Should I bother replacing my PSU?

[cacoe]

So I bought this PSU about 7 years ago at a decent price, I've always known the least about PSU's because... I find them somewhat less interesting than everything else. It works fine now, but it's aging and only had sort of middling reviews even when I did buy it. A "Good enough" situation. Slightly concerned that I'm still using it after so long.

 

Specs in my sig, here's the stats from the actual unit -
 

[Levent]

Its been awhile since I saw 4 12v rails in such a low wattage PSU. As long as you are aware of what you connect to which cable, you should be fine.

[cacoe]

5 minutes ago, Levent said:

Its been awhile since I saw 4 12v rails in such a low wattage PSU. As long as you are aware of what you connect to which cable, you should be fine.

Longevity wise, do you think it's wise to replace? Granted anything could technically fail at any time for no obvious reason, even if it's new, thoughts on this though?

[zoidzoid]

It would be kind of silly for someone to tell you its not safe to use, if you used it for 7 years without a problem. The psu is fine just keep using it.

[zoidzoid]

Just now, cacoe said:

Longevity wise, do you think it's wise to replace? Granted anything could technically fail at any time for no obvious reason, even if it's new, thoughts on this though?

Pretty much any catastrophic premature failure happens rather quickly.. if its lasted 7 years it obviously has no issues and will work as it should until it loses enough capacity to not power your rig then it will shut down under load.

[cacoe]

10 minutes ago, zoidzoid said:

Pretty much any catastrophic premature failure happens rather quickly.. if its lasted 7 years it obviously has no issues and will work as it should until it loses enough capacity to not power your rig then it will shut down under load.

Slight curve ball on this matter - I have been having some blue screens recently, for a short while with the evidence I had, I thought it might be related to a failing HDD however, after resetting some PBO adjustments I had previously been running for the last year and a half without problem, the crashes have halted. I have suspicions it's down to the PSU but it's tough, hard to pinpoint it factually, not having a different PSU to test it with.

 

And tbh, I'd rather not actually spend money on a PSU lol

Do they degrade in terms of power output over time?

[zoidzoid]

3 minutes ago, cacoe said:

Slight curve ball on this matter - I have been having some blue screens recently, for a short while with the evidence I had, I thought it might be related to a failing HDD however, after after resetting and PBO adjustments I had previously been running for the last year and a half without problem, the crashes have halted. I have suspicions it's down to the PSU but it's tough, hard to pinpoint it factually, not having a different PSU to test it with.

Its not uncommon for overclocks that were once stable to become unstable... things do degrade faster when pushed. Doesn't really mean its the psu, could be motherboard or cpu degradation also. If you're ok having to dial things back and everything working fine now just leave it. I'd probably be curious enough though to buy a new psu and see if the bsod at old settings is resolved with it.

[cacoe]

7 minutes ago, zoidzoid said:

Its not uncommon for overclocks that were once stable to become unstable... things do degrade faster when pushed. Doesn't really mean its the psu, could be motherboard or cpu degradation also. If you're ok having to dial things back and everything working fine now just leave it. I'd probably be curious enough though to buy a new psu and see if the bsod at old settings is resolved with it.

It is very tempting, I find looking at PSU specs quite overwealming. I know we have the tier list but even that is a bit extra, any recommendations? Fully modular, and quiet preferred. 

 

I know the crashes could have been caused by multiple reasons, PSU is the cheapest first step though.

[0591ryan]

29 minutes ago, cacoe said:

Longevity wise, do you think it's wise to replace? Granted anything could technically fail at any time for no obvious reason, even if it's new, thoughts on this though?

I’ve always heard that one should replace the PSU as the warranty expires, seems to me your PSU probably qualifies under that adage

 

I’d replace just for peace of mind than anything else and resell the old one at a steep discount so a budget seeker could make use of a functional unit

[cacoe]

2 minutes ago, 0591ryan said:

I’ve always heard that one should replace the PSU as the warranty expires, seems to me your PSU probably qualifies under that adage

 

I’d replace just for peace of mind than anything else and resell the old one at a steep discount so a budget seeker could make use of a functional unit

That's a very strong argument to replace. Still, if no one can provide any recommendations, I'll have to spend a couple hours later looking into options

[zoidzoid]

17 minutes ago, cacoe said:

It is very tempting, I find looking at PSU specs quite overwealming. I know we have the tier list but even that is a bit extra, any recommendations? Fully modular, and quiet preferred. 

 

I know the crashes could have been caused by multiple reasons, PSU is the cheapest first step though.

Theres so many options its hard to suggest one, determining factor should be what has a good price at the time as prices change very often. 2 decent options on Amazon would be the nzxt c750 for 79.99 and corsair rm650 for 69.99, try get as close to £1 per watt as possible.

[cacoe]

Any more votes for the c750? My trigger finger is on the buy now button...

[0591ryan]

3 minutes ago, cacoe said:

That's a very strong argument to replace. Still, if no one can provide any recommendations, I'll have to spend a couple hours later looking into options

As with all things in my computer, I personally avoid rebadges of products-not that they can’t be quality

 

its just that it can be more hit or miss, the original design may have been tested but the rebadge hasn’t so you can’t find reviews as easy

 

Seasonic is reputable and easy to find reviews-they know they have brand reputation so expect to pay a bit of a price premium

 

there are other OEMs like FSP and SuperFlower that make good PSUs as well

 

I just picked Seasonic because I’m lazy and the reviews were easy to find

 

make sure whatever PSU you pick has all the usual suspects of protection, a list of them can easily be had via google, I can’t remember them all off the top of my head

[0591ryan]

6 minutes ago, cacoe said:

Any more votes for the c750? My trigger finger is on the buy now button...

