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What is more reliable - new power supply or 6 year old one?

N

NAC

Golden Member
So I’m building a new PC to be my main computer for work & gamining, and I’ll keep my old one as a HTPC. I have two power supplies, the question is which I should use for each PC. I’d like to ensure the main power supply is reliable, the HTPC doesn’t matter as much. At this point, I suspect both PCs will be on most of the time, but sleeping whenever not used. The HTPC will probably never be run at 100%, but the gaming one will be for games, encoding, etc.

Specs:
Main PC: 3750k which I hope to run at perhaps 4.3. 6950, 8 gigs. SSD, 7200 hd, 5400 hd
HTPC: q8300, TBD cheap video card (not for gaming), 4 gigs, 7200 hd

I have a corsair HX520 – about 6 years old. And I bought a new Corsair CX430.

Obvioulsy the main PC would draw more power, but I’d think either power supply could handle it. Which is likely to be more reliable and steady?
 
Do you plan on OCing the 6950? I might not risk either if you are since that HX520 is 6 years old. If it were new, it wouldn't be a problem.
 
As per a different thread, the CX430 only has something like 336W on the 12V line. I wouldn't use it for a 3750K (do you mean 3570K? The unlocked IB quad-core without HT?) with a decent OC, and a higher-end video card. It might be enough, but I wouldn't cut it close.
 
HX520 for the main rig, CX430 for the HTPC. Your main rig has a 6950 which requires 2x 6-pin PCIe connectors, and CX430 only provides one. Combine the need for a Molex->PCIe adapter with OC on the CPU and it'd be loading the +12v too much for my liking.

If the HX520 hasn't been stressed badly during its lifetime it should work fine. But being 6 years old it also wouldn't be wrong to sell it and replace with a new PSU.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Some answers - I wont be overclocking the 6950. And yeah - I meant 3570k.

I hadn't thought of selling the power supply and getting a new one. Good idea. But I think for now I'll just use the HX520 on my main rig. I think it has lived a pretty easy life so far.
 
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