PSU Dangerous ?

venomx · 19 Nov 2019 at 16:45

Running an RX580 GPU with Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 500W 80 Plus PSU

I was advised on another forum that it's not a good enough PSU and could be dangerous and damage my PC ? Is this true ? I have had it like this for a month now with no reboots, blue screens, freezing, lagging etc it all runs perfectly

Thanks

Joxeon · 19 Nov 2019 at 17:00

venomx said:
Running an RX580 GPU with Cooler Master MasterWatt Lite 500W 80 Plus PSU

I was advised on another forum that it's not a good enough PSU and could be dangerous and damage my PC ? Is this true ? I have had it like this for a month now with no reboots, blue screens, freezing, lagging etc it all runs perfectly

Thanks

Seems ok to me, I mean it's not amazing quality but should do the job. You would likely have warranty cover if anything did go wrong if it's only a month old.

Grimley · 19 Nov 2019 at 17:31

I wouldn't say it was dangerous, its just that in 2019 you can buy much better PSU's. OK I've looked around & CM PSU's that wattage are cheap, but you get what you pay for as people say.

Example:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Bitfenix Formula Series 550W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £66.95

Total: £77.45 (includes shipping: £10.50)

Review of the 600 watt version here & he didn't pull any punches.

https://www.jonnyguru.com/blog/2018/10/08/cooler-master-masterwatt-lite-600w-230v-power-supply/

peterwalkley · 20 Nov 2019 at 09:46

A PSU is not going to damage your PC unless it's faulty or blows.

pastymuncher · 20 Nov 2019 at 10:23

I think I know where the dangerous statement has come from. Jonnyguru has reviewed the 600w version of the Masterwatt lite and pretty much slated it giving it just 5.5/10. He makes the statement "could damage your pc" several times. It's a horrible Enhance built unit with second and third tier capacitors, cheap sleeve bearing fan, stamped steel fan grill and has bare wires apart from the 24 pin and 8 pin which both have cheap sleeving on it. It's only got the basic 80+ white certification as well. Basically cheap and nasty rubbish. I don't get why people are still skimping on the PSU these days when high quality gold rated units are very affordable.

venomx · 20 Nov 2019 at 14:45

pastymuncher said:
I think I know where the dangerous statement has come from. Jonnyguru has reviewed the 600w version of the Masterwatt lite and pretty much slated it giving it just 5.5/10. He makes the statement "could damage your pc" several times. It's a horrible Enhance built unit with second and third tier capacitors, cheap sleeve bearing fan, stamped steel fan grill and has bare wires apart from the 24 pin and 8 pin which both have cheap sleeving on it. It's only got the basic 80+ white certification as well. Basically cheap and nasty rubbish. I don't get why people are still skimping on the PSU these days when high quality gold rated units are very affordable.

Do you recommend I change it ASAP or can it wait ?

My current PSU has pretty much 100% positive reviews on Google so i dont know who to believe

Grimley · 20 Nov 2019 at 16:24

The reviews on Google are from a United States PC parts Retailer. I would wager that most of those people think that Coolermaster make good PSU's for that price & probably most of them are not enthusiasts. On the other hand all the regulars like @pastymuncher are & @EsaT are pretty knowledgeable about PSU's. I've learned that skimping on said PC Part is not a good idea, One of the good things about a quality PSU is that you can transfer it from one PC build to another over the years & it doesnt miss a beat. A cheaper PSU may not have the necessary surge protection if it goes bang which may take out the rest of your PC, if it does in your case it may not happen but there's always the law according to sod.

After all you don't want this happen

Quartz · 20 Nov 2019 at 16:45

pastymuncher said:
Jonnyguru has reviewed the 600w version of the Masterwatt lite and pretty much slated it giving it just 5.5/10.

Yup, @venomx, that's a replace ASAP warning.

venomx · 20 Nov 2019 at 17:08

Grimley said:
After all you don't want this happen

Lol that happened after 6 minutes though, mines been running months without anything like that, its also a good bit of advertising for corsair. Also that is from 2009

I don't know what to do, some people say my psu is fine and some say its not

Thinking of getting the Corsair Vengeance 750m Silver

b00merang69 · 20 Nov 2019 at 17:30

The PSU is the MOST important piece of your PC (sounds dumb I know as you need other part or its not going to be a PC).

