First post, by Ozzuneoj
- Rank
- l33t
I own a basic Coolmax ATX power supply tester and it shows the various voltages as well as the PG "Power Good" delay of the power supply being tested.
I frequently come across power supplies that work fine, even ones that are unused, that seemingly "fail" the PG test. Apparently this tester will display HH (high) if the PG value is above 500ms. The website says 990ms is the limit, but I actually have a PSU that fluctuates a bit with every power on in the 470-500 range and sometimes will display HH, telling me that it goes slightly above 500 and triggers the error. I've read that 500ms is supposed to be the upper limit according to the ATX 2.01 standard.
Basically, I'm wondering how big of a deal this is. I have several brand new Seasonic 350ET (and one 550HT) units that display this error on my cheap tester. They are all 80plus white or bronze rated, purchased as "new old stock", completely unused, dust free and still smell like new electronics. The voltages on the tester are either perfect or are off by less than -0.2v, on every one of these. 5 out of 20 units give the PG HH error.
Everything I've read about this value makes it not seem that significant on its own. Basically, the power supply tells the motherboard when its voltages have stabilized and it is ready to come on, so that the computer isn't trying to operate with insufficient power. Unless the PG value is "faked", I don't see the danger in this value being slightly high, as it is still preventing the system from operating unsafely. Seasonic certainly isn't going to fake this value, especially on any decent 80plus units. Of course, it could be said that if the value isn't within the 500ms spec, there's got to be something causing it... but again, there's so many of these with this "problem" and they are otherwise fine. If I bought a brand new, retailed boxed item, sure I'd contact the manufacturer just to ask what's going on... but anything that's a few years old (used or not)... who cares?
... what is the consensus here?
I'm also going to email Seasonic to get their take on the issue.
IMO, this is kind of a big deal, because we want our systems fed with reliable power but we've reached a point where there are so many unused, unpurchased high quality power supplies floating around out there for dirt cheap, that its almost crazy not to buy these for a fraction of the cost of identical brand new units. For example, I just bought 10 brand new, unused Seasonic 350ET power supplies for $80 shipped. That's a $40 unit for $8. I'm far more likely to use an $8 power supply in a cobbled retro system than I am a brand new $40 unit... but should I worry about the PG signal?
Now for some blitting from the back buffer.
