PSU reliability

euroDub

euroDub

euroDub

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27 Sep 2010
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74
euroDub said:
bought this Coolermaster 550W PSU and haven't even used it once and I am already in doubt if I made a mistake buying it because of how reliable it can be :confused: I heard some bad comments on coolermaster PSUs. So what do you think? should I get rid of it an go for lets say a Corsair 550Watts VX Series??

Coolermaster PSU: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6641

Corsair PSU: http://www.corsair.com/products/vx/default.aspx
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I've been running a Coolermaster 850W modular for almost three years now, never missed a beat. Great PSU. Whoever told you they aren't any good is talking parp.
 
KelticDaz said:
I've been running a Coolermaster 850W modular for almost three years now, never missed a beat. Great PSU. Whoever told you they aren't any good is talking parp.
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it's also the fact that I read reviews saying that they use standard quality 80°C capacitors whilst others make use of high class Japanese 105°C caps. So the fact that they cut corners on capacitors makes me think wrong about them :(

btw will this 550W PSU be enough for an AMD 955, an ATI 5858, 2 HDDs and a dvd rw, 4GB of RAM and an ASUS crosshair iv? or will it have a heavy load on it and maybe die or be damaged?
 
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-fedexer- said:
I seriously hope you're wrong about coolermaster PSU's, as i have one for my build... here's hoping it doesn't cop out on me :eek:
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me too, though I am still trying to get rid of it! that thing I read about using cheap capacitors from a company that had some bad stories related to it isn't making me any glad about my buy!! should have went straight to a serious company such as corsair! And what about the BeQuiet! brand, although they do not seem to be hugely renowned they (from reviews) seem to be very decent PSU manufacturers?
 
The coolermaster thing is a a ligit worry, but not for most of you, they subcontracted out to some OEM to build the series i have in my desktop, its not a very high quality model and its 500w, but their 400w and some other model's were also built by the same people, with the same defects.

Im coming in here with no facts on reviews, but thats because im on a laptop in the middle of no-where, i'll dig it up when i get home monday and the model number's of the PSU's maufactured by this particular OEM.

Aside, Yes a single rail is better for all intents and purposes, Originally vendors said "Lookie ! 3 12v rails for extra protection and stability !! " but were really just cutting a few corners and they weren't truely 100% distinct from one another, essentially a marketing ploy, more = better, One Massive 12v rail means all your power is coming from one solid reliable place in the PSU, having several rails meant if you didnt know what cables were attached to which 12v rail , and you used an adapter to draw more from the 12v sub-rail that was already under duress you could cause problems. That wont happen with a single rail since you cant get it wrong.
 
thanks all for your replies ppl :)

managed to convince my brother to swap my coolermaster psu with his almost new Antec signature 650W :) I am more than happy with the deal
 
I always buy a much larger psu than is needed. It is a false economy to buy 500/600w entrance level psu's. My reasons are:

* At some time or other you are going to want to add extra components to your build. Your an enthusiast right?

* Larger psu's work less hard delivering 500watts than 500w psu's do - fact. Always allow a healthy headroom so the components in them are not allways working flatout.

* A larger psu generate less heat comparably yet only consumes marginally more power than a smaller one at that rated power.

* You get more connectors and generally, the build quality is better with better (bigger) cooling fans. Large fans turn slowly, use less power and generate less noise.

* Always pick a psu with a 3 year warranty. Choose carefully, buy once then you get 3 years peace of mind without having to worry about replacing or upgrading. Don't forget; they manufacturer would not give a 3 year warranty if they thought they would get a load of returns. As for one year, well some don't even make that.

* Pick a psu that has interchangeable lead sets. Then you change the lead not the psu when the technology changes. Most high end manufacturers will keep the same socket arrangements.

Just remember: A psu is THE most important component in your PC. It supplies power to all your expensive components. If it is not regulated, or doesn't have decent over/under voltage/current protection, and thermal protection then don't buy it.

