[SOLVED] Refurbished Corsair TX850M PSU for $49.99... Too good to be true?

[ProtoflareX]

Planning a new rig at the moment, but the total of all of the parts I want ended up being... a little more than I would like it to be. As a result, I am looking to save money wherever possible. One potential saving opportunity I've found is with the PSU. I'm looking for an 850w PSU, and Amazon currently has refurbished Corsair TX850M PSUs avaialble for $49.99, whereas a new TX850m would run me around $99.99. I'm bothered by something, though; doesn't this seem a little too good to be true? Even if it's a refurbished product, doesn't half the price of a new model seem a little off? Corsair promises a one year warranty for all refurbished products, but that warranty would be rather meaningless if the PSU was faulty and toasted my entire system. At the same time, the money I'd be saving money is too enticing to ignore. What do you guys think? Is this a risk worth taking?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

The antec models as he said, are made by seasonic. Seasonic has great warrantys and very high quality psus. Id go with a g3 over g2. The seasonic/antec power supplies are simmilar in quality.

 

[jankerson]

There are plenty of so called GOLD models that are totally pathetic.

I included those also of you remember.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

That model Antec is made by SEASONIC and very good. But not all are made by Seasonic.

 

[jankerson]

The antec models as he said, are made by seasonic. Seasonic has great warrantys and very high quality psus.

Yeah I now, I use all Seasonic PSU's.

However it depends on what the PC will be and the actual model they are based on.

 

[jankerson]

That model Antec is made by SEASONIC and very good. But not all are made by Seasonic.

Isn't that one based on the S12II or M12II?

I checked, it's based on the M12II.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Not all bronze models are crap. A bronze corsair vs450, yea thats crap and will pop easily, but a quality bronze seasonic or otherwise psu wont fail prematurely and shouldnt be hated.

 

[ProtoflareX]

MUCH BETTER unit, one of the very best PSU's on the market.

They have had issues with the G3's.

If I'm dealing with components like the RTX 2080 TI and a brand new Zen 2 CPU, I guess security is what I'm looking for. Which means that the G2, which is more expensive than the G3, would likely be the best choice. This thread had the exact opposite effect I wanted it to on my wallet, but I'll likely be better off because of it.

 

[jankerson]

Not all bronze models are crap. A bronze corsair vs450, yea thats crap and will pop easily, but a quality bronze seasonic or otherwise psu wont fail prematurely and shouldnt be hated.

Not many bronze PSU's are worth buying today, most of them are garbage these days.

Those and the budget Gold models.

 

[jankerson]

If I'm dealing with components like the RTX 2080 TI and a brand new Zen 2 CPU, I guess security is what I'm looking for. Which means that the G2, which is more expensive than the G3, would likely be the best choice. This thread had the exact opposite effect I wanted it to on my wallet, but I'll likely be better off because of it.

In the long run yes.

I wouldn't get anything now however unless you really want to.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

80+ is just an efficiency rating. While it is a rough estimate of quality, you have to look at the quality of the components to judge.
The vs line 80+ bronze but is made with crappy capacitors that are very prone to smokey failure.
A quality bronze psu will have decent components from well know brands, with no design shortcuts taken for cost cutting.

 

[jankerson]

80+ is just an efficiency rating. While it is a rough estimate of quality, you have to look at the quality of the components to judge.
The vs line 80+ bronze but is made with crappy capacitors that are very prone to smokey failure.
A quality bronze psu will have decent components from well know brands, with no design shortcuts taken for cost cutting.

And not many of them are worth buying because they cut quality.

Not many quality bronze rated units around these days.

You have to be very careful these days what you buy.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Look at the green label 80+ bronze cx psus from corsair for an example. They were prone to major failures simmilar to the vs line, however the newer grey label cx line is much better, still not something id want to put a 2080ti with, but the nex cx have no major weaknesses that cause failure. I wouldnt label an entire class of bronze psus as bad since. At the end of the day, 80+ isnt a quality rating so there will be good and bad psus within a class.
While quality bronze psus are not crap and have a place in , i would go for a quality gold rated psu at at least 700watts for a 2080ti since it is very power hungry.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Ok , that's enough of the extra addons , I think the OP knows what direction they would like to proceed. OP has plenty of good info to work towards their choice.

 

[jankerson]

Look at the green label 80+ bronze cx psus from corsair for an example. They were prone to major failures simmilar to the vs line, however the newer grey label cx line is much better, still not something id want to put a 2080ti with, but the nex cx have no major weaknesses that cause failure. I wouldnt label an entire class of bronze psus as bad since. At the end of the day, 80+ isnt a quality rating so there will be good and bad psus within a class.
While quality bronze psus are not crap and have a place in , i would go for a quality gold rated psu at at least 700watts for a 2080ti since

Nope, they are crap too, taking out PC parts just like the old models did.

There are number of them here, new models that did it.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Ok , that's enough of the extra addons , I think the OP knows what direction they would like to proceed. OP has plenty of good info to work with towards their choice.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Heres another option, one that shouldnt spark debate.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/seasonic-focus-plus-platinum-750-psu,5556.html
$129.99, 80+ platinum (no arguments about quality here), 850 watt, great quality, compact, 10 year warrenty. It wont fail and if it does it will be covered under warranty for an entire decade.

 

[cryoburner]

I probably should have mentioned this in the original post, but I'm buying this PSU for a rig I'm planning to build later this year that will have an AMD Zen 2 CPU as well as an NVIDIA RTX 2080 TI. I plan to overclock both. It's theorized that a 750w PSU would be ideal for that setup at stock settings, but as I mentioned, I plan to overclock, which is why I'm looking at 850w instead. So, to answer your question, I technically do not "need" 850w, but it is preferable.

A 2080 Ti isn't likely to draw over 300 watts. And details about power use of AMD's upcoming 7nm CPUs are not yet known, but being on a 7nm process, they will likely be more efficient than current processors for a given level of performance. So, the entire system probably won't draw much more than 500 watts from the PSU under load. I would expect even a good 750 watt PSU to provide a decent amount of headroom.

 

[Karadjgne]

@ProtoflareX

What the gist of this all is, you are looking to spend $2000+ on a pc, $1300+ on the gpu alone and trying to skimp out on the single most important component of your pc. The psu is responsible for power and health to everything. You seriously want to be sure a $1300 gpu is protected by the best, cleanest voltages possible with a psu that's running the best protective circuitry available.

OC relies on a stable output voltage. The cleaner the voltages, the better your chances at stability. It's the entire reason ppl use Gold/Platinum certified psus, they tend to have better outputs than Bronze due to the circuitry required to get those efficiency certificates.

In layman's terms, you are trying to go mountain climbing using the cheapest, questionable rope and safety equipment. Your choice, but not one I'd make on a $2000 pc.