PSU Death Rate?

[pixelbaker]

I recently have had alot of people coming in with PSU's going out on them. I've never really been much into hardware repair until this year but I've seen alot of them dying recently. These have mostly been in OEM machines.

Are PSU's just weak components or what's up?

 

[davidhammock200]

If they are upgrading to newer high demand video cards, I would expect to see this.

 

[_Korruption_]

OEM boxes usually come with OEM (read: no-name) power supplies. Junk.

 

[[Spectre]]

I recently have had alot of people coming in with PSU's going out on them. I've never really been much into hardware repair until this year but I've seen alot of them dying recently. These have mostly been in OEM machines.

Are PSU's just weak components or what's up?

It is just like buying Pcchips mobo's. You buy cheap crap you get dead components.

 

[Ice Czar]

Component Reliability Tutorial PDF

higher load = more heat = faster electromigration = decreased MTBF

all mechanical and silicon devices are subject to the

the Arrhenius equation

roughly translating to this rule of thumb
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%.

an overtaxed PSU is a prime candidate for premature\accelerated failure
and a poorly designed overtaxed PSU a prime candidate to take other components with it.

a better class of PSU one matched to the typical power requirement and with a better thermal solution is called for.

 

[davidhammock200]

Adding to that heat problem is that these days everyone wants "silent" PC's!

 

[Empyrean]

Adding to that heat problem is that these days everyone wants "silent" PC's!

You have to admit, a dead PC is pretty quiet.



(I have an Antec Truepower 2.0 430W, and it does not make any noise compared to the other components in my PC. Not that they are even that noisy.)

 

[Ice Czar]

yeh once youve driven the stake through their heart
but they can certainly go out with a bang

a better thermal solution doesnt necessarilly mean louder fans
it could be as simple as better PC placement or other means to ensure a better temperature differential like not having em exhaust the case & CPU heatsink
either a case with the PSU "down" or ducting and seperate mobo compartment exhausting can go a long way
but if the PSU is overtaxed its still of limited value

PSUs have changed recently to match the changing power draw of components
a mismatch is asking for trouble

that might be the obvious answer
what ATX12V version PSUs are powering what typical set of components?