Is buying a used PSU wise?

[bcredeur97]

It has come to my attention that my PSU was giving off that dreaded "burning smell" that signifies it is gonna die soon. So I have started to look for a new one. The corsair GS series looked good to me, but I really dont want to pay full price for it. (im a teenager, im cheap:P) So looking around, I found a GS700 for $40. Its used, in the pics it looks taken care of, and I know corsair PSU's are built really well and are made to last a long time. my only question is: Is it wise to buy a used PSU?

[Cacao]

Eeeeeehhhh, I wouldn't really cheap out on a PSU. What are your specs? You might be able to run fine off of a 40$ 500w.

[mgsstar]

I would buy a new psu because you don't know how they used it in their build (might have stressed out the psu because it wasn't adequate to power their build) and the warranty could be expired already.

[Cacao]

Remember if you want to cheap out on something, don't do it on the one thing that could literally destroy your whole computer :D

[SteepGnomeKing]

It's like any hardware part you just never know. It could last you 3 years or 3 days. 

 

It's hard to know if it is worth it sometimes people just want to upgrade and the parts are perfectly fine. Other times it's about to go and they want to pawn it off because people are like that.

I'd recommend a cheap bronze psu though. You can get one for like $50-60 and have the warranty.

[Whaler_99]

Check around at etailers for sales - you can usually find a Corsair or other top quality 500 watt ish on sale for between 40-50 after rebates and such.

[bcredeur97]

Eeeeeehhhh, I wouldn't really cheap out on a PSU. What are your specs? You might be able to run fine off of a 40$ 500w.

im currently running a 3570k @ 4.3 GHz (a little more than 70 watts at full load) and a AMD 7770, also have 4 hard drives, 3 in raid. And a biostar TZ77B mobo. Oh and the CPU has a corsair H60 cooler. I have 2 6950's in a litecoin mining rig they will be put into my PC and crossfired when im done with them mining. 6950's each have a 200 watt TDP. so two of those and my CPU puts me at ~475 watts at most. plus all the other parts and wasted energy. Im really trying to save money here, dont have much right now, in fact I only have like $45 dollars that i can spend O_O need to go do something to earn some cash.

[bcredeur97]

It's like any hardware part you just never know. It could last you 3 years or 3 days. 

 

It's hard to know if it is worth it sometimes people just want to upgrade and the parts are perfectly fine. Other times it's about to go and they want to pawn it off because people are like that.

I'd recommend a cheap bronze psu though. You can get one for like $50-60 and have the warranty.

I mean i know people lie sometimes but, if the seller is honest I could ask him why he is selling it lol, and what it was used for and stuff

[Cacao]

im currently running a 3570k @ 4.3 GHz (a little more than 70 watts at full load) and a AMD 7770, also have 4 hard drives, 3 in raid. And a biostar TZ77B mobo. Oh and the CPU has a corsair H60 cooler. I have 2 6950's in a litecoin mining rig they will be put into my PC and crossfired when im done with them mining. 6950's each have a 200 watt TDP. so two of those and my CPU puts me at ~475 watts at most. plus all the other parts and wasted energy. Im really trying to save money here, dont have much right now, in fact I only have like $45 dollars that i can spend O_O need to go do something to earn some cash.

Well for what you currently have a good 500w  is plenty, when do you plan on adding these 6950s?

[bcredeur97]

Well for what you currently have a good 500w  is plenty, when do you plan on adding these 6950s?

no clue, probably within the next few months. I want a power supply that can handle these cards.

[bcredeur97]

ok nm about the $40 one i found, rude seller. lol

[Cacao]

no clue, probably within the next few months. I want a power supply that can handle these cards.

Here you go:

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m

[bcredeur97]

Here you go:

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-cx600m

geez $70 ....... I don't do mail-in-rebates either.

 

EDIT: guess ill just have to save some more money.... really need to replace my PSU though burning smells are scary

[helping]

just mine on one card until you can replace the PSU

[Billango]

If you can find out why it was returned or why the person wanted to get rid of it you can probably judge its condition from that. I would trust the GS700 being used with regular use. Also find out if there is still a manufacturer's warranty on it if you can do if it fails you can get a new one and have only paid for the used price.

[Giddyguy]

I bought a used 600W psu (dont remember the brand) with a used graphics card and they are working fine. The 600w is overkill for my low-end/old C2D system anyways so i didnt really care. For your situation however, i would suggest a good quality unit because you don't want to risk your expensive system over it.

[Langdon]

I honestly would never buy a PSU used, too risky for me. Borrow some money from your parents and buy a new power supply from $50 to $90 if you need a cheap one.

[MdX MaxX]

If a PSU has been running well for a while, it's probably not going to just die out of nowhere.

 

The only issue with buying a used PSU is that the warranty may not be transferable.  Most manufacturers expect you to upload an invoice of your purchase before you can RMA something, which won't work if you bought it off of ebay.

 

I wouldn't drop $200 on a used PSU, but buying a used 650-700W Corsair unit for $40-$50 isn't a bad idea.  Just be wary.  Look for sellers who clearly state why they're selling.  Also look for sellers that include all the original packaging; IMO that generally indicates that the product has been handled with care.

[Matacks]

I bought a used PSU once on ebay.  its a 500w corsiar modular one.  It was a total waste of money as I doubt I'll ever use that.  at least the modular cables should be pretty universal.  also, the guy who sold it to me sent it with a power calbe meat for a computer monitor.  He said he was using that but the cord looks like too small a gauge to use with a psu.  

 

Im probably just going to drop it off at our recycling center and cut my losses.  There is a special place at out recycling center where you can dump old computer tech.  That way kids from the nearby collage can stop by and salvage parts to build crappy old computers.   

[bcredeur97]

I bought a used PSU once on ebay.  its a 500w corsiar modular one.  It was a total waste of money as I doubt I'll ever use that.  at least the modular cables should be pretty universal.  also, the guy who sold it to me sent it with a power calbe meat for a computer monitor.  He said he was using that but the cord looks like too small a gauge to use with a psu.  

 

Im probably just going to drop it off at our recycling center and cut my losses.  There is a special place at out recycling center where you can dump old computer tech.  That way kids from the nearby collage can stop by and salvage parts to build crappy old computers.   

uum want to send it over here??? lol Its easy to get a bigger gage cable.

[bcredeur97]

If a PSU has been running well for a while, it's probably not going to just die out of nowhere.

 

The only issue with buying a used PSU is that the warranty may not be transferable.  Most manufacturers expect you to upload an invoice of your purchase before you can RMA something, which won't work if you bought it off of ebay.

 

I wouldn't drop $200 on a used PSU, but buying a used 650-700W Corsair unit for $40-$50 isn't a bad idea.  Just be wary.  Look for sellers who clearly state why they're selling.  Also look for sellers that include all the original packaging; IMO that generally indicates that the product has been handled with care.

I thinking im going to do this.

[BigD1970]

Absolutely do not buy a used psu.

[beefalo]

I wouldn't from ebay.  If it's a reputable seller on a forum I might but they're also going to have higher prices.