Do I really need a new PSU(s)?

[Mockingbird]

Long story short, my friend bought a Radeon R9 290X from some dude on craigslist and he is given a week return it.

 

Anyway, he want to borrow my Core i7 computer to test the Radeon R9 290X, so I had to look up my PSU, Corsair TX650W to see if it meets the power requirement and it does. He ask me how old the PSU is and I told him that it's 7 years old since I bought it in 2007. Of cause, back then having a Core 2 Quad Q6700 was considered "cool".

 

He told me that I should consider getting new power supplies (I have 3 Corsair TX650W(s) ).

 

So, we put his Radeon R9 290X into the computer anyway and play Assassin's Creed Unity for a few hours.

 

The game runs didn't run well (FPS > 40), but that I doubt that's an issue with the power supply.

 

And no, I have not experience any issue with any of the power supplies.

 

 

Should I really replace my power supplies anyway?

[ShadeOfBlue]

In general, there is no advantage to replacing a power supply that is not experiencing stability problems. It probably wouldn't hurt to make sure they are dusted out and that there aren't any visibly failing components inside (e.g. bulging/leaking capacitors). Other than that, I'd leave well enough alone. Even brand new power supplies fail sometimes. At least you know yours are working.

[T3X4S]

when you say not play well, what exactly was the problem ?  Was it just low fps ?  Or were you getting sprites, and grfx anomalies, etc ?

A bad, or strained PSU wont degrade performance, usually it will just shut down.

It could have been a driver conflict - maybe you originally had an nVidia, plugged in this card, and some issues occurred ?

Getting a better PSU is always a good thing, and 7 years is plenty long - you got your money's worth...

Since you have 3, can you pop in another PSU and play the game and see what fps is like ?

Just for process of elimination

[Luc2k]

Unity is a crappy game when it comes to performance on anything. AMD released a beta driver for it (in case you haven't installed it), but, from reading comments about it, they haven't managed to polish that turd yet. Aside from that, I echo T3X4S' thoughts.

[Mockingbird]

ShadeOfBlue, on 12 Nov 2014 - 19:04, said:

In general, there is no advantage to replacing a power supply that is not experiencing stability problems. It probably wouldn't hurt to make sure they are dusted out and that there aren't any visibly failing components inside (e.g. bulging/leaking capacitors). Other than that, I'd leave well enough alone. Even brand new power supplies fail sometimes. At least you know yours are working.

 

I do clean out the dust regularly and yup everything seems normal inside.

 

T3X4S, on 12 Nov 2014 - 19:06, said:

when you say not play well, what exactly was the problem ?  Was it just low fps ?  Or were you getting sprites, and grfx anomalies, etc ?

A bad, or strained PSU wont degrade performance, usually it will just shut down.

It could have been a driver conflict - maybe you originally had an nVidia, plugged in this card, and some issues occurred ?

Getting a better PSU is always a good thing, and 7 years is plenty long - you got your money's worth...

Since you have 3, can you pop in another PSU and play the game and see what fps is like ?

Just for process of elimination

 

I am getting low FPS on Assassins Creed Unity, but then again, I have seen plenty of people on the internet with powerful video card complain about low FPS.

 

My friend just think that I should consider getting new power supplies because the ones that I have are over 7 years old.

[Vvo]

http://hothardware.com/News/Ubisoft-Now-Blames-AMD-For-Assassins-Creed-Unity-Failure-Poor-Performance-/

if your're getting crappy performance on AC Unity then here's why. PSU has nothing to do and a 650 watts psu is more than sufficient to power a r290x

[compl3x]

 

My friend just think that I should consider getting new power supplies because the ones that I have are over 7 years old.

 

 

I'd say you've well and truly gotten your money's worth and I would continue to use it until it gives up the ghost. Unless your friend is offering to buy you a new one? :p

 

Unless you have a specific reason for upgrading a component the "it's a bit out of date" argument doesn't seem reasonable to me. If it meets your needs, then it is what you use. Your friend probably has different requirements or might be building a new system so he might need something newer.

 

It sounds like a good PSU. Be happy it has served you so well for so long :)

[philcruicks]

I'd continue for a while if its stable, but you are probably reaching the limits of that PSU, I just got myself an R9 280x, so just 1 model down and I had a 6 year old 600W PSU, it wasn't enough, fine at idle on the desktop, web browsing etc...as soon as i span up an intensive game like BF4 I'd get a few secs/mins into the game and the system would cut out.

