Technology, Support, and News Forum

[Wai_Wai Profile]

Degradation of a PSU depends on two things and they're directly related IMO.
1, the capacitors being used in a power supply
2, the amount of heat going through the power supply which causes the capacitors to lose efficiency.

Bad, cheap caps = lower life because they will "pop" faster from what I've looked online.

PSU aging is serious in this case. I would assume inefficient caps would give off more heat than they normally do... and you know what this could lead to.

I'm going to get good brands and quality PSUs. So the capacitors should be much long-lived.

OK. If the aging is still serious for quality PSU, questions:
1) Should I use my PSU for a long period? For example 5-6 years. If so, assume a system which really consume max 300W, what PSU should I get? (Please assume the watt advertised is honest. Don't add headroom. I will find out their actual output myself)

2) Or should I buy a lower-watt (so cheaper) decent PSU, and upgrade every 3 years?

[mnemonicj Profile]

PSU's do degrade over time, I did some research last year on PSU degradation and I found that they degrade at about %10 a year. What I have always done was use a PSU calculator, using the higher of the options and adding %50 and it's doing well so far with a decent namebrand PSU.

That figure cannot be true. My brother has a Dell computer he purchased in 1998 and is still using the same power supply. It has received almost continuous use for at least 9 of the 10 years. If your calculations are anywhere near accurate, that power supply wouldn't produce enough power to power the computer.

Ask anyone that has an old amplifier that still uses the same general technology as today's products and they will tell you it still works fine. In general, when you lose an amp, like I have, I just goes. I think the power supply degrading over time (to a significant amount) is a little bit of BS. Not to say you shouldn't buy a decent power supply to start.

[Computerwiz2489 Profile Website]

Wai I think your PSU should be aimed at 5-7 years of use if not longer. If your system consumes 300W then aim for about 500-550. It's a lot but then if you wanted to upgrade the graphics card then it would chomp on a lot of Watts. 550W would be futureproof for a system that needs 300W now. Plenty of room to add that BluRay, graphics card, and extra hard drive.

With regards to the PSU issue, I have a LiteON Power Supply that came with my HP PC. I am replacing it with an Antec Earthwatts 430W soon to accomodate a 8800GS. I don't know what HP is thinking but I sure wouldn't trust a company like LiteOn to make a PSU. I may, however , be paranoid but then again if it lasts a year when the warranty goes and then the PSU blows out it's not HP's problem anymore.

The quality of a PSU really depends though. OEMs may use more reputable brands that give less power thus explaining why a Dell from 1998 is still working and why a 6 year old Gateway P4 with a 140W PSU I have still works. For us people who can buy PSUs off of newegg there are some shoddy products available for cheap. Again it all comes down to the capacitors being used. Capacitors can go bad fairly quickly like Augie mentioned if they're low quality caps and can quickly blow in a few years, if not a few months. Just look at some of the reviews on newegg on low quality power supplies rated 1 or 2 eggs. Most of them die after a few hours, a few weeks, or a few months.

[Wai_Wai Profile]

PSU's do degrade over time, I did some research last year on PSU degradation and I found that they degrade at about %10 a year.

Is it linear? For example, a PSU which can actually output 500W:
1st year: 450W
2nd year: 400W
3rd year: 350W
and so on

What quality of PSU did you test? I wonder if decent/good brands are more aging-resistant.

[yeshuas]

the better the power supply usually the better the service you should receive. I use a lot of ThermalTake, Antec, and Nspire, in that order, and in my opinion that is the order of quality with ThermalTake being the best.

[augie]

PSU's do degrade over time, I did some research last year on PSU degradation and I found that they degrade at about %10 a year.

Is it linear? For example, a PSU which can actually output 500W:
1st year: 450W
2nd year: 400W
3rd year: 350W
and so on

What quality of PSU did you test? I wonder if decent/good brands are more aging-resistant.

I never tested anything myself as I don't have the expertise. I did find my thread here Also keep in mind heat also degrades the capacitors.