Personally, I would recommend not buying anything under 800w and for all my PC's around the house (4!) they all have KW psu's and over.
 
rush_syndrome said:
I always buy a much larger psu than is needed. It is a false economy to buy 500/600w entrance level psu's. My reasons are:

* At some time or other you are going to want to add extra components to your build. Your an enthusiast right?

* Larger psu's work less hard delivering 500watts than 500w psu's do - fact. Always allow a healthy headroom so the components in them are not allways working flatout.

* A larger psu generate less heat comparably yet only consumes marginally more power than a smaller one at that rated power.

* You get more connectors and generally, the build quality is better with better (bigger) cooling fans. Large fans turn slowly, use less power and generate less noise.

* Always pick a psu with a 3 year warranty. Choose carefully, buy once then you get 3 years peace of mind without having to worry about replacing or upgrading. Don't forget; they manufacturer would not give a 3 year warranty if they thought they would get a load of returns. As for one year, well some don't even make that.

* Pick a psu that has interchangeable lead sets. Then you change the lead not the psu when the technology changes. Most high end manufacturers will keep the same socket arrangements.

Just remember: A psu is THE most important component in your PC. It supplies power to all your expensive components. If it is not regulated, or doesn't have decent over/under voltage/current protection, and thermal protection then don't buy it.

Personally, I would recommend not buying anything under 800w and for all my PC's around the house (4!) they all have KW psu's and over.
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Hmm, not too sure on that do all 4 pc's have 2 graphic cards etc? You could easily buy a Corsair 600W and it'll do the same job... or even 400W-500W depending on what you have in your case.. 800w just sounds like overkill to me..I don't agree with the statement.
 
Your not reading it properly. Read it again there are plenty of reasons why I am suggesting this. One of those is that generally the larger supplies are better built and come with a longer warranty. I've been selling PC's professionaly since 1985 and 80 % of hardware failures is down to poorly built or under specified psu's.

As for my pc's, two of them are fully blown water cooled rigs with x-fire and the other two are used as servers with a lot of disks in. I don't want to keep upgrading or replacing the every year so it's better to buy high end once, cheaper in the long run.. but what do I know?
 
rush_syndrome said:
Your not reading it properly. Read it again there are plenty of reasons why I am suggesting this. One of those is that generally the larger supplies are better built and come with a longer warranty. I've been selling PC's professionaly since 1985 and 80 % of hardware failures is down to poorly built or under specified psu's.

As for my pc's, two of them are fully blown water cooled rigs with x-fire and the other two are used as servers with a lot of disks in. I don't want to keep upgrading or replacing the every year so it's better to buy high end once, cheaper in the long run.. but what do I know?
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If you had specified this before then i wouldn't have questioned you, when you said 4 PC's i thought you meant 4 pc's which weren't advanced (small work usage PC's) of course if have a water cooled pc with x-fire etc then you'd go with a bigger wattage branded PSU - you wouldn't risk it with a 400W PSU for example but if your generally running a small gaming PC (4850 card for example) then i'm still sticking to my guns and recommending a Corsair 500W or similiar.

However upgrading wise i agree with you.
 
Brummies said:
you wouldn't risk it with a 400W PSU for example but if your generally running a small gaming PC (4850 card for example) then i'm still sticking to my guns and recommending a Corsair 500W or similiar
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Most PSUs have a decent heat/efficiency/noise profile between 20 and 60% load (silentpcreview good place for checking that out), seeing as many (even relatively recent, quad core) systems use under 250 (certainly under 300) a decent quality PSU with 500+/40A on the +12v rails is plenty sufficient for the average gaming system (dual cores with a modest single card can be less than 200, even 150).

Still, over-rating makes sense to keep the heat/noise down but without going OTT for intended/future purpose/upgrades.

