Should i worry about my PSU?

UglyDuckling

Senior member
May 6, 2015
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My Silverstone Strider 80 Plus silver 1000 watt is 7 years old, is it likely to really die on me?

I have never used it to full capacity.

Highest load it ever had on it was a pair of GTX 480's with a 5ghz 2500k back in the day.

It never get's loud and shows zero signs of "getting old" I have also took it apart and cleaned it out 2 times in it's life time, well looked after.
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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Of course it will die on you if you keep using it. However, that could be tomorrow or 10 years from now.

As long as your voltages are stable, and non of the capacitors are swollen/leaking, just keep using it. If you were to build a new high-end PC, I'd recommend buying a new unit based on it's age, but otherwise just use it until it dies. It's not like it is a no-name junk unit that will take out your components when it goes.

That said, when you do decide to replace it, there are some really good units like the EVGA G2/G3 series, and Seasonic Prime Plus (gold and platinum) that go on sale pretty regularly. However, make sure to buy a unit that isn't too large for your hardware. When you run large units like a 1000w unit, and you aren't hitting at least 40-60% load levels on it, you won't be running it at peak efficiency. It won't hurt anything, but you will be wasting some power at the wall otherwise. Most people who aren't running multiple video cards don't need anything near 1000w.
 
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UglyDuckling

Senior member
May 6, 2015
390
35
61
Of course it will die on you if you keep using it. However, that could be tomorrow or 10 years from now.

As long as your voltages are stable, and non of the capacitors are swollen/leaking, just keep using it. If you were to build a new high-end PC, I'd recommend buying a new unit based on it's age, but otherwise just use it until it dies. It's not like it is a no-name junk unit that will take out your components when it goes.

That said, when you do decide to replace it, there are some really good units like the EVGA G2/G3 series, and Seasonic Prime Plus (gold and platinum) that go on sale pretty regularly. However, make sure to buy a unit that isn't too large for your hardware. When you run large units like a 1000w unit, and you aren't hitting at least 40-60% load levels on it, you won't be running it at peak efficiency. It won't hurt anything, but you will be wasting some power at the wall otherwise. Most people who aren't running multiple video cards don't need anything near 1000w.

Thank you very much for this good information, this was originally bought to support multiple video cards, and Johnny Guru rated it really well for it's at the time ridiculously stable 12V rail.
I will continue to use it up until the point i change platform for either a new intel setup or something from AMD.
 
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