Power Supply Reliability Question

[Sttm]

I have been building pcs for about 8 years now and the only component I always seem to have die on me is the power supply. My current system yesterday completely lost power, but after flipping the psu switch off/on it turned back on. Same thing happened this morning, so I am under the assumption that the psu is going to die soon.

The psu in this computer is a Corsair, 750 watt, and its about 20 months old, and I run this pc anywhere from 12-16 hrs a day, sometimes all night rendering. I have also had 2 Antecs die on me, about one to one and a half years after installing. Then also the psu's that came with an Hp Desktop, and a Sony desktop of family members that I ended up replacing; though those lasted over 2 years, but they were not used as much per day.

So the question is: Is it normal for a Power Supply to give out 1-2 years in? Is there a specific brand that gives good longevity?

I am going to buy a new one, but I feel sort of biased against getting another Antec or Corsair psu; but I wonder if I should really be expecting more then 20 months of rock solid usage.

[kenc51]

Have you tested with a digital multi-meter?
I've never had a psu problem (that I didnt cause myself) and have only used quality psu's from Antec and Seasonic.

Are you sure there's nothing environmental causing the problem? Not the AC supply from the mains, as any good psu will filter input voltage, but are you overloading it or using some faulty hardware?
You should test the 3.3v, 5v & 12v rails at the ATX connector, then the 12v at the cpu's power and again at the additional gfx 6/8 pin connector with a multimeter for any fluctuations etc.

:edit:
noticed it's multiple pc's
how's the cooling on these pc's? it could be that the psu(s) fan cant cope with cooling the psu and the rest of the system

[Sttm]

Its not a cooling issue for this computer. The systems I have built I make sure are really well ventilated, like this one is a antec 300 case, with every fan slot in use, and I can put my hand to the front of it and feel the cool air flowing. The HP and Sony, its a definite possibility.

The power has died 3 times now, the first I was playing TF2, the second i was doing nothing at all, 3rd time I was just using Word. So its not only under heavy load that it dies. I do not have a meter to test it; but I feel like it would need to be replaced no matter what.

I going to buy another Antec this time, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817371026, that one to be exact. Price seems really good compared to the local stores.

[skier]

well, the units shouldn't be dieing.

list the hardware in the systems and power supplies used per system because the only reasons for consistent failure is either user error or you're extremely unlucky

my TX750 has been going strong for almost three years in systems varying from Athlon XP to Core2 to Phenom II X2 and Athlon II X4 with heavy overclocking on each system, i don't even hear the fan in the PSU unless i'm pulling over 450W at the wall(which is Athlon II X4 @3.3GHz + GTX260 + GTS250 and an H50 with tons of case fans)

you havn't really given any info we can use because the units you claim to be using all use good parts and are reliable

[Sttm]

That pretty much answered my question. I should be getting more longevity out of this one at least. I guess I was just unlucky on it and the other one I had bought for a custom PC. The Hp and Sony having crappy Psus is prob to be expected. The HP had the worst interior layout id ever seen, it has one of those internal bays for an external hard drive, just really stupidly cramped; and the psu it came with was some supplier only HP uses I bet, and obviously cheap.

My corsair dying was just bad luck probably. Maybe ill go for another corsair, it did give 20 rock solid months of operation, and it technically is still working.

Thanks.

[Apoptosis]

Sttm...

I've had similar issues with PSU's here on LR... I have a few of the Corsair HX620 power supplies here from 2007 and all have been rock solid... zero down time, zero RMA's and no issues. Cooler Master offered to send out several of their 1000W Ultimate power supplies and I just RMA'd my fourth one in roughly a year this month... Needless to say I called Corsair and they sent me out three HX850's to run on the test bench now... So fair the 100% up time with them and with over 10,000 hours of use on each one that says a bunch. I also use an HX1000 in my personal system and a pair of VX450 in my pair of HTPC's... So, out of six PSU's that are all between 1-3 years old, not one has had an issue.

*knock on wood*

[spitter]

Were all these psu's running in the same house, and if so how old is the house??? Might want to get a ups and see if your problems go away, could be a short in the house somewhere. Oh and update your fire insurance.

[Sttm]

That is true all of these PSU's have been in the same house. I think the house was built in the late 60s. It is pretty run down, and I can see it having some electrical issues among other things, but I am renting.

I ended up buying a Corsair 950TX. I do not really need the extra wattage now, but I am going to update my cpu/mobo/ram/gpu/hdd in a couple months, and it only cost about $50 more then the 750 watt. So I splurged.

[spitter]

Spurge and get FIRE INSURANCE, and make sure all your smoke detectors work, and a ups.

[crowTrobot]

Why did you buy a new power supply? Doesn't Corsair have like 5 year warranty?

Definitely have your home electrical checked. Also surge protectors work wonders (for your main and the plug-in ones).