Player buys used gaming PC, but the community warns: A component is a fire hazard

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Used hardware is usually a good option to save a few bucks. But a gamer has now received hardware that only looks useful at first glance.

A gamer now explained on Reddit that he had bought a used gaming PC. But he himself doesn’t really trust the new PC because he posts a picture of the computer’s power supply.

Just by looking at it, many people warn against using the component. Because the part looks anything but safe.

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Power supply supposedly offers 1,600 watts and high efficiency

Where is the problem? Basically, the power supply supplies your computer with power: it converts the voltage from the power grid for your device.

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At first glance, the power supply also looks powerful. 1,600 watts means plenty of power and high efficiency means that little energy is lost. But many users warn against using the power adapter.

  • Some claim that the numbers on the power supply may not be correct. The 95% looks like this, someone made a 95 out of an 80% with a thick pen.
  • A few users also refer to the power supply as an “IED” (for “Improvised Explosive Devices”), which means something like “improvised booby trap”.
  • Others explain that such power supplies with lots of cables are not unusual. Because such models were almost exclusively used in mining rigs: “The chances are good that the hardware has been through hell.”

    • In addition, it is almost never worth endangering your hardware with a potentially dangerous power supply. You can get a good power supply from a well-known manufacturer for around 50 euros.

    Cheap and no-name power supplies have a bad reputation in the community

    In particular, very cheap power supplies, which have become known on the Internet as Chinese firecrackers, have the bad reputation of offering more appearance than reality:

  • High performance is promised for little money, but this is usually only achieved during voltage peaks.
  • The real values ​​are often significantly lower than the manufacturer’s specifications and important fuses that protect against overvoltage are sometimes missing.
  • Some very cheap imported products sometimes even lack the CE mark, which manufacturers in the EU are required to have. This indicates that the product is approved for the EU market.

    • When it comes to power supplies, the saying still applies to many users: If you buy cheaply, you usually buy twice.

    Why can such products be difficult? The main problem is that you can cause a lot of damage with a damaged, broken or even manipulated power supply. In the best case scenario, you’ll just end up with several broken components; in the worst case scenario, you’ll end up with a house fire because certain fuses in the power supply didn’t last. Because with very cheap products, savings are made somewhere and, in the most annoying case, with security.

    But even with high-priced models you can have a lot of trouble. A gamer almost set his apartment on fire because he underestimated his modular power supply:

    Gamer warns that one tiny mistake could set your expensive PC hardware on fire

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