In reply to a post by Taras:

In reply to a post by Banger:

Well have changed my downstairs PC PSU which was also a Novatech build but had a Hiper M 530W PSU of 2009 in it. So have fitted the Be quiet 750W Pure Power to the build, which is a Core 2 Duo running Linux.

As for my upstairs PC with the Novatech PSU, am going to keep it running for a couple more years as researching it is a re-branded High Power (Sirtec) 750W PSU which should last a few more years.

Have ordered a Seasonic Focus GX 750W for stock as a spare for the upstairs i5 Novatech build.

ahh hiper psus brings back memories - all good memories. Seasonic are probably in super duper ultra tier for psus .

Your memories of Hiper good or bad? From my research the type R blows up and fans failing seems common on the type M which is what the one I have replaced is.

Forgive my almost total ignorance of Gaming PCs and their benefits.

Speaking as someone who built, redesigned and repaired my own standard PC systems, I have never bothered with a Gaming PC but instead have just stuck with Gaming Consoles: since these replacement power supplies cost over £80 a pop; Why not just put that money off the cost of a Brand New XBox Series X Gaming Consol ?

Perhaps, its my old age but these days we use an XBox Series X with a top range Panasonic OLED TV and the graphics are excellent without the need to faff about with power supplies.

Also, if you plan to keep the system as it is,, (which is entirely your choice as I am always in favour of people making their own choices). - Presumably the reason why these power supplies have a limited lifespan is because they are susceptible to potential deterioration that is caused by heat and if so then the fan is the probably the weak link that will deteriorate first. - Would it not be cheaper/simpler/easier to just periodically renew or hoover out the fan instead of the whole unit. - Just a thought.

They are not gaming PC just standard PCs. PSUs have a limited lifespan and I am replacing them before they fail and possibly take out a motherboard. As someone who built PCs you should understand this. I have already had a Corsair PSU go pop but no damage to motherboard and you are right it was failing fan. I bought the Core 2 Duo in 2009 with a Hiper PSU so you can see how old that is. I am keeping it going with Linux and replacing the PSU with a modern protected PSU of good make.

I dont game so a console is of no interest to me. £80 is cheap to keep a £500 PC going.

In reply to a post by Banger:

I dont game so a console is of no interest to me. £80 is cheap to keep a £500 PC going.

I never imagined you as a gamer Tim, more of an old school sort of fella. I've still got an original Atari in its box in the loft to remind me of the last time I gamed must be nearly 50 years ago.

Good enough.

Personally, I have very rarely had issues with power systems other than in an industrial settings where the power supply issues caused erratic operation but in a domestic setting I found that just a periodic hoover around the fan helped it to last longer and I have only change one fan on one PC.

Luckily, I have never lost a mother board.

As I said; I am not telling you what to do as you should always make your own decisions but periodic fan renewal and/or periodic fan maintenance using a hoover may be helpful to some others.

Also, a power supply is not a complex unit so it may be repairable, at component level, if an issue with the fan caused something else to deteriorate with heat.

In reply to a post by PCJM40:

In reply to a post by Banger:

I dont game so a console is of no interest to me. £80 is cheap to keep a £500 PC going.

I never imagined you as a gamer Tim, more of an old school sort of fella. I've still got an original Atari in its box in the loft to remind me of the last time I gamed must be nearly 50 years ago.

I've never really gamed. I started with a Commodore 64 for programming, still in the loft in a box but probably doesn't work any more. I tend to play with OSes and research stuff on my PCs, oh and visit TBB.

These PSUs have hybrid cooling eg. the fan only comes on when under high load probably why they have 10 year warranty.

Tonight if I get time I plan to upgrade my i5 machine from 2019 which has a Novatech 750w PSU a re-branded High Power (Sirtec) PSU which only has a 2 year warranty so it is well past that. Brave AI tells me that the reputation of High Power PSUs isn't good with failure modes like transistors blowing leading to catostrophic failure of MB (dont want that). So I have a Seasonic Focus GX 750 to go in its place which Brave AI tells me is reliable replacement with 10 year warranty similar to the German Be Quiet model.

Wish me luck and quick changeover.

All done.

Now what to do with old PSUs?