Would you use a PSU for 10 years?

Rofflay · 4 Oct 2020 at 01:49

Christmas 2020 is anticipated as my upgrade time and i am in a dilemma about my AX860i which has been used now for nearly 5yrs i honestly lost count of time. It powers a 4770k system at 4.3ghz and a 2080ti.

It is now a £170 psu where i paid £136. And i am not sure if i want it in my new Ryzen 4000 build. The thing is my uncles prebuilt ocuk Q6600 went boom and killed a lot of stuff inside. And thats my worst nightmare. But replacing it would cost around £150 as well. It has a 10yr warranty, But thats not much good when you need to wait like a month+ and what if it killed the base.

What do you think? My gut says sell the old base intact and suck up the cost of a platinum 850w. But it will mean waiting until March 2021 but i am content to wait as well.

postmanfw · 4 Oct 2020 at 08:09

Still using my AX850 in the pc i built 9 years ago...its been on 24/7 for the last 3 years.

What psu was in your uncles pc as i am guessing it wasnt an AX psu by corsair?

Rroff · 4 Oct 2020 at 08:13

10 years is about the time I start thinking of replacing a PSU on a newish system.

robj20 · 4 Oct 2020 at 08:19

Yes still using my old XFX 850w.

The_Arbiter · 4 Oct 2020 at 08:24

You can get 850w with 7/10yr warranty for around £130. Why wait to March for Platinum? Remember the stock situation we are still recovering from that started in March this year

EsaT · 4 Oct 2020 at 09:48

Rofflay said:
The thing is my uncles prebuilt ocuk Q6600 went boom and killed a lot of stuff inside.

Prebuilts usually have at best mediocre quality PSUs and too often crappy ones.
Just check what are warranty lengths for those particular PSUs and you'll see they were never intended to last.

Mucky_Pup · 4 Oct 2020 at 13:58

I've only just replaced my coolermaster PSU after 12 years of use.

JasonM · 4 Oct 2020 at 15:01

Things to consider. 1) Was the PSU high quality? 2) Was the PSU under high load for long periods of time?

If yes to 1, and no to 2, then I would keep using the PSU.

BrynS · 4 Oct 2020 at 18:25

What's the consensus on the age of the unit since it was manufactured versus the period of time it has actually been in use in a system as presumably the caps and other components can still degrade if the PSU is sitting in a warehouse for a few years before it's purchased and installed? Should the date of manufacture/assembly be used in determining the replacement timescale?

For example, I believe my current PSU was released in 2011 however I only purchased it "new" in 2014. I need to look and see if I can find a manufacturing date on the unit, so while I have only have used it for six years it could potentially be up to 9 years since it was assembled.

Rofflay · 9 Oct 2020 at 07:18

JasonM said:
Things to consider. 1) Was the PSU high quality? 2) Was the PSU under high load for long periods of time?

If yes to 1, and no to 2, then I would keep using the PSU.

I am sure ocuk supplied a Corsair 620w but forget which model i guess whatever 620w was popular around the Q6600 time and it apparantly blew.

I am still debating this in my head, I think the likely scenario is i keep the AX860i and simply reuse the case and sell the internals on the MM.

snips86x · 9 Oct 2020 at 07:37

Still using a Corsair HX850, thinking about replacing it next year.

edscdk · 9 Oct 2020 at 12:01

I've fixed 100s of pc dont think I've seen 1 pc with faulty psu and secondary component ..

It's obviously possible but not very likely a psu kills other parts .. in cheap I'd keep the old psu

OvEr_KiLL · 10 Oct 2020 at 15:41

i would replace it when the warranty has run out but thats just me.

Justintime · 10 Oct 2020 at 18:46

Funny thing is I've seen more psus have capacitor problems when sat for years rather than be in use.

Kelt · 10 Oct 2020 at 20:58

My 850W Cooler Master will be 13 years old on 20/11/20, still running perfectly.

chaparral · 12 Oct 2020 at 18:38

OvEr_KiLL said:
i would replace it when the warranty has run out but thats just me.

Why ? What the point in doing that ? :confused:

OvEr_KiLL · 12 Oct 2020 at 20:58

chaparral said:
Why ? What the point in doing that ?

i figured the warranty lengths are how long the psu should last before it blows and takes other components with it

Rom · 12 Oct 2020 at 22:25

Im still using a Corsair HX1000 from 2008!
Giving my 3080 400w no problems.

Though i am replacing for new build

chaparral · 12 Oct 2020 at 22:25

OvEr_KiLL said:
i figured the warranty lengths are how long the psu should last before it blows and takes other components with it

Even if it not that then i guess with most PSU warranties being around 7 to 10 years it not going be that bad to fork out for a new PSU just once every 7 to 10 years

I bought my PSU in Jan 2011 :eek:

I just replaced the 140mm fan in my PSU a few days ago
(I don't think the fan in it was even working anymore :eek:

as there been no dust at all on the PSU fan filter for a few years)

OpenToSuggestions · 12 Oct 2020 at 22:32

Only just replaced my Corsair TX750, because I wanted a zero rpm mode.

I gave the old PSU to a friend who still uses it.

I'd still use it if it all looks good. Perhaps for piece of mind have a visual check at the capacitors to check they are not leaking (they won't be). For goodness sake do not give yourself a shock though, as a PSU can hold charge for many months since being last used.