Have people actually had the GX series go pop? The reviews I've seen the problems are mostly at high load levels the average user is unlikely to reach and possible cap-issues, they aren't great but not that bad :confused:
 
Have people actually had the GX series go pop? The reviews I've seen the problems are mostly at high load levels the average user is unlikely to reach and possible cap-issues, they aren't great but not that bad :confused:
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not actually but you know, spending money on a new system and then realizing that the PSU you are using makes use of quite low quality caps and wasn't given quite a praise isn't the thing I wanted to hear, and frying anything is certainly a huge NO NO at the moment :rolleyes:

I don't have anything near a super power hungry system but an AMD quad-core, an ATI 5858, maybe up to 3 HHDs, up to 7 fans, dvd drives, an ausu crosshair and what not aren't the least power hungry either, I think...so I'd better be on the safe side and have the most of reliability that I can and go for something praised like what I now own, the Antec Signature 650W ;)
 
rush_syndrome said:
* A larger psu generate less heat comparably yet only consumes marginally more power than a smaller one at that rated power.
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Whilst I agree with some of your points, others are just plain crazy. The only source of heat generation in a PSU is from the power wasted in it. Less efficiency = more wastage = more heat generated. A (theoretical) 100% efficient PSU would not waste any energy so would be completely silent, need no fans and would get no warmer than ambient. A PSU wasting 60W has roughly the equivalent heat of a 60W light bulb to get rid of.

I'm not suggesting that you run top-end crossfire systems on 500W, but for your home servers, 1kW seriously? If they are built from standard "desktop" kit then I'd be surprised if they need more than 150W/250W at idle/peak which is well outside of their efficiency sweetspot. For comparison, a high spec business-grade HP DL370 server uses 287W/525W and HP say it is fine with their 750W PSU (spec: 2x hex-core CPU, 12 sticks of RAM, 14x 3.5" HDD 7k and 15k).

If overspeccing wastes just 40W extra per year in your servers running 24/7, then you're wasting enough money (£40) to by a brand new Corsair HX650 outright every 3 years. I'd much rather buy a decent 500/600W PSU from a proven and respected brand e.g. Seasonic, Corsair, instead of blowing even more money just to get a pointlessly high output figure from a cheapo brand, or a ridiculous amount of money for a high-output decent brand.
 
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rush_syndrome said:
Your not reading it properly. Read it again there are plenty of reasons why I am suggesting this. One of those is that generally the larger supplies are better built and come with a longer warranty. I've been selling PC's professionaly since 1985 and 80 % of hardware failures is down to poorly built or under specified psu's.

As for my pc's, two of them are fully blown water cooled rigs with x-fire and the other two are used as servers with a lot of disks in. I don't want to keep upgrading or replacing the every year so it's better to buy high end once, cheaper in the long run.. but what do I know?
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Wouldnt mind your advice mate on a problem I have with my Corsair HX1000. You seem to know your psu's :)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18194876&highlight=roey

Cheers.

RoEy

P.S. Soz to OP in advance.
 
vsmora said:
If overspeccing wastes just 40W extra per year in your servers running 24/7, then you're wasting enough money (£40) to by a brand new Corsair HX650 outright every 3 years. I'd much rather buy a decent 500/600W PSU from a proven and respected brand e.g. Seasonic, Corsair, instead of blowing even more money just to get a pointlessly high output figure from a cheapo brand, or a ridiculous amount of money for a high-output decent brand.
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That depends on what you have planned for the future though. If you are going to be upgrading in the future then it makes sense too buy a bigger one straight off. Yes you might loose £40 as your example in the first year but if you need to upgrade your psu at the and of the year (say you go watercooling and xfire/sli) then the second hand value will be more of a drop of £40 from rrp. Obviously at a point the money wasted will overtake the drop from rrp to second hand but it can be worth it. Take mine for example a lot of the time 850w is far too much but using online calculators (with my planned level of overclock) they calculated in the 500 W region. If this is correct it puts it 58% use at max load, though I always add a bit more on top of the calcs to be sure so say 65% load at max which puts it in the quite effecient levels and with the plans of future watercooling it keeps it all nicely with one psu.
 
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