Badass?

RowsolBadass?

One too many S's :laugh:

Hmmm, yeah, no thanks EVGA. For me personally, I'd rather "splurge" and buy a Seasonic instead. Whenever I read about PSUs that have only a 3 year (or less!) warranty, that alone is enough to tell me to stay far, far away from that unit.

Gmr_ChickHmmm, yeah, no thanks EVGA. For me personally, I'd rather "splurge" and buy a Seasonic instead. Whenever I read about PSUs that have only a 3 year (or less!) warranty, that alone is enough to tell me to stay far, far away from that unit.

Warranty is just a decision of the marketing department. I've seen really mediocre Thermaltake power supplies with 7 years warranty. The margin just was a lot higher.

Or what about the Seasonic Prime Gold and Platinum PSU's with 12 years warranty which are just Focus based ones, but with a higher margin.

Oh and buying on brand name is stupid, just look at the product self. Just take Seasonic, a problematic Focus launch, already 5 years nothing worthwhile in their budget/mainstream line. And a Prime series which just doesn't have the features of other highend products, only the price.

Seasonic's older G-series, S12G series and X-series where far more interesting back then.

Bronze-rated PSUs are a joke in 2020.

-The_Mask-Warranty is just a decision of the marketing department.

There's more to it than that. The only two 3yr warranty Bronze PSU's I owned both failed after 3.5 and 5 years and it was the cheap capacitors in both cases. For those unaware, the general rule of thumb is "capacitor life halves as temperatures increase every 10c" (beyond a certain point). So, an 85c capacitor (typical of "White / Bronze" rating) might be rated as : 2000hrs at 85c, 4000hrs at 75c, 8000hrs at 65c, 16000hrs at 55c, etc. Whilst a similarly rated 105c capacitor (typical of Gold / Platinum) might be rated at 2000hrs at 105c, 4000hrs at 95c, 8000hrs at 85c, 16000hrs at 75c, 32000hrs at 65c, 64000hrs at 55c, etc. 92-94% efficiency vs 85% also halves the waste heat generated inside the PSU which further compounds the effect on the lower rated ones (Example : Bronze = 200w DC @ 85% efficiency = 235 AC (35w waste heat) vs Platinum = 200w DC @ 94% efficiency = 213w AC (13w waste heat).

This is really what 10 vs 3 year warranties are all about (not running PSU's at actual 105c vs 85c temperatures but rather that better capacitors will last 3-4 longer at any temperature and that more efficient units further amplify lifespan by generating less waste heat anyway). Personally I now never buy anything less than Gold / Platinum rated 100% 105c caps PSU's regardless of how cheap Bronze units are and marketing has little to do with that decision.

Edit: A PSU also doesn't have to hard-fail to be poor. The occassional BSOD's I had on one Bronze (that I falsely assumed were due to motherboard) magically disappeared when fed from a Gold unit. Voltage regulation, ripple, etc, are simply "tighter" on better units.

RowsolBadass?

I was wondering if the power supply would "Pity the fool" :D

BSim500There's more to it than that. The only two 3yr warranty Bronze PSU's I owned both failed after 3.5 and 5 years and it was the cheap capacitors in both cases.

But that tells you nothing. It's just an observation. Also if a capacitor in a PSU already fails after 3.5 years then it has most likely nothing to do with age. Or you bought the a PSU with the worst capacitors possible, but that's highly unlikely.

Anyhow it doesn't has anything to do with the 80PLUS certification, that's only a bad way for measuring efficiency.

-The_Mask-But that tells you nothing. It's just an observation. Also if a capacitor in a PSU already fails after 3.5 years then it has most likely nothing to do with age. Or you bought the a PSU with the worst capacitors possible, but that's highly unlikely.

An observation that cheap capacitors with lower grade dielectrics don't last as long as better ones made of better materials is common. All capacitors degrade over time (gradual deterioration of the dielectric material which is further accelerated by running near the limit of spec or repeated temperature 'cycling') and the older they are the more likely they are to fail. They are by far the #1 cause of PSU death (vs MOSFET's failing, the fan dying, the cables failing or the mains input socket physically falling off). 3yr warranty PSU's dying shortly after 3yrs isn't rare. That's exactly why they are rated 3yrs in the first place.

-The_Mask-Anyhow it doesn't has anything to do with the 80PLUS certification, that's only a bad way for measuring efficiency.

More expensive PSU's = higher rated efficiency. More expensive PSU's also tend to be built better (105c vs 85c caps). The former doesn't cause the latter and the latter isn't dependent on the former, but they do often go hand in hand in the real world because the more money a PSU manufacturer is willing to spend, the more it makes sense to market it as a premium brand. "Buy our shitty efficiency 80Plus White / Bronze PSU with premium 105c caps that's both more expensive than our competitors White / Bronze PSU's but also less efficient than our competitors 105c rated Gold PSU's!" really doesn't work well in the marketing sense. :D

BSim500An observation that cheap capacitors with lower grade dielectrics don't last as long as better ones made of better materials is common. All capacitors degrade over time (gradual deterioration of the dielectric material which is further accelerated by running near the limit of spec or repeated temperature 'cycling') and the older they are the more likely they are to fail.

While that is certainly true. It was unlikely the problem with your two power supplies. Could you tell which power supplies you had and which caps failed from those two?

They are by far the #1 cause of PSU death (vs MOSFET's failing, the fan dying, the cables failing or the mains input socket physically falling off). 3yr warranty PSU's dying shortly after 3yrs isn't rare. That's exactly why they are rated 3yrs in the first place.

Caps failing because of age certainly isn't the first cause of a bad PSU anymore. Nowadays it something you hardly see, it's only a problem in old (10+ years) power supplies. Just ask a PSU manufacturer. Between 10 and 20 years ago this was a big problem because of the much worse quality of the caps and also the PSU designs where much worse. Nowadays caps don't have much ripple filtering to do, cooling inside a PSU is also much better for the caps. So they don't get stressed much anymore. That's why they last a lot longer now.

More expensive PSU's = higher rated efficiency.

Not always true.

More expensive PSU's also tend to be built better (105c vs 85c caps).

Every components is better, normally.

The former doesn't cause the latter and the latter isn't dependent on the former, but they do often go hand in hand in the real world because the more money a PSU manufacturer is willing to spend, the more it makes sense to market it as a premium brand. "Buy our shitty efficiency 80Plus White / Bronze PSU with premium 105c caps that's both more expensive than our competitors White / Bronze PSU's but also less efficient than our competitors 105c rated Gold PSU's!" really doesn't work well in the marketing sense. :D

But a crappy power supply with 'Jap caps' does sell. Even if it still just is a crappy power supply. Same goes for a bad 80PLUS Gold PSU, also sells.

BA= Barely Acquirable? Barely Affordable? :D

ironwolfBA= Barely Acquirable? Barely Affordable? :D

Barely Acceptable.