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If you go with the SSD+RAM upgrade, you're very right that you'll see blown PSU's. I also experienced LOTS of blown motherboards with capacitors being the cause. The G6950 isn't a terrible chip for producing heat (73w) but be careful if you have any of their brethren in full fat config running at 100w+ as they will SHRED mobo's after the 5 year mark. Electrolytic caps have a very short life in a hot environment as they're full of liquid. What makes this poignant is for every degree hotter they run at, it dramatically shortens their expected life.
In this example, 7c rise in temp causes 40% reduction in lifespan.
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@MattSpeller said:
If you go with the SSD+RAM upgrade, you're very right that you'll see blown PSU's. I also experienced LOTS of blown motherboards with capacitors being the cause. The G6950 isn't a terrible chip for producing heat (73w) but be careful if you have any of their brethren in full fat config running at 100w+ as they will SHRED mobo's after the 5 year mark. Electrolytic caps have a very short life in a hot environment as they're full of liquid. What makes this poignant is for every degree hotter they run at, it dramatically shortens their expected life.
In this example, 7c rise in temp causes 40% reduction in lifespan.
RAM maybe. SSD should use less voltage and only the lower volt rails too unlike the HDD that's in them.
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@thecreativeone91 makes no difference to the CPU though, which is what BBQ's the caps
Edit: unless you're talking about the PSU life, which you're right, would benefit from reduced output, though I doubt by much.
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@MattSpeller said:
If you go with the SSD+RAM upgrade, you're very right that you'll see blown PSU's. I also experienced LOTS of blown motherboards with capacitors being the cause. The G6950 isn't a terrible chip for producing heat (73w) but be careful if you have any of their brethren in full fat config running at 100w+ as they will SHRED mobo's after the 5 year mark. Electrolytic caps have a very short life in a hot environment as they're full of liquid. What makes this poignant is for every degree hotter they run at, it dramatically shortens their expected life.
In this example, 7c rise in temp causes 40% reduction in lifespan.
But going with an SSD lowers the power needs, it doesn't raise them. This is one of the big benefits. And RAM uses relatively little. The move to SSD + RAM should improve the lifespan of the PSU and lower the power bill, not put it at extra risk.
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@scottalanmiller For the PSU life, swapping to a SSD will not make any meaningful (sub 10%) difference, and I bet (and will do the math in a minute) that the RAM upgrade to all 4 slots full will cancel it out.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller For the PSU life, swapping to a SSD will not make any meaningful (sub 10%) difference, and I bet (and will do the math in a minute) that the RAM upgrade to all 4 slots full will cancel it out.
Even if it cancels it out completely.... that's only a draw, not a negative. The point is, this is an improvement in lifespan, however minor, not a detriment to it.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller For the PSU life, swapping to a SSD will not make any meaningful (sub 10%) difference, and I bet (and will do the math in a minute) that the RAM upgrade to all 4 slots full will cancel it out.
Yes, but I saying the SSD upgrade has lower current draw. The Ram could affect it but, The SSD should not. Also what brand is the PSU in these things?
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@scottalanmiller from some back of the napkin-esque numbers, it's a wash
Main damage will be from heat over time to the PSU (it is also chock full of caps) so it will depend on your environment quite a bit.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller from some back of the napkin-esque numbers, it's a wash
Main damage will be from heat over time to the PSU (it is also chock full of caps) so it will depend on your environment quite a bit.
But the environment is likely the same, right? SSD makes less hear than an HD, so that's a bonus. Extra RAM means some extra heat there.
Are you just saying that the PSUs are old and that's your concern? HP PSUs I've seen a near zero fail rate even at a decade of use in hot, outdoor, brutal environments. Are you having a bad track record with HPs that is making you have this concern? This is so rare, in my experience, that I can't imagine it coming up.
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@scottalanmiller said:
HP PSUs I've seen a near zero fail rate even at a decade of use in hot, outdoor, brutal environments.
In my previous experience I can tell you that after 5 years a cheap consumer PSU (like you'd find in dell, hp, whatever) will not have much life left. I don't know where you found your 10 year life PSU's but I want some! The closest I've found is just silly over engineered stuff from really cool companies like PC Power & Cooling. They designed some really sweet single rail (possibly monolithic?) PSU's and IIRC got bought by someone.
For the OP, I'd just suggest keeping a few spares around as it's likely you'll need some
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Some of the HPs use nice Delta PSUs. Others not so much.
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@MattSpeller said:
In my previous experience I can tell you that after 5 years a cheap consumer PSU (like you'd find in dell, hp, whatever) will not have much life left.
Cheap consumer PSUs? Are you sure about that? What kinds of units are you using? Where do you find commercial PSUs if not in Dell and HP? Who else is there out there to define what the commercial space even looks like? These are the top two in the game!
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@scottalanmiller apologies, incorrect word - rest of it stands though
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@MattSpeller said:
I don't know where you found your 10 year life PSU's but I want some!
Literally our entire HP fleet for the last sixteen years. We buy used, we run them into the ground, we use them for labs, clients, etc. These things last for forever.
We aren't buying entry level, but not high end either. Mid range, where the value is often best. And we don't buy at random, we research reasonably. But still, d325, d530, dx5150, dc5750, dc5850, etc. All of them absolute tanks.
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Those are the more current ones. Before those it was Compaq Brios and the odd Compaq iPaq. Our iPaqs were often used in unventilated outdoor workspaces or in incinerator rooms, no issues. Lost exactly zero of them (surprised even us.)
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And we have managed lease fleets of those units too, same track record. And those are heavily abused too, many so dirty that there is no air at all and often kept outside or in shops that are kept near 78 degrees or so.
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@scottalanmiller I'm not sure what to tell you! That kit is certainly not designed to last that long, I can tell you the component life of those PSU's is not great.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller I'm not sure what to tell you! That kit is certainly not designed to last that long, I can tell you the component life of those PSU's is not great.
You see those models failing regularly? What is being done to them to make them die so quickly?
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Maybe you haven't been putting SSDs in them like we have
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@scottalanmiller said:
@MattSpeller said:
I don't know where you found your 10 year life PSU's but I want some!
Literally our entire HP fleet for the last sixteen years. We buy used, we run them into the ground, we use them for labs, clients, etc. These things last for forever.
We aren't buying entry level, but not high end either. Mid range, where the value is often best. And we don't buy at random, we research reasonably. But still, d325, d530, dx5150, dc5750, dc5850, etc. All of them absolute tanks.
WE have a few of the dc5750's and 5850's still in services in our lab even.
