? about ATX Power Supplies, Mixed Vintage

wwswimming

Banned
Jan 21, 2006
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i have a few old ATX power supplies, anywhere from 1998 to 2004 vintage. and am trying to do some housecleaning. figure out which ones are garboj, & which ones are worth saving.

can you hurt a vintage 2009 motherboard with an ATX power supply connector by plugging in another ATX power supply, that's older ?

just thought i'd check before making a bunch of SMOKE.
 

mpilchfamily

Diamond Member
Jun 11, 2007
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The only damage would come if the PSU cannot offer the amount of power the system needs. As PSUs age the amount of power they can supply diminishes. Also you run the risk of the PSU dieing on you. In some cases, especiallywith cheaper brands, the dieing PSU can damage some if not all the other componets connected to it. The average effective life span of a PSU is between 3 and 5 years. After 5 years you run a big risk of PSU failure.