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Bottom or top mount PSU?

Post Date: 2009-02-11
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BobW View Drop Down
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Posts: 2 		  Quote BobW Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Bottom or top mount PSU?
    Posted: 11 Feb 2009 at 11:04am
I notice that many of the cases offered by DS utilize the bottom mount PSU configuration as opposed to the more common top mount.
 
What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of this type of mount?
 
I've had two PSU's burn out on me in the past two years, and by that I mean actually produce sparks, heat, and smoke.   Possibly because they were top mounts, no damage was done to the rest of the components in the case, but I'm not sure this would have been the case had they been bottom mounted.
 
Thanks in advance for any opinions.
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widdlecat View Drop Down
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Posts: 840 		  Quote widdlecat Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 11 Feb 2009 at 1:04pm
The advantages of bottom mounted PSUs are that they lower the rig's center of gravity and that, when properly ventilated, will run cooler and quieter.
As for you PSUs going nuclear on you, that is an indication of either a poorly constructed power supply or a systemic problem. There may be shorting going on somewhere in your system.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the advantage of top mounted PSUs is that they aid in case air circulation and cooling. This means that the PSU will run hotter and, thus a little noisier due to the fan revving up a bit.

Never skimp on the PSU as it affects your pc overall performance and durability

Edited by widdlecat - 11 Feb 2009 at 1:08pm
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BobW View Drop Down
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Posts: 2 		  Quote BobW Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 11 Feb 2009 at 5:24pm
I failed to mention that these two failures were not on the same PC, but two different rigs, so the failures were unrelated.   Just coincidences.   The fans could have stopped working both PSU's causing them to over-heat, but that is only speculation on my  part.
 
One was the stock minimum wattage OEM PSU on a 4 year old Hewlett Packard PC.  
 
The other was a two year old 500 watt Antec replacement that I had put in a newer HP computer to facilitate a graphics card upgrade requirement.
 
A GPU is nothing more than a transformer, but along with the CPU and the GPU it also produces its own heat.   It seems contradictory to me to have the GPU, which is the least costly of the 3 heat generating components of a PC located at the bottom of a rig which in turn would add to the heat the of the other more costly GPU and CPU.
 
I realize some heat will be dissapated through its own fan, but there will still be heat radiating from the PSU encasement and this heat will only rise internally across the other more costly heat producing components.
 
I hope I explained that more clearly this time.
 
Cheers
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Rich Z View Drop Down
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Posts: 15 		  Quote Rich Z Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 11 Feb 2009 at 10:02pm
Yeah man. Heat RISES. It is a whole lot cheaper to replace a power supply than it is to replace the motherboard and everything else exposed to excessive heat from below. This is one of the issues I am mulling over in looking at the selection of cases available from DS. I'm really not worried about a center of gravity issue, as the case will be under my desk and not subject to having people running all around it to tip it over.


Edited by Rich Z - 11 Feb 2009 at 10:03pm
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