When to replace PSU.

[cmdrdredd]

Is there some rule of thumb here or is it just "use it until it doesn't work"? My PSU is going on many years old, purchased way back in 2012. I know efficiency has gone up since then.

 

[pcgeek11]

Run it till it's dead. I have PSUs that have been running for >10 years and still running fine.

 

[cmdrdredd]

What I thought but I wanted to verify. It’s probably the only component besides the case that I did not replace.

 

[lehtv]

Nothing's been verified here, pcgeek11 just posted his opinion.

My opinion is if you use it until it doesn't work, there's a risk that it will be too late and some damage is already done to your components. OVP and other protections aren't 100% reliable and probably become somewhat less reliable as the power supply ages. If you want to avoid that risk, upgrade at regular intervals. As a rule of thumb, warranty length + a few years is fine. Manufacturers naturally measure the warranty length so that it's a bit below the threshold where failure becomes common enough that RMA frequency becomes a cost issue and the product is no longer properly profitable. But that period of time still only represents a few % risk of failure which is fine for individual users.

Is your PSU the one in your signature? Is that the original HX1000 with only 5 year warranty and 80 Plus efficiency? If so, I would upgrade. 6 years is pretty long for a high powered 80 Plus. If it's some newer model with longer warranty and higher efficiency, probably give it a couple more years.

 

[looniam]

What I thought but I wanted to verify. It’s probably the only component besides the case that I did not replace.

https://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/03/09/silverstone_olympia_1000w_power_supply_7_year_redux

https://www.hardocp.com/article/2018/03/12/cooler_master_real_power_pro_1000w_psu_10_year_redux/

i think both show the ripple gets flaky and won't output 100% of rated wattage over time. but that's only giving a cursory glance posting them now. i haven't really read them since the publishing dates.

 

[pcgeek11]

Nothing's been verified here, pcgeek11 just posted his opinion.

My opinion is if you use it until it doesn't work, there's a risk that it will be too late and some damage is already done to your components. OVP and other protections aren't 100% reliable and probably become somewhat less reliable as the power supply ages. If you want to avoid that risk, upgrade at regular intervals. As a rule of thumb, warranty length + a few years is fine. Manufacturers naturally measure the warranty length so that it's a bit below the threshold where failure becomes common enough that RMA frequency becomes a cost issue and the product is no longer properly profitable. But that period of time still only represents a few % risk of failure which is fine for individual users.

Is your PSU the one in your signature? Is that the original HX1000 with only 5 year warranty and 80 Plus efficiency? If so, I would upgrade. 6 years is pretty long for a high powered 80 Plus. If it's some newer model with longer warranty and higher efficiency, probably give it a couple more years.

You are correct. Everybody has an opinion ...

Then you could install a brand new PSU and have it blow up on the first power up and take out the motherboard, hard drive etc...

So...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Run it till it's dead. I have PSUs that have been running for >10 years and still running fine.

Same, I've never replaced a PSU just because. One of my oldest servers is from 2008 or so (going by date on system folders so it may be older) and it has the original PSU. Uptime is 1494 days so probably one of my most solid boxes, oddly.

 

[lehtv]

You are correct. Everybody has an opinion ...

Then you could install a brand new PSU and have it blow up on the first power up and take out the motherboard, hard drive etc...

So...

So... what? I'm not really interested in what ifs, more interested in probabilities. Which probability is higher, given power supplies of equal price as brand new?

(A) a new PSU will take out your components on the first power up
(B) an old PSU that has exceeded its warranty length by a couple of years will begin to deteriorate and cause damage to or reduce the lifespan of your components (in the form of overvoltage or ripple, for example)

I'd say the probability of A is infinitesimally low. A very small percentage of brand new units are faulty, and of those an even smaller percentage are so out of whack that they will blow up and cause damage.

The probability of B, however, seems high enough to be in the realm of real world risk. Whatever manufacturers think of as a suitable warranty length for a PSU is probably going to be a good estimate of how long a typical user can use the power supply before its risk of failure starts to increase rapidly. Otherwise, they would offer longer warranty at virtually no extra cost.

