SPCR

My Seasonic S12-II 430W PSU has had four year's use in a PC that's been on about 10 hours a day, every day. It's never ever been stressed, I've never heard the PSU fan ramp up,and I'm wondering how much life is left in it.

I ask because I'd like to use it in a new build. I'm finally going to upgrade from my ageing AM2 based machine to something Sandy Bridge based, at most an i5-2500K but not overclocked and no gaming.

Many years of service left, unless you are unlucky. I wouldn't hesitate re-using it.

Vicotnik wrote:Many years of service left, unless you are unlucky. I wouldn't hesitate re-using it.

Well, that's good news, and one less component to think about. Choosing the rest is another story.

I've got an M12-II 430W that's been on 24/7 almost every day since April 2009. I've cleaned it a few times for dust, it's going strong. Since these units use high quality caps and components, the worry about degradation is pretty much nothing to think about.

I've been using S12-430 for at least past 5 years. 3~5 hours per day. Truth be told, I sometimes want to purchase something quieter, more efficient, modular cable design like Kingwin Platinum 550W or Seasonic X-560 to replace this workhorse.

Joe Public wrote:I've got an M12-II 430W that's been on 24/7 almost every day since April 2009.

2.5 years isn't that long, is it?

That PSU has plenty of life in it. I've got an S12 430W that's been in use since 2006. It's been powering my home server for the last 3 years without a problem, running 24/7 (granted, under light load). The fan doesn't seem to be any noisier than it was originally either.

While there are quieter and more efficient options out there now, it would take quite a few years worth of energy savings to cover the cost of a new power supply.

Kipperfer wrote:My Seasonic S12-II 430W PSU has had four year's use in a PC that's been on about 10 hours a day, every day. It's never ever been stressed, I've never heard the PSU fan ramp up,and I'm wondering how much life is left in it.

I ask because I'd like to use it in a new build. I'm finally going to upgrade from my ageing AM2 based machine to something Sandy Bridge based, at most an i5-2500K but not overclocked and no gaming.

That's quite young! The Enermax in this machine has been running 24/7 for about the last 8 1/2 years lol. I would assume the Seasonic would have even better longevity.

For what it's worth, my 600W Seasonic S12 (SS-600HT) just gave up the ghost in one of my systems. It was run at least 8 hours a day since I got it.

It self-destructed when a toroid coil near all the output wires overheated and turned black. The PS itself appears to have started slowly venting 'yellowish' stuff from that side which I assume might be some capacitor electrolyte...

At any rate, I think I bought this in March, 2006.

-Greg