I see people willing to buy a high end GPU or CPU/Mobo then skimping on the PSU, that can end with the PSU dying and taking some or all the other parts with it.

Grimley · 20 Nov 2019 at 17:37

That is certainly better than your current PSU. I still wouldn't buy because:

5 Year Warranty, some manufacturers will do 10 years plus PSU warranty.
Not Fully Modular can be a factor.
Only 80+ silver rated, again that factor depends on your PC usage.
Couple of years old design, probably no longer made for Corsair.

750 watt Corsair that will be better than that one for £15-£20 more, could be worth it if you value your PC.

Review of it here:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/corsair-rm-750-2019/7.html

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Corsair RM Series RM750 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020195-UK)= £99.95

Total: £108.65 (includes shipping: £8.70)

venomx · 20 Nov 2019 at 18:37

Grimley said:
That is certainly better than your current PSU. I still wouldn't buy because:

5 Year Warranty, some manufacturers will do 10 years plus PSU warranty.
Not Fully Modular can be a factor.
Only 80+ silver rated, again that factor depends on your PC usage.
Couple of years old design, probably no longer made for Corsair.

750 watt Corsair that will be better than that one for £15-£20 more, could be worth it if you value your PC.

Review of it here:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/corsair-rm-750-2019/7.html

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Corsair RM Series RM750 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020195-UK)= £99.95

Total: £108.65 (includes shipping: £8.70)

That one looks good. I'll do some more reading then possibly buy it

Minibiker · 20 Nov 2019 at 18:40

Ten year warranty with the Corsair RM units so that's a big bonus

venomx · 20 Nov 2019 at 18:42

Minibiker said:
Ten year warranty with the Corsair RM units so that's a big bonus

Ok dude.

Did some reading on Amazon lots of people are complaining about " Coil Whine " and one guy even said it caught fire after 3 months

Minibiker · 20 Nov 2019 at 18:47

venomx said:
Ok dude.

Did some reading on Amazon lots of people are complaining about " Coil Whine " and one guy even said it caught fire after 3 months

I've not heard of anything like that with these units... theyve been recommended a lot lately on here.. im sure it will only have issues like that if your pushing it to hard, like most PSU's

venomx · 20 Nov 2019 at 19:30

Ok im gonna save some money and buy the RM750 Gold

Or should I get the RM750X ?

pastymuncher · 20 Nov 2019 at 20:17

What are the dates of these reviews complaining about coil whine and catching fire? The reason I ask is that the Corsair RM series has not long relaunched with a much improved version. The original wasn't very good and only had a 5 year warranty. The new version is hugely upgraded and has a 10 year warranty. The bummer is that you have missed the fantastic relaunch deals that were on offer everywhere. I wouldn't buy one at the current prices though and if I was looking for a 750w psu right now I would get the Superflower Leadex III Gold 750w at the same price. It's a better psu all around but has a shorter warranty at 7 years.

However, you really don't need a 750w psu and could easily get away with a 550w psu so I would suggest ither the Bitfenix Formula series 550w that Grimley posted further up or if you want a high quality, fully modular unit the Superflower Leadex III Gold 550w. There is nothing to gain from paying any more for a 550w psu.

EsaT · 20 Nov 2019 at 22:22

pastymuncher said:
The reason I ask is that the Corsair RM series has not long relaunched with a much improved version.

Corsair just didn't improve capacitors.
Or did they downgrade those to cover cost of the improvements...

Because Su'scons with couple stray Elites isn't excactly quality overflowing choise:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm650-power-supply,6187.html

Seasonic Focus based Phanteks AMP is the best priced 10 year warranty PSU with top tier capacitors.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=phanteks+amp

venomx · 21 Nov 2019 at 09:10

pastymuncher said:
What are the dates of these reviews complaining about coil whine and catching fire? .

The one that said it caught fire was 2017 and theres one or two that mention coil whine in 2018/2019 however there are 300 reviews and 95% are positive

Minibiker · 21 Nov 2019 at 09:16

venomx said:
The one that said it caught fire was 2017 and theres one or two that mention coil whine in 2018/2019 however there are 300 reviews and 95% are positive

You'll get mixed reviews with every product, some reviews I've found have seemed so fake... You'll be fine with the RM750 if you want an alternative PSU then look at the Super Flower III Leadex 750w