[SOLVED] Am I killing PSUs?! - HP p6735a

Jan 28, 2022
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Hi!

My Dad has an HP Pavillion p6735a (https://support.hp.com/nz-en/document/c02681086).

It was getting old and slow so I replaced the HDD with an SSD, installed an extra 4GB of RAM (taking it to 8GB), and updated to Windows 10. It made a huge difference and was running really well.

However, the PSU started to make weird noises (as if the bearings were all worn out or something) and it was annoying him while he worked (and was potentially threatening to fail I guess), so I bought a Cooler Master 450W PSU (https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/PSUCLM1450/Cooler-Master-MWE-450W-230V-80Plus-White-PSU-MEPS), which I thought had more than enough powered based on the old PSU and a 'NewEgg' calculation tool.

I installed the new PSU and it ran well for a few days, before the computer wouldn't boot up again after being shut down. We but the old PSU in and that worked, so I figured it must be a faulty PSU (or I had somehow killed it) and we got a replacement from PBTech (thanks!).

I've installed the replacement and that had been running fine for a few months, until I got a message from my Dad yesterday saying he had put a CD in the drive and the computer had then shut down (may or may not be correlated) and wouldn't restart. We troubleshooted a bit (tried unplugging the power and SATA cables to the CD drive and booting) but nothing worked, so we switched back to the old noisey PSU and it worked...

Are we killing PSUs somehow?! And if so, how?!

I have done some reading and people say a dodgy wall socket could be the culprit, and surge protectors should be used, but we've never had any problem with other equipment using these wall sockets and we use surge protectors.

Could it be another faulty PSU?? (surely the chances are low...). Is there a way to test if the PSU is faulty??

Any guidance or potential explanations would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!
 
Solution
Profit margin. Junky psus tend to have the highest profit margin. Not only are they technically easier to build but also use the lowest grade, cheapest possible components, and nobody cares. Quality psus generally see a smaller profit margin because not only do they need to use more components, but higher quality and more expensive components. On top of that is competition, which at the best grade psus is very stiff.

For Dads pc, a good quality 80+ bronze is sufficient, a 80+ Gold will be better, but the 80+ isn't nearly as important as the quality of model. A Corsair CX (not CXM) 550 would be good, and probably cheaper than many quality 450w, and is Bronze, a Corsair RM 550w is Gold and as good as you'd need. Not the best quality...
Johnny is THE expert but I will help.
Most power supplies are made in a few factories. For all of the different brands. Kind of like antifreeze for your car.
So "Brands" can have great and crappy power supplies.
Coolermaster,EVGA,Gigabyte, etc... etc.... etc... all of them but a few .
80+ means nothing but efficiency rating. And has almost no meaning as far as quality is concerned.
Not sure what is available to you but if you can post websites you would be shopping from or local inventory available to you we can help with your choice.
 
Jan 28, 2022
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Thanks. I’ll have to go back to the place I bought it from (again!) and see if I can get a refund… then put that money towards something that can handle the (modest!) requirements we have.

This is one of the main places to get PC components from in NZ - https://www.pbtech.co.nz/

But other options are
mightyape.co.nz
extremepc.co.nz
 

Karadjgne

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Profit margin. Junky psus tend to have the highest profit margin. Not only are they technically easier to build but also use the lowest grade, cheapest possible components, and nobody cares. Quality psus generally see a smaller profit margin because not only do they need to use more components, but higher quality and more expensive components. On top of that is competition, which at the best grade psus is very stiff.

For Dads pc, a good quality 80+ bronze is sufficient, a 80+ Gold will be better, but the 80+ isn't nearly as important as the quality of model. A Corsair CX (not CXM) 550 would be good, and probably cheaper than many quality 450w, and is Bronze, a Corsair RM 550w is Gold and as good as you'd need. Not the best quality psus, but not the worst by a long shot and decently priced.
 
Solution

Vic 40

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