Should I replace my PSU next year?

[Medion]

Just wanted to get opinions here. I don't play around with PSUs because when they go, they have the potential to take parts of your system. I purchased my SeaSonic S12-500 back in May 2008. It is still under the original 5-year warranty. I have had zero issues with it. I'm currently running a C2Q6600 + GeForce GTX 560. My future CPU (Haswell-based i5) and GPU (something with less power draw, aiming for mid-2014) will use less power. So, I don't need to increase my wattage. I'm asking due to reliability.

Basically, how long would you go between PSU upgrades, assuming your power-draw needs went unchanged?

 

[kalston]

IMO, you can just keep your PSU. It is a high quality PSU and if it's working fine I would just keep it. By getting a new one you might get a bad one after all

High quality PSUs age very well, AFAIK. They may lose a bit of punch but since you're getting hardware that will draw LESS power I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[larrymoencurly]

If I had a spare, I'd wait until the old PSU failed, unless I saw a great bargain, like last month's $27AR TigerDirect deal on a 650W Corsair (which I missed, by 5 minutes). Another reason I wouldn't buy a PSU before I needed it: low quality capacitors can rot considerably in a year or two, just sitting in storage. BTW if you store electronics, every 6 months run them for a full hour.

I'm using a PSU that was built in 1999 and that was repaired only when I first got it, to fix solder cracks from rough shipping, and because it contains only high quality capacitors, it should be able to keep going at least another 3-5 years, unless the fan konks.

 

[Medion]

If I had a spare, I'd wait until the old PSU failed, unless I saw a great bargain, like last month's $27AR TigerDirect deal on a 650W Corsair (which I missed, by 5 minutes). Another reason I wouldn't buy a PSU before I needed it: low quality capacitors can rot considerably in a year or two, just sitting in storage. BTW if you store electronics, every 6 months run them for a full hour.

I'm using a PSU that was built in 1999 and that was repaired only when I first got it, to fix solder cracks from rough shipping, and because it contains only high quality capacitors, it should be able to keep going at least another 3-5 years, unless the fan konks.

I may have miscommunicated. I'm not looking to buy a PSU now to store for a year. I'm wanting to get an idea of the right time to replace the PSU (IE, buy a new one, receive in the mail, and immediately swap out).

 

[Tsumi]

Nah. Keep it until it dies, it won't take anything else with it. Good ones can last 6+ years, and that Seasonic is a good one. You never know exactly when it would die though, so you can keep your eye out for a killer deal on a power supply to keep as backup.