What age do you replace psu

[Ebony Falcon]

Had my evga 850 g2 for about 5 years now

 

do you keep it untill it dies or ? 

[RONOTHAN##]

~10 years or when the warranty expires is when I'd start looking for a new one. I wouldn't set a clock saying "I need to get one exactly 10 years from this date," but I'll start looking for sales around that time and getting something around then. 

 

Either that or just replace it when I eventually get higher power gear than what my current unit can take. 

[Middcore]

When it's out of warranty.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I'd argue it depends how close to its limit you are pushing it and how well rated that model is to begin with on build quality.  Also how expensive your PC is to begin with, thus how much hassle and cost it would be to re-build it if the PSU broke other components while failing.

 

If you're using less than half its capacity then its likely to last a lot longer.  Yes the capacitors will age regardless so 10 years is not a bad number, but they age quicker the hotter they are and they'll likely run hotter if you're closer to the PSUs limit. (this may be complicated by zero RPM mode PSUs depending on their fan activation criteria)

 

Another factor could be if the power where you are is reliable or not and if you have it behind a UPS.  If you have regular power cuts, brown outs, surges with no UPS then I'd be much more strict about replacing it once the warranty runs out.

 

I also consider that a brand-new PSU can be faulty, so replacing a working PSU with a new one could just as likely break your PC.  Overall its a shame motherboards don't have a way to monitor ripple to warn of potential PSU failures.

 

The exception to this would be systems with high-end RTX 30x0 cards, I'd be a bit more wary as their power spikes are much larger so while you might average 70% load it could still be spiking past 100% so I'd probably not want to exceed the PSU warranty for those.

[Dogzilla07]

2 hours ago, Ebony Falcon said:

do you keep it untill it dies or ? 

For a quality unit (Tier A on the tier list, that Aris found no protections issues in his reviews on techpower/tomshardware/cybenetics), keep until the fan becomes too loud (if the fan croaks inside warranty RMA, it sure), but until the fan is too loud is a good measure. the caps will be fine for 10,12 years (Personally I also replace them around the 10 year mark).

 

A small warranty is a good sign, a long warranty is not (a sign the company is confident in the PSU, this is a common misconception), it's more of a sign the company is doing well, is big enough, and can eat the costs for optics.

 

Top Tier A  modern units, don't care about brownouts, power loss, surges, from a longevity standpoint. The way they're tested, the way power works around them and all the safeguards, TOP PSUs with protections intact will almost certainly not take any part of the PC with them. A full range (which every sold in the US is) PSU invalidates the need for most of the things the UPS does.

 

Spikes don't impact warranties, nor longevity, yet (4000 series might change that, if a PSU vendor takes the easy fix and loosens protections).

 

Will higher temps, and zero fan mode impact longevity overall, yes, but nobody should care about that, a top Tier A modern PSU will still do many many years regardless, just let the PSU fail on you when it's time. If they keep dying earlier than expected (you have 30,35c temps in summer, very bad power, etc, ... Then just get a brand that's overbuilt (like Corsair), and not a brand that's built just the right amount (like Seasonic).

 

A top high quality PSU either works or not, that's it, for every question, every fear, every situation predictable or otherwise, the PSU is designed and tested to either work or not, and nothing outside that or in between. 

 

Your unit is a high quality SuperFlower, everything I've said applies to it, another 5 years with it is more than fine.

 

The number one thing that fails on PSUs, and that is problematic is the power switch, never turn your PSU off at night, and generally don't use the button/switch too much (this is the no.1 first thing to fail, with the fan a close second). Even when you turn a PSU off with the power switch/button, it's not truly turned off. A PSU is only off when the cable is pulled out.

 

And when the cable is pulled out the motherboard battery starts drained (before that the PSU is constantly feeding power to computer and the motherboard for bios integrity, and motherboard battery savings.

[Ebony Falcon]

10 minutes ago, Dogzilla07 said:

For a quality unit (Tier A on the tier list), keep until the fan becomes too loud (if the fan croaks inside warranty RMA, it sure), but until the fan is too loud is a good measure. the caps will be fine for 10,12 years (Personally I also replace them around the 10 year mark).

 

A small warranty is a good sign, a long warranty is not (a sign the company is confident in the PSU, this is a common misconception), it's only a sign the company is doing well, is big enough, and can eat the costs for optics.

 

Top Tier A  modern units, don't care about brownouts, power loss, surges, from a longevity standpoint. The way they're tested, the way power works around them and all the safeguards, TOP PSUs with protections intact will almost certainly not take any part of the PC with them. A full range (which every sold in the US is) PSU invalidates the need for most of the things the UPS does.

 

Spikes don't impact warranties yet (4000 series might change that).

