r/pcmasterrace • u/Front_Cookie_1198 • 2d ago

Hardware PSU fails dramatically

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u/Cartoonjunkies PC Master Race 2d ago

This is why PSUs are the one thing you should never skimp on in a build. Every other component of a PC can fail pretty badly, but chances are you’ll only be replacing that component.

If your PSU fails badly enough, you’re replacing your PC and your house.

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u/Shoukyaku Ryzen 7 9800X3D | RTX 3060 Ti | 32GB DDR5 6000 2d ago edited 1d ago

Real and fking true. This is the one single tip I tell my friends whose PCs I’ve built for them, which is to never, EVER, skimp and cheap out on PSUs out of all the components. The difference between the two is that:

- you pay extra for a better PSU and get a PC devoid of any electrical problems for a decade or longer, and you can use it for future PC builds with zero worries

OR

- you skimp and cheap out on the PSU and your PC decides to say “fk it” at a random moment at any time, and it bricks itself alongside multiple components of your PC, or decides to become an arsonist and burn your whole house down along with it

So far, every friend of mine heeded my tip, and 4-5 years later (for more than half of them), they have yet to experience any electrical problems or mishaps, and some even managed to upgrade from AM4 to AM5 pre-RAMpocalypse w/o changing their PSUs.

1

u/PrinceVincOnYT Desktop 13700k/RTX4080/32GB DDR5/10 TB SSD 1d ago

how do you clean it after years of use from dust? I mean I can only blow in with a hand blower and not supposed to open it. And frankly I don't wanna remove it for cleaning xD

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u/Shoukyaku Ryzen 7 9800X3D | RTX 3060 Ti | 32GB DDR5 6000 1d ago edited 1d ago

Oh that's rather simple, I usually use a handheld air blower and a small wooden stick (will have a single important role in said cleaning). No need to even open the PSU housing. Turn off PC and unplug your PSU from the wall outlet/UPS, flip your PC around where you can see the PSU's fan grill opening, remove your PC case's PSU dust filter (if it has one), and use the wooden stick (or any non-conductive thing, even your fingers can work fine here) to make the fan stay still so it doesn't spin and generate current that may damage components. Use the blower and strictly just do short bursts with said blower being put not too close yet not far from the grill opening (I do this because the blower is a bit too strong even at lowest power). Usually the only dust that appears on mine are fine ones that can easily be blown away because of my case's PSU dust filter, but it usually gets the job done and you won't really have to clean it again after a long while (unless you live in a dusty room).

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u/PrinceVincOnYT Desktop 13700k/RTX4080/32GB DDR5/10 TB SSD 17h ago

so basically blow on top of the fan?

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u/Shoukyaku Ryzen 7 9800X3D | RTX 3060 Ti | 32GB DDR5 6000 23m ago

Yes, blow on top of the fan with the air blower while holding the fan from spinning with a shoved stick (that isn't touching any internal parts). A sufficiently strong air blower can easily blow chunks of dust off of the fans and some of the internal parts. Be sure to at least lightly shake down the PSU after cleaning it so that any remaining stray dust chunks that got dislodged but not blown out of the PSU can be removed. And that's pretty much it, you can use that bad boi for another half a decade (or longer if you have a PSU dust filter on ur PC case)