Technical > PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > My 5 year old PSU okay for a video card upgrade?

reply to Airwolf

Re: My 5 year old PSU okay for a video card upgrade?

Those low cost 25 dollar power supply "testers" don't actually test a SMPS, because they can't apply a large, dynamic load on to the unit, nor can they read like an oscilloscope to see if there is ripple and such. They are only good for knowing if the voltages are close to where they should be on a very very light load. A multimeter and a little reading up and you can get better results, but for a quick and dirty reading, if you get one of those gadgets that has a LCD display that shows voltages, that will work for at least some idea of the condition.
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