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best long term psu silent
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:17 am
by anaturelover
hi 12 years ago i bought cp 850 antec psu120 mm fan . superbe silent very large (perfect of my p 193
mobo or gpu fried recently
should i buy exactly the same model new?
keep the one i already have 12 years old since it has protections circuit?
or is there a silent modern psu as good as this one? tx
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:11 pm
by Abula
The CP-850 was a great PSU for its time, still today is decent, but nothing to brag about.
should i buy exactly the same model new?
Imo no, it was discounted long time ago, but you might be able to find used.
keep the one i already have 12 years old since it has protections circuit?
PSU components degrade over time, i personally dont use any psu past 10 years, but its up to you.
or is there a silent modern psu as good as this one?
There are lots of good options out there, Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Gold, EVGA G5 Gold are all good options, just they are more expensive atm because of COVID.
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2020 4:18 pm
by anaturelover
so when will price drop?
in the meanwhile, is there a reel risk of using my old psu ( i dont know if it is broken) with new components considering it has protection circuits?
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 4:08 am
by Olle P
I've replied in another of the three or four recent posts about this individual PSU...
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 9:03 pm
by anaturelover
the question remains valid since no one seems to have the knowledge to answer if the psu can actually damage other components considering the protections device. sorry if the question is redundant for you
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:23 am
by Vicotnik
Of course the PSU can damage other components. If the PSU is faulty. One may suspect the PSU if other components die for no apparent reason, but one does not usually replace the PSU just because other components have failed. A multimeter or a PSU tester or something can help deciding if the PSU is defect.
If you trust your PSU, that is the rails are good no strange noises and so on, then use it. If not, get a new modern PSU.
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 7:27 pm
by anaturelover
what is a rail
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:41 am
by Vicotnik
The PSU takes AC mains in and outputs several DC voltages, +12v and +5v and others. Those are called rails and you can measure them. For example, the
ATX specs says that the 12 volt rail should be 12 volts plus or minus 5%. So between 11.4 and 12.6 volts.
One way to know if a PSU is failing is to measure the rails. Ideally with an oscilloscope so we can see the voltage over time, see if there's any large fluctuations. But oscilloscopes are expensive, I don't have one yet.
Multimeters are not very expensive though and with a multimeter we can measure the voltage right in this instance.
Also the computer itself can present the voltage levels in the BIOS if you have a running system. There are also PSU testers with a display that you can plug a ATX PSU into and the tester will measure all the rails and some timing stuff.
If you are unable to test the PSU then you have to trust your gut feeling.
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:37 pm
by anaturelover
Vicotnik wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 2:41 am
The PSU takes AC mains in and outputs several DC voltages, +12v and +5v and others. Those are called rails and you can measure them. For example, the
ATX specs says that the 12 volt rail should be 12 volts plus or minus 5%. So between 11.4 and 12.6 volts.
One way to know if a PSU is failing is to measure the rails. Ideally with an oscilloscope so we can see the voltage over time, see if there's any large fluctuations. But oscilloscopes are expensive, I don't have one yet.
Multimeters are not very expensive though and with a multimeter we can measure the voltage right in this instance.
Also the computer itself can present the voltage levels in the BIOS if you have a running system. There are also PSU testers with a display that you can plug a ATX PSU into and the tester will measure all the rails and some timing stuff.
If you are unable to test the PSU then you have to trust your gut feeling.
i have a multi metre in wich square do i have to plug it?
Re: best long term psu silent
Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 2:31 am
by Vicotnik
You can measure +12V and +5V on a molex connector. It has four cables; yellow, red and two black. Between yellow and black you should have 12 volts and between red and black you should have 5 volts.
If you want to measure the other rails as well then measure on the ATX connector.
If you want to start the PSU without connecting it to a computer it's possible by shorting two of the pins on the ATX connector. More on that here -
https://knowledge.seasonic.com/article/ ... tart-guide