InWin MniITX PSU reliability

[dkm777]

Hi guys,

It may be necessary for me to build a few SFF office computers (Haswell Pentium or Celeron) and price-wise InWin MiniITX cases with integrated 160W PSUs are very attractive. I'm not sure about reliability though. These things will have to soldier on for years and I understand that MiniITX PSUs are not exactly replaceable...

 

[mindless1]

Indeed, miniITX in general and especially comes-with-case PSU are not the choice for long term reliability, particularly on systems used all day 5 days a week. Inwin PSU included cases aren't known for robust PSU.

I wouldn't do it, instead getting smallest mATX mini tower you can find that takes a standard mATX PSU.

If you can dig up an internal picture of these PSU it might sway me the other direction but for that use scenario, form factor, I'd want something with at least dual ball bearing fan and premium capacitors... it will get hot in there.

 

[dkm777]

Thanks. We'll look into prebuilt SFFs then (probably Dell OptiPlex).

 

[mindless1]

I cannot confirm or deny that the Dell PSU will last longer. If it were me I would try to identify the exact PSU used in each and check availability of 3rd party replacement PSU, as well as what Dell wants for OEM replacements.

Then again if it were me, I would never use any mini ITX system with an expectation of years of service all day, every work day, unless it were a specialized industrial design created for that kind of duty which would basically mean a redesign of the power supply to avoid any parts with 5000 hour or lower, electrolytic capacitors. 50 weeks a year, 5 days a week, 8 hours a day is 2000 hours.

You might see higher than 5000 hour average service but I wouldn't expect more than 3-4 years on a highly used system. Maybe things have changed, but without a warranty reflecting that I doubt it.

It could be a good idea to source some replacements ahead of time, perhaps at least a quantity 10% of the total ordered, or higher still if downtime means substantial interruption of productivity.

 

[dkm777]

Found an offer for Dells with a 5 year on-site warranty. This alone beats any build I can spec, because in-house build would be limited to 2 year warranty for parts. Thanks, Mindless1, your explanation about total working hours and warranty was really helpful.