Antec 480w True, took a dump

[haroldmeyer]

My 480w Antec True took a shit on me this week after only 1 1/2 years. How many others out there have a high dollar PSU only last this long?
My first idea it had problems, was when it would freeze by just "clicking" on an item. I wouldn't even have to start a game or anything. Then my graphics would go goofy at any time or any point. I'm not gonna tell you how many times I changed drivers thinking that it was a driver problem with the graphics card.I cleaned out the old drivers that I eventually screwed-up the hardrive so bad I had to format it and start over. I'm just totally disgusted witn Antec right now( I'm using Enermaxes now and they seem to hold up better). I've got one that's over 2 1/2 years old right now and it's strong as ever.
I guess my whole point of this thread is just to see who else has had a bad experience with Antec PSUs and if they ever went back to them?

 

[HybridHB]

My True 480 also dropped in output after 1 year. I switched to enermax after that. Now the enermax wasnt big enough for my needs so i now have a PCP+C 510 Deluxe. Antecs are way overrated.

 

[Ice Czar]

well my Antec PP403X has been golden for 5 years now
but then I know pretty clearly what its actual capacity is for a given temperature

power supplies are all about the worse case senerio
too high a load for too long at too high a temperature when all of a sudden it has to deal with a sag or surge

there is a reason to run a supply with a greater safety margin and at a lower temperature....longevity

even a top shelf supply like the PCP&C 510 Turbo Cool (which I also have running my workstation)
will die a premature death from the above causes
one of the reasons Ive modded my rackmount to give it a dedicated air supply of its own
with just a HDD and optical "upstream" of it, and force fed AC air like the rest of the case

like most mechanical and electronic devices PSU benefit from the Arrhenius Equation
roughly translating to the rule of thumb that for Each 10°C (18°F) temperature rise reduces component life by 50%.
Conversely, each 10°C (18°F) temperature reduction increases component life by 100%.

1. get a UPS
2. run with a healthy overcapacity (like 1\3rd to 1\2)
meaning you need to know the amp distribution to rails your config has
3. exhaust the CPU Heatsink(s) \ case exhaust some other way if possible
it will both increase the supply's capacity and its longevity

people call me overly cautious, anal retentive, and paranoid
but in 5 years Ive lost no PSU, CPU, cards or HDDs
just 2 mobos, and one stick of RAM and the first mobo was in the first 3 months

 

[EnderW]

3. exhaust the CPU Heatsink(s) \ case exhaust some other way if possible

my PC-65B has a 80mm blowhole in the top and another 80mm exhaust fan right next to the CPU HSF, how would you rate this setup?

 

[Ice Czar]

likely good, but its tough to really tell without mapping the temperature gradient
I have 2 Digicdoc 5's which come in very handy for that sort of thing
alternately in the bad old days some members would use smoke to observe airflow patterns

OEM manufacturers employ CFD software to model such things
we get trial and error

 

[EnderW]

well according to MBM5, my PSU is about 33 C, so I guess it's working pretty good

 

[Ice Czar]

that would be a good temp

 

[EnderW]

that would be a good temp

hey speaking of temps, I've noticed something a little strange on my hard drive temps:

my WD740GD raptor consistently runs just a degree or two cooler then my WD2500JD, which is completely opposite the expected result shown here

btw my current temps are 29 C on the Raptor and 30 C on the Caviar

 

[Ice Czar]

hey speaking of temps, I've noticed something a little strange on my hard drive temps:

hmmm that is a little strange
guessing here, Id say either one of those Fluid Dynamic Bearings is better than the other
or one is in a more favorable airflow pattern than another

Id swap their physical locations as a start

could also just be software, monitoring software\sensors are less than perfect or calibrated
one of these days Id really like to get an IRGun

 

[EnderW]

hmmm that is a little strange
guessing here, Id say either one of those Fluid Dynamic Bearings is better than the other
or one is in a more favorable airflow pattern than another

Id swap their physical locations as a start

could also just be software, monitoring software\sensors are less than perfect or calibrated
one of these days Id really like to get an IRGun

I can't imagine airflow being much of a factor since they are mounted in the #2 and #4 spots of my drive cage and there are two 80mm fans in front of the cage.

Maybe one fan is better? Who knows? I'm not really concerned with it, just thought it was weird. Really just happy the Raptor is so cool. Much better then the 44 - 47 C temps I was getting in my Shuttle.

 

[BillR]

likely good, but its tough to really tell without mapping the temperature gradient
I have 2 Digicdoc 5's which come in very handy for that sort of thing
alternately in the bad old days some members would use smoke to observe airflow patterns

OEM manufacturers employ CFD software to model such things
we get trial and error

Hey! I’m an old guy..I still rely on smoke tests for airflow mapping. I use the official “Merit 100” smoke sticks, 20 to a pack

I like to take the isolation approach, I use cardboard and or sheet metal to direct airflow from the front of the case right to the inlet of the PSU, I don’t want CPU heat in there.

Same with the CPU, they (the HSF) always seem to want to blow on the video card (who designed these things anyway?) so I isolate that as well and vent the CPU heat out the back towards the exhaust fan/s.

With 18 over 2-gig computers running 24/7 doing distributed computing all over clocked to the bleeding edge I can’t afford to replace parts.

The other big benefit of taking this approach is I don’t need to listen to 7k fans anymore. I can actually hear again.