Will Austin Evans ever learn? (Hazardous part recommendations)

[Aereldor]

DISCLAIMER: No disrespect intended- this isn't a hate post; I merely take issue with some of Austin's recommendations.

 

For the past few years, Austin's budget PC build videos have gained massive amounts of popularity on YouTube. However, I have noticed that in his 'Boson' $300-$350 budget builds, he has always used a bundled power supply. Even in the latest one, while the rest of his build is great value, it's also guilty of this.

 

I'm disinclined to believe that Austin is unaware of the risks- after all, he did have his house burned down in a terrible accident.

 

As another possibility, does he simply consider a build this cheap a throwaway that makes the risk of a bundled power supply frying the whole thing justifiable?

 

At any rate, due to the incredible popularity to which his channel has arisen, many first-time builders look to his builds for guidance and pay heed to his recommendations, and are not informed of the risks of a low-quality power supply. Not only he putting himself at risk, but the hundreds of people who will likely build their PC based on his recommendations.

 

I'd like to hear your opinions on this, should you wish to share them. Or am I hopelessly ignorant in that the bundled Rosewill power supplies he's used are actually of reasonable- if not exceptional- quality?

 

Regards,
Aereldor.

[vanished]

I've never looked into his builds but if he really is recommending a PSU that one burned his house down, that's pretty funny in an aweful sad, not really funny sort of way

[PineappleHolidays]

4 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

As another possibility, does he simply consider a build this cheap a throwaway that makes the risk of a bundled power supply frying the whole thing justifiable?

 

I would think this.

 

also he makes them as cheap as possible, so it's kind of a necessary evil

[Mr.Meerkat]

Buy a CX 430w, if it blows up, corsair will replace anything damaged and you may even get an upgraded PSU or if it doesn't then nice N cheap PSU that works fine with that build  

[IMPERIUS]

Well the budget is really tight so..

[GoodBytes]

PSUs goes through governmental certification. Under normal load and specifications, they wont burn down the house.

They fail (smokes comes out) when you put them to the max or beyond. Most PCs that we have here, doesn't come close to using half load of our PSUs (650-750W). So it is all good.

 

Of course, in reality you want a better PSU which will offer you quality, guaranty of power delivery, multiple security systems to avoid damaging your components when a power surge (still want a power bar) or power loss occurs

 

 

[Aereldor]

Just now, Mihemine said:

I would think this.

 

also he makes them as cheap as possible, so it's kind of a necessary evil

It isn't entirely necessary. I'd assume even an EVGA KR or Corsair CX power supply would be safer than the units he uses, and those are about $20 for the 430w versions. The Antec EarthWatts Green 380w can usually be had for about $40 too.

[Crowes]

He's just showing it's genuinely possible and that the hardware included, comparatively, does work. He says nowhere that you should get the combination. With another $100 or so, you can get a better PSU and then a case separately, and the rig would still be fine.

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

I've never looked into his builds but if he really is recommending a PSU that one burned his house down, that's pretty funny in an aweful sad, not really funny sort of way

A PSU exploding didn't burn down the whole apartment complex...it was something else which I can't remember right now  

[SparkyRain]

Good for him if he ruins his channel reputation, less competition for linus. Hwc is better anyways.

 

And that newbies have to make mistakes to take their own research and opinion. Otherwise they land up here in general help where a simple google search could fix their iffy little no-really problems. 

[Aereldor]

2 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

PSUs goes through governmental certification. Under normal load and specifications, they wont burn down the house.

They fail (smokes comes out) when you put them to the max. Most PCs that we have here, doesn't come close to using half load of our PSUs (650-750W).

Nevertheless, a power supply failure- even if it doesn't start a fire- can take your entire system with it, or does governmental certification include a guarantee that it won't do that either? I think Austin needs to understand that while a cheap rig like this is a throwaway for him, it probably isn't for the people who are going to build themselves a PC based on his recommendations.

 

That being said what do you think the chances of failure are even when the system doesn't push the numbers it's rated to handle?

