Don't Be Surprised When Your Cheap PSU Blows Up

[scatrdfew]

This is only my opinion, but I find the phrase "...anything I can throw at it" to be very annoying when used to describe the performance of a computer component. It's a stupid thing to say.

 

[jameswhurst]

Uhm.. what is that very-impressive looking instrument in your photo, that looks like it's showing voltages on four different sources, with the keypad to the right and the oh-so-cool-looking glowing green readouts? Do share!

James W. Hurst

 

[phaedrus2129]

Uhm.. what is that very-impressive looking instrument in your photo, that looks like it's showing voltages on four different sources, with the keypad to the right and the oh-so-cool-looking glowing green readouts? Do share!

James W. Hurst

It's a Tektronix DPO3034 oscilloscope. You can see the CoolerMaster lab they're using here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/psu-test-equipment,2657-2.html

 

[Geef]

WHComp " This is my favorite article ever. I laughed the entire time I was reading it. "

I definatly agree with you on this. This is one of the articles that I actually Want to read the entire thing.

 

[Guest]

Nice to know everyone rates seasonic im on an x-750 gold my self run a 920 do @ 3.6, 6gb of ram 4 hard drives an over-clocked 5970 with a 430gt physx card and an x-fi. Thats alot of hardware to run off a 750 but it doesn't even heat up noticeabley on full load. I have barely turned that machine off in the couple of years and have kept adding hardware to it and haven't even had a pip. This just goes to show that going for quality supplies that supply there rated loads are better than cheap pieces of chite i guess still the x-750 still costs just as much as a cooler master 1000w (cost more when i got it too) so it bloody well better.

 

[livebriand]

Also, if the unit is very lightweight then you know it's crap. Quality ones are typically heavy.

 

[BinaryBean]

Good timing on this article,I just had a PSU fail on me and needed some advice.

 

[Shin-san]

The funniest thing with me and my brother: I bought a 430W Antec PSU and that thing died on me. He bought a Corsair 650W PSU and didn't even push it. It died.

I later bought and abused an Antec Basiq. Didn't die on me. In fact, the Antec and the Corsair PSUs are the only two that died on us within 10 years of usage.
[citation][nom]techman_80[/nom]What about Etasis-branded PSUs? Apparently they make some PSUs for Seasonic? The one I have doesn't seem to give full power.[/citation]Depends on the model. I have an ETASIS 750W that turns out to be the OEM model for Silverstone Zeus.

 

[campdude]

COOLMAX CTG-850 850W

That power supply hit the three year mark. After doing reading from some other users... some hit the three month mark.
This was not a cheap one either. Now i have an Antec TrueQuattro 1200.
Hopefully its good.

 

[stevelord]

I had an OCZ Powerstream 520w that lasted a solid 4 years. The only reason I replaced it was for a massive upgrade of course. It and my SB Audigy 2 were two parts that went through several builds. I still use my Audigy 2 to this day...6 years later.

 

[stevelord]

Oh yeah, I've had a Corsair 750 TX for the last 2 years! Quality comes through again!

 

[Guest]

In other words, people who only turn on the computer to open web based email and do nothing more stressful than opening an attachment, these power supplies might be worth it. Hidden message, if your computer uses 40-50 watts of power, have at one.

Otherwise, spend the extra money and pick up a power supply that will offer you room to grow into a new motherboard/CPU combo.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Another thing that would have been great to include in this article? Clearly delineate the difference between "OEM PSUs" (..., Bestec, ...), "low-end, overrated PSUs"
Because then you wouldn't have all these misguided folks calling you sellouts or scare mongerers.

Don't get me started on the Bestec brand... I've seen way too many of those fail in cheap black-box builds from major manufacturers and take out both the CPU and MoBo.

 

[pinkfloydminnesota]

When you get testing samples, of course, the "big names" make sure they get a working sample because they DO know who you are. Level playing field? not...

 

[pinkfloydminnesota]

When you get testing samples, of course, the "big names" which often advertise on your site make sure they get a working sample because they DO know who you are. Level playing field? No. How about buying the other tested products off the shelf?

