Reusing Corsiar HX850 from 2015 due to shortage

[HDHaggis]

About every PSU I find to buy is either out of stock or has vague shipping dates or is seemingly overpriced.

I have a HX850 that has been working flawlessly on an i7-5820, gtx 1070, etc.

Trying to think of reasons I couldn’t use it on a gtx3080 or 3090, AMD 3900xt or similar, ASUS mobo.

Thoughts?

 

[raz-0]

The only thing I can think of is ASUS's quasi warning in their promo video for their cards where they put warning LEDs on the cards to tell you if there are power regulation issues. They seem to think old PSUs can have power regulation issues due to components being closer to end of life.

 

[AaronGant]

The only time I had a power supply cause damage to anything else was in 2000 or 2001, but back then I bought the cheapest grey box never heard of brands. With good brands the only thing I even hear about now when they start failing is unstable systems, especially when overclocking. I would expect that's the only thing you risk. Having said that you mention it's working flawlessly, sounds like a good one to me.

 

[Rvenger]

My EVGA 1000GQ is from 2016 and I am going to keep chugging along with it. Works perfect. I say just clean the unit out and keep using it. Inspect the caps while you are at it.

 

[pendragon1]

my seasonic is aboot that old. dont see why it'd be an issue, its a decent enough unit.

 

[GotNoRice]

The two PSUs in my main and backup computer are from ~2007. Still going strong. If you upgrade to a 3900XT, it will likely use less power than your 5820 does. I upgraded from a 5820k @ 4.5ghz to a 3900X and it definitely uses less power.

IMO age is not the most important variable when it comes to making a decision to re-use an older PSU. Two much more important variables are:

Was it a good design to begin with?
What sort of life has the PSU had?

Some PSUs are a liability from the day they are purchased, because they use a bad or flawed design.

There is also a huge difference between a PSU that has been treated well vs a PSU that has been abused or neglected. On one hand you could have a PSU that has never been pushed to or beyond it's limits, kept clean inside a case with good airflow, and used inside in a cool room all of it's life. On the other hand you could have a PSU that has been stuck in a case with poor or improper airflow, never cleaned and thus caked with dust and pet hair, used in a hot ambient environment and allowed to cook itself. If you're the only one who has used it since it was new, then you should already have a pretty good idea of how it has been treated.

 

[[Spectre]]

The only time I had a power supply cause damage to anything else was in 2000 or 2001, but back then I bought the cheapest grey box never heard of brands. With good brands the only thing I even hear about now when they start failing is unstable systems, especially when overclocking. I would expect that's the only thing you risk. Having said that you mention it's working flawlessly, sounds like a good one to me.

I have had plenty cause damage to the load testers over the years

 

[Revenant_Knight]

2011 Seasonic working fine.
2003 ish ION PSU in a retro rig.

On the flip side, I had an Apevia unit burst into flames once.

Inspect it, clean it, and watch it at first.

 

[Vengance_01]

Your fine and its a quality PSU