[SOLVED] What's the consensus of GB PSU that fall outside the range of the "recall?"

[NadeMagnet69]

I'm in the process of moving so I've had mine boxed up for a couple of weeks and didn't get a chance to check serial numbers until today. Mine is the 850W #SN21113G011565.
Now here's the thing. I don't even need a full power PSU, certainly not 850W. I already have a Corsair RM850X for my PC. What I want to use it for since there is no point in selling it for like the probably 40 bucks I could get for it, assuming it's even ethical to sell it to begin with or anyone would buy it. All I "need" it for is to replace this old 650W unmodular one that have mounted under my desk that is powering 7 Corsair lighting node pros which is running all my exterior to the PC lighting.

https://imgur.com/5wXstVO

View: https://i.imgur.com/5wXstVO.jpg

From what I can figure, maxed out at 4.5 amps for each lighting node pro, which they aren't nearly being BTW that's just the max they can handle. That's 31.5 amps. Converting that to watts at 5 volts would be 157.5 watts. So do people think this newer 850 would be safe running that little? And bear in mind that's just max. If I had to guesstimate it should be more like 120-130W or so. It's just a bunch of LED strips. Granted it's 14 lighting channels worth but still. Most aren't even the full 60 LED per channel.

 

[Ralston18]

I would not put into use any recalled PSU for any purpose.

No matter what wattage load may be imposed upon the the PSU.

Setting fire to things is not necessarily a function of wattage.....

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[USAFRet]

1. I would not use any PSU that has been recalled.
2. A computer PSU, simply to power some LED strips? Why?

 

[bignastyid]

Even if its outside the recalled SNs I wouldn't use those models and if you are using one my recommendation is to replace it as soon as you can.

 

[NadeMagnet69]

1. I would not use any PSU that has been recalled.
2. A computer PSU, simply to power some LED strips? Why?

Because it was sitting around collecting dust. lol And I have this many to power

https://imgur.com/FMNZoiP

View: https://i.imgur.com/FMNZoiP.png
so why not? I mean I might have a titan size case but there's limits. And it's not one of the ones recalled though.

 

[NadeMagnet69]

I would not put into use any recalled PSU for any purpose.

No matter what wattage load may be imposed upon the the PSU.

Setting fire to things is not necessarily a function of wattage.....

Just my thoughts on the matter.

But from the test vids they were all pushed to their limits first and this particular one isn't in the list of recalls.

 

[NadeMagnet69]

Even if its outside the recalled SNs I wouldn't use those models and if you are using one my recommendation is to replace it as soon as you can.

lol I haven't even opened it yet. Like I said I already have a good one running my PC. I was just wanting to clean up the cables when I moved and a modular one would help that. I just wanted to get some scuttlebutt on what people thought about such a low load on them. I was hoping there was some was PSU experts here. I've asked over at gamers nexus but haven't got an answer.

 

[NadeMagnet69]

Nevermind folks. It turns out that the POS GB one's 5v rail only allows 20amps. I looked up my old Corsair TX650 and its 5v rail is 30amps. So not only did GB put out a garbage PSU they couldn't even make it better then one more than 8 years old. SMH.

lol Anyone have any ideas what on Earth I should do with this thing now?

 

[Ripthruster]

I'd hang on to it and wait to see what happens. I had one of those (the 850Watt) that i had purchased with my 3080 off Newegg. I never installed the PSU because the Corsair 750 in use was fine. I figured I'd use it next time I did CPU/MOBO upgrade. Afetr all the news and stories broke, there is no way I'd attempt to put this in my system. There are no hardware differences between the recalled ones and the one that are outside the ser# range. The difference is the % at which OPP kicks in. This is not the only flaw, there's a definite design flaw. Gigabyte has issued the recall and will replace with another of same type. Newegg sent me an email saying that I could set up for an exchange OR REFUND. Refund is the course I'm going. Gamer's Nexus is asking for people with GB psu that fall outside of the recall to send them in to them for testing. Assuming they have similar results GB may be forced to recall all or refund. I felt the same way as you, not being comfortable selling this thing privately.
If you haven't watched them, I highly reccomend watching the Gamers Nexus videos as he does a great job of explaining their testing and results. Bottom line is I would never put this model of power supply in my rig. Furthermore, the way Gigabyte has handled this is horrible. I won't buy another of their products for a long time.

