PSU Overheating Question

C

Crimsonnaire

Member
Hi, everyone.

When a PSU suffers from overheating due to insufficient air cooling from the fan, will it tend to give spikes/surges or brownouts?

I had a power supply with a fan that was spinning slow and didn't realize it. The computer ran for over 6 hours without any detectable problem, but I imagine the drastically reduced air flow must've made the PSU do something wacky, even if it wasn't noticeable from the monitor.

BTW, in my search for a replacement, I've come across these brands: Diablotek, Logisys, Bestec, Linkworld, Athena Power, Raidmax, Coolmax, and Dynex. What's the quality rating for these?

Any clarification will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking and have a safe and happy New Year's.
 
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What power supply do you have? In what way do you think its moving slow (by looking at the fan and its turning really slow)? Some have a PWM fan thats slows down if its not hot.

And no, those brands you listed are junk.

Corsair/XFX/Seasonic/Silverstone/Antec
 
Hmm, the majority of those brands are from Newegg.com, but I'll admit that most of them are also under $40. Thanks very much for the recommendations, I'll check them out right away.

Oh, and I know it was spinning slow because there was a bearing problem that made a vitration. I would have to stop the fan blade by hand to let it resume to its normal RPM. One time the vibration died down and I thought it sped up on its own, so I just let the PC run for many hours. Little did I know that it can spin slow, but also quietly, and it was slow the point where I couldn't even feel any air from the exterior vent of the PSU. From the monitor, the computer functioned completely normal without any visible hints of a problem, but a PSU running hot for 5+ hrs should act up a bit, even if a little, right? I opened the case to see if there was anything I could do to improve the fan problem, but wound up removing the impeller and not being able to reinsert it to the original tightness, so I have that PC on the side and using a Dell GX270 for a moment (which BTW also is having problem booting up and might be PSU related).
 
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To tell you the truth, I'm not too concerned with have top of the line stability/quality from a power supply at the moment because the motherboard and CPU are quite behind on the performance train compared to what's available today. It's a PowerSpec motherboard with an Intel Celeron E1200 (1.6GHz dual core) and 60GB master HDD, 18GB slave HDD, 1GB RAM, 1 CD-RW/DVD optical drive, plus several memory card readers. The old PSU is a 200W generic brand from what I can tell. Here's a pic:
CIMG1288a.jpg


One thing in particular I definitely need from a replacement is a connector for the slave drive in addition to the master.

But anyhow, I've been considering different CPU/motherboard upgrades, so I'm not too concerned with this one as far as the power supply goes. The above power supply lasted since the current motherboard was installed, which was about 2 years ago, and the only reason I had to take it out now is because of the fan bearing (or whatever's causing the vibration).
 
No, that is a cheap 500W unit (peak, not continuous) - specs here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817193017

Look mate, that PSU is rubbish and old and starting to show signs of wear, get rid of it. If you upgrade anything else on that computer, particularly the graphics card, you will need a minimum quality as the Corsair CX430: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139017

You should have 26A of quality power on the 12V rail available. You might look at the two and think they are have similar 12V amperage, but they have different certifications. This means that you cannot add the Cool Power's two-12V rail amperage (12A and 14A) to make 26A - as it only has ATX cert.

If you added the total (being 26A is equal to 312W), you might be perplexed as it only claims to provide 200W on the 12V rail (where the CPU and graphics card draw). That is only 16A, - the rest is 'locked' on 12V rail 1 under (older) ATX design specs - used when more power was required on the 5 and 3.3V rails. You need 26A on the 12V rail for any upgrades, but that PSU is dying.

The $30 Corsair will supply 28A (336W) on the 12V rail, even though it is only rated at as 430W total. This is due to superior quality.

To answer your question directly, yes, low efficiency power supplies, (in the Cool Power - ironic name), heat is generated. That's the wasted energy. The Cool Power has a lower than 60% efficiency. That means that under load it generates heat, the heat further reduces efficiency by increasing the load (resistive). Your PSU is dying. Further to that, the electricity costs would cover the Corsair's cost of $30 in a year, more if it goes bang and takes other components with it.

Bottom line, a failing PSU (however intermittent) needs replacing. The above Corsair will do it perfectly.
 
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