Bought a working but poorly reviewed PSU, should I worry

April 22, 2012 1:48:12 PM

I built a computer a month ago and so far have no problems with it. Heres what I got:

Intel i5 2500k with a CM Hyper212
Evga Gtx 560 ti
Asus P8Z68-V Gen3/Pro
Corsair XMS3 8gb Ram
Western Digital 1TB Green drive (saving up for an ssd)
Corsair Carbide 400r Case
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 600w
LG Dvd burner

I was looking up the PSU I bought and found it was poorly reviewed. I have been able to play games like Mass Effect 3 several hours at a time with no issues. I cannot return the PSU, I am currently studying abroad and bought the parts while I was in the States. Buying a new psu in the country I am in now is not really an option. Should I worry about long term use? Will the psu I have damage my parts? I was interested in overclocking both the cpu and gpu but now I'm not so sure with the poor psu. Should I bother overclocking? This is the first computer I built so be nice.

More about : bought working poorly reviewed psu worry

| E-mail me updates
| Report abuse

GI_JONES

April 22, 2012 1:57:58 PM

if its working ok..dont worry about ot. While coolermaster isnt the best fot psu's, it isnt the worst either

| Report abuse

Rugger

Power supply Master

April 22, 2012 2:22:51 PM

PCs actually consume a lot less power than most people think. Take a look at this article on power consumption in 3 modern PCs at SPCR: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1245-page1.html
The 2500K/HD6870 is the closest to your setup in power draw and it used 271W at full CPU/GPU load. Your 560ti will actually draw around 30W more at full load...all else being equal your system will draw around 300W at full load.

You're definitely right that the CM elite power 600W is not a quality PSU. Hardwaresecrets review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eX...
The PSU should have been labeled/sold as a 450W PSU. My bottom line on running it would be: if it is running and your system is stable at full load, then use it. I would run simultaneous CPU/GPU stress tests for a min 4-8 hours to validate stability. If it passes that test, then you can consider OCing. Do so at your own risk. OC in small increments and conduct stability test at each increment. I would get a Kill-a-Watt meter to monitor power draw from the wall and wouldn't push continuous power draw over 400W.

| Report abuse

AndroidDragon

April 22, 2012 2:27:52 PM

Rugger said:

PCs actually consume a lot less power than most people think. Take a look at this article on power consumption in 3 modern PCs at SPCR: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1245-page1.html
The 2500K/HD6870 is the closest to your setup in power draw and it used 271W at full CPU/GPU load. Your 560ti will actually draw around 30W more at full load...all else being equal your system will draw around 300W at full load.

You're definitely right that the CM elite power 600W is not a quality PSU. Hardwaresecrets review: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-eX...
The PSU should have been labeled/sold as a 450W PSU. My bottom line on running it would be: if it is running and your system is stable at full load, then use it. I would run simultaneous CPU/GPU stress tests for a min 4-8 hours to validate stability. If it passes that test, then you can consider OCing. Do so at your own risk. OC in small increments and conduct stability test at each increment. I would get a Kill-a-Watt meter to monitor power draw from the wall and wouldn't push continuous power draw over 400W.

Thank you for your helpful reply. Do you have suggestions for such a stress test. I know theres Furmark for GPUs and Prime95 CPUs but I don't know about a simultaneous stress test.

| Report abuse

Rugger

Power supply Master

April 22, 2012 4:22:23 PM

AndroidDragon said:

Thank you for your helpful reply. Do you have suggestions for such a stress test. I know theres Furmark for GPUs and Prime95 CPUs but I don't know about a simultaneous stress test.

Not a problem - glad I could help! You hit the nail on the head for the stress test: Furmark and Prime95. Just run them at the same time to stress the CPU/GPU simultaneously; this will give you the highest power draw you'll likely encounter on your PC.

| Report abuse