POLL: How long would you run a power supply before replacing it?

[martin_metal_88]

Leave it till it dies but if my system need more I'll swap it, but will reuse it if I have use for it. Anyway, a good PSU can last very long.

[lowfat]

Until they die. I still have an OCZ Gamexstream 700w from 2006 going strong in my sisters rig.

[Dr_BenD_over]

Until it dies or I need more capacity (which is the usual method of replacment - 350W - not enough juice for my 3200+ OC, 480W - No enough juice for a Quad, 650W - not enough for a massively OC'd quad and a 4870X2)

[SuicidalPanda]

Basically till it dies (or unless I need more juice, ex. SLI config)

[Fleurious]

I voted +5 years because I like to think my PSUs will never die...

[TedShackley]

now that I play it safe, after 4-5 yrs I'll sell my new 750W 80+silver and get another 1

seems very risky waiting for it to die...could take other things with it

but they should make things to last, not fail after 5 years, or right around when the warranty expires...planned obsolesce

watch 'the light blub conspiracy'
The Light Bulb Conspiracy - YouTube

[Adzsask]

I sell them after 3 years max, the PSU in my aunts PC is over 5 years old, normally I would change it out as preventative maintenance, but it is a 550 watt apevia powering a duel core, 2 fans, 1 HDD and a dvd drive so that PSU will go until it dies. Girlfriends PSU will also do the same, her machine pulls under 40 watts idle and around 125 watts loaded and it has my old OCZ modxstream pro 700 in it so should last many many years at under 20% load.

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by frontier204

I'm folding on an Earthwatts 375W that my friends bought in 2007 and later gave back to me. It didn't come with an 8-Pin CPU so I took the wires out of the PCI-E 6-pin and attached them to the 8-pin plug of a 8-pin CPU extension cable. (breaking several paper clips in the process)
If you're careful about how the rails are distributed you can extend the life of the PSU by finding creative ways to accomodate the new connectors.

Note that in my answer "dies" also means any form of instability or very bad efficiency due to something getting old. However I won't say you have to replace any component after X time - it's not like laptop batteries or something that degrade after 1-3 years.

Pretty much the same for me.

As a 24/7 100% resource CPU+GPU folder I'll usually start seeing a few seemingly random crashes (BSODs usually) which start getting progressively worse once a PSU is on it's way out.

[Alpine]

death

[boggtrotter59]

Till they die... although they usually get sold before that. I usually only buy Antec and Corsair and I've never had one crap out yet... Got a couple Antec 430's still running in clients machines that I bought way back in 2003