Question MisterE replaces his ancient SeaSonic S12II 520 power supply

[MisterE]

Greetings, all! I've had a SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W power supply running 24/7 in whatever happens to be my main computer, since I bought it in December of 2011. It's served me well but it's had a coil chirping in it for years and the fan is wearing out and the noise is becoming a little annoying. I gave my computer a good cleaning today, replaced the old rear 120mm exhaust fan with a new 140mm, and replaced the power supply with a Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 650W 80+ Gold Full Modular. HOLY EFFING MOLY is this thing quiet compared to the PSU that I replaced! It has a 10-year warranty and will hopefully last that long.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Yeah apparently PSUs have improved a lot.

 

[bigboxes]

Greetings, all! I've had a SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W power supply running 24/7 in whatever happens to be my main computer, since I bought it in December of 2011. It's served me well but it's had a coil chirping in it for years and the fan is wearing out and the noise is becoming a little annoying. I gave my computer a good cleaning today, replaced the old rear 120mm exhaust fan with a new 140mm, and replaced the power supply with a Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 650W 80+ Gold Full Modular. HOLY EFFING MOLY is this thing quiet compared to the PSU that I replaced! It has a 10-year warranty and will hopefully last that long.

There have been better PSUs for years. This is nothing new. I went through two of those S12II PSUs. Both failed right as their warranty (5-years) expired. You got lucky. All of my computers have top end Seasonic power supplies in them. 10/12 year warranties. Quiet AF. As far as your old S12II, I'm surprised your haven't replaced a long time ago due to obsolescence.

 

[mindless1]

^ I'm still running an S12II in a spare system and have no desire to change it out till it fails. Granted that system probably peaks at only 1/4th its wattage rating, and I've only ever bought the one, but it's been running fine for several years now, long enough that I can't remember when I bought it.

Obsolescence isn't really a thing, as long as the system you need to use it in, doesn't have cross-loading problems from group regulation, at least I assume it has GR.

Does it waste single-digit watts from lower efficiency? Yes, not a big deal. Is it louder than many? Probably, but that extra airflow could help its longevity, and I can't hear it with the system it's in, under a desk.

I wouldn't want to run a ~10 year old PSU in my main rig, and I do have spares, but if the day comes that it does fail, I'll probably repair it (including a recap and maybe redo the thermal paste if it has some instead of pads) and keep as another spare.

 

[Grodney50]

Greetings, all! I've had a SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W power supply running 24/7 in whatever happens to be my main computer, since I bought it in December of 2011. It's served me well but it's had a coil chirping in it for years and the fan is wearing out and the noise is becoming a little annoying. I gave my computer a good cleaning today, replaced the old rear 120mm exhaust fan with a new 140mm, and replaced the power supply with a Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 650W 80+ Gold Full Modular. HOLY EFFING MOLY is this thing quiet compared to the PSU that I replaced! It has a 10-year warranty and will hopefully last that long.

I bought my Seasonic S12 520 Bronze about 13 years ago to go with an old Phenom Black and a GTX 770.
Since then, it's powered a Ryzen 1600 with a GTX 960 (great little card), then the same Ryzen 1600 with an RX6600.
Even to this day, it's in a rig with an R5 5600X and that same RX6600, making for great 1080p gaming and a second PC that gets different Linux operating systems on it from time to time.
And that scrappy li'le S12 520 Bronze is still kicking.
PSUs may have got better over the years, but if the S12 Bronze is anything to go by, Seasonic make damn fine power supplies!!!!!