Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Msi al-b500e 500w psu

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
    #1

    Msi al-b500e 500w psu

    MSI AL-B500E PSU... is it any good? Hmm.



    Did a search of the model number, came up with this newegg link:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817154015
    Apex/Allied, huh? Not reassuring. And to think this unit was in a server? And what is MSI doing rebranding an ALLIED unit of all things? Shame on them.

    Weird thing is this unit that I have actually has PCIe connectors, while the original doesn't. Two, in fact. 20A on the 12V rail seems pretty low to put two PCIe plugs on a PSU however. And 52A on the 5V rail? Sounds like an older design unit that's been "upgraded" with newer plugs. However I should mention that the two PCIe plugs on this are both missing the center 12V wire, so each one only has two instead of three 12V feeds. Nice...

    The guts surprised me. I was expecting much worse and bunches of empty spaces on the PCB like most other Allied units I've opened up. This one it appears they actually decided to put a few more components in.


    Weird vents, I haven't seen those before. No bulges visible on those.


    Those caps with the odd caps are Koshin. Good? Bad? Mediocre? I didn't find much on these when I searched them on here, except that they have the same vent type as Elna caps. But, given that they are in an Allied PSU, I suspect they are mediocre at best.


    Also some smaller caps have the basic + vent design. No name, just a planet looking symbol, like Saturn or something. Those were iffy, this one here is swollen a little bit.


    And the right one in this pic is slightly puffed too, though you can't see it in the pic.


    So I was thinking of maybe recapping this originally as the innards at least appeared to be halfway decent at first glance, but after checking it out more I think this one is destined for the scrap heap (despite being pretty looking with its snazzy case, hmm maybe I should swap some good guts into it!). That is unless someone can give me a good reason to not dump it. Heh, I wonder what would happen if I tried to have it power an 8800 Ultra

    In case you're wondering as to the purpose of this thread... well, there really isn't much of one. It started out as a "is it worth recapping thread" but as I looked at it more I figured nope, it isn't, but I'd post the thread anyway
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

    I'd recap it. Koshin are just as bad as, if not worse than Fuhjyyu. The rest of the guts actually look OK
    I love putting bad caps and flat batteries in fire and watching them explode!!

    No wonder it doesn't work! You installed the jumper wires backwards

    Main PC: Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz, Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP, 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600, 240GB Intel 335 Series SSD, 750GB WD HDD, Sony Optiarc DVD RW, Palit nVidia GTX660 Ti, CoolerMaster N200 Case, Delta DPS-600MB 600W PSU, Hauppauge TV Tuner, Windows 7 Home Premium

    Office PC: HP ProLiant ML150 G3, 2x Xeon E5335 2GHz, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB Intel 530 SSD, 2x 250GB HDD, 2x 450GB 15K SAS HDD in RAID 1, 1x 2TB HDD, nVidia 8400GS, Delta DPS-650BB 650W PSU, Windows 7 Pro

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

      If they are that bad I'm surprised none are bulged and/or leaky. Although what may have helped was while it was in a server (running a Pentium D) the fan control knob on it was cranked to maximum, so there was decent airflow through there. Probably the only thing that kept it from popping more caps then.

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

        Originally posted by Sparky View Post
        Weird thing is this unit that I have actually has PCIe connectors, while the original doesn't.
        Are you sure those are PCIe plugs and not some server-style 12V plugs for multi CPU setups or something?!
        I've seen some really weird configurations on those more-than-4pin 12V plugs. Some looked like PCIe plugs, but didn't actually fit into a dummy PCIe card (fried 7800GT), some did fit, but had the 12V and GND swapped around compared to one of those 5.25" molex to PCIe adapters..
        The latter could possibly end in a rather expensive *oops* situation

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

          Yep tested it. Wires are in the right spots (except for that missing center 12V wire), keys are correct and fit a video card fine.

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

            2000uF of primary reservoir, what looks like a complete input filter, non-flimsy heatsinks, and a good size transformer.

            It's probably good for ~400W at least, I say it's worth recapping.

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

              Agreed, it's worth a recap.
              Originally posted by PeteS in CA
              Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
              A working TV? How boring!

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

                OK I'll recap it. I just won't try to power Bloomfield with a GTX580 with it

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

                  If the PSU has a 2-transistor self-oscillating 5vsb circuit, look for the "5vsb critical cap". It's usually a small 10, 22 or 47 uF cap on the primary side, close to the 5vsb transformer. It's very important to replace it (otherwise you can get severe over voltage on the 5vsb rail if that cap fails)!
                  How to check if the 5vsb is 2-transistor design: there will be 2 transistors on the primary side of the 5vsb circuit (main and driver). The main transistor is usually a TO-220 part attached to the primary heatsink while the driver is normally a TO-92 part (i.e. small).

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

                    Agreed, definitely replace that cap too, and throw a 1W 5v1 zener on the 5vsb rail to make sure the voltage never goes past that even if the caps fail.
                    Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                    Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                    A working TV? How boring!

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

                      5.1V zener is a bit too close. Some 5vsb circuits like to run around 5.10 to 5.15V. ATX spec says 5vsb can be +/- 5%, so that means 5vsb is allowed to be anywhere between 4.75V to 5.25V. 5.2V or 5.3V zener would be better.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Msi al-b500e 500w psu

                        It just so happens that 5v1 is more common here. And it won't eat much power anyway, unless the 5vsb rail climbs significantly higher than 5v1, which it shouldn't. Worst thing that could happen is it'll dissipate an extra half watt, and only when there's nothing else on the 5vsb like no front USB ports or such things - not much to talk about.
                        Originally posted by PeteS in CA
                        Remember that by the time consequences of a short-sighted decision are experienced, the idiot who made the bad decision may have already been promoted or moved on to a better job at another company.
                        A working TV? How boring!

                        Comment

                        Previous template Next
                        Working...
                        X