Explain the danger of cheap PSUs

[FaZe Rain]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

[Anthony10]

in short

 

it can also not deliver sufficient power to components causing short to long term damage. not to mention burning your house down.

 

The CX line is good, I have never heard negative things about it. I use to use a CX750M with no problems

[Sportiva]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

Bad components, efficiency, and the possibility to explode.    

[Chasem121]

Bad PSU's can explode and take the rest of the computer with it.

The CX lines first generation had really shitty transistors in them, and were known for being of bad quality. If you can get a Gen2 version of the CX line its not as bad, I have one myself.

As for the thermaltake, I can't tell you without looking at it myself. Best to always look at the reviews.

[desertcomputer]

Do you want to burn down your house? 

[lukky211111]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

you name it it can happen fire hazards can destroy your components fry your motherboard and in turn your cpu gpu harddrives then we can get into power useage issues as well

[FaZe Rain]

If they explode, or cause fire, then why are they legal, and why does the seller allow them?

[desertcomputer]

If they explode, or cause fire, then why are they legal, and why does the seller allow them?

They dont really explode, it will over vote(Surge) which will break your components = dead PC.   

[DarkBlade2117]

@Anthony10 that's a CXM Not CX. The CXMsarent as bad. Plus @FaZe Rain it's not that. The PSUs have bad things going for them. The CX series like for example if you overclock your CPU it could potentially make the PSU fail. Also cheap PSUs in general aren't good at all anyway. Just no way to explain it, if you cheap put on a PSU with a high end system and if they PSU dies,

A power supply is the HEART of your PC. If that PSU dies it can take everything in your PC with it.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

a cheap PSU can cause damage to your components. a $15 PSU is going to be shit, the CX line isn't that bad for low power systems.

 

BUT (big but) I speak from experience when I say a cheap PSU can cause damage to your components. my 2008 system had an ATI X600 pro, and the PSU was an inexpensive Antec 430W (smartpower I think) it was more than enough power for the system, but the PSU failed, it took the GPU with it.

that power supply had questionable engineering and a few of the wrong corners were cut, causing it to fail in a way that occasionally can kill components. it doesn't happen all the time, and now I always spend at least $40 for a 500W PSU

[QueenDemetria]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

Not sure about the CX line, won't comment, but I will talk about cheap PSU's in general. So, my first hand experience with them has been pretty negative, they only last about a year and luckily I haven't had any fried hardware(other than the PSU itself). I imagine my hardware was saved from my UPS, since every time my cheap PSU's have failed they had tripped my UPS(over current protection), but I imagine if I was running directly from the wall the power wouldn't just "stop" and would proceed to kill the rest of my PC. So whats bad about them? Well:

• Poor quality, equates to short lifespan.
• Low current and false ratings. Drawing a lot of current from these PSU's causes the voltage to drop(so if you have a beefy GFX card running at full load, it will drop the 12v to something like 11.3v), but this is very bad for the voltage regulators since it means they are being overworked(so, a 500w PSU should really only be 250w, since its what it can safely handle).
• Quality of power. Along with the voltage drops mentioned above, the cheap PSU's have a very rough power conversion that translates to whiney coils, causing other hardware to run less efficiently, and lower lifespan of hardware.
• And lastly: If they die, there is a risk of it taking out other components. Voltages don't always drop with voltage regulators, and if they decide to raise then you have dead hardware. Ask yourself: Is it really worth saving $30 when you might ruin $200+ of hardware?

[Anthony10]

@Anthony10 that's a CXM Not CX. The CXMsarent as bad. Plus @FaZe Rain it's not that. The PSUs have bad things going for them. The CX series like for example if you overclock your CPU it could potentially make the PSU fail. Also cheap PSUs in general aren't good at all anyway. Just no way to explain it, if you cheap put on a PSU with a high end system and if they PSU dies,

A power supply is the HEART of your PC. If that PSU dies it can take everything in your PC with it.

I thought cxm was purely just a semi modular cx? They change the internals?

[DarkBlade2117]

I thought cxm was purely just a semi modular cx? They change the internals?

CXMs I've heard aren't as bad as CX unless some of the info I've been told is false. Both are made by CWT

[EllieThePurpleFuzzy]

https://youtu.be/MCuKM6Ux4B4?t=4m24s

 

Till the end pretty much explains a decent bit.

 

Otherwise, Poor quality components, likely wont do it's advertised power, or won't provide much stability at near maximum load. higher chance of going pop and damaging your PC, i hear they can be louder too.

 

I think people need to stop going for low quality PSU's so as they can get a fancier CPU or Fancier GPU, every time i see someone making a 4790K build with a CX unit or other PSU's that are shady, i just cringe really hard inside. i'm not saying you need to go and get a AX1500i or such, but just get something that's going to be reliable with no shady stuff on the side (like CX unit shady)

[STRMfrmXMN]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

You should not buy a PSU that is cheap for many reasons:

 

1. Risk of fire is evident.

2. You get more for your money if you pay more.

3. You will get fewer features.

4. You will see the effects of ripple as your hard drives and GPUs start dropping like flies/

5. You probably won't have enough amperage on the 12V rail to sustain a GPU under load.

6. It will almost certainly have a shitty warranty.

7. It'll last you no more than 5 years.

 

And the CX series:

 

1. Overpriced

2. Cheap stuff inside

3. Poor ambient temperature tolerance of 30C. That is straight up unusable with a proper GPU and air CPU cooler. 

4. People think that Corsair = good which is wrong on an abundance of levels....

[Aniallation]

I see it everywhere.... people warning of cheap PSUs, or the Corsair CX line. 2 questions... Why is buying a $15 Rosewill 480W PSU not a good choice? And what is so bad about the Corsair CX line, or if you disagree with this opinion, tell me why people think CXs are so bad.

There actually isn't really a risk of fire as people will make you think... it's more of a risk of power surges. When a PSU blows, voltage regulation can go out the door and send mains power straight to your other components like mobo and graphics card, which is obviously not a good thing and they're likely not to survive if this happens.