How long have you used your power supply?

chameleoneel

Supreme [H]ardness
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Aug 15, 2005
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I recently realized I've had my ANTEC NeoPower HE650 for quite a long time. Found the order receipt in my email from ZipZoomFly (remember them?!).

Nov 8, 2007

before that, I was using a no name power supply which came with a case.

The NeoPower is currently powering an overclocked 7600k in an Raijintek Metis ITX case. Its whisper quiet.

It was first used to power an Athlon 64 X-2. Then a core 2 quad Q9300. Then an Phenom II X6 1055T.

Here's a Newegg page with specs and pictures
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16817371011

Its only ever been out of service for a few months, during a time at which I thought some issues were power supply related (they weren't). I bought an Antec Earthwatts EA650 from Amazon, to fill in, on Nov 15, 2010

https://www.newegg.com/antec-earthwatts-ea650-650w/p/N82E16817371015

I haven't used that in a long time. But I still have it. Its nearly as good. Just not modular and plain gray.
 
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I recently retired a Corsair TX 750 after 10 years that came with a 5 year warranty. Still ran fine just made me queasy thinking about all the magic smoke coming out sooner than later so I succumbed to my fears.
 
After 5 or so years I stop using a Psu as my main unit in my main machine. No problem with using a good psu in a secondary machine, just not with $1k worth of New hardware. Using a 10+ year old antec 620w unit in my secondary machine with a 2400k i5 as a plex and steam server.
 
I try not to use mine much past warranty, but most that I've bought give 7-12 years. I think my oldest in use is a Corsair AX850 from 2012.

Edit: Realized that I have a legacy system I use for old games: My Pentium ][ is still rocking the original 150W Lite-On after 21 years. I don't even know if you can use a modern PSU on it, and I don't think I want to find out by trial and error since the rest of the system still works perfectly.
 
I think my oldest in use is a Corsair AX850 from 2012.

I have that exact same PSU from that exact same time as well. Great PSU -- Seasonic based -- I plan on using it for my next build in the next few months here and I am sure it will work for many years to come.
 
I recently retired a Corsair TX 750 after 10 years that came with a 5 year warranty. Still ran fine just made me queasy thinking about all the magic smoke coming out sooner than later so I succumbed to my fears.

Ditto. I replaced my 10-year-old Corsair last year. Nothing wrong with it, however I did not want to press my luck.
 
I'm using an AX750 that turned 8 yrs old this year.
It works great still with a 6700K and 1080ti running 24/7.

However...
I year and a bit ago I changed my hifi system to get rid of what appeared to be mains noise and found new noises with the new system.
I had endured it getting worse for one to 2 years before that, so its a 3yr old problem.
They are only present when my PC is processing hard but are quite annoying.
The only fix I found is to put the PC alone on the end of a 50M mains extension reel plugged into another area of the house, life has been good since.

Fast forward to today when I was testing a headphone amplifier and plugged it into the same mains reel for convenience.
No hiss noises because there is no processing but every so often there was an ear splitting crack and some quieter cracks.
At first I thought the amp had a fault but when plugged into another socket they stopped.
These noises are being generated by the PSU, a PCs stability isnt the only metric to consider.

I've had 8 yrs from this PSU, about time for a new one.
 
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Mine is almost 2 years old.(used for 1) I was going to use it for mining but I ended up not needing it. So I popped it in the gaming system.
 
my 486 is running on a 250W AT PSU dated 1992 still, only recapped once :p

For modern computers though I typically move the psu into cheaper/older machines after 3-5 years and retire to the retro/tinker pile after 10.

Interestingly, the only power supply failures I've had in the past decade have been 2 EVGA B2 within a year of purchase and a 2009 purchased OCZ ModXStream after about 4 years.
 
I had an enermax revolution 1050w that made it through a 1/2 dozen or so xfire \ sli builds. I think It's still kicking in who ever I sold my xfire r9 290 build too.

