About to RMA a fairly new PSU. Bad unit or bad config?

[Merrick]

I'm about to send in an RMA for a 1000w Coolmax ZU-1000B power supply.
I had it up and running in my new rig for about a week or two before it went pop (no power, components all work fine connected to a different PSU).

Before I slap the replacement back in there, I figured I'd run it by the community to see if anyone thinks I'm overloading the thing. I did use the PSU calculator and it came up with 925w recommended for my config (accounting for 20% capacitor aging and peak utilization)

The rig is running BAMT 0.5 and cgminer with temp targets and cutoffs such that the fans really never went above 60-70%.

So here's what I was powering...

Main board:
MSI-7548 AM2 mobo
AMD Athlon X2 5050e CPU w/stock cooler
4x1gb DD2 sticks of ram

GPUs:
4xATI Reference 5870 (aka the batmobile)
2 are powered by pci-e
2 are powered with molex->pci-e adapters
all are volted at 1.100
all are memory underclocked to 300
engines are overclocked ranging from no OC to 950mhz depending on what the card would stabilize at.

Low power misc:
2gb usb stick
usb mouse
ps/2 kb
1x80mm fan
2x120mm fan

I'm planning on grabbing a kill-a-watt to see what it's really pulling as soon as I get the replacement, but just wondered if I'm missing something. It seems that a 1000w PSU should be able to power this with no issues, but I ended up with pop goes the weasel.

Have I gone too far or is this just a crap PSU or what?

-Merrick

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[scifimike12]

A 1kW should easily power all that.  The problem is that Coolmax is just crap.  I bought one years ago when I first started getting into building computers.  Huge mistake.  It died after a few months and the replacement wasn't any better.

Look for a higher quality PSU from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ, XFX, or Rosewill.  I actually think your PSU isn't continuous at 1000w, more like that is its max power.  Yikes.

Edit:

Found an Antec TPQ-1200 OC for $129.99 at NCIXUS.  Damn good deal for a reliable PSU.  I have 3 myself. 

[Merrick]

Changed RMA to refund request and will look at purchasing that model or similar, though I might miss the sale. Shame they don't accept btc. I think you are correct about the non-continuous power. I can't believe I missed that.

[juggalodarkclow]

A 1kW should easily power all that.  The problem is that Coolmax is just crap.  I bought one years ago when I first started getting into building computers.  Huge mistake.  It died after a few months and the replacement wasn't any better.

Look for a higher quality PSU from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ, XFX, or Rosewill.  I actually think your PSU isn't continuous at 1000w, more like that is its max power.  Yikes.

Edit:

Found an Antec TPQ-1200 OC for $129.99 at NCIXUS.  Damn good deal for a reliable PSU.  I have 3 myself. 

Very good recommendation, wish I could have gotten mine for that price 

[Photon939]

A 1kW should easily power all that.  The problem is that Coolmax is just crap.  I bought one years ago when I first started getting into building computers.  Huge mistake.  It died after a few months and the replacement wasn't any better.

Look for a higher quality PSU from Antec, Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, Thermaltake, OCZ, XFX, or Rosewill.  I actually think your PSU isn't continuous at 1000w, more like that is its max power.  Yikes.

Edit:

Found an Antec TPQ-1200 OC for $129.99 at NCIXUS.  Damn good deal for a reliable PSU.  I have 3 myself. 

Very good recommendation, wish I could have gotten mine for that price 

I second the motion that Coolmax PSUs are junk. I bought a 500W unit on sale to keep as a backup a few years ago and when I had a PSU failure in my main PC I slapped it in. That junky PSU couldn't handle my PC which used maybe 250W tops when gaming, it would randomly shut down.

Here are some more reasons to stay away from Coolmax:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=72
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=68

[cmg5461]

yfw rosewill

[Merrick]

Managed to snag that recommended PSU on the special and so far it's working great. Thanks for the advice, guys!

[AndrewBUD]

They have some decent PSU's it just depends which one you buy...


I have a coolmax 1000 watt one of the ones with a single 12v rail and it uhhh rocks.... Works great tons of connectors... modular and I paid like 100 bucks for it....