How long does a PS actually last?

[Claudius-07]

So back in 2006 I purchased a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Watt PS. It's now close to the end of 2011. My friend said it should have died by now. It's still rocking -- has seen me through all my upgrades. On the other hand I've had other PS die on me from many different brands. Should I just change it with something newer?

Am I on borrowed time? I've had it hooked up to a UPS all this time, it's never given me an issue but compared to the trainwreck of other PS's I've bought, mainly combo case+PS for like $40, which always die like 6 months later, this is rock solid.

 

[lehtv]

As far as I know, Silencers were manufactured by Seasonic so I'm not really surprised at all that it's lasted you this long, especially as it's a 750W unit so you're unlikely to have stressed it properly, though I don't know exactly what hardware you've run on it. Seasonic units tend to have plenty of wattage overhead, such that a 750W unit can actually output well over 800W in tests, in some cases 900W.

Just because the warranty period is closing/closed doesn't mean it doesn't have life in it still. For example, Seasonic offers 5 years on its X series, but the Corsair AX which are the exact same units have 7 year warranty. Therefore it's perfectly reasonable to assume that a Seasonic X will last 7 years.

I say keep it for now, but avoid putting very powerful hardware on it (anything that'd stress it close to the rated wattage), as its maximum capacity has undoubtedly degraded a bit over the years. Upgrade it at the first sign of trouble.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

OP, just look for bulging caps or burnt components, though I highly doubt you'll see anything of the sort in a quality Seasonic built PSU, not unless you were pulling >750W from it at 60C intake air temps

 

[BoomerD]

I agree. As long as you've not been pushing that unit to/beyond it's rated capacity, it should last several more years.

 

[Claudius-07]

Many thanks folks. This red box of mine is still running smooth. I will check for bulging caps for sure. In regards to loads I have put it through, now that I think of it, nothing special -- that must be it then, it's had a very good run.

 

[pauldun170]

Thermaltake Silent Purepower W0014RU ATX12V 480W Power Supply
Purchased - 3/15/2005

Used daily on a gaming rig until 02/2009.
Moved to general use box that was used bi-weekly until a few months ago.
Now its used in a Linux box.

Sitting in a case in the corner is a compusa special...I think its a 350w or maybe 400w. Still works.
bought that in 2003 or so.

 

[SonicIce]

been running an antec with leaked caps for years now:thumbsup:
i mean D:
but its still stable

 

[Zorander]

I had an Antec TP 330W from 2003 that I gave away to a friend in 2009. I haven't heard of any failure complaint yet (I am their troubleshooter) so I assume it's still rocking along.

My parents' computer is also using an Antec TP 430W from 2005 and is still using that very PSU now.

 

[houe]

I've seen computers from 1990 still running fine. That would be a 20 year old power supply.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had an Antec Basiq 500W, with a fan that had a bearing go bad after a year, but other than that, I haven't had a PSU fail or burn out on me, since I switched to using only good-quality name-brand units.

 

[Modelworks]

20 or 30 years if they are not abused .

 

[gevorg]

5 years is nothing for a good PSU. The weakest link in a good PSU is usually a fan which can become noisier or just dead. If you have actual reasons to be concerned, open up the PSU and examine the caps, connections, and replace the fan if needed. Otherwise, just keep on rockin'!

 

[Arg Clin]

Never had a Seasonic PSU die on me. Retired a 300W unit last year that I brought in 2003.

The only thing that seems to kill Seasonics are the ever changing connector standards.

 

[GoStumpy]

This was my PSU that was in my Certified Data computer purchased in 2005:

PSU was the first thing to go.. Then the HDD..

 

[jiffylube1024]

Good name brand PSU's should last 3-5 years. Great name brand PSU's should give you 5+ years easily.

I had several Enermax PSU's over the years that lasted between 3 and 6 years. I've built PC's for people that, 5-6 years later are still running.

