Question Good Idea to Use Old PSU?

[Doggiedog]

I decided to build a new PC after seeing the AMD 7950x3D price come down last night to $550. I'm running a i7 6700K from 8 years ago and am thinking of reusing the PSU from it. It's a Seasonic X-1050 and has been running perfectly. Any opinions on whether it's a good idea to reuse it for my new build? I know PSUs deteriorate every year but it would seem a waste to trash it if it's still working. My new build will be the following:

AMD 7950x3D
Nvidia 3080 10GB
64GB DDR 6000Mhz
A couple of M.2 SSDs and SATA SSDs
Maybe one large HDD from the previous build but considering putting into an enclosure

Thanks,

DD

 

[Tech Junky]

It would be fine IMO to reuse it. The only reason to change things up if if you need different connectors like 12VHPWR for the GPU. The other excuse we sometimes use is more efficiency but, those numbers only come into play when you're at max load. As long as the PSU has enough supply for the demand though there's no real reason to find a new one other than extending the warranty period with a new one.

 

[mindless1]

I'd reuse it (and open it and clean the dust out first, and lube the fan if not dual ball bearing which it probably is) but there's also the argument to be made that with each passing year of use, you further risk harming something when it fails and so it depends on what the hardware is worth.

Do you already have a backup/spare PSU capable of powering this build? Is it a mission critical build like it's going to be a burden if it has downtime? These questions would lead me towards wondering if it would be good to replace the PSU and keep it as a spare. I always keep a spare for my main use system.

 

[Doggiedog]

Thanks guys. I'll take your advice and reuse it. It's just for personal use so nothing mission critical. Looking at the prices of Seasonic PSUs now, they are quite expensive but worth it.

 

[bigboxes]

You're basically building a new high end computer. Everything else will be new. I can't see the reasoning behind reusing the old one unless you're broke. I'd get a new one and save the old one for emergency backup. I've owned a lot of Seasonic power supplies. Many times they would die right at the end of the warranty period. I'm using the i7-6700K in my home server. It's powered by a Seasonic Prime TX 1000. My main rig, the one with the R9 5950X, is powered by a Seasonic Prime TX 850. They both have a 12-year warranty. Everytime do a new build, I use a new power supply. They run 24/7. An older power supply will be less reliable and your computer will be less stable. The power supply is the heart of a stable computer. Your X-1050 had a 7-year warranty. You're on Year 8. I vote for a new power supply.

 

[Doggiedog]

You're basically building a new high end computer. Everything else will be new. I can't see the reasoning behind reusing the old one unless you're broke. I'd get a new one and save the old one for emergency backup. I've owned a lot of Seasonic power supplies. Many times they would die right at the end of the warranty period. I'm using the i7-6700K in my home server. It's powered by a Seasonic Prime TX 1000. My main rig, the one with the R9 5950X, is powered by a Seasonic Prime TX 850. They both have a 12-year warranty. Everytime do a new build, I use a new power supply. They run 24/7. An older power supply will be less reliable and your computer will be less stable. The power supply is the heart of a stable computer. Your X-1050 had a 7-year warranty. You're on Year 8. I vote for a new power supply.

That's the other side too. It's not that I'm broke (I could use the savings though), it's that it seems like a waste to throw it out. I could keep PSU in the PC and just have the PC as a backup which I did for my 2600K but I ended up throwing the whole unit away after a few years since no one wanted it and it just took up space. I'm wondering if an 850W PSU would be enough if I were to get a new one?

BTW, it's been a long time since I've been on ATOT and it's great to see so many Lifers out there! Also great to see new active members too!

 

[mindless1]

Yes a decent quality 850W PSU would handle that.

One thing to consider with PSU reuse, is how much load you previously, and in the future will put on it.

I mean you can build a gaming/mining/video-editing/etc rig capable of consuming >500W for many hours at a time, but if the average lifetime wattage is closer to 100W, you put less wear on the PSU.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I always keep my PSUs at 200% of peak power use.

So if your PC will use 600w fully loaded, grab a 1200w unit, etc.

