Worth risking cheap PSU for 2/3 days?

What's 'utterly ragged'. Cheap PSUs don't even produce the advertised wattage and amps anyway.

If you don't run a GPU (total power consumption under 150-200W), then fine. If it meets some certification (Bronze), has enough juice on the 12V rail, then fine too. If it's just a £15 piece of garbage used for office desktops, don't even try running a GPU on it.
 
spoffle said:
It's only a risk if it's long term
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Whilst I do understand where you're coming from, to state there is 'no risk' if used short term is, to coin a word you used earlier, disingenuous.

'No risk' is a bold statement to make - there is always a risk. With low quality power supplies the risk is higher than with premium brands, but that risk might well be acceptable to the OP. I do agree that the chances of catastrophic failure will be low if used for a day or two, but the risk is still there. For me, that risk would not be worth taking given the cost of replacing my gear and the fact that I have been burnt by cheap power supplies twice before, the second time a Q-Tec died the second it was turned on (cost me a motherboard, CPU and RAM the first time, and just RAM the second time). Having said all that I've known people to run cheap power supplies for years without issue.

People advise decent power supplies for a reason - it's about risk vs reward. The reward simply isn't worth it for most.
 
ExRayTed said:
Whilst I do understand where you're coming from, to state there is 'no risk' if used short term is, to coin a word you used earlier, disingenuous.

'No risk' is a bold statement to make - there is always a risk. With low quality power supplies the risk is higher than with premium brands, but that risk might well be acceptable to the OP. I do agree that the chances of catastrophic failure will be low if used for a day or two, but the risk is still there. For me, that risk would not be worth taking given the cost of replacing my gear and the fact that I have been burnt by cheap power supplies twice before, the second time a Q-Tec died the second it was turned on (cost me a motherboard, CPU and RAM the first time, and just RAM the second time). Having said all that I've known people to run cheap power supplies for years without issue.

People advise decent power supplies for a reason - it's about risk vs reward. The reward simply isn't worth it for most.
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The risk is contextual. Tinkering with your PC can be a risk. Installing new hardware can be in case you get smacked in the mouth with serious bad luck and kill something with static discharge.

My point is that using a crappy PSU for a few days isn't any more of a risk than all these other things

Incidentally I've actually only ever had expensive quality PSUs go pop or bang. Any time I have I've had a crappy generic PSU to stand in for it temporarily.

The emphasis people place on generic PSUs being the devil is just mad. The general attitude around here is that it'll break as soon as any load is put on it.

It really isn't the case. There's a lot wrong with them but the notion that they'll fall over instantly is just absurd.
 
It is better to be safe than sorry and while the CiT PSU may and more than likely would suffice, there is the off chance that it could fry a system and being a £20 ish power supply, that off chance is a lot higher than a quality unit from the likes of Seasonic, EVGA, Corsair etc etc.
 
My advise is NEVER put a psu related question in this forum. Everyone will criticise any other than a gold rated 750 psu costing a hundred pounds. Cheap and cheerful is the point of these cheap units. Temporary use it would be hard luck indeed I'd anything bad happened.
 
^ This

Avoid gaming if you must use it. Personally I would find something else to do for a few days.

I could suggest removing the GPU and a memory stick (if you have 2) and backing everything up but Spoffle would tell me I'm being over dramatic
 
I wont risk it, chances are nothing would probably happen but why bother when I can just wait.

I will get an EVGA, seems cheap and a good brand.

Thanks for replies/help
 
spoffle said:
The risk is contextual. Tinkering with your PC can be a risk. Installing new hardware can be in case you get smacked in the mouth with serious bad luck and kill something with static discharge.
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At the risk of derailing the thread, I agree but that is beside the point. If you choose to tinker without understanding there is going to be a risk then you are either a) irretrievably thick or b) irretrievably overconfident. For the uninitiated a power supply is a power supply and many don't understand the actual reasons why cheap power supplies can undercut their more expensive counterparts. That is also the reason we get questions such as the OP's one reasonably regularly here. Of course power supply manufacturers have cottoned on to this and sell us stuff we don't actually need in a good power supply.

A no-name power supply will often require much more juice from the wall socket to achieve it's stated output. What happens to the extra juice? Expended as heat, which will almost certainly lower the life of the internal components within the power supply. Cheap power supplies often can't deliver 'clean' power free of ripples and noise. The results? Varies from instability to dead components. I'm not sure the majority of people who call themselves 'enthusiasts' would know that, although I may be making an unjust assumption here.

Watercooling has it's risks, overclocking has it's risks, building a computer in the first place has it's risks, walking across a road has it's risks but the crucial variable is that these risks are, or should be, known and calculated for when undertaking these tasks. I'm not so sure the risks around cheap power supplies are known. And even if they are, are they really worth the risk when a decent power supply in the 500w range costs around £30 more than a budget piece of garbage?

OP - Good choice.
 
Bickaxe said:
^ This

Avoid gaming if you must use it. Personally I would find something else to do for a few days.

I could suggest removing the GPU and a memory stick (if you have 2) and backing everything up but Spoffle would tell me I'm being over dramatic ��
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Because you are, this thing over cheap PSUs is a learnt behavior passed down from "my mate said" to "my mate said" that cheap PSUs explode the moment you even think about using them
 
spoffle said:
Because you are, this thing over cheap PSUs is a learnt behavior passed down from "my mate said" to "my mate said" that cheap PSUs explode the moment you even think about using them
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No. Now you're being unfair and making huge generalisations. My thoughts are based on experience and a lot of reading. I'm sure lots of others are the same. To suggest that my advice is based on stuff I've heard from a 'mate' is not right or fair. Can I ask where your advice comes from? Probably experience and reading too - does this mean I can suggest your advice is based on apocryphal tales from 'mates'? Clearly not.
 
if I needed a new PSU for my main gaming PC, I would order one straight away on next delivery, there would be no debate on the CIT PSU, I could live 1 day without the PC

I would like to add that I did have a CIT PSU running in a PC that was on all day everyday. It lasted a couple years before it died.... HOWEVER...

When it died , it took the motherboard, the cpu, and a USB keyboard out with it. I replaced it with a seasonic psu ( along with new mobo cpu).

I would never put an unbranded psu in anything but a disposable system made out of second hand bits
 
ExRayTed said:
No. Now you're being unfair and making huge generalisations. My thoughts are based on experience and a lot of reading. I'm sure lots of others are the same. To suggest that my advice is based on stuff I've heard from a 'mate' is not right or fair. Can I ask where your advice comes from? Probably experience and reading too - does this mean I can suggest your advice is based on apocryphal tales from 'mates'? Clearly not.
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I wasn't talking about you. I'm talking about the vague "NO IS BAD" responses others were giving.
 
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