Used power supplies in Pakistan

Buying power supplies second-hand

A power supply is the one component that can take the rest of the machine with it when it fails, and it is also the one that ages on a shelf whether or not anyone used it. The capacitors inside degrade with time and heat regardless of run hours, so a lightly-used eight-year-old unit is a worse buy than a heavily-used three-year-old one. Ask the manufacture date, not the purchase date.

Never reuse modular cables between units. The connectors on the PSU side are not standardised — the same plug shape carries different pinouts between brands and even between models from one brand — and using the wrong cable can put twelve volts where the board expects ground. If the cables are missing, factor a replacement set into the price or walk away.

What to check before you pay

• Find the manufacture date on the label. Capacitors age whether the unit ran or not.
• Confirm the modular cables shipped with this exact unit, and never reuse another PSU's set.
• Check the wattage against your actual build, with headroom for a GPU's transient spikes.
• Listen for coil whine and fan noise under load, and smell for anything burnt.

Read the full benchmarking guide for power supplies →