PSU degradation over time with 80+ Platinum rating

[Jetz7]

Hi everyone

 

I am considering buying the PSU linked below for about $60 second-hand.

Super Flower SF-550F14MP(WH) Leadex 550W 80 Plus Platinum Certified Fully Modular White Desktop Power Supply - Wootware

 

It is in in good condition (from the pictures at least, original packaging and full set of cables), and has been used for 2 years. 

Thats all I know about it. 

 

Considering I am looking at going with the following specs

CPU:

RYZEN 5 5600X /
RYZEN 9 3900X/3900 (if the price is right) /
RYZEN 7 4750G (Only if I can't find a GPU) 

 

GPU:

NVIDIA RTX 2060 / 

GTX 1660 Ti (have to go 2nd hand on any of these)

 

Motherboard:

Gigabyte B550M Auros Pro

 

RAM:

16Gb 3600Mhz (2x8Gb)
         OR
32Gb 3200Mhz (4x8Gb) (Leaning towards the 32Gb kit)

 

Storage: 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD

 

So will this second-hand PSU work long term if I get one of those GPUs, I am even considering going for the 4750G and getting a GPU later when prices become normal. 

My question is what sort of degradation could I be looking at over time, considering it was 550W from new, what sort of continuous wattage (stable) should I be able to get out of it now?

I don't want a shortage of Watts in at least 2-3 years, considering its 2 years old and 80+ Platinum rated.

 

Thanks in advance

 

[8tg]

I have one of these, which is 17 years old, and is showing no signs of any problems including some proper bench testing for ripple and peak wattage.

 

A good power supply lasts, they are not disposable. You wont see any issues with a high end 550w unit thats only a few years old.

There are people still using now decade+ old corsair HX series platinum units, they tend to work as they should until they suddenly dont, and even that is a pretty rare occurrence if the psu is used the way its supposed to be.

[FRD]

Super Flower itself is a good PSU brand that should last long. You won't get degrading in only 2 years use it, at least since it's a quality it doesn't mean it will output less watt.

What you should check for is if the PSU has been used for mining or not.

Another good thing to check for the unit itself is the warranty period. If it has a 10 year warranty, you should be fine since it's a indication of how long it should hold out. If you're lucky the seller still has the warranty witgh it.

For the components you picked it would work fine. Buying a PSU secondhand is a choice though. Since it's an important part of the build I would only buy that new. But secondhand should be totally fine if it's not abused for mining. We don't know beforehand if it was used 2 years 24/7 or several hours per week or something.

[Colty]

12 minutes ago, FRD said:

What you should check for is if the PSU has been used for mining or not.

What happens when a PSU is used for mining that is so bad? From my understanding, it having a consistent load and therefore consistent temp would actually be a good thing. Though, no "off hours" would be hard on it. 

[FRD]

2 minutes ago, Colty said:

What happens when a PSU is used for mining that is so bad? From my understanding, it having a consistent load and therefore consistent temp would actually be a good thing. Though, no "off hours" would be hard on it. 

If it's used for mining it meant it had run basically 24/7 and probably at close to or 100% load most of the time. I personally think it's a risk, because the PSU has been strained too much over time and mining significantly reduces the lifespan. There's a higher chance that one day the PSU will pop. Another thing would be that the components inside have been through much already, the most noticeable difference would be a louder fan on a highly used PSU. An extra thing would be the warranty, nice to have in case it does die.

 

Gladly OPs PSU is just a 550W, so less chance that it's used for mining. Just in my personal opinion I wouldn't want to worry having a used mining PSU that could end up on me on a random day.

[electropical]

1 hour ago, Jetz7 said:

I don't want a shortage of Watts in at least 2-3 years, considering its 2 years old and 80+ Platinum rated.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Decent PSUs don't lose max wattage over time, what degrades is stuff like ripple suppression ;

 

As for efficiency, it doesn't matter, it does not impact max wattage output.

 

I wouldn't buy it if I were you, regardless of whether the seller is giving you proof of purchase or not.

 

A power supply is something you want to buy brand new, spend more and avoid taking the risk of frying your hardware (when PSUs die, they tend to take components with them).

[Guest]

1 hour ago, 8tg said:

I have one of these, which is 17 years old, and is showing no signs of any problems including some proper bench testing for ripple and peak wattage. 

What did they use to test it? 

[Jetz7]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

 

2 hours ago, electropical said:

Decent PSUs don't lose max wattage over time, what degrades is stuff like ripple suppression ;

 

As for efficiency, it doesn't matter, it does not impact max wattage output.

 

I wouldn't buy it if I were you, regardless of whether the seller is giving you proof of purchase or not.

 

A power supply is something you want to buy brand new, spend more and avoid taking the risk of frying your hardware (when PSUs die, they tend to take components with them).

Unfortunately a new PSU would put me way over budget for a system like that. 

In South Africa a system like the above with the 4750G (no dGPU) is reaching the R19k which with the current exchange rate roughly equals about $1300, even with the second hand  case and PSU.

 

There is no PoP , all he is offering is to test it on site and a 7 day warranty.

He said it was used for Plex server with G3900 and 2 HDDs which was barely used, hence he decided to strip it and sell components that were not needed.

 

I have to go with this for now, kinda got no choice, because the CPU, motherboard, RAM, and SSD is what I am planning to buy brand new.

I would prefer a brand new GPU as well, but those don't exist.

[8tg]

8 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

What did they use to test it? 

Not 100% sure, it was done by an old coworker who’s a CNC service technician, he used the same equipment used to test the controllers power supplies for cnc machines. Those are meant to last a while and I threw him 20$ to make sure the xconnect wouldn’t toast my vintage hardware.

And it came out fine, handled 5 hours of 550 watt sustained load without any issue, main capacitors are still holding up to their original spec, he said it was fine to use for its intended hardware. Which is what it’s used for, socket 478 high end kinda stuff