PSU general question

[ekorazn]

If the PSU blows out, how likely will it take out the motherboard, cpu, etc. along with it?
And what is the general life span of a PSU (nothing fancy).

 

[twajetmech]

A psu that dies on you can take out almost any component in your system. Recently I've noticed a higher percentage of mobo's and cpu's.....but they are all fair game to a failed psu. Generally a psu manufacter will test their units and rate them by MTBF....Mean Time Before Failure, usually its on the sticker some place or you can look at the mfg's website. A quality unit will typically have an MTBF of 100,000 hours of operation.....this can be deceptive however since many psu mfg's rate their units in unrealistic operating environments....simplified, a generic psu may have a wattage rating of 300W based on an ambient temp of 25C and at 70% load.....realistically the unit installed in your computer will operate in an evironment closer to 40C and maybe 70% load, the increase in temp will cause the psu to put out only 235W at 40C...the loss due to lessened efficency at higher temps, this in turn will also cause the unit to fail before the expected 100,000 hours. Your best bet is to stick with well espected mfg's like PC Power & Cooling, Fortron, Sparkle, Enermax & Antec.

 

[ekorazn]

thanks, that helped a lot

 

[tdg]

No way to stick a number on whether or not a PSU popping will take out the motherboard or CPU, I've seen PSU's go up in a blazing glory of sparks and smoke, and never harm any other component, and some that just died without so much as a peep that wiped out boards.

I guess it really depends on what went out on the PSU and how that particular part affected the output.

 

[[Spectre]]

If the PSU blows out, how likely will it take out the motherboard, cpu, etc. along with it?
And what is the general life span of a PSU (nothing fancy).

Depends on what side it goes on. Certain construction characteristics can leave a supply prone to failing on one side or another.