I also had 3 separate HEC PSU's die within a year, a couple of OCZ's die (although not as many as you'd think!), and a couple of Enermaxes fail within their 3 year warranty period.

 

[Absolution75]

My ocz gamerxstream started failing on my under any sort of GPU load (rthdrib even made it reboot the pc) and I've had it for 5 years now. The original PSU which I bought back in 2004(?), I RMA'ed due to a faulty fan controller (fan was always on 100% of the time).

While its not the same PSU, I haven't bought a PSU for 7+ years. Its OCZ so its not the best quality, but its okay. I'd expect the PCP&C to go for at least 10 years.

 

[BoomerD]

My ocz gamerxstream started failing on my under any sort of GPU load (rthdrib even made it reboot the pc) and I've had it for 5 years now. The original PSU which I bought back in 2004(?), I RMA'ed due to a faulty fan controller (fan was always on 100% of the time).

While its not the same PSU, I haven't bought a PSU for 7+ years. Its OCZ so its not the best quality, but its okay. I'd expect the PCP&C to go for at least 10 years.

PCP&C IS OCZ...

The original Silencer 750 is a Seasonic build...and SHOULD last many, many years. The Silencer MKII 750 is a High Power/Sirfa build...and I'm not as impressed with their build quality. (although if it's not heavily stressed, it SHOULD last for a long time as well.)

 

[imaheadcase]

I have a 350watt PS i got running still from 2002. Its my "backup" ps i use to troubleshoot family computers.

 

[Absolution75]

PCP&C IS OCZ...

The original Silencer 750 is a Seasonic build...and SHOULD last many, many years. The Silencer MKII 750 is a High Power/Sirfa build...and I'm not as impressed with their build quality. (although if it's not heavily stressed, it SHOULD last for a long time as well.)

Back in 2006 it was its own company - they were supposed to be the best of the best as far as PSU's back then.

 

[BoomerD]

Back in 2006 it was its own company - they were supposed to be the best of the best as far as PSU's back then.

Yes it was....but they still outsourced all their builds. PCP&C never built their own power supplies.

 

[ZipSpeed]

I have an Enermax 500W unit from 2005 powering my X4 640 rig with no issues. Thing still looks brand new.

 

[pitz]

Have an Enermax 365W PSU here that has basically run 24/7/365 since 2001. Right now it runs an AthlonXP 2500+. Originally it ran a dual P3-450, i440BX chipset, and a half dozen SCSI drives.

A more recent (2005) Enermax failed on me. Well, not a full failure, but it doesn't power up properly after power-loss. Still usable for a desktop, but it wasn't good for the server type stuff I run since I basically use a laptop now for my desktop.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

My Seasonic S12 600W from 2005 is still running on another rig at home. I have another Seasonic X-series from last year doing bitcoin mining.

I have another TWO Corsair AX PSUs (equivalent of Seasonic X-series) running. But unfortunately the last 3 PSUs I listed are all within the last year or so, and don't mean squat. They're three gold certified PSUs and I expect them to last at least 5 years minimum.

 

[infoiltrator]

The temperatures of the internal components usually has the most to do with life expectancy, no accident better PSUs usually have higher efficency/better cooling at real life usage levels.

 

[Fayd]

So back in 2006 I purchased a PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Watt PS. It's now close to the end of 2011. My friend said it should have died by now. It's still rocking -- has seen me through all my upgrades. On the other hand I've had other PS die on me from many different brands. Should I just change it with something newer?

Am I on borrowed time? I've had it hooked up to a UPS all this time, it's never given me an issue but compared to the trainwreck of other PS's I've bought, mainly combo case+PS for like $40, which always die like 6 months later, this is rock solid.

why should it die?

most parts are warrantied to significantly less than half of their expected life.

some power supplies have 7 year warranties. almost all have at least 3 years.

i have a corsair hx520... it's probably 4.5 years old now. it seems in no hurry to die.