When do you finally retire a PSU?

G

Guarateed_12

n00b
Joined
Feb 18, 2017
Messages
16
I have an EVGA 1000G Gold Power 1000w PSU. The thing is... it's probably seen about 8 to 9 years of service but that "service" has been far below what the PSU is capable of. This thing has never been pushed or strained. I'm pretty sure what I need to consider is age. And that's what brings me here and to my question "Should I be shopping for a replacement?".
 
Surely if there are no reliability or performance issues it's fine to let it soldier on, especially if you have it operating well within its limitations.

Keeping it clean and well maintained is the key, there's no reason why it won't give you at least another couple of years, the Corsair RM650 in my daily driver is 12 years old and performs as well now as it did on day one. If it works why change it?

As an aside a few years ago I was planning an upgrade and bought a few items including a far superior PSU, however that build never happened. When I attempted to use it recently it was completely dead, who knew that sitting idle for years does more harm than a decade of regular usage?
 
I've only "demoted" old power supplies when I have a new build where its cost dwarfs the cost of a new power supply (e.g. new PSU is only 10% of the build cost). At that point its usually a new MB, CPU, GPU, etc. anyways so I just keep the old PSU with the old parts.
 
I have PC Power & Cooling PSUs still running from my 775 core2quad days. As long as it's working and not causing issues, keep rocking it!
 
I bought a Corsair CMPSU-850TX in 2009 and sold it to a friend in like 2016??? or so. That thing had been running near 24/7 since it was installed and he only stopped using it because he upgraded to a whole new rig last year.

Not that warranty period always indicates reliability, but it only had a 5 year warranty. The EVGA 1000G has a 10 year warranty, so I would expect it to last even a lot longer than that. I'd keep on using it.
 
ive only replaced them when they dont meet the system needs or they pop. the 750w in my system now was salvaged from old C2Q system i found sitting outside at a buddies place...
 
Since i expect them to die without burning the house down i´ve only retired them if the system starts to crash (the intervall of crashes shortens = psu dies)

Or after a flood:

12.jpg


Nigirin contact spray helps with fluid spillage (or cleaning sandy/dirty pcie slots) - but this is high wattage and the risk is simply too great
 
Last edited:
I have a Seasonic-built Corsair 850W PSU that has seen daily use for 13 years. I'm overdue for a new main PC though, and when I do finally build one, I'm going to replace the PSU. But the current one has performed flawlessly this whole time. 2023 was especially rough on it, cuz I got an MSI Suprim X RTX 3090 from a guy over on thefpsreview forums back in January, and it's been working the PSU haaaaaard. Still it takes those workloads with no issue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Folly
like this
When they die or when I retire the rig that they're in. I tend to do full builds and keep old ones around. Vid cards don't count as part of a build. My current oldest is a X79/Socket 2011 build I did in April 2012. Still has the original board and PSU. Post OCZ acquisition PC Power & Cooling Silencer 950W PSU too. Maybe those weren't that bad? Half the ram is original -- I doubled it in 2014. Swapped the i7-3820 for a Xeon E5-2687Wv2 a couple years ago. The PSU in this box will get recycled when the rest of it gets recycled. Maybe I'll keep the case.
 
DrezKill said:
I have a Seasonic-built Corsair 850W PSU that has seen daily use for 13 years. I'm overdue for a new main PC though, and when I do finally build one, I'm going to replace the PSU. But the current one has performed flawlessly this whole time. 2023 was especially rough on it, cuz I got an MSI Suprim X RTX 3090 from a guy over on thefpsreview forums back in January, and it's been working the PSU haaaaaard. Still it takes those workloads with no issue.
Click to expand...
The beating heart of the system, PSU's rarely get any praise or attention. I salute your battle worn stalwart.
 
They usually get retired when they pop, but more realistically get thrown in a box and forgotten about. I was happy to have the old Rosewill Capstone 1kw when my girlfriend's computer's PSU decided to get flakey. It only got taken off primary duty because I moved to an ITX setup in a case that only fits SFX PSUs. No apparent issues with it, and it's /old/ now.
 
I replace when the rails get saggy, get some crashes that are not settings or OS related, or if I think its just not up to par anymore.
 
I generally get a new PSU each time I build myself a new rig, every 2-4 yearsish. I generally leave the old PSU with the rig it was initially built with. A 10-12yr warranty is mandatory.

I just had a 11yo Seasonic x1050 kill the MB and CPU it was hooked up to when it died. Rails were solid as a rock, it gave no signs of weakness whatsoever prior to its death :(
My new theory is once the warranty expires the PSU will be relegated to pump bumping and other soft jobs. Expensive lessons suck ass.
 
I normally get a new PSU if I do a complete new build. I hand down or sell the older parts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top