High durability PSU?

[Bitter]

I'm building a new computer for my stepmother on the other side of the country, the last PC I built her had a PSU fail after about 10 or 12 years (it was some Zalman that was probably on sale when I bought it along with the rest of the system). I'm building the new PC to have a little more longevity and looking for parts that are more likely to go the distance. So far I'm thinking a

Ryzen 2600

B450 DS3H board

16GB RAM

Probably a Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB NVME

Probably a GTX 1650

 

What I'm not sure about is the PSU.  I'm sure 500W would be plenty and I'm aware of the tier list for power delivery quality but how does that relate to longevity? Are higher rated PSU also more reliable over a long period of time? I want something that'll last at least 10 years again.

[Semper]

There's not a way to predict how long any individual unit will last. Parts will fail, luck of the draw sometimes. In general though:

Check the warranty on the PSU you're buying. Something that's built well, has a reputable name behind it should carry a fairly lengthy warranty. My Seasonic (Prime Titanium) unit carries a 12 year warranty.

Balance budget with features from the tier list, compare warranties and make your decision from there.

[Ankerson]

PSU should be replaced after the warranty period is over.

 

Or after 10 years max.

 

A Corsair RMX 550W would be it.

 

10 year warranty.

 

@jonnyGURU

 

[Mateyyy]

A good/decent 400-500W unit will be more than adequate, like a Pure Power 10/11 400W, CX450, MWE Bronze v2 - just to name a few options.

[SirCheese3]

the gx550 has a ten-year warranty

[Bitter]

6 hours ago, SirCheese3 said:

the gx550 has a ten-year warranty

CoolerMaster or Seasonic? Both have a GX550 PSU lool.

 

 

This may sound dumb, but I don't care if it's modular or not, there's no window on the PC.

 

Fan stop or zero fan is good, keeps down on dust/fur in the case and PSU so that's a bonus for any of them as well.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Ankerson said:

10 year warranty.

Funny thing about warranty.  10 year warranty doesn't mean the manufacturer thinks the PSU will last more than 10 years.  It means that they looked at the return/failure rate and determined that they could still take units back at the 10 year mark and not lose profitability.

 

[SirCheese3]

5 minutes ago, Bitter said:

CoolerMaster or Seasonic? Both have a GX550 PSU lool.

 

 

This may sound dumb, but I don't care if it's modular or not, there's no window on the PC.

cooler master has a gx550? i was referring to the seasonic, probably should've clarified.

[Bitter]

Just now, SirCheese3 said:

cooler master has a gx550? i was referring to the seasonic, probably should've clarified.

Yeah, they do which is a bit...confusing.

[Ankerson]

1 minute ago, jonnyGURU said:

Funny thing about warranty.  10 year warranty doesn't mean the manufacturer thinks the PSU will last more than 10 years.  It means that they looked at the return/failure rate and determined that they could still take units back at the 10 year mark and not lose profitability.

 

 

I figured that much. 

 

Which is why I don't run mine for that long. 

 

Some actuary types at work on that.

[Bitter]

3 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

Funny thing about warranty.  10 year warranty doesn't mean the manufacturer thinks the PSU will last more than 10 years.  It means that they looked at the return/failure rate and determined that they could still take units back at the 10 year mark and not lose profitability.

 

Got it, so zero warranty unit from AliExpress 3,000 W with one 115V AC wall cable into it.

 

I guess you'd be the one in the know, if you don't want to post it publicly then shoot me a PM if you could be so kind. Who has the better reliability or lower warranty returns when it comes to retail end user power supplies?

[Letgomyleghoe]

30 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

Which is why I don't run mine for that long. 

why stop running them before they break?

[Ankerson]

1 minute ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

why stop running them before they break?

 

Because you never know what may happen when they go no matter how good they were new.

 

I dunno about you, but I care about MY HARDWARE.

[Purgent]

21 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

 

Because you never know what may happen when they go no matter how good they were new.

 

I dunno about you, but I care about MY HARDWARE.

Are you also the, "I change my oil every 3k miles even though the manufacturer recommends 10k" guy?

[Ankerson]

12 minutes ago, Purgent said:

Are you also the, "I change my oil every 3k miles even though the manufacturer recommends 10k" guy?

 

What manufacture recommends 10K miles? 

 

I change mine about every 5K or once a year whether they need it or not.