 

A top high quality PSU either works or not, that's it, for every question, every fear, every situation predictable or otherwise, the PSU should either work or not, and nothing outside that or in between.

 

Your unit is a high quality SuperFlower, everything I've said applies to it, another 5 years with it is more than fine.

 

The number one thing that fails on PSUs, and that is problematic is the power switch, never turn your PSU off at night, and generally don't use the button/switch too much (this is the no.1 first thing to fail, with the fan a close second). Even when you turn a PSU off with the power switch/button, it's not truly turned off. A PSU is only off when the cable is pulled out.

 

And when the cable is pulled out the motherboard battery starts drained (before that the PSU is constantly feeding power to computer and the motherboard for bios integrity, and motherboard battery savings.

Thank you this was very helpful, so my psu is a rebranded super flower ? 
man’s iv never ever heard the fan kick in on the psu but I have checked the toggle on the back is in the on position 

[Dogzilla07]

9 minutes ago, Ebony Falcon said:

so my psu is a rebranded super flower ? 

Yup, and one of finest ever made.

9 minutes ago, Ebony Falcon said:

man’s iv never ever heard the fan kick in on the psu but I have checked the toggle on the back is in the on position 

The EVGA G2 is very overbuilt, full power delivery at 45c degrees, relaxed fan profile, big heatsinks, plenty of airflow, it's a tank. Feel free to run it another 5-7 years before changing (unless u need to change sooner for some reason because of higher power consumption components).

[manikyath]

- when i need an upgrade (higher power draw, new standards, etc.)

- when i find a deal on a worthwhile upgrade (efficiency, more fit to the latest hardware trends, ..)

- when it starts acting up.

[Ebony Falcon]

55 minutes ago, Dogzilla07 said:

Yup, and one of finest ever made.

The EVGA G2 is very overbuilt, full power delivery at 45c degrees, relaxed fan profile, big heatsinks, plenty of airflow, it's a tank. Feel free to run it another 5-7 years before changing (unless u need to change sooner for some reason because of higher power consumption components).

To be fair it only powers a 8700k and 2080ti so it only ever pulled 500w at the most anyway, 

thank you my minds at rest il keep going with this bad boy then 

[Ebony Falcon]

@Dogzilla07 do u know how well it hold up against the power spikes the 3000 series cards are prone to

( is it transient spikes ?) I heard they can for a split second pull up to double what the card is rated to pull 

will my psu cope well with this ?

[Dogzilla07]

7 hours ago, Ebony Falcon said:

I heard they can for a split second pull up to double what the card is rated to pull 

will my psu cope well with this ?

There's nothing written in footnotes about it on the cultist tier list, so it should be fine for 3000 series.

[Elisis]

 

On 9/12/2022 at 5:50 AM, Alex Atkin UK said:

If you're using less than half its capacity then its likely to last a lot longer.

This is mainly a myth. 

 

On 9/12/2022 at 5:50 AM, Alex Atkin UK said:

Yes the capacitors will age regardless so 10 years is not a bad number, but they age quicker the hotter they are and they'll likely run hotter if you're closer to the PSUs limit.

Capacitors are far from the first thing to fail though...

[Chiyawa]

Well, I have one old power supply that's in a system (AMD Athlon 800MHz, K-7) since 1999 that still works today, though I don't dare to power up any system with it. I did powered a 4th gen Intel system (very low spec, only has Core-i5 and GT730) recently with it as I'm waiting for a better PSU to arrive. So yeah, PSU can be very resilient, but should you use it, maybe not, but in an emergency you can still power your system granted that the power consumption of the system doesn't exceed the PSU rated power.

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, Elisis said:

 

This is mainly a myth. 

 

Capacitors are far from the first thing to fail though...

I've seen it claimed as a myth too, but my own experience and common sense suggests otherwise.

 

The more power you draw, the more heat you produce, and capacitors have specific hours at x temperature ratings.

 

Obviously there are other elements at play, a well cooled PSU might buck the trend, but quite often the capacitors are crammed right next to heatsinks so going to get cooked regardless of airflow.  Wet electrolyte capacitors will dry out over time regardless, but that can take a really long time.

 

The ONLY fault's I've ever seen on a PSU is the capacitors blowing, its by far the most common failure mode.  Also seen a few routers fail on the capacitors too, a couple I've repaired.

[Elisis]

3 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

and capacitors have specific hours at x temperature ratings.

As does every other electrical component. What's your point?

I would be far more concerned about things like the fan dying, thermal paste drying up. Capacitors simply so rarely just die outright that it's not worth worrying about them past a certain point.

[Dogzilla07]

5 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

a well cooled PSU might buck the trend

Nobody should be buying not well-cooled PSUs in general, but especially if they know they'll be using the PC in a hot environment, and especially if they wanna run a PSU for a long time.

