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Thread: Fragile power supplies ?

  1. 13th November 2012, 11:45 PM #1
    superquag
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    Fragile power supplies ?

    My son has a super-duper gaming computer, i7 processor with lots of RAMS running around in circles...

    The power supply is a no-name brand, 600W unit, around 9 months old. The graphics card draws around 100W.

    Question:- Will the odd turning off at the plug (like a domestic power failure) fatally injure the power supply?

    - Has happened twice, and the computer took a week before it started turning itself off at shorter and shrtr intervals. Now it won't even last long enough to log on. Son is having withdrawal symptoms from his on-line shoot-em-up. (I fear he may resort to realilty to get his fix... and there's no way he can afford endless paintballing...)

    Are current power supplies so delicate that they can't handle the domestic enviroment, ahd a power-outage is likely to kill them?

    Or is it more likely that it was reaching its (ebay) use-by date ?
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  2. 14th November 2012, 05:28 AM #2
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    Blknight.aus
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    ahhh. cheap power supplies.

    used to be my pet hate, gamers that would top end spec everything and then want the cheapest power supply on the planet to power it all up.

    I've had computers that have off times of never, if you bought an ebay power supply most likely (assuming its the power supply and not an onboard power regulation fault) some of the cheapy caps that are used have gone dead or open circuit.

    Confirm its the powersupply by putting a meter on the 12v and 5v rails in both DC and AC modes and if you're getting ripple or dips its time to replace the supply.
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  3. 14th November 2012, 06:09 AM #3
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    No.
    Current() PSU's are stable long living items that very rarely give problems.

    There are literally hundreds of different models, most of which probably come out of the same factory,, just to differing specs

    100watts is VERY small for a gaming card.
    my gtx570 draws 330,, and I have two of them,,

    Tell him to man up, put his hand on his wallet and buy something with known brand.

    oh,, and tell him to buy something 3 times as big as he needs.
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  4. 14th November 2012, 08:46 AM #4
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    Thermaltake Power Supply Calculator

    take particular note about how they degrade over time and allow for it...
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  5. 14th November 2012, 11:10 AM #5
    superquag
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    Thanks gentlemen, I strongly suspected it would be a case of You-get-what-you-pay-for... despite a mate of his having the same unit in his Supercomputer. ($130 ebay last year)

    Only differance is... #1 son has a grumpy Father who likes everything powered down at night or when the house is empty, and tends to make sure from the powerboard.... Twice so far, but I'm being blamed for the PS failure....
    Incidently, right or rongg, the household computer (generic, retail, $900 for box, i5 and WIN 7) is invariably turned off from the switch... and WIN 7 has stopped commenting about it !.

    This morning, since posting above his machine has hiccupped once on start-up, and for the past hour has been behaving perfectly... He later did the Thermaltake calculator, and it comes out at 535W required with 10% cap aging... 623W with 30% and 645W on 35%. Games run for around 5 to 7 hours per day/every day.

    Motherboard perhaps ?

    Anyway, as you may have gathered... "we" are trying to determine cause, with Grumpy Father firmly in the crosshairs.
    Last edited by superquag; 14th November 2012 at 12:03 PM. Reason: more evidence...
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  6. 15th November 2012, 07:29 PM #6
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    I use Corsair power supplies. My current 850W is going on 4 years now. Good quality is the key.

    Corsair Power Supply Units
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  7. 15th November 2012, 07:49 PM #7
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    Just did that thermaltake calc,,
    847watts,,

    good choice of PSU's Inc!
    "How long since you've visited The Good Oil?"

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  8. 19th November 2012, 08:02 AM #8
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    Maybe not quite on topic, but our electric supplier here in this area of Ohio is really bad when it comes to the quality of our power. Spikes, brownouts, noise,
    outages from storms and traffic damage. Lost tv's, stereos, microwaves, phones, and computers. I have got surge protecters all over the house on all
    microchip controlled devices. Maybe a surge?

    Les
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  9. 28th November 2012, 10:02 AM #9
    superquag
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    Since he re-loaded windows a couple of times.... there's been no more complaints. - Does'nt mean the problem is solved, maybe he's worked out that I'm not interested or bothered...
    His PS is only barely ok, going on that calculator above.

    We're lucky in West Oz, the power utility is government owned... Pretty clean and consistant, but varies a bit depending on suburb age/size. Nominal 240v / 50 Hz.
    Today it's 244.2, and I've metered up to 256. Some computer equipment is manufacture-rated at 230, - which explains some shorter lifetimes.
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  10. 28th November 2012, 01:55 PM #10
    DeanoH
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    Your average 'beige box' (black box these days) consumer PC can have a rubbish power supply from day one.
    When you can buy a case power supply combo for as little as $35 there is very little chance of getting a good product. The power supply may be labelled with a wattage which is about as relevant as 'peak' or 'PMPO' when looking at audio gear. It may be labelled 550 watt but is meaningless in the real world. (yes ! it may be able to deliver 550 watts for about one microsecond before it melts down and don't even think about a stable output).
    This makes it difficult for the computer builder to compete in a cut throat market when a decent case/combo could cost $100+ and the consumer really has no idea of what's involved.
    In my experience the biggest killer of PC power supplys is dust and fan failure. Both affect the cooling of the power supply and if it's working at max to start with then premature failure is assured.
    Generic fans are usually cheap crap with a sleeve instead of a proper bearing and usually get quite noisy (and lose speed) and therefore effectiveness before they fail.
    A good power supply will have a 120mm fan. The larger dia the fan the slower it needs to run, and is therefore quieter. It will also have proper bearings.
    I've pulled power supplys apart and found them full of dust/fluff like a vacuum cleaner bag, actually had one that caught fire once. For this reason I don't recommend placing PC cases on the floor.
    I've found Antec and Thermaltake power supplys to be particularly good.

    Mr. Thermaltakes calculator reckons my modest Core 2 Duo @ 3.0 Ghz and on board graphics PC needs a meagre 235 watts of power supply. It has a 400 watt Thermaltake.

    Deano
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