shelf it or use it?

G

gaspah

2[H]4U
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May 29, 2007
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I have a Silverstone 750w psu that i retired from my main rig after only a few months because i got an ultra-cheap 750w corsair... the thing is should i use it in a drone rig i have... 3.0GHz p4, 4 hdd, dvd, onboard gfx... which already has a sufficient cheaper psu..

i know either way after my few years are up it will be out of warranty, but wondering if how much longer it will last if i don't use it in this 24/7 rig..

so basically will using a 750W psu @ 100-150W 24/7 significantly reduce the life of the product??

i'd sell it but i have a problem selling things for less than i paid...


cheers guys
 
gaspah said:
so basically will using a 750W psu @ 100-150W 24/7 significantly reduce the life of the product??
Click to expand...

What the .... ?

Of course it will significantly reduce the lifespan of the product! If you run it 24/7 for a year then it will reduce the lifespan by .... ohhh something like a year?

*chuckles* You guys crack me up sometimes... :D
 
gaspah said:
ok then funny guy :)

so you say i should shelf it until i build another decent rig..
Click to expand...

Definitely, you said yourself that the drone rig already has a sufficient PSU. Save the Silverstone for use on a future build, and look at it this way: You'll have a spare should the Corsair ever fail (unlikely) or the drone PC's PSU fail. :)
 
Use it or sell it. Sitting around does nothing except reduce the value. Sure leaving it on 24/7 will reduce the lifespan, but you're talking about instead of 20 years it will only last 18. I have plenty of old PSU's the become obsolete before they stop working.
 
Id think the Corsair is a lateral trade at best if not a downgrade :S, if this is the Zeus then it is definitely a downgrade IMO.
 
If its not being used or just as backup PS then sell it. Use the $$ for something you need.
 
What about, if it sits on the shelf a year its a year older as well so it life is reduced by a year.

Well thats not true either.

Actually it is a very complicated question and a reliability engineer could spend months working on an answer if he could find all the component data, environmental data, etc. But I will take a simplified wack at it from a more technical approach.

Its about shelf life of the components (mainly the caps) and the storage conditions (assume good i.e not in the unheated/unvented shed out back with the leaky roof). vs the operational stress of using the thing.

1) On the shelf it will last a long long time with almost on degradation, the caps are an issue but frankly I don't remember much about electrolytic cap shelf life under good storage conditions as 99.999999999999 % are put into service fairly soon after manufacturing. They will eventually dry out from the vent hole but that might not even be present in current designs and would be in the order of 10s of years. The caps are the only things that come to mind as having an aging issue with long term storage.

2) In the kind of use you are describing, while the efficiency of the supply will probably be on the low side, so will the stress, mainly heat, and the supply should last a good long while and frankly it will be an AC surge/spike/brownout that will probably take it out. Or God hates you and it will fail for no discernible reason in a month. /useless anecdote I have a TTGI 450W supply in my NF7-s machine that has been in continuous use for over 6 years. /end useless anecdote

3) While I do not think such low end use will significantly reduce the "lifetime" it certainly must to some extent and the risk exposure (compared to sitting on a shelf) is great. ( I think too there could be a whole new thread on what "Lifetime" really means in regards to electronics, MTBF is widely misunderstood for example).


So mainly due to the risk of damage due to electrical disturbances damaging a high priced item that is not really needed to be in service, my call would be to shelf it also, but based on entirely different reasons, mainly economic. But the logic is the same, you don't need to use it, it is a significant investment, save it for a spare and eliminate the risk of it failing for whatever reason until you really need to put it in service.
 
Yes, shelf it till you have something worth putting it in. I had a brand new psu go out from a power surge that somehow got passed my surge protector/old bad surge protector. I agree that the risk is much greater putting it in service at a low capacity than allowing it to slowly deteriorate on the shelf.
 
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