Upgrading from an old Tier-D PSU to a used Tier-A

[Persheis]

Hey all!

SPECS from Oldie but still Goldie:

Phenom II 1100T BE

Sapphire Radeon Fury R9 Nitro

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO-USB3

Mushkin Radioactive 2400 16GB 2x8GB (being run at 1600)

PNY 240 SSD

Seagate 1TB 7200 HDD

Hitachi 4TB 5400 HDD

 

I've been using the XFX PRO 650 PSU for maybe 7, 8 years, and it has served me well so far. However, and recently, when gaming or watching anime with madVR and upscaling, a horrible, buzzing-like noise, is produced from inside the PC. While it only happens with madVR, and some intensive games, and most of it seems to be coming from my GPU, I also suspect it might be my PSU on the way out (considering I've been having strange full-freeze locks lately).

 

On the other hand, a couple of years ago, I bought a used Corsair RM750i from /r/hardwareswap, Reddit, It was a unit meant for a used upgrade to a 8350 system to hold on until Ryzen launched. While everything seemed fine when I received the package, I learned the not-so-hard-this-time-way you can't really trust second-hand sellers, and found out the SATA cables delivered with the PSU were meant to be used with a different Corsair PSU. I installed this PSU in the system above, and, fortunately, something clicked, and some protections kicked in as soon as I turned on the PC (and my SSD and HDDs were spared). After a lot of troubleshooting, finally found out the foreign cables were the culprits, and ordered replacement cables, which actually work as they should (or, at least, don't kick any protections). Since then, I've never considered installing the PSU again, until now.

 

So now, here I am, with a maybe-failing PSU, and one which actually spared me and my components before. I have tested the Corsair PSU with a multimeter, and so far (and without load), the voltage values for each output are correct. However, I'm not completely confident I should exchange the XFX PSU now, or wait until it fails before I take the risk. I'm also worried the Corsair PSU might have sustained damage from the bad cables (even considering the protections kicked in in time), but it might not be the case.

What would you suggest in this particular situation? Anything else I could try/do to reduce the risk to my build before swapping the PSUs?

 

 

[LAwLz]

The XFX PRO 650 is by no means a "D-tier" PSU. It's really good. The efficiency isn't that great by today's standards but under the hood it's a really good Seasonic unit which delivers really clean power.

 

https://www.eteknix.com/xfx-pro-650w-xxx-edition-review/6/

The ripple on the 12V rail is between 10 and 25 millivolts.

 

 

Anyway, the Corsair RM750i is most likely better than your old XFX unit. The Corsair unit does better in ripple tests (around 5-10 millivolts on the 12V rail) but we're talking seriously good hardware here for both units.

 

 

24 minutes ago, Persheis said:

However, I'm not completely confident I should exchange the XFX PSU now, or wait until it fails before I take the risk. I'm also worried the Corsair PSU might have sustained damage from the bad cables (even considering the protections kicked in in time), but it might not be the case.

I'd say go with the Corsair one if you want. It is most likely fine. Those protection features are there for a reason, and they aren't exactly one-time uses. They are built for the specific purpose of protecting itself and your hardware. It being tripped just means the safety features are working as intended and you can be calm.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

4 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

 

The XFX PRO 650 is by no means a "D-tier" PSU.

 

It is on the teir list. 

Quote

XFX | ProSeries Bronze

 

[Persheis]

14 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

The XFX PRO 650 is by no means a "D-tier" PSU. It's really good. The efficiency isn't that great by today's standards but under the hood it's a really good Seasonic unit which delivers really clean power.

 

https://www.eteknix.com/xfx-pro-650w-xxx-edition-review/6/

The ripple on the 12V rail is between 10 and 25 millivolts.

 

 

Anyway, the Corsair RM750i is most likely better than your old XFX unit. The Corsair unit does better in ripple tests (around 5-10 millivolts on the 12V rail) but we're talking seriously good hardware here for both units.

 

 

I'd say go with the Corsair one if you want. It is most likely fine. Those protection features are there for a reason, and they aren't exactly one-time uses. They are built for the specific purpose of protecting itself and your hardware. It being tripped just means the safety features are working as intended and you can be calm.

Thanks a lot for your input! As @HelpfulTechWizard mentioned, the XFX PSU I have is the old, Bronze rated, non-modular, non-XXX version (confusing naming schemes). It has served me well for all these years, but I'm not sure for how long I should be pushing it before it dies (silently, and hopefully, without bringing some component along to tech-hell).

[LAwLz]

16 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

It is on the teir list. 

 

Then I would like an explanation from whoever wrote that list (@LukeSavenije) on why they (incorrectly IMO) believe this PSU is "only for very cheap, iGPU systems".

 

 

  

3 minutes ago, Persheis said:

Thanks a lot for your input! As @HelpfulTechWizard mentioned, the XFX PSU I have is the old, Bronze rated, non-modular, non-XXX version (confusing naming schemes). It has served me well for all these years, but I'm not sure for how long I should be pushing it before it dies (silently, and hopefully, without bringing some component along to tech-hell).

Oh crap I was looking at the XXX version. 

This is the one you got, right?

The non-XXX version is still good though. Still built by Seasonic, still has good ripple performance, very good voltage regulation. Hell, the non-XXX version actually has better ripple suppression than the XXX version. It's around 8mV on the 12V rail up until you reach 100% load where it goes to 15mV.

It's also like ~1% from being silver rated. 

[Persheis]

17 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Oh crap I was looking at the XXX version. 

This is the one you got, right?

