Question Did i buy a crap PSU?

[tom5577]

I have been working on an extreme budget build for my brother. This is my first time building a pc by the way. Everything is installed and running smooth, but I am a bit worried that I did what everyone said not to, cheap out on the PSU 😳. My unit is a EVGA 600 watt 80+ white. I got it from EVGA B stock for $20 smackeroos. I couldn't resist for this price but I am wondering if I made a fatal error? My specs are:
8gb ddr3 RAM
Intel H81 mobo
240gb ssd
500gb hdd
EVGA GTX 780 classified
intel i5 4570
and 5 case fans.
I had been running a few games to stress test the system before it occurred to me that the psu might blow up my house. Even at 100% load on gpu and 90% load on cpu the system ran fine, but I am still worried. Can someone either set my mind at ease or give me the bad news? Thanks not thanks 😏

 

[Aeacus]

There are bad news, times two.

1) That EVGA unit which you got, is what model? 600 W1? It also could be 600 N1. In any event, both models are the bottom of the barrel in EVGA PSU lineup and worst offered by EVGA. Both models, at best, are low quality PSUs. Just a tiny notch above crap quality PSUs but nowhere close to a mediocre quality PSU. So, there's that. For equal comparison, you can look towards Corsair VS series.
EVGA W1/N1 series, Corsair VS series and the like are PSUs that i wouldn't never put inside a PC, even if the PC is office PC without any dedicated GPU and where PSU never sees any high loads, let alone putting it inside gaming PC. Since PSU is the most important component inside the PC, i won't put anything below good quality PSU inside the PC, while great quality PSU is preferred.

2) 2nd and bigger mistake was buying that PSU from EVGA B-stock. Not sure if you read what's said on the EVGA site about it but what you got is a used PSU. And that is really bad news. With used PSU, you'll never know what kind of abuse it has seen before and if it even delivers safe voltage ranges specified by ATX PSU standard.
Also, your PSU only has 1 year of warranty since it's used. If you would've bought 600 W1 brand new, you could've got 3 years of warranty (600 N1 comes with 2 years of warranty at brand new).
If i'd have a choice between great quality PSU but used one or good quality PSU which is brand new, i'd go with brand new PSU every day of the week, even when it means that i'd be sacrificing PSU's build quality. That's how bad idea it is to buy used PSU.

So, here's your answer on cheaping out on PSU.

Also, looking from the specs above, you could've easily bought brand new and good quality PSU.
You have there 500GB HDD where PC can run without it. That saves about $20. 5x case fans? RGB i guess? Well, PC will do fine with 2x fans as well, 1x intake, 1x exhaust. So, without getting extra 3x fans, you would've saved about $15. PC case isn't needed for PC's operation at all. It's only to keep PC components safe from external damage and giving some eyecandy as well. Average PC case goes for $50 or so.

Let's add the savings together; $20 from HDD, $15 from 3x fans and $50 from PC case + $20 you spent for that used low quality PSU and we'd get: $105. $105 is more than enough to get brand new and good quality PSU, e.g Seasonic make,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/R7V48d,Tc3RsY,WrNypg,qn7v6h/

E.g M12II-620 EVO is at $70 and while it's a bit old platform, it's still a good quality PSU. My Haswell PC is also powered by M12II EVO series PSU but mine is 850W unit. All 3x of my PCs are actually powered by Seasonic, full specs with pics in my sig.

Or, if you wouldn't have bought the GTX 780 at $150 i guess, you'd have more than enough money for good quality and brand new PSU. Since you have Intel build, you can use i5-4570 on-board graphics to run the PC without issues. Sure, gaming wise it doesn't do that well but i'd rather have solid power plant powering my PC than that ticking time bomb in there.

Any more questions?

 

[tom5577]

There are bad news, times two.

1) That EVGA unit which you got, is what model? 600 W1? It also could be 600 N1. In any event, both models are the bottom of the barrel in EVGA PSU lineup and worst offered by EVGA. Both models, at best, are low quality PSUs. Just a tiny notch above crap quality PSUs but nowhere close to a mediocre quality PSU. So, there's that. For equal comparison, you can look towards Corsair VS series.
EVGA W1/N1 series, Corsair VS series and the like are PSUs that i wouldn't never put inside a PC, even if the PC is office PC without any dedicated GPU and where PSU never sees any high loads, let alone putting it inside gaming PC. Since PSU is the most important component inside the PC, i won't put anything below good quality PSU inside the PC, while great quality PSU is preferred.

