PSU Question and recommendation

[omrifunaro]

Hi fellows

The short version of my question is:

How much of drop of in PSU supply should I experience after two years on a decent 480W HEC PSU ?

Now on to the full details:

I recently upgraded my system to a:

Q8400 +OCZ Vendetta CPU cooler [new]
MSI 460 Cyclone 768[new]
2X2GB 800MHz DDR2 [new]


to go along with base of:
WD caviar blue 500GB
DVD-RW
Intel 35dp35 MOBO

My PSU is a 2.5 years old 480W HEC unit

Now, this should be enough juice, and the system seems to be working great, but I read in some places that the PSU's efficiency can drop by as much a 30% after this long.

Should I get a new PSU?

What model would you recommend for about 90$ max ?



10x

 

[o1die]

I haven't heard about any drop in performance. It either works or doesn't. I recommend you clean all your system fans at least once a year with a canned air solution designed for this purpose. I use "perfect duster", one of many brands out there for under $5. Otherwise, the fans begin to turn slower and aren't as effective in keeping the system cool, including the ps. If you want to change ps, factor in future upgrades and whether you'll bother with the warranty. In general, I wait and change the ps when I upgrade the board and cpu. These brands are ok, regardless of the wattage rating: antec, corsair, seasonic, pc power and cooling, enermax, some models of ocz and xfx. Corsair usually has one high 12v rail, good for gamers. Check newegg for current specials or your preferred vender to get one of those brands for around $90 or wait until Oct-Jan for possibly better deals.

 

[Emperus]

Even if capacitor aging is an affecting factor for a PSU efficiency, i don't see the drop to be by such big a margin as 30% for a usage period of less than 3 years.. This is considering a good quality PSU of course.. I don't have much knowledge on the HEC brand though.. I've a Antec True Power 2.0 550W PSU which is already a good 6 years old but adequately powers my secondary gaming rig comprising a very well overclocked Intel C2D E6750 and a single ATI Radeon HD 4870 along with all the other usual components..

 

[omrifunaro]

10x guys

I guess I'll just stick to my current PSU then.

great

 

[jsc]

I have an 8 year old 400 watt Antec still going strong.