 

[Jermdizzle]

I'd hang on to it and wait to see what happens. I had one of those (the 850Watt) that i had purchased with my 3080 off Newegg. I never installed the PSU because the Corsair 750 in use was fine. I figured I'd use it next time I did CPU/MOBO upgrade. Afetr all the news and stories broke, there is no way I'd attempt to put this in my system. There are no hardware differences between the recalled ones and the one that are outside the ser# range. The difference is the % at which OPP kicks in. This is not the only flaw, there's a definite design flaw. Gigabyte has issued the recall and will replace with another of same type. Newegg sent me an email saying that I could set up for an exchange OR REFUND. Refund is the course I'm going. Gamer's Nexus is asking for people with GB psu that fall outside of the recall to send them in to them for testing. Assuming they have similar results GB may be forced to recall all or refund. I felt the same way as you, not being comfortable selling this thing privately.
If you haven't watched them, I highly reccomend watching the Gamers Nexus videos as he does a great job of explaining their testing and results. Bottom line is I would never put this model of power supply in my rig. Furthermore, the way Gigabyte has handled this is horrible. I won't buy another of their products for a long time.

Basically, the way they handled it has forced me to take the approach that I must assume that everything they do is potentially garbage. Getting defensive and attempting to obfuscate the truth is only one of the symptoms of the problem. The biggest issues in my opinion are: not sufficiently testing your own product before releasing it in the wild and then ignoring the warning signs, to include the explicit ones given to them by Dr. Aris Mpitziopoulos when he informed Gigabyte of significant issues in October of 2020. They also implemented a half-ass corrective action that isn't even consistent with what would/should be a fix based on the aggregate data about the failures being experienced. This shows that they knew there was something wrong and that they performed a bit of sneaky theater and lied to themselves about fixing the problem.

Also deeply troubling was their willful misrepresentation of testing methods as part of an attempt to discredit the testers. I feel sorry for the partner of whatever Gigabyte PR employee (to the extent that they have a PR department, I suppose) came to the conclusion that 2-3 minutes should be described objectively as a "very long time". Here's an idea: If your OPP allows a power draw at a factor of 1.5 for a few minutes, you're probably not doing OPP correctly. I'm not a electronics or electrical engineer, but I can make the following simple observation. If a few minutes at that level of power draw is improper use of the equipment you produced, and your equipment is supposed to have protections in place to avoid THIS EXACT SCENARIO, but it didn't; YOU'RE to blame. If you don't want 150% rated power draw for 2-3 minutes maybe include the requisite protections in your product. (Perhaps a method that's a little less dramatic and avoids having the PSU commit ritual suicide). Oh, and another thing: it was so unbelievably slimy of them to pretend like the reason their thing was popping left and right is because (notwithstanding the hundreds of customers who've had the same issues during "normal every day use" that likely didn't come close to exceeding their specs) the testers were using "DC electronic load equipment". OEMs allegedly use the same or similar methods to run a suite of tests on PSU's before they even leave the plant. If the only way to load test a PSU was to build a computer and use it for a few months then a lot of components would be wasted I'm afraid. As I stated in parenthesis earlier: This still doesn't explain why this has been happening to a large portion of your customers during "normal" use. In fact, it sort of helps support the hypothesis that a considerable percentage of these PSU's might actually be dying during that very same factory floor test, but with Gigabyte saying "Eff it, ship it anyway" instead of either reining in their seemingly now-defunct OEM partner.

I really have to wonder what they thought the outcome of their pitiful and, charitably put, disingenuous response/retort would be. Anyone who can think will see the myriad holes in their position. Anyone who would be wholly informed by hearsay is going to hear a lot more of the viewpoint from all the tech press compared to their mealy mouthed bs. Good riddance. After the last b350 mainboard of theirs, I'm perfectly content just writing the whole company off as problematic. This just expedites that decision.

 

[rolli59]

I have not bought Gigabyte since AM2+ days, Bought a motherboard that was AM3 ready for the upcoming Phenom X4 9xx CPU's, they newer made compatible bios but came out with a new revision of the board that got the support. Their support did not want to do anything about it.