Don't Be Surprised When Your Cheap PSU Blows Up

[dww]

So by "Double Power", Sutai mean label it at double what it's (almost) capable of. Nice.

 

[verbalizer]

all I can say is WOW... never in my right mind will I even look at the specs of any 'no-name' PSU
and the claims of that power for that price,,,?!
not even on eBay..

 

[capt_taco]

This is hilarious.

Good job, China.

 

[Guest]

I do not think that the premium PSUs are any better in terms of reliability. It is just that those branded ones may have warranty to cover the product failures.

 

[occupant]

Corsair TX850W FTMFW. Wish I had two.

The "300w" power supply that came with the Dell I use was a joke. I put in a 700w Aurora2 from Raidmax. It was laying around after we put the Corsair in my wife's computer (to handle her new HD6870 and i7-950) and it powers my Dell and was basically free to me. Probably only using 400-450w and it doesn't smoke, spark, or even get warm. I would buy another to run a midrange card in a midrange computer. Other 700w generic PSUs aren't going to be as good as this one, though. And honestly I'd feel more comfortable with a 600-700w Antec or Corsair but I'm good for the moment.

 

[Guest]

Interesting article. However I have been building budget computer for a number of years and in most cases have used low cost cases with included power supplies at about US$25-$30. And looking back have only had a few failed power supplies but if they weren't DOA they had failed after more than a year of use. So although I believe in the branded good names for servers and maybe personal use. I have never had anything as bad as the ones you have tested, and will still use low end units in my budget pcs.

 

[verbalizer]

I do not think that the premium PSUs are any better in terms of reliability. It is just that those branded ones may have warranty to cover the product failures.

fool's gold..
and you can have it / them..
my PSU's have at least need to be 80+ or better certified and reputable quality but never cheap knock-offs..

 

[TStedel]

http://www.rictechs.com/surprised-when-your-cheap-psu-blows-up-1531424.html

 

[Guest]

An amusing and entertaining review, highlighting what many of us have known for a long time. Further to your PSU testing, I would like to see tests performed on how well the PSU's supress voltage spikes, dips and brownouts. I have seen before that the filter circuitry in the cheaper models is hopeless. Transients on the input get passed onto the motherboard with little attenuation. Causing unexplained lockups and component failure. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys (or self igniting power supplies in this case).

 

[verbalizer]

http://www.rictechs.com/surprised-when-your-cheap-psu-blows-up-1531424.html

copyright infringement... :lol:

 

[Guest]

good paper. Where are the origin of these products? May be "Made in China", but that lable is alwaws missing on this kind of "products".

 

[internetlad]

I'm a tech at a small town PC store and i know what you mean by "shooting sparks everywhere" somebody brought in a pc describing that it was "making funny noises and smells" and i immediately thought" power supply" so i pulled it, hooked it up to a tester and plugged it in. It was like the fourth of july for the .2 seconds before i ripped the power cord out of the back LOL.

no smell is quite as distinguishable as Ozone.

 

[ctBuckweed]

Good review... I am not surprised at all. I have known this for years. Common sense tells me to away from cheap power supplies. I've even seen a complete computer case with a power supply for as cheap as $29.

Yea sure!

 

[Guest]

Power Supplies,
Go by the AMPS on the Sticker for 500W 3.3v,12v >25 Amps and 5v > 30AMPs or higher is better.
Be it Average or Maximum it really doesn't matter because all their stated Wattage Ratings are the Same as Amplifiers, OVER Exaggerated.
Lesfix

 

[ctBuckweed]

I put a true RMS power meter on the line feeding my 2 systems and with them both on (just idling), they were drawing around 300 watts with the the flat screen monitors powered on. I am sure that under full load, they draw more than 300W and who knows what the instantaneous power spikes way up beyond beyond ever full load power.

This tests they performed here sounded like a static load test. Computers need more instantaneous power for disk drive head seeks, bursts of CPU activity, etc. I wonder if they could have performed a dynamic test on power supplies rather that a static load test.

Anyway, these power supplied they tested were pretty lousy in the fact that they could not even hold up to their rated specs.

 

[Guest]

Agree about Antec! Not best quality, have seen them fail just after 1 year! Now I buy CoolerMaster for basic builds. Seasonic and Corsair the best PSUs I've seen so far and I use a OCZ 600W on my own build which is pretty good.

 

[aidynphoenix]

they can streach the numbers.. put that psu in a freezer, and take your wattage rating for a few milliseconds then maybe you can get the written wattage. possibly throw more voltage from the outlet in there for that breif moment before it bursts into flames.. thats how it is done with car audio equipment.

 

[jbakerlent]

^LOL

 

[spywriter]

I just got Apevia 1100W PSUs, 2 x DOA in a row from a well known online retailer. I installed the first one prior to finding it was a dud, and then hauling it out to confirm it with a voltmeter, a whole lot of hassle installing and deinstalling it. The second PSU was IDENTICAL to the first one (0.89V on the 5V rail, 0.01 on the 12V and 0 on the 3.3) and in both cases the only correct voltage on the 20+4 mobo connector was the 3.2 on the "power supply on" lead!!
I talked to a tech at Apevia and he was very evasive, offering no enlightenment on what must be a problem they've seen before.
Anyway, I ordered a Cooler Master 1000W from a different retailer.
Caveat emptor!

 

[Guest]

Very good and very funny article. Congrats!

 

[g-unit1111]

The 420 W PSU at least came in a box with a descriptive label with Power Supply written on it.

:lol:

Sounds like some real marketing geniuses there!