[SOLVED] I have a ryzen 3200g in a matx case with a 500w white rated cougar xtc psu and one 120mm intake fan mounted on the side panel.

Oct 18, 2021
3
0
10
My concern is that I live in a tropical country with room temps around 30 degrees celsius and that if my psu were to overheat as is pulls air from inside the system as its top mounted, my peak temps when gaming are around 60-65 degrees celsius.
 
Solution
By operating temps you mean room temperature right?

Operating temperature = temperature inside the PSU.

If not then why does the official website list its capacitors for 105 degrees celsius?

Yes, the main capacitor is rated for 105C but it usually operates at 60-80C and that is the temperature inside that specific capacitor. However, that doesn't mean that the rest of the components in the PSU; Y-caps, MOSFETs, secondary capacitors, wiring, fan etc, are also rated for 105C.

Here are your PSU's official specs,
link: https://cougargaming.com/products/psus/xtc/
Scroll down to Downloads and download "user manual". Open it up and you can see from there:
Specifications
● Operating conditions
Working temperature...

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
With your issue, i'd replace PC case to the one which has bottom mounted PSU and draws air in from the bottom.

Your current setup can have PSU internal temps easily 40C-50C or even 60C. High-end PSUs (e.g Seasonic PRIME series) can last fine at those temps. Your PSU, however, isn't high-end. It's even suspicious with several red flags:
  • I couldn't find any reviews of it.
  • It only has 80+ (White) efficiency.
  • And i had to dig deep to learn how much of a warranty it comes with. Measly 2 years only (or 1 year when in China).

Btw, according to the official specs, your Cougar XTC PSU operating temps are 10C to 40C. So, anything above 40C essentially equals to damage to PSU. And when your PSU goes sky high, it has the magical ability to fry everything it is connected to.
 
Oct 18, 2021
3
0
10
By operating temps you mean room temperature right? If not then why does the official website list its capacitors for 105 degrees celsius?

Also yes i am planning on upgrading my case as its just a generic case. However what i dont get is the red flags of the psu, cougar has been a repurtable brand and 80+ white should be more than enough considering im only using an apu. Or is there something im missing? Im asking this since im only really gonna add a gtx 1650 super or 1660 super once prices go back down and i think 500 watts is more than enough for that. In any case maybe ill change to a bronze rated psu in the future.
 

Aeacus

Titan
Ambassador
By operating temps you mean room temperature right?

Operating temperature = temperature inside the PSU.

If not then why does the official website list its capacitors for 105 degrees celsius?

Yes, the main capacitor is rated for 105C but it usually operates at 60-80C and that is the temperature inside that specific capacitor. However, that doesn't mean that the rest of the components in the PSU; Y-caps, MOSFETs, secondary capacitors, wiring, fan etc, are also rated for 105C.

Here are your PSU's official specs,
link: https://cougargaming.com/products/psus/xtc/
Scroll down to Downloads and download "user manual". Open it up and you can see from there:
Specifications
● Operating conditions
Working temperature: +10°C ~ +40°C

On similar example;
Normal car engine runs between 195C and 220C. That's the temp inside the car engine. Now, if you'd put the whole car into 200C environment, do you think the car operates fine? Or does it burn up, where the rest of components (e.g plastic trim, textile seats, wiring, windows, paint) melt and catch fire?

However what i dont get is the red flags of the psu, cougar has been a repurtable brand and 80+ white should be more than enough considering im only using an apu. Or is there something im missing?

Cougar may be reputable brand because of the peripherals they are selling (KB, mice, PC cases etc) but that doesn't instantly mean that their PSUs are also to be trusted. In years, there have been many reputable brands who have tried their hand in PSU market as well and most of them have failed spectacularly.
For example; MSI, back in 2006, came out with their own PSU, named Turbostream, rated 600W. That PSU was such a junk unit that no-one wanted to buy it. Moreover, it came with 16 month warranty from manufacturing date, and not from the date you bought it. So, if the PSU sat 1 year on store shelf and you bought it, you only had 4 months of warranty left. Of course MSI, learned their lesson and stopped producing the PSU. Now, years later, MSI has swooped their 1st PSU under the rug and has come out with new line of PSUs (MPG and MAG series), by claiming it's their 1st PSU line (which it isn't). These newer MSI PSUs seem to be better but not many reviews of their PSUs are out yet, so, we don't know if MSI new PSUs are any good.

Speaking of reviews, if there isn't a PSU review for you to read on how well the PSU performs, how do you know that the PSU is good? Just because it is sold by reputable brand doesn't instantly mean the PSU is good. Hence why review is a crucial when buying a PSU.
If there is no review of the PSU you're looking at, look towards another PSU. Unless you want to risk your whole PC burning up when unknown quality PSU goes sky high and fries everything it is connected to. Btw, if PSU blows up and kills your whole PC, PSU warranty only covers the PSU itself. You can not ask for whole new PC from PSU brand.

Here is further reading about PSUs and different brands,
link: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...pply-discussion-thread-toms-hardware.3212332/
I suggest that you, at least, read the initial post, since it contains a lot of good info about PSUs.

and 80+ white should be more than enough

20 years ago, 80+ (White) was a norm with PSUs.
10 years ago, 80+ Bronze was a norm with PSUs.
Now, 80+ Gold is norm with PSUs, while many are buying even more efficient PSUs.
For example, PSUs i have, 3 in total, two of them have 80+ Titanium efficiency (the best there is) and one has 80+ Platinum efficiency (small step down from 80+ Titanium).

The higher the efficiency, the less power is wasted as excess heat.
Do note: efficiency rating DOES NOT indicate how good of a PSU you get. There are 80+ Gold efficiency units out there that are complete junk. And to know which ones are good and which ones aren't - read PSU review. Simple as that.

only really gonna add a gtx 1650 super or 1660 super once prices go back down and i think 500 watts is more than enough for that.

While 500W is enough for either of the GPU, it's the PSU's quality that isn't good enough to power dedicated GPU. Sure, it may work 1 day, 1 week or 1 year, but when the PSU fails, since it is cheaply made, and fries your GPU (or whole PC), is cheap PSU really worth it?

Have you ever wondered why some PSUs cost a lot of money, while other brand PSUs, in same wattage range, are much cheaper?

For example, here are two 650W, 80+ Gold PSUs,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/Pjzv6h,RzfFf7/

Rosewill Capstone 650W and Seasonic Focus GX-650. Can you tell, why Seasonic PSU costs the twice of what Rosewill PSU costs? Since they both output up to 650W and have 80+ Gold efficiency. So, there must be something else that makes the price difference, right?
And there is. It's build quality. Rosewill PSU is made from cheap components and in turn, costs less. While Seasonic PSU is made from high quality components and in turn, also costs more.

Which of the two PSUs you'd use in your PC?
 
Solution
Oct 18, 2021
3
0
10
Thanks for the insight, i will definitely change my psu in a years time to one thats more reliable due to budget restrictions. For now my priorities are psu, case, a better air cooler and another ssd. Rest assured that i will keep in mind the information you provided me.