Lemme find some reviews for it real quick

[0591ryan]

7 minutes ago, cacoe said:

Any more votes for the c750? My trigger finger is on the buy now button...

Just knowing it’s nzxt doesn’t inspire me with confidence-not the greatest company, they cheaped out on PCIe riser and had to do a recall and managed to send out fire hazard replacements too

[0591ryan]

12 minutes ago, zoidzoid said:

Theres so many options its hard to suggest one, determining factor should be what has a good price at the time as prices change very often. 2 decent options on Amazon would be the nzxt c750 for 79.99 and corsair rm650 for 69.99, try get as close to £1 per watt as possible.

Looks like it’s a Seasonic rebadge with decent reviews-I’d be comfortable buying it

[cacoe]

1 minute ago, 0591ryan said:

Just knowing it’s nzxt doesn’t inspire me with confidence-not the greatest company, they cheaped out on PCIe riser and had to do a recall and managed to send out fire hazard replacements too

I'm well aware of that lol.

 

I too have been looking at reviews, doesn't help that I don't understand PSU's all that well, there's so much you can learn about them alone. The reviews I've seen vary from great to middle of the road performance. 

[cacoe]

I've bought the NZXT C750.

 

Thanks everyone 

[0591ryan]

Just now, cacoe said:

I'm well aware of that lol.

 

I too have been looking at reviews, doesn't help that I don't understand PSU's all that well, there's so much you can learn about them alone. The reviews I've seen vary from great to middle of the road performance. 

A fellow GN viewer then-welcome friend lol

 

I can’t profess to be a terribly knowledgeable person regarding PSUs either-I’m also at the mercy of good recommendations

 

but I’d say a solid middle of the road performer is one that will do the job, not explode, may not have the best efficiency or provide the most stable overclocks

[Juular]

18 minutes ago, cacoe said:

Any more votes for the c750? My trigger finger is on the buy now button...

I'd rather have this :

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/components-upgrades/power-supplies/corsair-rm650x-modular-psu-650-w-10149085-pdt.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=2f489429-2329-4fcd-941a-a6a497a10e1d&istItemId=xprqpwqmm&istBid=t&awc=1599_1628003038_dffd99d0f957f1cc10357f737645d99a&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1

or this :

https://infinite-computing.co.uk/product/corsair-750w-rmx-series/?ranMID=47228&ranEAID=8BacdVP0GFs&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-V_wZ4V1dUkO.rZHILTSK2g (no idea if this retailer is any good tho)

[cacoe]

Just now, 0591ryan said:

A fellow GN viewer then-welcome friend lol

 

I can’t profess to be a terribly knowledgeable person regarding PSUs either-I’m also at the mercy of good recommendations

 

but I’d say a solid middle of the road performer is one that will do the job, not explode, may not have the best efficiency or provide the most stable overclocks

Agreed, my usual preferred PSU is the one that doesn't explode on use. 

At the very least, this could potentially shed some light on the BSOD issue when I have +200 for PBO enabled.

[cacoe]

7 minutes ago, Juular said:

I'd rather have this :

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/components-upgrades/power-supplies/corsair-rm650x-modular-psu-650-w-10149085-pdt.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=2f489429-2329-4fcd-941a-a6a497a10e1d&istItemId=xprqpwqmm&istBid=t&awc=1599_1628003038_dffd99d0f957f1cc10357f737645d99a&srcid=369&xtor=AL-1

I feared this might be the case after I bought one lol 

If you'd be kind enough to talk me through why and I'll consider cancelling if there's good reason.

[Juular]

Just now, cacoe said:

Talk me through why and I'll consider cancelling if there's good reason.

It's quieter, although on the loads you'd be able to pull with your PC there would be no difference. It's also arguably better built but performance-wise they're pretty much identical anyway. One downside tho, Corsair cables are quite stiff and have capacitors at the ends, sometimes you gotta work them out at rather weird angles to fit. Anyway, if you're already paid for NZXT i guess it's fine, probably not worth the hassle.

[cacoe]

Just now, Juular said:

It's quieter, although on the loads you'd be able to pull with your PC there would be no difference. It's also arguably better built but performance-wise they're pretty much identical anyway. One downside tho, Corsair cables are quite stiff and have capacitors at the ends, sometimes you gotta work them out at rather weird angles to fit. Anyway, if you're already paid for NZXT i guess it's fine, probably not worth the hassle.

Ah right, so you're saying you would have personally gone with the Corsair but it's a bit of a tossup between them? The cable thing wouldn't have been so much of a problem because the major cables I'm using have cablemod extensions. Why do the cables have capacitors embedded in them?

[0591ryan]

2 minutes ago, Juular said:

It's quieter, although on the loads you'd be able to pull with your PC there would be no difference. It's also arguably better built but performance-wise they're pretty much identical anyway. One downside tho, Corsair cables are quite stiff and have capacitors at the ends, sometimes you gotta work them out at rather weird angles to fit. Anyway, if you're already paid for NZXT i guess it's fine, probably not worth the hassle.

Caps at the end seems kind unique-how many brands do this and what benefit does it provide?