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Redditor finds heavy block of iron shavings inside cheap PSU, also appears to lack safety protections
(www.tomshardware.com)
this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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Technology
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I think the point is. If you buy a cheap GPU it'll either be a fake (lower spec with borked firmware) or lower spec branded. So the worst that happens is you have lower FPS, or it just doesn't work. Same with all other components. They're rarely off spec to the extent they will damage other components.
But a cheap switched mode PSU? Yeah the failure mode of switched mode supplies without proper protections is a high voltage on the rails feeding your components. They can take out your board, GPU, Drives and depending on what protections the mainboard has, the CPU and RAM too. Not to mention your precious RGB!
I remember back in the 90s/2000s we had a "server" where I worked at the time. I say "server", the company cheaped out and had a high street PC builder make them. They were essentially desktops in a bigger box with expensive CPUs and things like tape drives. But yes, they cheaped out on the PSU and it popped. It took out a £1k Tape drive, about the same value in hard disks, and pretty much everything else that was connected.
It was not cheap to get that back up and running, I can tell you.