The Modern ATX Computer Power Supply: A Recipe for Disaster?

The modern ATX computer power supply has been around since the mid-1990s, and it's surprising that some companies still manage to screw it up. The reasons behind this are largely due to an effort to cut costs, which might be acceptable in some situations but is a recipe for disaster when applied to power supplies.

Many of these "Bargain Basement" units are mislabeled in some way, which is a major problem. This kind of misinformation can lead to unexpected failures and even fires. One common point of failure is cheaping out on capacitors, which are the water tower-like components that hold and release electrical charge and smooth out voltages. Cheap capacitors often have resistance levels that limit their power delivery, making them more prone to failure.

Another issue with cheap capacitors is that they can be mislabeled as having a higher voltage rating than they actually do. If this happens, the power supply may not be able to handle the increased power requirements of the system, leading to a complete failure. This can happen even if the components in the system don't require more power than what the power supply is rated for. In such cases, the power supply can go out with a "literal bang."

Electrical safeguards are also commonly removed from cheap power supplies to cut costs. These safeguards are essential to protect the power supply and its components from damage caused by excessive voltage, current, heat, or short circuits. Well-built power supplies should have protection circuits that watch for these hazardous conditions and shut down the power supply immediately if any of them are detected.

However, super low-end PSUs often omit these protection circuits altogether to reduce costs even further. This makes it much more likely that your PSU will die, catch fire, or malfunction in some way. While capacitors and protection circuits are inside the power supply, there are also things on the outside that can indicate a crappy explosion-prone PSU.

When buying a power supply, it's essential to take a closer look at the cabling, connectors, and housing before making a purchase. Thin cabling and connectors simply cannot carry as much power as thicker, higher-quality components. If an unscrupulous manufacturer has labeled their power supply as having a high wattage rating but used thin cheap cables and connectors, there's a good chance you won't get anywhere close to that wattage before it fails.

An abnormally light unit can also be a sign of low-quality components, including cheap fans. Don't forget about soldering; subpar power supplies can have messy soldering that makes short circuits more likely. Power supply reviewers often call out OEMs who aren't careful with soldering components onto the PCB (Printed Circuit Board).

If you're considering buying a power supply, be wary of units that are being sold for less than 20 bucks and claim to put out a thousand watts or more. If you're going to spend that little money, I've got a lovely Ocean View House in Saskatchewan to sell you! Regardless of where you live, it's always essential to take common sense when buying a power supply.

