Testing a "new" PSU

[Spike]

I jumped on that geeks.com deal for the refurb BFG EX-1000w modular for $55 shipped. It arrived yesterday and because there is obviously no BFG warranty, just the 90 day geeks.com warranty, I threw it into my main pc below. I know it's way overkill but I wanted to make sure it worked just fine. Well, it does, at least as far as I can tell. The PSU itself looked barely used (some small scratches around the scew holes) and all the modular cables look brand new so that gives me hope. The PC powered up and ran without any hitches and is virtually silent, at least the PSU fan is.

What I want to know is what should I do to see if it's really working correctly? My pc can hardly stress the thing and it won't be until Jan/Feb that I build a new pc, though since I would be doing SLI/xfire I still won't come close to really stressing it. Anyway, what do you guys reccomend to try to make sure the unit is fully functional? And, if it is, do you see any reason not to leave it in place? I'm probably pulling only a few hundreds watts from the wall under full load so it's probably not running very efficiently.

Either way as long as this PSU works it's better than my Enemermax 720 Liberti or whatever it's called. If I have a power failure, or even a quick power loss, that thing refuses to power up without constantly restarting every 5 seconds unless I clear the CMOS... while it's still plugged in! Pretty freaking annoying...

 

[Zap]

That's a strange problem. Are you sure it was the Enermax PSU causing it and not a motherboard problem? You can test it with the BFG PSU by pulling power from it while it is running, to see if the same problem occurs.

 

[FalseChristian]

The PSU is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your computer. Always buy new when it comes to a PSU.

 

[Spike]

The PSU is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your computer. Always buy new when it comes to a PSU.

Wow, thanks for the insight! Fortunately for me I've been building pc's for over 10 years and have learned the importance of the PSU. In this case the deal was too good to pass up for a high power, good reputation, modular PSU that I was planning on using as a test box later on.

BTW while the OCZ's are not bottom of the barrel the GameXtreme line is not exactly stellar. You may want to consider getting something better later on, especially since your running SLI

That's a strange problem. Are you sure it was the Enermax PSU causing it and not a motherboard problem? You can test it with the BFG PSU by pulling power from it while it is running, to see if the same problem occurs.

I'm not sure it's not the mobo, the Abit IP35-e always had that dual boot problem so it could very well be an issue. I have a ticket open right now with Enermax support so we will see what the issue is.

I will give the BFG the power remove test to see what happens though I doubt anything will. I have had this main PC running of an Antec earthwatts 500 (no hardware or OC changes) and it never had an issue with a power failure. I could hit the power button and go from there, no CMOS resetting needed.

 

[jacktesterson]

My OCZ works great! I too jumped on something I normally wouldn't buy because of a grand opening sale... Got it for 30 bucks

But I usually go seasonic

Do what zap says