 

I had no issues on my previous GPU (GTX 460) and since upgrading to an 850W PSU the new card has been fine, so from experience I can say you are starting to get close to the limit, but obviously other components will factor in, my specs are in my Sig, so if your specs are similar I'd probably consider an upgrade, maybe look out for a black Friday deal or get some money for xmas and buy one.

 

Extra to my specs below I've got 1 blu-ray and 1 DVD drive, and a drive caddy (5.25 -3.5) + LED fans and a arctic cooling freezer 7 pro heatsink.

 

You can use the following to try and calculate what you have and need power wise, remember to add the capacitor again (last option), and obviously this is just a guide. I'd still think an upgrade isn't too far off for you.

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

[awergh]

I'd continue for a while if its stable, but you are probably reaching the limits of that PSU, I just got myself an R9 280x, so just 1 model down and I had a 6 year old 600W PSU, it wasn't enough, fine at idle on the desktop, web browsing etc...as soon as i span up an intensive game like BF4 I'd get a few secs/mins into the game and the system would cut out.

 

I had no issues on my previous GPU (GTX 460) and since upgrading to an 850W PSU the new card has been fine, so from experience I can say you are starting to get close to the limit, but obviously other components will factor in, my specs are in my Sig, so if your specs are similar I'd probably consider an upgrade, maybe look out for a black Friday deal or get some money for xmas and buy one.

You didn't say what your old PSU was because 600W should be just fine for a 280X but if it is a dodgy generic psu thats actually barely 400W. (not saying that you are using it but its been known to happen that a generic 860W PSU was actually a 400W PSU that could only output 300W)

 

Either way in this case I think it is Assasins Creed Unity that runs awful and the TX-650 should last a bit longer yet. My TX-650 is running just fine but its not quite as old as yours.

[philcruicks]

You didn't say what your old PSU was because 600W should be just fine for a 280X but if it is a dodgy generic psu thats actually barely 400W. (not saying that you are using it but its been known to happen that a generic 860W PSU was actually a 400W PSU that could only output 300W)

 

Either way in this case I think it is Assasins Creed Unity that runs awful and the TX-650 should last a bit longer yet. My TX-650 is running just fine but its not quite as old as yours.

Old was a OCZ stealthXtream, new is a Corsair HX850i, so not cheap brands. and yes 600W should be about enough, but if i put my system into the PSU calc (which I've always found fairly accurate), then with capacitor aging at about 30-40% it was getting near to the mark.

 

I even found using the MSI tool just to downclock the GPU by 10% was enough to stabilise the system while waiting for the new PSU to arrive, so it was only just not enough.

 

Like I said if its running OK you don't need an upgrade, but its worth considering in the near future.

 

edit: just to clarify I don't think the game is running badly because of the PSU (mine would happily run BF on ultra at 60fps, but then suddenly the system would cut out), I just thing you might want to look at an upgrade soon as your probably running close to the mark on power requirements..

[+kpo6969 Subscriber¹]

Corsair TX650W

7 years of usage

Depending on how hard it was used and taking into account Capacitor Aging I would replace it, especially with i7 + 290X

[awergh]

Old was a OCZ stealthXtream, new is a Corsair HX850i, so not cheap brands. and yes 600W should be about enough, but if i put my system into the PSU calc (which I've always found fairly accurate), then with capacitor aging at about 30-40% it was getting near to the mark.

 

I even found using the MSI tool just to downclock the GPU by 10% was enough to stabilise the system while waiting for the new PSU to arrive, so it was only just not enough.

 

Like I said if its running OK you don't need an upgrade, but its worth considering in the near future.

 

edit: just to clarify I don't think the game is running badly because of the PSU (mine would happily run BF on ultra at 60fps, but then suddenly the system would cut out), I just thing you might want to look at an upgrade soon as your probably running close to the mark on power requirements..

 

Ah ok thats fair enough, I dont think I've really considered aging PSUs. I tend to make sure to use decent PSUs for recent hardware and then use whatever for old stuff, happily using a 20 year old PSU in a 486 for instance

[Hum]

And no, I have not experience any issue with any of the power supplies.

If your PSU isn't smoking, then no. ;)

[Mockingbird]

I just want to add more detail here.

 

Before I swap in the Radeon R9 290X, that system has the (second hand) Geforce GTX 295 running for years and that's a power hungry card too.

[Praetor]

7 years and still kicking? That's cool and all but depending how stressful that PSU went it might be a time to replace it. Remember that when it dies, it CAN take something with it as well (mainboard or other components). And depending how it dies, it can even do more damage then you imagine (i had a PSU that leaked when it died and took my mainboard with it).

 

Remember that PSUs don't last forever.