PSU warning?

CurlyWhirly · 24 Apr 2006 at 13:26

I have read a few threads recently where power supplies have failed and in some cases taken the motherboard, graphics card out etc.

I have been lucky up to now and have never had a PSU fail so what I was wondering is that, generally speaking, is there any warning that it is about to fail like for example like the voltages fluctuating in a Hardware Monitor for example :confused:

When I look at my Hardware Monitor I get:

On my 5V rail I usually get 4.91V so if the tolerances were to drop like to 4.66V this would serve as a warning would it?

4T5 · 24 Apr 2006 at 14:19

If it has Q-Tec written on it then translate Q-Tec to Explosion imminant.

Apart from Q-Tec's i have not read any horror storys concerning PSU's.
Personally i don't understand why anyone would spend 800quid or more and power it with anything sub standard.
To me it's like owning a Modena and running it on remoulds.

CurlyWhirly · 24 Apr 2006 at 14:35

malc30 said:
If it has Q-Tec written on it then translate Q-Tec to Explosion imminant.

Yes I myself have read quite a few threads on the Q-Tec power supplies :eek:

Fortunately mine is an enermax 460W and I am under the impression that they are a decent brand :confused:

My power supply is around 4 years old though so whether it's coming to the end of it's life I don't know hence I was wondering about the warning signs like voltage drop etc.

split · 24 Apr 2006 at 17:02

Fortunately mine is an enermax 460W and I am under the impression that they are a decent brand

My power supply is around 4 years old though so whether it's coming to the end of it's life I don't know hence I was wondering about the warning signs like voltage drop etc.

I had an enermax of that era on a Socket A system, and the 5 volt was always on the low side.
I suppose it's also going to depend on what you got in the box as well, but any socket A is heavy on the 5 volt rail.

PARUK · 24 Apr 2006 at 17:34

To be honest I think the best you can do is buy a decent brand with enough juice to run your system comfortably, and hope you don't get unlucky.

I've seen plenty of posts even from people with decent brand psus (Seasonic, Antec, Enermax) who've lost other components when the magic blue smoke escaped

Obviously if you start seeing symptoms of unstable rails, like lockups and spontaneous reboots on what is normally a stable system, then the psu should be on your list of suspects. But I wouldn't put much faith in the onboard voltage readouts - they're often very inaccurate.

kutmasta · 24 Apr 2006 at 20:59

my enermax died a while ago, didnt take anything with it

enermax RMAed it in TWO DAYS!!

they saved be just before a lan party

CurlyWhirly · 25 Apr 2006 at 14:43

split said:
but any socket A is heavy on the 5 volt rail.

Is that because of the relatively high power consumption compared to AMD 64 bit processors?

PARUK said:
To be honest I think the best you can do is buy a decent brand with enough juice to run your system comfortably, and hope you don't get unlucky.

I've used online PSU calculators and I have over 100W to spare.

PARUK said:
Obviously if you start seeing symptoms of unstable rails, like lockups and spontaneous reboots on what is normally a stable system, then the psu should be on your list of suspects. But I wouldn't put much faith in the onboard voltage readouts - they're often very inaccurate.

Fortunately, my PC is as stable as a rock (touchwood).

kutmasta said:
my enermax died a while ago, didnt take anything with it

That's good news for me as I also have an Enermax.

p.s. I replied to this comment in another thread after having read that one first!

split · 25 Apr 2006 at 15:42

Originally Posted by split
but any socket A is heavy on the 5 volt rail.

Is that because of the relatively high power consumption compared to AMD 64 bit processors?

It's just a fact of life (design) that Socket A chips use 5 volts, and socket 939 uses 12 volts.

AMD 64 bit processors also guzzle power but on a different rail (12Volt)
When socket 939 came out, many had to replace ageing PSU's that had a 12 volt rails below 18 amps (same for all socket 939)

The only PSU that has ever given me 5 volts under load on a socket A chip is an OCZ 520 watt powerstream, but thats a dear PSU for an 'old' system.

SiriusB · 25 Apr 2006 at 16:05

If PSU failure did take out something like your CPU or GFX are the PSU vendors liable for that in any way? Especially if the PSU died its death before its time?

SiriusB

split · 25 Apr 2006 at 16:14

SiriusB said:
If PSU failure did take out something like your CPU or GFX are the PSU vendors liable for that in any way? Especially if the PSU died its death before its time?

SiriusB

Can you prove it?
They might just say the motherboard or similar took out the PSU.

Can that happen...well yes it's happened to me.

My MSI Neo2 wouldn't boot.....checked enermax PSU and it was dead.
Bought new OCZ and that died on it within 20 mins. (out of case so no shorts)
Sent motherboard and PSU back, and they where too scared to test the motherboard in case it took their PSU out.

Jimbo Mahoney · 25 Apr 2006 at 16:31

PARUK said:
I wouldn't put much faith in the onboard voltage readouts - they're often very inaccurate.

Q4T

SiriusB · 25 Apr 2006 at 17:33

split said:
Can you prove it?
They might just say the motherboard or similar took out the PSU.

Can that happen...well yes it's happened to me.

My MSI Neo2 wouldn't boot.....checked enermax PSU and it was dead.
Bought new OCZ and that died on it within 20 mins. (out of case so no shorts)
Sent motherboard and PSU back, and they where too scared to test the motherboard in case it took their PSU out.

Well if you were to get serious, surely theres a difference in the type of damage caused by the mobo being killed by the PSU and vice versa?

Pretty sure if my PSU knackjered something else expensive I'd be chasing around after the vendor until I have justice!

Anyone got the number for The Punisher?

SiriusB

split · 25 Apr 2006 at 17:49

I think you'll find the bottom line here is that testing costs money.

We have already had a huge thread on here about an MSI motherboards USB post nearly setting fire to someones house, and unless you can prove it 100% (nigh on impossible) then they ain't gonna pay out or admit fault.

CurlyWhirly · 26 Apr 2006 at 11:10

split said:
It's just a fact of life (design) that Socket A chips use 5 volts, and socket 939 uses 12 volts.

As I have never had a socket 939 processor I had no idea that they ran on 12 V.
Thanks for the explanation BTW

split · 26 Apr 2006 at 13:05

It's become well documented on a lot of forums these days.
Say here or here.

Lots of people thought they would get away using old PSU's, but it's not that easy

vocch · 26 Apr 2006 at 13:59

Hi guys....while were on the psu subject...i'm looking for another 7900gt for sli should i get another psu to go with it like the Hyperpower...my psu is an aerocool aeropower 11 with a mm my +5v=5.23 and +12v=12.34.

Edit: Nevermind just got myself an FSP 600W BeasT