Right now I'm still using a Lepa 900 I had left over from my first mining rig (back when you could mine several BTC a day (and walked uphill both ways to do it!)). Other than replacing the fan and being oversized for my ITX build it has been great.
 
For anyone in the UK looking to upgrade their PSU, Scan has a great offer on.

Seasonic 750W Prime Ultra Titanium (up, to 96% efficient) with 12 year warranty!, only £155.
Only £17 more than I paid for my Corsair AX750 (80plus gold, 7 yr warranty) 8 years ago.
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/750...me-ultra-80plus-titanium-full-modular-atx-psu
And more offers on the Prime range.

I dont think there is a higher reviewed PSU on the market.
https://www.hardocp.com/article/2018/01/15/seasonic_prime_ultra_750w_power_supply_review/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?15869-Seasonic-Prime-Ultra-Titanium-750W-Review

edit: I forgot to update this post!
Dont buy from Scan, my last 2 purchases have been terrible.
They sent me an open box Seasonic Prime UItra Titanium 750W and made it incredibly difficult to get help, claiming it isnt possible it arrived this way. It was purchased as brand new.
Yet the receipt was placed "inside" the supposedly sealed plastic wrapper of the PSU box which was heavily screwed up then left around the box. They clearly knew it was in this condition when they packed it.
The Box had greasy fingermarks all over.
It had been roughly opened with creases on the external box and a long torn area on the inside box where you pull the box out.
Scan were as evasive as it gets, they lied and deceived.
They lost a customer for good and I cannot recommend them.
 
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I typically get a new one every 5 years or whenever I change out more than 4 major components. I've only ever had one go south for one of my personal builds, but I still have bad memories from my tech days in the 90's. Since they don't cost much and the cabling gets better/cleaner, I don't really regret it.
 
Corsair HX750 for me, when they rated as gold, V1 if you will type thing.
10+ years, got 2008-2009 time frame (before 09 that much I know) it can still power my Phenom II/ 7870 rig perfectly fine, the % +/- is just to say below where it was from the day of purchase (12v is 11.89-12.02 vs 11.91-12.11 ..
similar with 5v though less variance,
3v "took the brunt" with variance if recal was 2.31v though only if used one of the connectors used forever, if used one never used it gets .01v of spec... well past its service life..

I did "hit it hard" for a while, however, prior to me decommission for seasonic G650 it was working perfectly, just ran tad warmer (larger) likely due to never took apart for 100% cleaning job (not wanted to risk anything lol)
 
I'm still using my HP xw6600 with its stock PSU (for however long the xw6600 has been out).
 
I have a Zippy/Emacs 400 and 500 watt power supplies, still runs great. I've had them since 2006. The 500 watt model uses a full aluminum body. I also have one of those Thermaltake GPU power supplies, probably my favorite power supply item.
 
Been using mine for 2 or so months now.
IMG_3214.JPG

my 4 year old EVGA 850 started having issues, PC would crash when there was a load on the GPU.
 
My main computer has a Thermaltake Toughpower 1000w and my backup computer has an Antec Truepower Quattro 1000w. Both from 2007-2008. Both still working fantastic.
 
For anyone in the UK looking to upgrade their PSU, Scan has a great offer on.

Seasonic 750W Prime Ultra Titanium (up, to 96% efficient) with 12 year warranty!, only £155.
Only £17 more than I paid for my Corsair AX750 (80plus gold, 7 yr warranty) 8 years ago.
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/750...me-ultra-80plus-titanium-full-modular-atx-psu
And more offers on the Prime range.

I dont think there is a higher reviewed PSU on the market.
https://www.hardocp.com/article/2018/01/15/seasonic_prime_ultra_750w_power_supply_review/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?15869-Seasonic-Prime-Ultra-Titanium-750W-Review

Unfortunately they sent me a 2nd hand unit in a torn box with lots of marks on it.
They claim its in the condition it came from Seasonic but the invoice had been placed inside the plastic cover the box should have been sealed in, and the plastic had been screwed up.
Whoever packed it at Scan knew its condition!
wtf?
 
