PSU question, need opinions please

[beto]

Hi all. I know I probably should put this in the PSU forum but I am in need of quick responses and I am not sure I would get them there.

I am pretty sure my several year old Corsair HX520w PSU just took a crap. I had the computer hooked up out in the living room to the TV and decided I was going to move it to my room so I shut the computer down, unplugged everything, moved it, plugged everything back in, hit the power switch and... nothing. And I mean nothing. It's boggling because the thing was working great not ten minutes ago and now it's just dead.

I had an old Antec Earthwatts 380W PSU laying around and I am now powered up using it atm. (case open, power supply sitting out of the case, i.e. jerry-built)

So, my question is, can this Antec be the long term solution with 34 amps total (on the two 12V rails) or do I need to buy another power supply? It's running fine right now, as you would figure it to but I am wondering what happens when I fire up Skyrim or some other graphics intensive application and the 7770 starts working at or near load for a few hours. Am I safe with this PSU or should I just go ahead and invest in a new one?

Thanks in advance for opinions.

System specs:

Core i3-3220
Biostar H77MU3 mATX mobo
HIS Radeon HD 7770 GPU
8 gigs of 1.5V RAM
Crucial 128GB SSD
WD 650GB Black HDD
Sony optical drive
2 Cougar case fans

 

[Dangman]

So, my question is, can this Antec be the long term solution with 34 amps total (on the two 12V rails)

First and foremost, you don't add up the rails like that. If you did, that would mean that the EA380 380W PSU somehow has 408W on the +12V rail. See whats wrong with that?

You determine the amperage on the +12V rails by first finding out what's the total combined, max load, combined or max wattage set aside for the +12V rails/section alone. Then divide that total by 12 and you get how much amps the PSU has on the +12V rail.

That's the correct way to find out how much amps a power supply has. Don't add up the amps on the +12V rail to figure out the amperage. Doesn't work that way. If the total combined or max wattage can't be found on the power supply, check the manufacturer's site page for that PSU for that info. If the manufacturer doesn't provide that information, it's generally a good sign for you to drop that power supply from consideration.

In this case, the EA380 380W has 27A or 324W on the +12V rail. Considering that the specs of your PC is relatively low power, you'll be fine with that 380W PSU.

 

[beto]

Thanks for the lesson Danny. Sincerely. And thanks for allaying my fears. I thought the Antec would be able to handle the load - I got impatient and installed it in the case - but I wanted opinions on the quality of the PSU and whether it was worth using. If you say it is ok then that is good enough for me. Saves me a few bucks for the time being anyway.

I can't believe that Corsair just went like that. And what in the heck would cause it? Seems very strange to me. I have never had a PSU fail though so I wouldn't really know if that is a common thing or not - that they just, all the sudden, crap-out and stop giving any power at all.

 

[Dangman]

I can't believe that Corsair just went like that. And what in the heck would cause it? Seems very strange to me. I have never had a PSU fail though so I wouldn't really know if that is a common thing or not - that they just, all the sudden, crap-out and stop giving any power at all.

Just luck of the draw man. Any number of things could have caused it to die like old age, bad luck, improper maintenance, bad luck, bad power in the home, QC issues, bad luck, etc. It's more common with low quality PSUs but it can happen with higher quality PSUs as well.

My luck however is still strong: my Corsair HX520 is still alive and kicking after 5 years of use.