[zMeul]

I've had a huge debacle on his YT channel regarding on his budget gaming rig he did with sponsorship with AMD and since then I stopped looking at his videos; not that I was subbed to his channel

furthermore, when Linus invited him for that Scrapyard Wars, Austin's presence was disappointing didn't even watched that season

[Mr.Meerkat]

1 minute ago, Aereldor said:

Nevertheless, a power supply failure- even if it doesn't start a fire- can take your entire system with it, or does governmental certification include a guarantee that it won't do that either? I think Austin needs to understand that while a cheap rig like this is a throwaway for him, it probably isn't for the people who are going to build themselves a PC based on his recommendations.

That PSU may not be top of the line quality but it's "good enough" for lower power hardware, you want to upgrade it immediately if anything remotely power hungry is added but else, it shouldn't be the end of the world...you may as well go on a riot with all prebuilt manufacturers as they use basically the same grade PSUs...

[iHardware Shelden]

His house was not burnt down by actions related to him, if I remember correctly he lived in a complex and someone else started it due to a deck stove/grill that was not being used properly. Also power supplies (even cheap ones) are required by law to pass certain tests before being put onto market and into people's homes. I agree with what your getting at though.

[Aereldor]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($73.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($49.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R7 360 2GB Core Edition Video Card  ($94.99 @ NCIX US) 
Case: Rosewill R363-M-BK MicroATX Mid Tower Case w/400W Power Supply  ($54.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $345.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-27 17:00 EDT-0400

This is Austin's build, down to the last part. Barring the $10 rebate on the R7 360, this comes to $356 with a sketchy power supply. The following is my build, with identical specs, but with a much better power supply. Rebates nonwithstanding, it's a $7 price difference! It really isn't that much more to fit a damn solid power supply in there, which makes me question his decision. Is it because $363 doesn't quiet round off to as even a number as $350? Well, neither does $356!

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($73.88 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A68M-DG3+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Team Elite 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($26.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 360 2GB NITRO Video Card  ($88.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Rosewill SRM-01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($21.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $334.81
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-27 17:17 EDT-0400

[Aereldor]

5 minutes ago, iHardware Shelden said:

His house was not burnt down by actions related to him, if I remember correctly he lived in a complex and someone else started it due to a deck stove/grill that was not being used properly. Also power supplies (even cheap ones) are required by law to pass certain tests before being put onto market and into people's homes. I agree with what your getting at though.

I didn't imply that it was, but he's had his house burn down and should probably understand that nothing is worth the risk of starting a fire. I understand that every power supply model has to be certified- at least in a developed country (whee). What I'm trying to say is that bundled power supplies have inferior individual quality control and could still pose a fire hazard.

[Dark_Fuzzy]

I would be more worried about frying my brand new system than burning my house down. Someone puts something like this in a 500w system and that's it,no more cheap gaming pc.

[Crowes]

I don't understand what you're getting at anymore. We've established the power supply is good enough; we've established that there is better ways he could've gone. Could you elaborate on the actual point?

 

[Aereldor]

1 minute ago, Dark_Fuzzy said:

I would be more worried about frying my brand new system than burning my house down. Someone puts something like this in a 500w system and that's it,no more cheap gaming pc.

I mean, I'd be worried about both, although not necessarily in that order.

[Aereldor]

Just now, Crowes said:

I don't understand what you're getting at anymore. We've established the power supply is good enough; we've established that there is better ways he could've gone. Could you elaborate on the actual point you're getting at?

 

Nothing. There's better ways he could have gone for little to no extra inconvenience or cost. I mean, just because my initial post made a point doesn't mean I'll-

1. Keep defending it once proven wrong.
2. Keep rubbing it in if proven correct.

Both of which happened to some extent. The power supply appears to be adequate for the roughly 300w TDP of the build, but the low or nonexistent quality control on bundled power supplies is something to be noted. It's something he could have improved for no extra cost, just to eliminate the small risk of blowing up the machine.

[Dark_Fuzzy]

2 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

I mean, I'd be worried about both, although not necessarily in that order.

I meant in the context of a psu it's more likely to fry components than start a fire.

That coolmax went through the same tests and still blew up at its set wattage.

[Aereldor]

4 minutes ago, Dark_Fuzzy said:

I meant in the context of a psu it's more likely to fry components than start a fire.

That coolmax went through the same tests and still blew up at its set wattage.

