Question The benefits of getting an expensive PSU versus risks associated with getting a lower end one ?

[ak12345]

https://www.newegg.com/thermaltake-smart-series-ps-spd-0600npcwus-w-600w/p/N82E16817153232
I am doing a new pc build (about $900) and am planning on reusing the power supply from my current PC that is only a year old (Thermaltake SMART 600W). This power supply has high ratings, but is only $45.

I've seen a few videos recommending not use a cheap power supply and specifically to avoid this power supply. they say that it's worth it to spend extra money, but I don't any specific reason. I know that better power supplies are slightly more efficient and have higher quality parts. they'd be more reliable, but if my current power supply dies in 2 years and i have to replace it with a similar one, it's not a big deal. is there something that i'm missing? could a cheap power supply harm my other PC parts?

 

[bignastyid]

That psu is not good. When a cheap psu fails it can take everything it powers with it. The psu is not a good place to skimp.

 

[--SID--]

This power supply has high ratings

High ratings from who, what and where?

 

[ak12345]

High ratings from who, what and where?

4.6 rating from 20,949 users on amazon, 4.3 from 523 users on newegg

 

[ak12345]

That psu is not good. When a cheap psu fails it can take everything it powers with it. The psu is not a good place to skimp.

is this really likely? People buy $400 HP's that must have very cheap power supplies. if this was an issue you'd think that PC's getting fried by cheap power supplies would happen all of the time. I'm not trying to argue, just wondering if this is something that is likely to happen.

 

[--SID--]

4.6 rating from 20,949 users on amazon, 4.3 from 523 users on newegg

Users without any knowledge of PSUs.

is this really likely? People buy $400 HP's that must have very cheap power supplies. if this was an issue you'd think that PC's getting fried by cheap power supplies would happen all of the time. I'm not trying to argue, just wondering if this is something that is likely to happen.

Those PSUs are 12vO. It's a lot easier to make a 12vO PSU with decent voltage regulation than a PSU that has to convert 3,3v and 5v from the 12v line.

 

[bill001g]

Power supplies are the hardest thing to get good information on. Only a very small number of review sites can actually test power supplies and they only test a limited number out if the 1000's of different options. Unfortunately you can not even assume that if a certain company gets good ratings on some of their power supplies others they manufacture are also good. Seems even the very best power supply makers also have low end lines that contain poor quality parts.

Many of the so called professional reviews just takes the information from the manufactures and build tables they do not actually test that the power supplies will actually function under full load. The so called gold/bronze/platinum things are mostly self generated numbers so it depends on if the company is actually honest.

The so called reviews you see from customers are even worse. Many reviews on amazon and new egg are paid for or fakes. Even valid reviews mean nothing be cause you can't compare the machine they are using with the one you plan. This is where you have to have very control testing rather than some random mix of motherboards and video cards. Your average amazon power supply buyer likely has no idea what the different voltages a power supply puts out much less the ability to even measure it.

The only thing you would use a amazon review for is to see if there are large number of people complaining about dead out of the box devices. Who really cares if they like the color of fan.

In the end you pay a bit more for one of the limited number of power supplies that has been really tested by a number of sites.
Although it is rare a power supply can take out a motherboard or video card which for most people cost many times the cost of a quality power supply.

A good power supply also is one of the few things you can be pretty sure you can reuse in your next build 5 years from now.
Then again if nvidia continues the trend we may need a dedicated 1000 watt power supply just for the video card in the future.

 

[Flayed]

Even if the power supply dies and doesn't take out any other components you are still out of pocket as the $45 dollars you spent could have been put towards a decent quality $100 one that wouldn't have died.

 

[Moonstick2]

is this really likely? People buy $400 HP's that must have very cheap power supplies. if this was an issue you'd think that PC's getting fried by cheap power supplies would happen all of the time.

PSUs frying PCs does happen. But it is more of a worst-case scenario. The bigger issue is usually system instability because the cheap PSU can't cope with the demands being made of it.

Cheap office PCs get away with cheap PSUs because they're usually running relatively basic processors with integrated graphics and not doing much more than running spreadsheets, emails and browsers, so the PSU isn't under much strain.

But if somebody's buying a PC and fitting a processor and graphics card that's fairly decent and they're going to be running games or other demanding applications, a cheap PSU is likely to result in various performance problems and be a false economy.

Our first PC was the only pre-built I've ever had, a relatively cheap PC that was still advertised for playing 3D games. It certainly crashed often enough when running games for that to be unremarkable, and now I would say that was most likely down to the PSU.

 

[zinkles]

4.6 rating from 20,949 users on amazon, 4.3 from 523 users on newegg

If you do actually check on those reviews, they are probably like, "works as advertised" "happy with this product" etc, etc.

While a PSU might have good ratings, they are just rating made by people who used it and it just works. We don't know what system they put it on, if it's demanding or not, neither if they are indeed real reviews.

 

[geofelt]

List the proposed parts for your build.
In particular, the graphics card which is the primary power user.

I look at the zero egg ratings on newegg and the reasons for it.
10% zero eggs, mostly failures does not bode well.
Since the psu has been running without issue so far, I would not particularly fear it.

"Only the rich can afford to buy cheap"

 

[Eximo]

Higher quality PSUs also tend to make for very stable systems.

 

[punkncat]

I have used those Smart models on old or budget builds and honestly have not had one fail yet. I try to target as close to 50% of its rating as possible. There are situations with older system repairs, office builds, or very low end low budget builds where this just makes sense.

The thing to consider about PSU like this is the gamble that the savings earned from using this is a direct relation to the cost of the other hardware if it does go badly. You have to decide at what point you are willing to spend to help safeguard your investment. IMO, a $900 upgrade surpasses my comfort zone for using a supply like the Smart series.

 

[USAFRet]

I had a low end Corsair die (green label CX600), and take the motherboard with it.

So yes, it does happen.