Still using Intel Core 2 DuoE8400 and ATI Radeon HD 4770(both of these is good enough for normal usage) , wont do upgrade unless I collected enough money to upgrade
I do a full upgrade every two years or so (every "tick" or "tock" on Intel's strategy.. ) I do a little incremental upgrade in between sometimes. HDDs and soundcard are probably the only things re-used.
I think its good to invest more in a decent quality power supply because it can be recycled and keep your pc running smoothly.
Ironically, I have seen THREE Silverstone power supply, all brand new, died at the same week, must be batch issue ! Thank God it didn't fry my brand new pc back then
Which model? I'm hesitant to say brand x is better than brand y. Some brands have different product lines that differ in reliability. I run 2 Silverstone "OP" PSUs, and two Corsair "TX" PSUs (I think) that have outstanding reliability. I do know some lines from both Corsair and Silverstone have had some issues though. I personally avoid PSUs that have multiple 12v rails and PSUs that are modular.
There's always loss of power/efficiency when it isn't a continuous path/connection. True it's not that significant, but still a loss. That and I feel it's another point of failure in a system (that is avoidable). That and I'll probably lose the crap I didn't hook up anyways...
Your point about modular cables being an extra point of failure is very true. One of my PSU's cables broke from its connectors when I pulled it out...
Personally, I would concentrate on getting the most reliable PSU I can afford. A good warranty is always nice, but when it comes to PSU, you don't want the hassle of sending it in for repair or replacement.
Yeah, warranty is definitely different from reliability... I have had great experiences with Silverstone and Corsair (again non-modular and single 12v rails). The first gen modular PSUs (made by Ultra I think) were royal POS'... I used Antec for a while but their 12v rail seemed to dip quite a bit for me. For me, under load, I don't want to see any (significant) droops in power.