[RollyShed]

After about 30 years they get banana sockets fitted and turned into workshop power supplies.

As for capacitors, those of about 1998 - 2007 can give up. They are always the first and most likely thing to fail. It is obvious what is wrong as their tops bulge so will need to be replaced. The same problem can happen to capacitors on motherboards too as there is one that has been replaced on the board in this computer.

 

As for 5 years, it has just been run in (as the term is applied to cars) and should be good to go for a long time. Yes, it can fail. Everything can fail out-of-the-box. Which is why there are warranties.

 

I have an 8 year old computer out in the workshop and I certainly wouldn't ever consider replacing its PSU because of age.

[jaslion]

When I know Im pushing it and its out of warranty. Or when its getting really old 10+ years.

[Alex Atkin UK]

10 hours ago, Dogzilla07 said:

Nobody should be buying not well-cooled PSUs in general, but especially if they know they'll be using the PC in a hot environment, and especially if they wanna run a PSU for a long time.

You misunderstand my point, I was meaning an exceptionally cooled and designed PSU might outlast its warranty, a well-cooled PSU should last until at least its warranty.  But ultimately, how do you know how well cooled a PSU is?  Unless you tear it open, you've no idea if there is that one unfortunate capacitor touching a heatsink, ageing quicker than the rest.  Creating less heat to begin with is always better than trying ti dissipate the heat.

The argument for "it wont last longer" if often around buying an 850W vs 750W, where they might actually be identical internally.  Less likely if the rating gap is bigger.  I have a 350W FlexATX in my NAS, I can pretty much guarantee that is going to fail quicker running at 300W regularly than at 100W, particularly as spikes are less likely to go over the limit.

[Dogzilla07]

16 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

But ultimately, how do you know how well cooled a PSU is?

Tier List (Cultists), Aris (Techpowerup/Tomshardware/HardwareBusters) reviews and Tier list (Cultists)/HardwareBusters discord, it's never been easier faster, and more accurate to effortlessly figure out everything about a PSU.

16 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

  I have a 350W FlexATX in my NAS

That's a whole different ball-game, anything that's true for FlexATX is not, for ATX and vice versa, too much difference. But even for FlexATX there's enough choice, and a high enough quality units out now to not have to wonder if it handle it/to fear early component death. And on top of that, you're again talking about cheap and/or shitty and/or low wattage PSUs. Why ? There's so many great bang-for-buck PSUs which are neither too expensive, nor shitty, nor low-wattage, and again it's never been easier and faster to figure out which ones they are.

 

 

[Ralf]

On 9/11/2022 at 9:11 PM, Middcore said:

When it's out of warranty.

They sell PSU's with 1year warranty here. So should I replace it every year?

[Middcore]

Just now, Ralf said:

They sell PSU's with 1year warranty here cuz EU bs. So should I replace it every year?

 

You shouldn't buy those to begin with. 

[Ralf]

48 minutes ago, Middcore said:

 

You shouldn't buy those to begin with. 

What should I buy then? Even the AX1600i comes with only 3years warranty and costs 640euro.

[Dogzilla07]

2 hours ago, Middcore said:

You shouldn't buy those to begin with. 

That's how a few shops in Hungary work. You've got two versions of the same product, exact same product, one has 1-2 year warranty, the other 5,7 year warranty. When they 5,7 year units run out what are you supposed to do ?, not buy the exact same thing that has 1-2 year warranty [and you know is premium, high quality ?, wait weeks, and sometimes months for a restock from the other distributor ? (nope the shop won't order until the number of units with the 1-2 year warranty is sold out, so you're out of luck). 

 

There's no viable choice (It's similar to this in many other EU countries). Of course people will buy the 2 year warranty top of the line Corsair, because they know it's got 10 year warranty in other countries, and directly from Corsair (you can in most cases RMA directly with Corsair within the full length of the 10 years, regardless of what's written on your paper/receipt from the shop).

 

The only difference is how it got imported. Some distributors, or shops themselves do cross-country EU ordering, and those have very short warranties, just the standard minimum length consumer protection mandated across the whole EU.

[Motifator]

Caps will still go down the ...hole if they're low quality. Low quality caps are like, non-solid and those lower grade Taiwanese / Chinese stuff such as Elite, Su'scon, CapXon, Teapo... with the latters gotten better but still not 5+ year old to be relied upon. They WILL bulge and kek themselves up under hot days and passive cooling and bad design of PSU. Especially if you're running from a dirty power grid, which will probably hit it hard.

Always buy PSUs with Japanese formula caps, those are the ones that last 10 years, not the Crapxons.

Also, caps are not just an issue with computer PSUs. I got a power amp here full of some caps that can't even hold their ratings at FIRST WORKING condition. Come to think of it, and it's meant to be an expensive music toy...