I usually don't bother with period correct from '00 onward when it comes to PSU's. I buy newer models from flea markets and recycling for 5-10e and use those instead. That way you can pick a better model and they all pretty much cost the same and have more than enough power to run any old hardware combination. Just make sure to check out the caps and replace if needed.

Mmm, that period correct ripple, noise, vdrop and inefficiency. I can't speak for this specific model of PSU but I had 4 out of 4 Antec (2 were RMA replacements) PSUs fail within their first 12 months of use on models not much newer than that. One of the reasons I did a lot of research and also came up with Seasonic as my go to brand.

Burn it with fire?

Awww. All old PSUs seems to be bad.
I like 2000-2006 socket A period because of all the fancy tuning stuff.
- Many nice heat sink coolers, leds, cold cathode lights, case windows, UV-round cables, different motherboard colors.

All this fear of (good) older power supplies is highly exaggerated IMO, assuming you are up to the task of doing some basic refurbishing, namely recapping and swapping the fan if it has wear.

The design of those Antec PSUs is very good for the time, it's just that the manufacturing company (CWT) used awful capacitors to cut costs, replace those and they're perfectly fine. They have been using Seasonic/Delta-made units for a while if I'm not mistaken.

And modern (generally black) power supplies stick like a sore thumb in a retro rig.

TheMobRules wrote:

All this fear of (good) older power supplies is highly exaggerated IMO, assuming you are up to the task of doing some basic refurbishing, namely recapping and swapping the fan if it has wear.

I agree.
I speak of experience with my makeshift PSU tester.

There are 25yo PSU with all the important protections and much better than ATX spec that do not need any more work than a bit of cleaning.
And there are less-than-5 yo PSU that are grossly out of spec and need major exchange of parts, even if they optically look fine and apparently "work", quietly and slowly destroying what they supply.

But there are some categories I always ditch: gutless wonders and PSUs with wires smaller than 18 AWG.

So I look at the wires, judge, open, judge, clean, reassemble, test, judge, and then swap caps and fan if appropriate, and retest.

user33331 wrote:

Hello
Antec performance 480w True PSU mfg.2003-2004.

What to do with it ?

If you have a use for it, then replace ALL the capacitors and as long as it hasn't already burnt itself out due to it's bad capacitors, it is a good supply.

I have successfully recapped a 380w, and while it was a lot of work, it came out pretty well.

It's kind of interesting to see the difference in build between OEMs. I really like Delta supplies -- they're usually simple, effective, robust, and well-built. I have an FSP that is pretty good, but had some bad caps (it was from that era) and apparently needed a couple or really large resistors for balancing or minimum load (I didn't RE the topology.) One of them had gotten so hot -- probably frequently -- that it had crisped the heatshrink tubing around it and tanned the PCB. Still worked fine though.

Of all the ones I've refurbished, the Enermax was the most PITA. Super tight layout on the DC side. Very tall caps that were a little more challenging to find replacements for. And the solder-side had surface-mount bleed resistors between the rail and ground flood fills that I had to watch out for while reflowing solder around the new caps and the output leads I shortened.

SirNickity wrote:

It's kind of interesting to see the difference in build between OEMs. I really like Delta supplies -- they're usually simple, effective, robust, and well-built.

I think I can agree. Currently I am waiting for replacement caps for a Delta. It has run 24/7 for more than 10 years, and ripple was approaching 0.2V.

SirNickity wrote:

One ... tanned the PCB. Still worked fine though.

If I see tanned boards, I ditch the PSU. Such things should not happen imho.

SirNickity wrote:

Of all the ones I've refurbished, the Enermax was the most PITA. Super tight layout on the DC side. Very tall caps that were a little more challenging to find replacements for. And the solder-side had surface-mount bleed resistors between the rail and ground flood fills that I had to watch out for while reflowing solder around the new caps and the output leads I shortened.

Currently waiting for caps for such an Enermax. I think it is good nonetheless, as the wires are 16 AWG.