Better old PSU or "meh?" new PSU?
Posted by PinkStereoAttack@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 3 comments
The last PC I built/bought for myself was a fully custom spare-no-expense $4,500 behemoth back in 2011. It worked fantastically with a few incremental upgrades over the years...until now. It's dead, Jim.
So with the quickly rising prices of everything, I no-scoped an iBuyPower prebuilt with an allegedly shite 850w PSU (Channel Well brand?) a few months ago, and it has been working flawlessly.
The older PC was never overclocked or abused, and I built it with a CoolerMaster 1500w Silent Pro Gold PSU - overkill at the time.
My question is whether or not the PSU can (or should) be attempted on a newer PC for it's higher wattage and seemingly better quality? I know that it's extremely old by tech standards, and that's probably the answer to my question right there, but I wanted to ask anyway just in case I wasn't far off base. Are PC components even using the same pigtail/terminators anymore?
If it cannot be used, I don't know what's good anymore and I'd love some direction, since I know a good PSU is very important to the health of a gaming rig.
Thanks!
WherePoetryGoesToDie@reddit
The CM is likely well past its warranty. Electrical components can and will age. I’d keep it as a known-good unit for troubleshooting (assuming it’s not what killed your old PC), but def wouldn’t keep it as a daily driver.
Channel Well makes good and bad PSUs; they’re a manufacturer who produces platforms for other brands. A channel well-branded PSU could be great, could be a time bomb, but if it’s rated gold or above it’s likely (but not guaranteed) that it’s an un-badged version of an otherwise decent PSU (most of their low-grade platforms are bronze or below).
PinkStereoAttack@reddit (OP)
That was a brief thought too... Very well could have been the culprit, which would be funny if I have a reasonably good PC that's just sitting there and only needs a power supply. Might try and test it. Then replace it if it's the issue, and see if I can repurpose the PC for my kid or something.
That aside, seems like I just need to let it go and not consider the old PSU for a new PC. Better, more reliable and predictable to just drop a few hundred on a new beefier PSU if I want a higher watt cap.
a4840639@reddit
I cannot see why it won't work... The only potential issue is, if your GPU needs a 12VHWR cable, you need an adapter on older PSU.
Don't dream about using the modular cables though. Always use the modular cables come with your PSU if you do not want your PC getting burned