Indeed. Furthermore, the neophyte builders who end up with this configuration might consider overclocking the 860k when it can't keep up, as it's something Austin often talks about. They might even consider overclocking the R7 360 to meet their desired framerates, given that Austin also made a guide for that. When they start doing that, the relatively tame 300w TDP of this build will climb, getting dangerously close to 400w, which might just 'go kablooey' as a result.

[Crowes]

10 minutes ago, Dark_Fuzzy said:

I meant in the context of a psu it's more likely to fry components than start a fire.

That coolmax went through the same tests and still blew up at its set wattage.

I think the most you can expect is it to short out and jump the breaker or something. It's highly unlikely that it will get so hot because the fans are so bad at cooling, or that the capacitors are so crappy and illegally unsafe that it would cause a fire. Talk about extremes.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Indeed. Furthermore, the neophyte builders who end up with this configuration might consider overclocking the 860k when it can't keep up, as it's something Austin often talks about. They might even consider overclocking the R7 360 to meet their desired framerates. When they start doing that, the relatively tame 300w TDP of this build will climb, getting dangerously close to 400w, which might just 'go kablooey' as a result.

Consider? They'll spend a long time considering. Austin never even said the user could overclock If I remember correctly, and for someone with so little to spend on a computer, they probably have little to no idea or ability to comprehend the complexity and price ratio of configurations enough to understand that $350ish just isn't really enough for a quality, long-lasting and well-serving peice of computer equipment/system; nevermind overclocking such equipment. It's called, "inexperience." 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Aereldor said:

Nothing. There's better ways he could have gone for little to no extra inconvenience or cost. I mean, just because my initial post made a point doesn't mean I'll-

1. Keep defending it once proven wrong.
2. Keep rubbing it in if proven correct.

Both of which happened to some extent. The power supply appears to be adequate for the roughly 300w TDP of the build, but the low or nonexistent quality control on bundled power supplies is something to be noted. It's something he could have improved for no extra cost, just to eliminate the small risk of blowing up the machine.

There wasn't really much to discuss apart from what you've just noted. More of a status update than anything, if I'm honest.

 

/thread

[Aereldor]

11 minutes ago, Crowes said:

Consider? They'll spend a long time considering. Austin never even said the user could overclock If I remember correctly, and for someone with so little to spend on a computer, they probably have little to no idea or ability to comprehend the complexity and price ratio of configurations enough to understand that $350ish just isn't really enough for a quality, long-lasting and well-serving peice of computer equipment/system. It's called, "inexperience." Your point is invalid.

I didn't say it was something he mentioned in this video, but if memory serves, it's something he has mentioned often on other videos, including other builds (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me). 

 

Even so, how does the inexperience of viewers invalidate my point? My point was that someone who has come across his YouTube channel might feel encouraged to overclock due to Austin's frequent mentioning of it and dedicated GPU overclocking guide to 'squeeze more performance out of a graphics card'.

 

Furthermore, with the popularity of Austin's videos and his build videos being organized by price point, they're probably among the a person would see upon looking for a cheap gaming rig. That's what prompted me to start this discussion in the first place- that a popular YouTuber had made a poor decision, and a poor recommendation. What's to say that only veteran builders with PC builds that could pay Hillary Clinton's future legal fees will consider overclocking? I don't even know if Austin mentioned power supply overhead as a requirement on his GPU overclocking video, to say nothing of CPU overclocking. I really don't see how your argument invalidates my point.

 

11 minutes ago, Crowes said:

There wasn't really much to discuss apart from what you've just noted. More of a status update than anything, if I'm honest.

 

/thread

I started this discussion asking for people's opinions on this, and from the looks of it, they've shared them. If you feel what I did was horribly misguided or violates the forum's rules or code of conduct, feel free to contact a moderator and ask them to delete the thread.

[Dark_Fuzzy]

5 minutes ago, Crowes said:

snip

Read to the bottom of the review

" Some things about this unit are done as well as anything else I've seen. Then, the marketing guys played the numbers game and decided to call it a 500 watt unit. It's not a 500 watt unit. It just isn't."

And when that psu goes because it couldn't keep up with its own specs it could very likely take components with it.

Say some kid saves for months and finally gets enough to build a pc. Boots up a game and a few minutes later his psu quits and possibly other components.Then not only is he out a psu but if it fried something like the board or gpu he has no way of replacing them.