- Feb 7, 2011
- 8,650
- 3,210
- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
Do not buy Gigabyte power supplies
- Thread starter Dirty Hipsters
- Start date
Don't have the attention span to watch the video, but would this kind of failure brick the rest of your PC too? And in that case, would the manufacturers have to compensate you for that?
- Feb 7, 2011
- 8,650
- 3,210
- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
Yes, it can brick some of the components attached to the PSU. In the testing in the video it fried one of their 3080 graphics cards (though they couldn't specifically say that the power supply issue had killed the card, just that it had died at the same time), and there are reviews on newegg that also claim that the power supplies damaged other components. As to whether they would have to compensate you for the loss of the whole PC, I have no idea, but that would probably depend on what consumer protections exist in your country and whether you can prove that the damage was caused by the power supply.
Last edited:
Jesus, that's like poaching a rhino.
The idea of a single component messing up and bricking your other parts is honestly one of the scariest things about PC gaming to me, which is why when the day comes that I can afford one, I'll probably end up having someone else build it for me.
You really do need to be careful, even (especially) when getting one built. The PSU is literally the heart of a computer system, and if someone decides to save a few bucks by skimping out and getting a bad one, it can kill the system and make any number of parts completely unusable.
After personal experience, I wouldn't recommend Gigabyte in any capacity. Doesn't surprise me their PSUs are garbo
- Feb 7, 2011
- 8,650
- 3,210
- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
I've had 2 gigabyte graphics cards. The 980 I hard worked great, absolutely no complaints. Bought a 5700XT and it's been kind of mediocre. The performance is fine, but there's some annoying coil whine.
I probably won't be getting any more gigabyte products after this based on their quality control.
And every single Gigabyte motherboard I’ve ever had has been so bulletproof I considered flogging them to the army to use as armour plating. Confirmation bias is a hell of a thing.
Uh, this single component is the reason all the other hundreds of parts even do anything. Same as a laptop, or a PlayStation or a television or an electric frying pan. If somethings power supply shits itself in a big way; yeah it’s gonna fuck the whole device.
With that being said; Jesus H. Fucking Christ, Gigabyte. What the fuck stupid bullshit are you playing at with this kind of nonsense? That poor sod’s money should be refunded with enough extra to buy a pair of 3090s at current retail pricing.
My own experience with Gigabyte was limited to my old 980ti, but it too was kind of hit or miss. Fans weren't plugged in when it arrived. Ok, no biggie, easy fix. So I slap it in my system, and I notice some pretty poor temps. Again, easy fix, redid the sorry paste job on the gpu die and replaced the shitty pads. After that it was smooth sailing all the way, but you know, I shouldn't have had to do those things.
Seems like poor paste/pad application is a rather common issue with their gpus. It popped up frequently in reviews and user comments while I was researching for a new card.
Seems like poor paste/pad application is a rather common issue with their gpus. It popped up frequently in reviews and user comments while I was researching for a new card.
Whether building a pc yourself or having it built for you, the rule for power supplies is very simple: never, ever, ever cheap out. Get the best and biggest one you can afford.
The difference being that if your TV's power supply fucks up, you had no input and therefore it is not your fault. Probs would be a breeze to get it replaced under warranty too. Your PC ending up fucked because you chose the wrong PSU? Would make you feel significantly worse, and I doubt any warranty would cover the costs for the other parts if it was your own fault.
Noted, although I was also speaking generally. Would defective GPU/RAM/etc not also be capable of screwing up your system? I don't know enough about PCs.
Yes, they technically can, but the most likely outcome of running a system with faulty CPU, GPU or RAM in it, is that the ssytem simply won't boot. It's comparatively rare for them to fry the entire system.
I swore off Gigabyte after the amount of fuckery this motherboard gave me (Z170x-Gaming7). All the advertising and reviews raved about the sound quality because it comes with an onboard Creative SoundBlaster module, I like good sound and it was a decent-priced LGA1154 socket board, so I got one. Put everything together (with moderate cursing on the plastic bullshit and mobo standoffs, as is tradition) and it booted and worked fine. But as soon as I started anything graphics-heavy...the sound quality went completely to hell with constant popping and buzzing.