It's true though that the consequences of A happening are more dire, while the consequences of B are more subtle. Whether you choose to avoid the infinitesimally low risk of instantly bricking your components or the reasonably real-world risk of causing instability and reduction in lifespan - well I guess that's a matter of taste.

 

[rchunter]

Same, I've never replaced a PSU just because. One of my oldest servers is from 2008 or so (going by date on system folders so it may be older) and it has the original PSU. Uptime is 1494 days so probably one of my most solid boxes, oddly.

Yeah me too. A couple of my oldest ones are going on 10-12 years old.
I think they are seasonic units just re-branded, I think they might be good for 20 years or more 🙂

 

[SKORPI0]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" Here's some symptoms when to replace...
https://www.pcmech.com/article/power-supply-desktop-help/

 

[PianoMan]

I’ve kept PSUs going for 5 years plus, but I normally run them at around 50% load (what can I say, I like the blingy, high powered, shiny units.

I had ONE failure that took my DFI (remember those?) mobo many years ago. It was a brand new PSU that came in an Apevia case. The damn thing was light as a feather when I took it out after the smoke dissipated.

If u have a good unit, haven’t run it ragged, ur probably good for a bit more years of juice...

 

[UsandThem]

Different approaches for different people. Up to this point, I've generally only used a PSU for 5-7 years. However, prior to the last few years I never bought the high-end models, some which come with warranties for up to 12 years. If they manufacturer is confident enough to offer such a warranty, I'll probably ride it out until then.

One thing I am interested to see how it plays out over the next 5-10 years or so, is if many of the PSUs that feature a "fan stop" type of feature will fail well short of their warranty lengths. So many new cases with PSU shrouds force people to install their PSUs with the fan facing downward, and if the fan doesn't run very often, the heat will rise and pretty much sit inside the PSU housing. I know that the manuals for my G2, G3, and Seasonic PSUs state the preferred install method is with the fan facing upward into the case, or otherwise disable the fans from stopping if the only install option is facing downward. I imagine quite a few people disregard this. At least with most manufacturers they have a button that disables the "fan stop" feature, unlike the higher-end units Corsair offers.

I could be totally wrong, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I hear you on the fan issue. I generally, when noise is not a critical issue, disable "Smart FAN" on the Intel HSF (well, AMD too, sometimes, depending on noise level), and just live with the white noise. Then again, I've got A/C and fans going and video cards in other machines going, and another CPU fan doesn't add much difference to the noise profile of the room.

The reason that I do it is, better cooling == better longevity for components. Prefer my CPUs at 60C instead of 70C, for example.

 

[Torn Mind]

Power supplies can be run until they "die". One reason to buy from a quality manufacturer is that they will die in peace and leave everything downstream untouched, which crap units do not do. Even crap units can turn a PC on and have it operate; A 1000W Diablotek can power a browsing box just fine. Concerned about voltage? Well, that is what those testers are for. Ripple? 120mV is the spec, and quality ones start at much lower than that. Using less of the PSU's capacity tesults in less ripple.

The ATX spec calls for 120mV of ripple for computers to work. Buying a bigger wattage unit and a better brand just means a superior starting point for noise and just means it can be run for much longer. If, for example, someone buys a 1200W Seasonic unit for a mere office box needing under 60 watts to operate, such a use would have the PSU last well past its warranty, and more likely to be in your life for two to three decades. You might be dead before the PSU dies.

There are two types of failures. Manufacturing defect failures and wear failures. The harder and longer you use a PSU, the more likely a manufacturing defect is exposed. After a point, the likeliness that the unit was defective drop and the unit is likely defect free.

The sweet spot is in quality used PSUs that have been used and are known to be problem free, but still relatively young.

If anything, a failed fan will kill a PSU's components prematurely by having its components overheat.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Haha Diablotek. I worked at a hospital and every time the power went out (which oddly, was very often there) the PC support tech had to be running around like a chicken with no head replacing PSUs from lot of PCs. Most of them were MDGs with Diablotek PSUs and other offbrands. The surge when the power came back on would kill them. They cheaped out on everything at that place... including the power grid apparently. I've never seen a place with so many outages and brownouts.