Fortunately, the solution is quite simple: buy from reputable manufacturers, read reviews from trustworthy sources, and exercise some common sense. By doing so, you can avoid falling victim to exploding power supplies.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endid you know that the modern ATX computer power supply has been around since the mid-1990s we've had plenty of time to get it right but like with many things some companies still find a way to screw it up so today we're going to talk about why cheap power supplies tend to fail or more dramatically in some cases blow up unsurprisingly many of the reasons boil down to an effort to cut costs and it might be all right in some situations if the folks that made cheap power supplies came out and told us hey this thing is cheap don't push it too hard but the problem is that lots of these Bargain Basement units are mislabeled in some way which is a recipe for disaster a common point of failure is cheaping out on the capacitors these are the water tower looking things that hold and release electrical charge and smooth out voltages if you read power supply reviews cheap capacitors are a main source of frustration for two reasons one their often build with a resistance that's too high lessening how much power they can deliver and two they can be mislabeled with respect to how much voltage they can handle and if that gets exceeded because the components in the system need extra power your PSU could go out with a literal bang another common way you'll see sketchy manufacturers cheap out is through removal of electrical safeguards that are supposed to protect your power supply if too much juice is flowing through it a well-built power supply should have protection circuits that watch for different hazardous conditions namely too much voltage too much current too much total power or too much heat as well as a short circuit protection feature that can detect if the impedance drops below a certain threshold the way these protections are supposed to work is that they immediately shut down your power supply if any of these conditions are triggered and while it sucks to have your computer shut down without warning the power supply does this both to protect itself and your components from being fried super low end psus will omit some or all of these protection circuits to cut costs but it also makes it much more likely that your PSU will die catch fire or blow up now obviously capacitors and protection circuits are inside the power supply but there are actually things on the outside that you can see and feel and maybe smell that might indicate you've got a crappy explosion prone power supply we'll look at these right after we think secret lab for sponsoring this video secret lab chairs are engineered to keep you incredibly comfortable for long hours at work and play or even both their Titan Evo 2022 chair keeps you comfortable with its four-way lumbar support and an array of available seat materials all chairs come with up to a five year extended warranty and a 49-day return policy so head to the link in the description and check out secret lab today you'll want to take a close look at the cabling connectors and housing of the PSU before you buy thin cabling and connectors simply cannot carry as much power as thicker higher quality components and if an unscrupulous manufacturer has labeled their power supply as fairly High wattage but has used thin cheap cables and connectors there's a good chance you won't get anywhere close to that wattage before it goes coupled this ties into another quick way to tell if you've got a pu PSU I'm supposed to hold my nose there stinky the weight power supplies don't need to be so heavy that you can use them for power lifting but an abnormally light unit can mean it was built with low quality components including cheap fans and don't forget about soldering subpar power supplies can have messy soldering that makes short circuits more likely which is why power supply reviewers routinely call out oems who aren't careful with soldering components onto the PCB and if a manufacturer is really sketchy they'll even put a fake label on the unit asserting that it passed a quality or compliance certification when the reality is it was just rushed off the line and shipped out post haste naughty naughty so what can you do dear viewer to avoid falling victim to an exploding power supply fortunately the answer is quite simple buy from reputable manufacturers read reviews from trustworthy sources and exercise a little bit of common sense I mean I'd be very suspicious of a power supply that says it puts out a thousand Watts and is being sold for less than 20 bucks I mean if you're gonna go for that I've got a lovely Ocean View House in Saskatchewan to sell you and whether you're in the plains or the mountains I thank you for watching this video like it if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it check out our other videos comment below with video suggestions and don't forget to subscribe and follow if you suggest a video and then we do it and you don't subscribe and follow then you'll you'll miss it and that's that's not gooddid you know that the modern ATX computer power supply has been around since the mid-1990s we've had plenty of time to get it right but like with many things some companies still find a way to screw it up so today we're going to talk about why cheap power supplies tend to fail or more dramatically in some cases blow up unsurprisingly many of the reasons boil down to an effort to cut costs and it might be all right in some situations if the folks that made cheap power supplies came out and told us hey this thing is cheap don't push it too hard but the problem is that lots of these Bargain Basement units are mislabeled in some way which is a recipe for disaster a common point of failure is cheaping out on the capacitors these are the water tower looking things that hold and release electrical charge and smooth out voltages if you read power supply reviews cheap capacitors are a main source of frustration for two reasons one their often build with a resistance that's too high lessening how much power they can deliver and two they can be mislabeled with respect to how much voltage they can handle and if that gets exceeded because the components in the system need extra power your PSU could go out with a literal bang another common way you'll see sketchy manufacturers cheap out is through removal of electrical safeguards that are supposed to protect your power supply if too much juice is flowing through it a well-built power supply should have protection circuits that watch for different hazardous conditions namely too much voltage too much current too much total power or too much heat as well as a short circuit protection feature that can detect if the impedance drops below a certain threshold the way these protections are supposed to work is that they immediately shut down your power supply if any of these conditions are triggered and while it sucks to have your computer shut down without warning the power supply does this both to protect itself and your components from being fried super low end psus will omit some or all of these protection circuits to cut costs but it also makes it much more likely that your PSU will die catch fire or blow up now obviously capacitors and protection circuits are inside the power supply but there are actually things on the outside that you can see and feel and maybe smell that might indicate you've got a crappy explosion prone power supply we'll look at these right after we think secret lab for sponsoring this video secret lab chairs are engineered to keep you incredibly comfortable for long hours at work and play or even both their Titan Evo 2022 chair keeps you comfortable with its four-way lumbar support and an array of available seat materials all chairs come with up to a five year extended warranty and a 49-day return policy so head to the link in the description and check out secret lab today you'll want to take a close look at the cabling connectors and housing of the PSU before you buy thin cabling and connectors simply cannot carry as much power as thicker higher quality components and if an unscrupulous manufacturer has labeled their power supply as fairly High wattage but has used thin cheap cables and connectors there's a good chance you won't get anywhere close to that wattage before it goes coupled this ties into another quick way to tell if you've got a pu PSU I'm supposed to hold my nose there stinky the weight power supplies don't need to be so heavy that you can use them for power lifting but an abnormally light unit can mean it was built with low quality components including cheap fans and don't forget about soldering subpar power supplies can have messy soldering that makes short circuits more likely which is why power supply reviewers routinely call out oems who aren't careful with soldering components onto the PCB and if a manufacturer is really sketchy they'll even put a fake label on the unit asserting that it passed a quality or compliance certification when the reality is it was just rushed off the line and shipped out post haste naughty naughty so what can you do dear viewer to avoid falling victim to an exploding power supply fortunately the answer is quite simple buy from reputable manufacturers read reviews from trustworthy sources and exercise a little bit of common sense I mean I'd be very suspicious of a power supply that says it puts out a thousand Watts and is being sold for less than 20 bucks I mean if you're gonna go for that I've got a lovely Ocean View House in Saskatchewan to sell you and whether you're in the plains or the mountains I thank you for watching this video like it if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it check out our other videos comment below with video suggestions and don't forget to subscribe and follow if you suggest a video and then we do it and you don't subscribe and follow then you'll you'll miss it and that's that's not good\n"