Eventually found a couple other people complaining about the same thing, and after a bit of discussion in a forum thread, I'm pretty sure I worked out the source of the issue (which necessitated buying a $100 USB DAC and later a really great USB headset): some fucking brilliant designer stuck the highly sensitive audio components at the very back of the board, right next to the PCIe ports (blue circle below). So whenever my video card was under load, the interference from it caused the sound card and preamp (circled below in red) to completely shit the bed.
Eventually found a couple other people complaining about the same thing, and after a bit of discussion in a forum thread, I'm pretty sure I worked out the source of the issue (which necessitated buying a $100 USB DAC and later a really great USB headset): some fucking brilliant designer stuck the highly sensitive audio components at the very back of the board, right next to the PCIe ports (blue circle below). So whenever my video card was under load, the interference from it caused the sound card and preamp (circled below in red) to completely shit the bed.
From what I've seen, placing the sound chip in the corner (like where the SoundCore chip is in the picture) is pretty standard, and usually that's enough clearance to not be a huge issue, especially if the implementation is decent. But all that extra kit... yeah, that's not exactly a good spot. But I wonder where else they could've put it without having to redesign the entire board from top to bottom. The layout is all pretty standard, so I can't think of a good spot to put it, save for removing the lowest PCI-e slot and laying it that way. After my last motherboard experience... I'd say Gigabyte not having very good implementation of components sounds par for the course (Especially after hearing what I did from the video in the OP)
Out of curiosity, what DAC did you buy?
I don't know a whole lot about the subject of DACs, but I got something called a Topping TP30 that appears to be unobtainable now. Used that with a Razer BlackShark Gen 1 headset for a few years (amazingly not shit for being Razer) until that crapped out, then replaced all of it with a HyperX Cloud Revolver S. Which is friggin' awesome once you tweak the EQ settings to bring up the low end, but that's more personal preference.
Ah, interesting! Thanks for the follow up. I remember having a HyperX Cloud II headset a long time ago. Was pretty decent for the price, you wouldn't think they'd be as good as they are given the brand and reputation of most gaming headsets. I've since moved on myself with a Yeti Nano mic and some Focal Listen headphones, but I do miss the headset convenience every now and then
As someone who just had their power source replaced, and currently am using a loner piece that thankfully works, does anyone have a brand or wattage they recommend?
- Feb 7, 2011
- 8,650
- 3,210
- 118
- Country
- 'Merica
- Gender
- 3 children in a trench coat
I've previously used Seasonic and EVGA power supplies and they've been great. Wattage would depend on the specs of your computer. Generally speaking you want a powerful enough power supply so that the power draw from your PC is going to be about 60% of your power supply's max output (so if your computer is going to be using about 350-400 watts you'll want about a 650 watt PSU). This helps prevent issues with voltage fluctuations.
Also always remember, if you're switching out a modular PSU always switch out the cables as well otherwise you might fry your motherboard. The power supply manufacturers don't really have a standardization for cables, so cables from one power supply may not be compatible with another even though everything fits together. Don't be lazy, swap the cables.
No worries, the block came with it's own octopus of cables and we used those. My resident computer guru reccomended my rig get 700, and my old block was putting about 500. Current temp piece is clocking in 650.
Newegg has a calculator for this, to be take with a grain of salt -
Power Supply Calculator – PSU Wattage Calculator | Newegg
Providing computer parts and hardware, hard drives, cameras and software as well as electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, jewelry, watches, gaming, and much more. With fast-shipping! Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.com
Another one for the power user -
Power Supply Calculator - PSU Calculator | OuterVision
Power Supply Calculator - Select computer parts and our online PSU calculator will calculate the required power supply wattage and amperage for your PC.