Also, are these power supplies meant for the American market? Do they come with warranties? Are they UL listed? I should think such things would be the floor products that one would test rather than obviously unqualified products to represent all "off brand" products which do meet these minimum standards.

 

[a_wal]

Awesome, where can I buy one?

 

[weaselsmasher]

There have been cases of false 80-Plus certifications as well... some where the unit met the specs but had not been formally submitted for testing to the certification-granting organization, some which were rebrands of certified units (you're supposed to retest anyway), and some that were outright fraudulent lies. http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Power-Supplies-With-Fake-80-Plus-Badges/1054 has excellent coverage on this (hardwaresecrets.com seems to specialize in exhaustive analysis and testing of power supplies and cooling solutions).

Caveat empetor. It can be more than just your power supply you end up replacing. A bad power supply can damage just about anything inside the case.

If you really need to save money, do so by making sure you're not buying more power supply than you need. I've seen many people spending $100 on a 750w power supply for a single-CPU single-hard drive single-midlevel graphics card system... something that a quality 400w unit could handle easily for $40 (Corsair CX430 430w, Antec EA-380D 380w). You'll also save money on the electric bill too, as power supplies are more efficient at 50% load than at 20% load.

 

[phaedrus2129]

Caveat empetor. It can be more than just your power supply you end up replacing. A bad power supply can damage just about anything inside the case.

Or outside. Certain failure modes can be very pyrotechnic.

This NTC thermistor failure sent sparks out the back of the power supply and nearly set the owner's house on fire; would have, if he hadn't been present to put them out.

This is a cheap, unbranded "600W". In reality it's a 250W Pentium 3 era PSU manufactured by SunPro--one of the "Big Three" terrible PSU OEMs seen in the US, along with Linkworld and Leadman (those three being the most wide-spread). The NTC thermistor (for current inrush protection) and two Y capacitors were the only components present in the PSU's transient filter. This meant that the thermistor was getting straight, nearly unfiltered AC from the mains, and NTC thermistors are very sensitive to electrical noise. This caused the component to, eventually, catastrophically fail with a bang and a ten second cascade of sparks as it burned up. Great engineering, eh?

Nothing inside the PC was damaged, incidentally; this failure mode is only a danger if it causes something to catch on fire.

 

[duxducis]

I would really like if Tom's would test the power supplies that come with cases now-days. like from newegg or something
I have 2 PSU's that came with cases i buy 5 and 8 years ago they been used on 4 different motherboards each and still work
cheap o companies
Codegen 350w (load wore from 90w to 230w) used it for 8 years
Pc Power 400w (loads wore from 100w to 250w) used it for 5 year

 

[brycenesbitt]

Did these PSU's carry an Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) label... and was it genuine? Either way, if it had a label UL would be interested. Just mention the word "fire".

 

[COLGeek]

These appear to truly "craptastic" just by looking at them. Really no need to even think of actually using them. PSUs truly reflect the old adage "you get what you pay for" and with these "fine" examples should require a payment to the consumer to even think about using them.

 

[phaedrus2129]

I would really like if Tom's would test the power supplies that come with cases now-days. like from newegg or something
I have 2 PSU's that came with cases i buy 5 and 8 years ago they been used on 4 different motherboards each and still work
cheap o companies
Codegen 350w (load wore from 90w to 230w) used it for 8 years
Pc Power 400w (loads wore from 100w to 250w) used it for 5 year

Codegen is pretty terrible.

PC Power & Cooling has generally been very good and were a premium brand; however, there were a number of companies who spoofed their name, so it could be a knock-off if it doesn't have the full "PC Power & Cooling" name on it.

 

[theDARKW0LF]

Makes me feel extra safe and secure with my Corsair TX850 V2 with its 80 PLUS Bronze Certification.

 

[kingnoobe]

I think all of you are missing the big picture here. Not only do you get what you pay for, but you also need to research each component/model, and the manufacturer to boot.

Then again it never did make sense to me why people would cheap out on a PSU. The thing supplying power to all the other components.

 

[masterofevil22]

"Typically, hope dies last.."

ROFLMFAO, too true