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Power supply cap blew on a client's PC and took the motherboard with it
I was working on a custom build for a guy in Denver last Tuesday when the 5V rail spiked and popped a cap on his cheap 500W unit. It fried the VRM on his board, so now he's out $180 for a new one. Has anyone else seen cheap PSUs cause this kind of chain reaction?
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wyattramirez1d ago
Yep, seen it way too many times and it always plays out the same way! When a cheap unit pops a cap on the 5V rail, it doesn't just die quiet, it sends whatever voltage it wants straight into the board and the VRM eats it. The real kicker is the PSU often survives or looks fine, so people blame the board and buy another one, then the same thing happens again. First thing I'd do is tell your client to never power that machine back on with the old unit still in it, because a half dead PSU will fry the replacement board too. If you want to save him money down the road, get him into a unit with proper overvoltage and overcurrent protection from a brand that actually lists its specs, not the 500W bargain bin stuff. Cheap PSUs are the one part where going budget almost always costs double in the end, and this is exactly why.
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