A word of warning about Coba PSUs

Fabool · Post by **Fabool** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 1:48 am

I just had mine fail completely today :/ These probably aren't very well known outside Europe but i thought I'd give you a heads up.

The model number of this PSU is AP-350X with passive PFC. It has been running almost 24/7 from last december and it seems that it wasn't up to the job.
It seems the PSU just degraded after use. A few days ago I wasn't able to load any game or 3d using program because the computer would just shutdown after opening one (the PSU also emitted some strange buzzing, kind of like small electrical spark sounds or HDD seek noise). Today while running scandisk it just gave up altogether and wouldn't boot anymore

It was a good PSU until now. Probably the most quiet one I've seen yet with the 120mm fan spinning at ~850rpm, it was inaudible. Guess the cheap price should have told me something about long term reliability

So' I'm now on the hunt for a new PSU, no idea what I should buy though, won't be a Coba that's for sure.

PS. For users of Coolmax PSUs, you might want to keep an eye on yours because this Coba PSU is IDENTICAL to Coolmax PSUs. I googled a couple of reviews of the Coolmax PSUs and they look just like the Coba, even the stickers are the same (different brand names though) and they're glued to the exact same places. Damn.. even the model number is identical for one of the PSUs.

dukla2000 · Post by **dukla2000** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 6:03 am

Oh well - older and wiser

I thought I remembered Coba had come out well in a comparison test so checked back. I was only half right: they were in the test, but they didn't come out well at Computerbase, "Über das Coba bleibt nur zu sagen: Finger weg !"

Fabool · Post by **Fabool** » Sun Apr 11, 2004 7:23 am

I bought the PSU based on two tests, one a local test (in Finnish) and one at dirkvader.de. The PSU scored well in both tests.
It's really a shame that there isn't really any way to test the long term reliability of a PSU without running it for at least half a year.
My PSU could have been a faulty model but I doubt it since it ran flawlessly for months and then gradually started to exhibit problems like a few dips in the rails which I dismissed..

Fabool · Post by **Fabool** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 9:58 am

Got a new PSU today (Levicom) and guess what? It looks like the Coba PSU didn't want to go down by itself and took the motherboard with it. Suffice to say, I'm extremely pissed at the moment.

If you're looking for a PSU that will shut up your computer for good, Coba is definetly the way to go.

Edit: I pulled the graphics card out and it looks like the computer boots with the integrated graphics.. The graphics card is the one that's dead after all. I'm not happy though, it costs twice as much as the motherboard since it's a 9800pro class card. Funny thing is, I had this happen once before with a 9700pro card that I returned and got a new one after a month or so which worked flawlessly. I'm not sure what I should think now.. did the PSU fry that card then as well? Maybe it isn't a PSU problem, (although I'm certain that the Coba died) but there's something wrong with the motherbord that shortcircuits the whole thing?
To top it all off, the new Levicom PSU seems to have a problem with the fan and it keeps making a very loud clacking-sound, nothing is obstructing it as far as I can tell. Probably unbalanced or something, well I was going to replace it anyway..

I'm beginning to hate computers..