Why has my extremely cheap PSU lasted so long?

[ijoshvirk]

I recently found out that the PSU I've been using for the past 3 years has being an absolutely horrible PSU and I'm dumb for keeping it in there, I know so please don't remind me. The PSU is 500W and I do Overclocking on there, intense gaming you name it I've done it. I've even ran a 500W GPU on it considering the PSU is 500W and extremely cheap and ridiculous.

So my question is why hasn't it blown at all with the limits I've been pushing it to, bare in mine apparently it has a 52,000 hour lifetime.

Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

LUCK!

 

[ijoshvirk]

LUCK!

Do you think it will last its full hours, I don't think it will :/

 

[dish_moose]

Go buy lotto tickets ... wait -, you've already won the lottery. Buy a decent PSU and worry less.
-Bruce

 

[Wolfshadw]

I know there's a lot of fear-mongering when it comes to cheap power supplies. Like, "ZOMG! If you use that power supply you'll destroy your computer, burn down your home, start the Apocalypse, etc...". Fact of the matter is if these units were THAT BAD, then the people who purchased them would have sued the manufacturers out of business years ago and yet, they remain.

True, they likely do have a larger failure rate than more respected companies, but it's likely still pretty low. True, they may use cheap components, but even there you may find a diamond in the rough. Is it a risk to you? Yes, but just slightly more than had you used a quality power supply.

-Wolf sends

 

[ijoshvirk]

I know there's a lot of fear-mongering when it comes to cheap power supplies. Like, "ZOMG! If you use that power supply you'll destroy your computer, burn down your home, start the Apocalypse, etc...". Fact of the matter is if these units were THAT BAD, then the people who purchased them would have sued the manufacturers out of business years ago and yet, they remain.

True, they likely do have a larger failure rate than more respected companies, but it's likely still pretty low. True, they may use cheap components, but even there you may find a diamond in the rough. Is it a risk to you? Yes, but just slightly more than had you used a quality power supply.

-Wolf sends

That makes me feel a lot better about my self, thank you. I may invest in a power supply later through the year if things go bad. Thanks again Wolf!

 

[The Paladin]

don't feel bad I run a "lord the sky is going to fall and Thor shall stuck me down with lightning" CX600 green label... been using it for .. 4 years... Overclocking, not a shimmy in any of the voltages or amperages according to HWINFO, shrugs... maybe I bought it when people cared what they built 😛

 

[ijoshvirk]

don't feel bad I run a "lord the sky is going to fall and Thor shall stuck me down with lightning" CX600 green label... been using it for .. 4 years... Overclocking, not a shimmy in any of the voltages or amperages according to HWINFO, shrugs... maybe I bought it when people cared what they built 😛

Ahaha roflmfao. That gives me a bit of reassurance, thank you very much!

 

[chimera201]

But what's the PSU model?

 

[dish_moose]

There is a huge difference between a CX and say a RAIDMAX POS. If I am spending good money on quality cpu, gpu etc, I will not cheap out on the psu!!!
-Bruce

 

[william p]

The cheap PSU can cause failure of other components. Like MB, and GPU with dirty power, or not shutting down fast enough when there is an issue. There are no 500W GPUs. There are GPUs that "require" a 500W PSU for the whole system. Your $50 PSU could take out your $800 GPU! OEM workstations use multirail PSUs so a single component failure won't take out the rest of the system through the PSU harness. But like anything else, you pay your money and you take your choice (chances?).

 

[turkey3_scratch]

500W GPU? Don't believe it. You must not understand the power of the GPU you use. A 500W GPU is not one that says "needs 500W power supply". That's more just bologna that manufacturers recommend.

don't feel bad I run a "lord the sky is going to fall and Thor shall stuck me down with lightning" CX600 green label... been using it for .. 4 years... Overclocking, not a shimmy in any of the voltages or amperages according to HWINFO, shrugs... maybe I bought it when people cared what they built 😛

I wouldn't ever use software for voltage anyway considering those voltages aren't even read from the PSU.