When to replace a PSU

[britain4]

I have googled this issue but can't find anything concrete on it.

What's the expected lifespan of a quality PSU? Currently using an 850w Silverstone Strider Gold in mine and I will need around 750w of power. I've had it going on 7 years now but it's not been used a whole lot as the computer's been up in the loft a lot of that time.

Reason I ask is that when I brought it down from the loft after not having been used in around 18 months (left it in the warm living room for a couple of days in case of condensation) it tripped the mains when I plugged it in. Did this several times and stopped when I plugged it in first and then switched the socket on. It's been working fine the last few weeks and hasn't done that again but I worry about failing capacitors.

If it's mainly the electrolytic capacitors that age in them anyway I'm quite capable of replacing those myself rather than spending the money on a whole new PSU.

 

[britain4]

I know it’s impossible to say how long an individual PSU will last but 7 years seems to be at the high end compared to the general “average”.

It did trip the mains when I very first got it back out - but if I plugged the cable in then turned the socket on after it wouldn’t do it. I put it down to the plug arcing before it was fully inserted and charging up the fully discharged caps but IDK.

That’s the thing... I do have two of those cards now and a heavily overclocked CPU.

Remember paying a premium for that PSU hoping it would last on the back of some rave reviews I read... went for 850w for future expandability... so it’s disappointing to see it on “tier 3” of the PSU lists now. I suppose 7 years isn’t bad going though.

 

[britain4]

Warranty length is a good indicator to me.

Yeah. 3 years on the one I’ve got. Wonder if I should just swap it as a precaution after it tripped out the mains. Although it hasn’t done it again in the few weeks since I plugged it in.

Can get a good deal on a Cooler Master V850 with 5 years warranty so I wonder if I should go for it.

 

[britain4]

Depends on how good the deal is. The seasonic focus plus gold 850w is 'only' £125 with legendary voltage regulation, great internals and a 10 year warranty.

OK not as good a deal as that... it's £119 but only with a 5 year warranty. Looks like that's the one to go for if I am swapping it.

I'm tempted to just leave it and see how it goes but the nasty Teapos in mine seem like a weak point. I am definitely either considering replacing those or replacing the whole PSU. I'm going to put the tripping out the mains thing down as a one off unless it happens again then the Silverstone is going.