Are good PSU really a MUST?

[Kyonkanno]

I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, but here I go. I've been building systems for like 15+ years now and My first 5 years I've always used the PSU that came with the case, yeah the cheap ones. Never had an issue with them.

I remember the first time (back in 2005) I had to spend 55$ for a second hand Cooler Master extreme power plus 600W (which I still own and is working like a champ) which I was forced to buy because I purchased a GPU that needed a 6 pin power plug. Was it not for the GPU, I'd wouldn't have bought that PSU, and would have kept on using El Cheapo PSU.

Now, I know there is efficiency, modularity and SLI/CFX capability. You won't find any of these in a cheap PSU. But when building a modest computer like a Pentium G3220 with a 750 Ti and power consumption is not a concern, I don't see why not use a no brand PSU.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Gam3r01]

Quality.
Depending on the needs of the system you can get away with using a lower tier unit (Like EVGA 1 units (Not B2, G2, GS etc), Corsair CX units)
However, low quality units are known to fail, and can damage a system. Its worth spending 20 dollars more for a quality units (like an XFX 550w) instead of losing components.

 

[Kyonkanno]

yeah I know there is the "possibility" of failing but I had used them in my systems and my friends systems for many years and never had a PSU related issue, not a single one.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I don't know about no brand name power supplies, but no. You don't need to spend $100 for a power supply in a $600 budget build.

-Wolf sends

 

[Gam3r01]

Its all chance really.
While you havent had issues (you may never have issues), others have not been so lucky.
I have had 2 CX units fail on me in the span of 7 months, ran a TR2 for a while and had instability with my system (low voltages on the units), now running an EVGA B2 for over a year without a single issue.

Examples of what can happen, it might never happen to you, but the lower the quality, this becomes possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezk9OA7aKOE

 

[martinch]

Basically, there's three issues - lower-quality units have higher voltage ripple, which is worse at high load (this shortens components long-term lifespan), worse voltage regulation (over-voltage damages hardware, and under-voltage causes instability and crashes - this can happen under transient load spikes, or be a general thing), fewer "protections" (over/under voltage/current, over temperature, etc cut-outs), and if they fail, they're more likely to take other things with them. Generally, these issues don't surface under low load.

Personally, I've had a "bad" cheap one go (about 15 years ago), and it's worrying (big flash, burning smell, etc). There are "plenty" of good budget units.

 

[TJ Hooker]

The way I see it, your PSU is one of the only components in a system that won't automatically become obselete within 3-5 years, so it makes sense to spend a little extra on it. Hence my own overkill PSU (EVGA 750 G2 for an i3/R9 380 build).

That being said, there are loads of people out there with low end PSUs that PSU advocates here would run screaming from, and the majority of them are doing just fine.

I'm guessing that mainstream OEM builds are the most common type of desktop system out there (compared to custom built/gaming systems, etc), and I'm pretty sure they're not using tier 1 or 2 PSUs, yet still manage to not burst into flame.

 

[Gam3r01]

Most issues with generic, or lower end units, are when you try to put load on them.
OEM PCs, those units are very poor in the eyes of an enthusiast, but the general user will not put enthusiast workloads on the unit. I can fairly safely make the assumption there are more low quality units out there than there are quality ones.