w_tom said:
(e-mail address removed) wrote
5VSB supplies so little power that standby should not overheat anything.
Not true with suspend to ram that he is using, it obviously has to power the ram.
Bet the power supply is warm to the touch on the hottest days in summer.
Many hardware problems that always existed may not become
apparent until room temperature rises slightly. This is why
manufacturers of higher reliability hardware do burn-in testing.
Contrary to popular myth, burn-in testing means putting room
temperature up to maximum, executing everything worse case, lowering
room temperature to absolute minimum, then doing same tests. Then
temperature cycle equipment from below min to above max to min to max
... then do more testing at max and min temperatures.
Doesnt happen with mass market PC power supplys.
Well, you are not going to do all that. But running a computer for some
time also at room temperatures that are or exceeds 100 degree F can
find defects early. That is perfectly normal temperature to all computers,
does not create any harm, AND tends to find a defect while hardware is
still in warranty. IOW if that 5VSB was defective, then 5VSB problem
might have been detected long ago (before failure became problematic).
Unlikely given that it would normally have failed in summer,
you only get one of those a year and that fits his failure rate.
Why would power supplies fail in summer? Because supply was always
defective, not tested previously in a 100 degree F room, and symptoms
of that failure became apparent in summer. Summer did not create the
problem. Summer heat finally detected an existing condition.
Wrong if the supply wasnt designed adequately so that the
power supply didnt overheat the 5VSB regulator in the worse
case of high room temp, high 5VSB current due to suspend to ram.
If a power supply 5VSB was harmed by standby memory load,
that power supply was defective when purchased. Standby power
is just too trivial to create failure in any properly designed hardware.
Wrong when suspend to ram is used. That current is significant.