2) 2nd and bigger mistake was buying that PSU from EVGA B-stock. Not sure if you read what's said on the EVGA site about it but what you got is a used PSU. And that is really bad news. With used PSU, you'll never know what kind of abuse it has seen before and if it even delivers safe voltage ranges specified by ATX PSU standard.
Also, your PSU only has 1 year of warranty since it's used. If you would've bought 600 W1 brand new, you could've got 3 years of warranty (600 N1 comes with 2 years of warranty at brand new).
If i'd have a choice between great quality PSU but used one or good quality PSU which is brand new, i'd go with brand new PSU every day of the week, even when it means that i'd be sacrificing PSU's build quality. That's how bad idea it is to buy used PSU.

So, here's your answer on cheaping out on PSU.

Also, looking from the specs above, you could've easily bought brand new and good quality PSU.
You have there 500GB HDD where PC can run without it. That saves about $20. 5x case fans? RGB i guess? Well, PC will do fine with 2x fans as well, 1x intake, 1x exhaust. So, without getting extra 3x fans, you would've saved about $15. PC case isn't needed for PC's operation at all. It's only to keep PC components safe from external damage and giving some eyecandy as well. Average PC case goes for $50 or so.

Let's add the savings together; $20 from HDD, $15 from 3x fans and $50 from PC case + $20 you spent for that used low quality PSU and we'd get: $105. $105 is more than enough to get brand new and good quality PSU, e.g Seasonic make,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/R7V48d,Tc3RsY,WrNypg,qn7v6h/

E.g M12II-620 EVO is at $70 and while it's a bit old platform, it's still a good quality PSU. My Haswell PC is also powered by M12II EVO series PSU but mine is 850W unit. All 3x of my PCs are actually powered by Seasonic, full specs with pics in my sig.

Or, if you wouldn't have bought the GTX 780 at $150 i guess, you'd have more than enough money for good quality and brand new PSU. Since you have Intel build, you can use i5-4570 on-board graphics to run the PC without issues. Sure, gaming wise it doesn't do that well but i'd rather have solid power plant powering my PC than that ticking time bomb in there.

Any more questions?

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this to me. First off, it is a W1, so rip. This entire build cost me $160, so buying a psu for that much would have ruined the budget. The other psu i was looking at was a thermaltake but i asked on here and people said EVGA was better. On the note of it being used, I figured i was ok since it was from manufacturer. but maybe not! Lastly before you roast me on the fans and hdd, 3 of the 5 fans were left over from an old pc and the other two are blue led, i can't afford no rgb 😛 HDD is also salvaged from an old pc btw so no extra budget there. I guess to me it looks like it has run about 2 hours of gaming at full load and been fine, so am i ok even if its not ideal?

 

[Aeacus]

Thing with low quality PSUs, especially with used unit, is, that it's not if it blows up but when it blows up. PSU build quality is an issue because PSUs have a magical ability to fry everything they are connected to when they go sky high. The lower the PSU's build quality - the higher of a chance it taking something else with it. The worst of the PSUs are even so bad than when they blow, they can catch fire as well. Even entire houses have been burned to the ground due to the crap quality PSU blowing up. Just like seen in here,
youtube:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY27LkiEROg


So far, you've been lucky that your PSU has kept working. But luck eventually runs out and with that firecracker powering your PC, it can fry your entire PC when it goes sky high. Also, while the PSU warranty covers the PSU itself and you can RMA the blown PSU, the PSU warranty doesn't cover any other component the PSU fried.

Are you willing to hand out same or even bigger amount of money to buy and build another PC? Not to mention the time spent on it? I don't think so. However, most people learn the hard way not to cheap out on a PSU when low quality PSU blows and takes part of the system or the whole system with it. E.g MoBo is usually 1st to go when PSU dies and it's very tedious job to replace a MoBo.

Like it or not, if you want your PC to work for years to come without any risk of fire and/or damage to your components, you need to hand out some money for good quality PSU. I'm not talking that you need to go with the best PSU money can buy, e.g Seasonic PRIME 650 (80+ Titanium), which costs $150+ (and which also powers my Skylake build). Seasonic M12II-620 EVO i linked above costs $70 and is more than enough for your PC, both wattage and build quality wise.

However, if you keep using your "budget" PSU, please, do record a video when your cheap PSU blows up since i like to see some good fireworks. Just like seen in here,
youtube:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6snWfd1v7M

Oh, buying a fire extinguisher is also a good idea.