Main rig has a Corsair HX850 that's about eight years old - it replaced a Cooler Master 700W after it let the magic smoke out. Before that I was using a custom PC Power & Cooling 510W from 2002 that was one of two running in parallel in a phase change system.

I still have it, actually. Works fine but was built with lots of custom connectors that clutter things up (eg, two 6xFour pin Molex connectors for the SCSI RAID set, custom pump connector, two floppy power connectors for front panel displays, etc) and is a bit on the thin side for overall capacity. It's my backup and is what I used while I was waiting for the HX850 to arrive.
It'll probably outlive me.
 
still got a corsair, non modular 750w.. that is 8-10 years or smh. but i got me an evga 850w modular. it would probs have run just fine still i figure, dont need the extra power anyway but it probably degraded a little bit i figure.
 
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Corsaix aix1200w here i got a a used a few years ago.
Befoer that iwas runni corsaor tx750m for several years ( since it came out)

The facination ppl have with psu going bad in a couple of yours is highly exagerated imho
 
My Corsair 750W in my old machine was used around 8 years. When I did my new build last year I replaced it with my EVGA 750W.
 
my thermaltake TP 750w is going on 13 years but probably doesn't have a whole lot longer left in it. was going to retire it after i got rid of my phenom II but with me being cheap i decided to use it in a htpc build. when it kicks the bucket i'll replace the whole thing with an sfx setup.
 
Still running an original "orange" PC Power and Cooling 750w in one of my older boxes.. so prob around 11-12yrs

I think I still have one of those somewhere. I had a PC Power & Cooling 1kw SR for 7 or 8 years on my test bench. I ran my Thermaltake ToughPower 1200 watt for probably five or six years and then moved it to my test bench. It ran for 10 years before finally crapping out. I've probably had this Corsair AX1200 for two or three years. I've got a Coolermaster 1000w which is nearly as old as my Thermaltake was, but its seen very little use over the years.
 
For those with the knowledge and tools. Recapping a PSU with quality caps will extend its life. Replacing or re-oiling the fan could be a good idea.

My understanding is the solid state components (transistors, ICs, transformers) will outlast the capacitors by a far longer time if used with in their reasonable range.
 
For those with the knowledge and tools. Recapping a PSU with quality caps will extend its life. Replacing or re-oiling the fan could be a good idea.

My understanding is the solid state components (transistors, ICs, transformers) will outlast the capacitors by a far longer time if used with in their reasonable range.
Yep.
Its a pita job though and can get messy, dust and maybe a leaky capacitor(s).
Neither should be allowed to contaminate somewhere you live, clean it outside.

If the PSU has run hot for long periods the solid state components will likely use more power now, reducing efficiency and increasing heat. ie a game station that sees a lot of use, a busy server, coin farming or any PC left to run for long periods in a very warm/hot room.
Its possible the temperature trigger of the fan will need adjusting to compensate or even a stronger fan, depending on how it is controlled.
This could make it a little noisier to use.
But if the PSU has only been pushed hard for short periods it should be fine.
 
January 13 - 2011:
Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan
26415 1 $109.99 (Canadian)

Should I use the TX750 with my Zen 2 build?
 
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Still have a "fanless" ST30NF from 2004 in my old rig that's been through two CPU and GPU upgrades. Though it's rarely used for the last 5-6 years (once every couple of weeks) but still works!
 
the unknown man...sat on shelf probably awhile...but yeah older unit...but the better and god tier capping stuff. It's fine...my other place had low wall though. back up to stuff that's right and yeah great 12.5v.
 
all my main systems have been powered by the same Thermaltake Smart M 850W since 2014. I think i got it on clearance at MC when they changed the case and decals to the current design. Even now the voltages are accurate and steady under heavy load although i swear i heard some squealing for the briefest moment the other evening when i cold-booted my system after having it pulled apart on the bench for a few days. maybe time to check the caps finally...
 
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