Longest running power supply?

[FivePointOh]

Just taking apart my old Dimension E520 for the first cleaning in 13 years. I've had it since 2006, and it was used before I got it as an office PC. 

 

BUT IT STILL HAS THE SAME PSU. It's still running the same Sparkle 400w PSU that it came with. No squealing, no sparks, no overheating. I really can't believe it. 

 

So what's the longest you`ve had a power supply last? 

[r2724r16]

3 minutes ago, FivePointOh said:

So what's the longest you`ve had a power supply last? 

The PSU in my OG Prebuilt Dell PC from the late 90s is still running fine.

[Fasauceome]

It probably doesn't count, but my friend's first PC's PSU became mine, which I used for 3 years so that's about a 6 year operating life, now it's in his closet again as the backup PSU among us. It has a weird quirk where it will restart whatever system it's connected to when you power it off, so to actually turn your PC off you have to power down normally then flip the switch. It also wakes a PC from sleep, pretty annoying.

 

I also have an HP server with its own original PSU, idk how old that thing is though.

[FivePointOh]

It seems like the older a power supply gets, the more likely it will run forever lol... I used to have an IBM 5150 which I'm pretty sure was all original but I never opened it. Just got tired of it taking up room and threw it in the trash (I know, you don't have to say it). 

[FivePointOh]

5 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

It has a weird quirk where it will restart whatever system it's connected to when you power it off, so to actually turn your PC off you have to power down normally then flip the switch. It also wakes a PC from sleep, pretty annoying.

Just yesterday I read somewhere about someone else having the exact same problem. I don't remember if it was on these forums or not. Definitely a weird occurrence. Maybe a relay? 

[Semper]

For me, that'd technically be the Macintosh Performa 5200, the first computer that my family ever owned. I believe it was from 1996, when I would have been around the age of 10. She hasn't seen any use at all in nearly two decades though, but she does still work.

Outside of that, I've got an old Antec unit from ~2010 that I use for testing pumps and whatnot.

[blackdragonx1186]

My current pc has an Enermax unit I bought in 2009. It was used for bitcoin mining back then for about a year before they dropped down to only a couple bucks. (if only I had bought a bunch) It's currently powering an overclocked 5830k and 1080 with voltages staying at or above 12v. Enermax and Seasonic are my goto brands for high quality. 

[Bishop Crane]

For me its servers, in my previous job we had a lot of early model Dell Poweredge 1950's and HP DL360 G2's they just ran forever.  A pair of DL360 G2 ran the DNS since 2001, they were ancient Pentium 3's but they just kept going.  I still have drinks with the guys and we laugh that they still use the same two servers since I left without any hardware failures.  So there's 18 years.

They really don't make them like they used to!!

[Pasi123]

I have two PC's from the 80's. Amstrad PC 1640 and Commodore PC 10-III and I think they have the original PSU's.

[Automobili3XF]

For computers, weirdly enough its a low quality PSU by Aerocool, the KCAS 600w.

I bought it i believe in 2011, used for a year or so and then sold it on a complete system to a friend because he wanted to spend the least amount of money possible.

Anyway, it still runs today and i see it pretty often, it has at least 7 years of continuous use.

[Stefan Payne]

On 3/29/2019 at 1:04 AM, FivePointOh said:

So what's the longest you`ve had a power supply last? 

Doesn't really matter.

A PSU that old is just total garbage by todays standards, even if it was brand new and in mint condition.

 

But after all that time, who knows what failed or how close it is to failing??

 

This was in use just a week before I took the Pics:

 

 

 

And also keep in mind, just because a cap looks good doesn't mean its fine, like this one:

 

That's how a leaky Capacitor looks on an Atlas ESR Meter...

[FivePointOh]

I think I trust a PSU that has been running fine for 10 years before I'd trust a brand new one.

 

It's like buying a used car vs new. You buy new, and you could get a lemon. At least the used one is tested and true.

 

That being said, I wouldn't run one thats older than 6-8 years in a brand new system. But I'd go with an old PSU that was expensive at one time vs a new budget PSU like some of Corsair's flamethrowers. (VQ?)

[seon123]

3 minutes ago, FivePointOh said:

I think I trust a PSU that has been running fine for 10 years before I'd trust a brand new one.

It could power the system while killing it at the same time through excessive ripple. With a new PSU, you can easily get a replacement, and it's unlikely that it'll kill the rest of the PC. More likely it'll just not power on. 

5 minutes ago, FivePointOh said:

It's like buying a used car vs new. You buy new, and you could get a lemon. At least the used one is tested and true

If you buy used, it could have a shoddy repair job that's on the verge of failing and lots of rust that you didn't see. Also, modern cars are safer, more fuel efficient and have up to date entertainment systems. Similarly, newer PSUs perform better. 

7 minutes ago, FivePointOh said:

That being said, I wouldn't run one thats older than 6-8 years in a brand new system. But I'd go with an old PSU that was expensive at one time vs a new budget PSU like some of Corsair's flamethrowers. (VQ?)

If an older PSU is cheap, it's because it's outdated. Would you rather get a Ryzen 2600 for $160 or an FX-9590 (originally $920) for the same amount?