How can I tell if my PSU is failing?

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,472
5,882
136
I have a 6 year old Corsair CX400 powering my system, and I'm not sure it's still working properly. My Frankenstein'd system has become a lot more power hungry than it was originally, with a 130W Phenom II CPU, HD7770 graphics card instead of integrated graphics, double the number of DIMMs, higher end motherboard, and so on. I've seen a lot of weird problems lately, which could be caused by memory, SSD problems, CPU problems, motherboard problems, or PSU problems, and I'd like to try and rule a few things out.

Is there an easy way of diagnosing my PSU (preferably without dismantling my machine) to see if it is still providing enough power at the correct voltages?
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
12,078
2,772
136
You can get a PSU tester with an LCD screen. Although, some of them do not go into the hundreths.

A multimeter can also be used. Accurate ripple measurements need a true RMS meter, but for everything else, the voltage testing can be done without true RMS.