The non-XXX version is still good though. Still built by Seasonic, still has good ripple performance, very good voltage regulation. Hell, the non-XXX version actually has better ripple suppression than the XXX version. It's around 8mV on the 12V rail up until you reach 100% load where it goes to 15mV.

It's also like ~1% from being silver rated. 

Exactly, that's the one I have. Actually, by looking at the review you linked, the noise over 60% usage mentioned might be the reason I hear this buzzing noise. The fan is, probably, on its last legs, and being forced to work hard.

[quan289]

Your XFX Pro 650 is based on a Seasonic AT / AM platform. It's was a good mainstream unit back then. If you have the RM750i though, I recommend using it, as it is indeed a superior, high-end unit. The short circuit protection had work as intended so don't worry.

 

Edit: btw, the bronze rated XFX Pro / Core and XXX edition are both Seasonic AT (non modular) / AM (modular).

[LukeSavenije]

11 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Then I would like an explanation from whoever wrote that list (@LukeSavenije) on why they (incorrectly IMO) believe this PSU is "only for very cheap, iGPU systems".

let's see... you're talking about Seasonic's AM platform here, the now about a decade old platform, best known as used in M12II (Evo) x50, which isn't even in tier D, it's in tier c since it still does meet some of the modern standards with the use of DC-DC regulation. this indeed doesn't make it a bad unit for it's time, but by modern standards at best a budget unit. if this unit was used here, it would also explain the sound, since the unit is double forward, which can be prone to coil whine when put together with a high transient GPU, which Fury X surely can be.

 

the latter is a bit poor wording on my side and I'll fix in the next revision, since it can point to multiple units, but this would be Core and TS bronze, which are both based off GB Bronze, best known as S12ii. since this isn't the case with the 650w version here (which is separately noted in tier c as well), as this is Seasonic AT, which is very similar to the above mentioned AM platform, and can have the same issues with it

 

with that said, the switch to RMi will solve the whining issues since it's an LLC resonant, even if these have a chance of whining, it's significantly less than a double forward

 

oh well, some small fixes later and this should all be cleared up a bit in next revision

 

and for your notice, we work with a team of around 14 people, I'm not alone

[Ralf]

13 hours ago, LAwLz said:

The XFX PRO 650 is by no means a "D-tier" PSU. It's really good. The efficiency isn't that great by today's standards but under the hood it's a really good Seasonic unit which delivers really clean power.

 

12 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Then I would like an explanation from whoever wrote that list (@LukeSavenije) on why they (incorrectly IMO) believe this PSU is "only for very cheap, iGPU systems".

 

The non-XXX version is still good though. Still built by Seasonic, still has good ripple performance, very good voltage regulation.

It's also like ~1% from being silver rated. 

Ah yes, how dare anyone says something bad about God Seasonic God. Even their crap units are awesome compared to noname chinese junk.

[LAwLz]

33 minutes ago, Ralf said:

Ah yes, how dare anyone says something bad about God Seasonic God. Even their crap units are awesome compared to noname chinese junk.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not.

I am not saying "Seasonic is good, therefore this unit is good". I am saying "this unit is good because it performs really well". The voltage regulation is really good. The efficiency is really good. The ripple suppression is really good. The PSU seems quite overbuilt as well to the point where it can handle loads above the 650 watts it is actually rated for.

To say that something is "only suitable for very cheap iGPU systems" is asinine. It's like saying anything below a 12 core Ryzen chip is only suitable for office work.

 

People were using PSUs made on that platform to power Fermi cards for crying out loud. 

[Persheis]

6 hours ago, LukeSavenije said:

let's see... you're talking about Seasonic's AM platform here, the now about a decade old platform, best known as used in M12II (Evo) x50, which isn't even in tier D, it's in tier c since it still does meet some of the modern standards with the use of DC-DC regulation. this indeed doesn't make it a bad unit for it's time, but by modern standards at best a budget unit. if this unit was used here, it would also explain the sound, since the unit is double forward, which can be prone to coil whine when put together with a high transient GPU, which Fury X surely can be.

 

the latter is a bit poor wording on my side and I'll fix in the next revision, since it can point to multiple units, but this would be Core and TS bronze, which are both based off GB Bronze, best known as S12ii. since this isn't the case with the 650w version here (which is separately noted in tier c as well), as this is Seasonic AT, which is very similar to the above mentioned AM platform, and can have the same issues with it

 

with that said, the switch to RMi will solve the whining issues since it's an LLC resonant, even if these have a chance of whining, it's significantly less than a double forward

 

oh well, some small fixes later and this should all be cleared up a bit in next revision

 

and for your notice, we work with a team of around 14 people, I'm not alone

Awesome, thanks for the info!

I have finished the exchange, and, as you said, the whine in my GPU was considerably reduced. The silent operation of the RM750i is significant too, since I can only hear my case fans now. Overall stability of the system has improved, and so far, no hard freezes were registered.

Thanks you, everyone, for your input. Will update in case my case blows up lol.

[Juular]

20 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Then I would like an explanation from whoever wrote that list on why they (incorrectly IMO) believe this PSU is "only for very cheap, iGPU systems".

You're right, that's probably just legacy entry from previous version. XFX naming scheme is VERY confusing and we just didn't bother to look into it. This PSU is listed as both 'XFX TS Bronze' and 'XFX Core' in tiers C and D depending on wattage.

As of OP's question ... well if new i would say that RMi is better no questions, however when they're both used ... i'd still say RMi is better since it's newer and better built internally. Still be wary of other cables that may be swapped and check them for damage before using.