Builds in a certain amount of faith in my units to know they weren't run right at or near their max for the entirety of their lives.

12 year old 650w Corsair HX is currently living its best life powering my 980ti and 5600x in my HTPC, and it's doing just fine in part because of the above principal.

Wouldn't trust my primary PC with it however...

 

[bigboxes]

I always keep my PSUs at 200% of peak power use.

So if your PC will use 600w fully loaded, grab a 1200w unit, etc.

Builds in a certain amount of faith in my units to know they weren't run right at or near their max for the entirety of their lives.

12 year old 650w Corsair HX is currently living its best life powering my 980ti and 5600x in my HTPC, and it's doing just fine in part because of the above principal.

Wouldn't trust my primary PC with it however...

I've got an old Seasonic platinum 860 powering my HTPC. Don't care as it's occasional use playing videos. And yes to the overbuild. Love that my PSU fan rarely turns on.

 

[gdansk]

I'd use it for now and put price alerts on PSUs with good reviews. Sometimes in the next few years, before it is 10 years old, I presume at least one of them would go on sale with a reasonable discount. And at that time upgrade.

 

[aigomorla]

Try it out... and see what value's its reporting in bios.
If the values are within +/-5% id say its perfectly fine to reuse.

Then i would compare bios values with something like Hwmonitor.
Then i would load your system up, and see what values HWMonitor is reporting for load.
If its within +/- 10% its a keeper.

However i would make sure i open the PSU, and give it a good anti dustbunny massacre.
Make sure its as dust free as possible before it does it cycle in your case.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I'm a little surprised to see so many recommendations to open the PSU. Isn't that generally a huge no-no unless you know what you're doing?

 

[aigomorla]

I'm a little surprised to see so many recommendations to open the PSU. Isn't that generally a huge no-no unless you know what you're doing?

not if its discharged and been off for a while.
There isn't much you can do unless you tim allen the disassembly and pull the wires off the soldered points.

 

[BoomerD]

In addition to the "dust bunny eradication" take a few minutes and examine the capacitors for any signs of bulging/leakage. Odds are, the PSU is fine for a few more years.

I have a Seasonic-built Corsair HX620 that I bought in 2007. Used it in that PC for 4 years, stuck it in a new one in 2011, used it until I (mistakenly) bought an IBuyPower PC in 2019. I kept the 2011 build (i5-760) until a few months ago, then I tore it apart. All the components went back into their original boxes...including the PC. That Corsair unit was rock solid for the 12 years I used it...and if I hadn't wanted a fully modular PSU for the new build, I'd probably still be using it.

 

[Doggiedog]

Finished my build with a new Seasonic X-850. I'm really disappointed at how slow this thing takes to boot into Windows 11 and to wake up from sleep. My old i7 6700K on a Gen 3 NVME SSD was much faster. I would estimate 3x faster. And to wake up from sleep and into Windows was like 3 seconds. This build is like 12 seconds. Posting on the bios takes forever. I read about these problems before I decided to go AM5 but this is ridiculous.

 

[gdansk]

Finished my build with a new Seasonic X-850. I'm really disappointed at how slow this thing takes to boot into Windows 11 and to wake up from sleep. My old i7 6700K on a Gen 3 NVME SSD was much faster. I would estimate 3x faster. And to wake up from sleep and into Windows was like 3 seconds. This build is like 12 seconds. Posting on the bios takes forever. I read about these problems before I decided to go AM5 but this is ridiculous.

It was much, much worse before. 60 second boots at start and S3 sleep didn't work so you couldn't avoid it. Just AM5 things.
But at least it's down to like 15s for me and sleep works. Still beyond what should be acceptable but so it is.

Edit: How much faster is it without EXPO enabled?

 

[Doggiedog]

Edit: How much faster is it without EXPO enabled?

I'm not sure how much faster it is since I haven't benchmarked anything but I know when I tried EXPO 1, it blue screened. This thing is very finicky hence I can't do much tweaking to the DDR settings to get the boot times down. EXPO 2 does seem stable though.