 

I don't drive much these days. 

 

2005 With 78K on it and 2006 with 104K on it. Still a LONG WAY to go on them yet.

 

 

[Bitter]

18 minutes ago, Ankerson said:

 

What manufacture recommends 10K miles? 

Getting a bit off topic,but you'd be surprised these days. Some Germans claim even more than that for an oil change interval.

[Ankerson]

7 minutes ago, Bitter said:

Getting a bit off topic,but you'd be surprised these days. Some Germans claim even more than that for an oil change interval.

 

Not surprised really, better oils etc.

 

Back in the day we had to change it every 3K.... The oil would look and feel like mud if we didn't.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Bitter said:

Getting a bit off topic,but you'd be surprised these days. Some Germans claim even more than that for an oil change interval.

Not uncommon these days.  Lots of cars have "oil life monitoring" systems and will not suggest an oil change for over 10K miles and a year.

 

But given that PSU failures can be catastrophic and kill other parts when they fail, I tend to swap out PSU with new case.

 

[Guest]

13 hours ago, Bitter said:

I guess you'd be the one in the know, if you don't want to post it publicly then shoot me a PM if you could be so kind. Who has the better reliability or lower warranty returns when it comes to retail end user power supplies?

The simplest design.  The one with the least number of parts and the best fan bearing.

 

The more complex the design, the more things that could break.  If people were actually interested in a semi-modular RM with an FDB fan, I'd put my name on it.

 

[Ankerson]

16 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

f people were actually interested in a semi-modular RM with an FDB fan, I'd put my name on it.

 

I would bet people would buy them, especially the OEMs to put in their machines.

 

 

[electropical]

45 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

The simplest design.  The one with the least number of parts and the best fan bearing.

 

The more complex the design, the more things that could break.  If people were actually interested in a semi-modular RM with an FDB fan, I'd put my name on it.

 

Semi-modular PSUs trully are underrated, but swapping stock cables (especially those who come with in-cable caps) with custom ones is a pretty good option to have. Other than that, the 18pin connector is such an incredible pain to gently unplug that one wonders whether that thing trully deserves to be described as "fully modular" LOL

[Guest]

Just now, electropical said:

Semi-modular PSUs trully are underrated, but swapping stock cables (especially those who come with in-cable caps) with custom ones is a pretty good option to have. Other than that, the 18pin connector is such an incredible pain to gently unplug that one wonders whether that thing trully deserves to be described as "fully modular" LOL

I would fix the 24-pin, the EPS12V and at least one PCIe.

 

And offer the PSU with different individually sleeved color cable options (colors based on market data for most popular, that is).

 

And I would not have in cable caps because.... that's just one more point of potential failure.

[Bitter]

I'm going to look around tonight and narrow it down to three contenders then post back for advice on picking between those three. It's too hard to juggle things on mobile to do it on lunch at work. I guess fan stop isn't that important as it keeps PSU temps down all the time.

This case mounts the PSU at the front of the case and discharges the PSU exhaust out the side of the case but pulls air from under the case. I realize now the feet are far too short to get good flow so I'll be making some taller feet to ensure there's proper air to whatever goes in there.

[Ankerson]

2 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

I would fix the 24-pin, the EPS12V and at least one PCIe.

 

And offer the PSU with different individually sleeved color cable options (colors based on market data for most popular, that is).

 

And I would not have in cable caps because.... that's just one more point of potential failure.

 

Would be nice to have the flat cables as the primary (Fixed cables). No caps would be a given I think with those. 

 

I think it might be a good idea to have a higher end Semi - Modular units out there, hasn't really been one for awhile now that's been widely available.

 

Based on the RM and HX (Gold and Platinum) could be a nice idea and maybe up to 1000W or 1200W too.

 

I would fix 2x PCIe and 2x EPS cables (No daisy chains) ..... And market the heck out of them to over clockers, the higher wattage units anyway (850W and up).

 

And they would be solid units instead of the garbage we have been seeing the past few years. 

 

System builders would likely buy the heck out of them.

 

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ankerson said:

 

System builders would likely buy the heck out of them.

 

 

No.  System builders would not.  They buy the cheapest thing that works because they tend to only give their systems a one or two year warranty.

 

Example:  https://www.hexus.net/tech/reviews/systems/146809-scan-3xs-gamer-rtx/?&key=1605096817

 

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