we get paranoid a year before the warranty goes?

    I have confidence in quality. That is why I bought a Enermax Platimax 1550w for my latest build second hand for £70. My AX1200? lol that is about 7 years old and still works perfectly (I had it all apart last year, complete clean and cap check and everything was perfect in there).
     

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