When talking about PSUs, you find a lot of people may not know a lot of important and basic information about them. Perhaps the main reason behind this is the failure of many to talk about this important piece of the computer, or not to indicate the importance that it provides to you in general. And sometimes some may pass it by, thankfully, or even leave the company that supplied or assembled his computer to do the job completely.
Although hiring a private company to choose your next power supply or PSU is okay in case that company or person knows what they are doing, your personal knowledge of this matter at all is an integral part of the concepts that you should be familiar with. out in the computer world. In our previous article in the Technical Glossary series, we talked about PSUs in general, to clarify some concepts and how the power supply works, but today we will cover another circuit which is the selection circuit. So, let’s see together what are the five factors that you should know before you buy the next power supply?
1- Always remember that continuous wattage is better than maximum wattage
The wattage number or value of a power supply is a basic number that helps you distinguish which PSUs you need and how they are rated. Simply put, this is the total amount of watts your power supply can deliver to the different parts of your computer. You’ll find models with 300 watts of power, some with 1200 watts or even more. And while companies will proudly display this number on the provider’s box, some of them may not tell you the full story, so how?
Well, let’s say you are now in front of a 500-watt power supply, or at least that’s what it says on its sign. What the company may not tell you is if this value states continuous wattage, in which case you are safe. If that number is the peak wattage or peak wattage, you may want to avoid it altogether (We’ll tell you why right away). Continuous wattage and maximum wattage are based on tests performed by the manufacturer. Whereas, continuous wattage indicates that the power supply can provide 500 watts of power continuously without fluctuations. While the Peak Wattage value indicates that 500W is the maximum power the power supply can deliver, but perhaps only for a minute before that value drops.
So, to put it simply, look for continuous wattage ratings, completely ignore peak wattage ratings, and of course ignore products that don’t advertise a continuous wattage rating, and don’t worry the big companies usually won’t try to trick you on this point. But anyway, if you find yourself in front of a power supply that you can’t tell which power ratings it has (ie the company didn’t write down the type of power rating), don’t worry about it, and move on to examining your next option.
2 – Calculate how much power supply capacity will you need?
Of course, not all computers are built with the same hardware, so the amount of power each person needs varies. For example, a gaming PC will need more power to run than a simple desktop PC. This is because powerful processors and more efficient graphics cards require more power to run at their full potential. So, if you buy a power supply or a PSU that is weak in terms of power or power, your computer will lose power (shut down itself) during the most loaded processes. Here the important question arises, which is “How do you calculate the amount of energy you actually need?”.
Fortunately for now, the Internet is full of resources that you can use to calculate your computer’s power needs. One easy solution that everyone can use is the power calculator from Outervision or the power supply calculator from Cooler Master. If you are new to the idea of calculating the power of your device, the first solution is more suitable, but in case you know what you are doing, the Cooler Master version is better of course. Both calculators will give you an idea of how much wattage you need, and depending on how you entered your information, feel free to round it to the closest value to those values provided by the PSUs. In fact, it’s always best here to go up a step or two. Let us now show you what we mean.
For example, let’s say the calculator tells you that you need 370W, in this case you should choose a 400W power supply, the next class of power supplies will be 450W, the next class is 500W and so on (each class 50 higher watts). So even though the 400-watt option is what you’ll need, we always recommend going two degrees higher, meaning 500 watts would be the best option, and the reason here is simply that you don’t know what might happen after a year, for example. You may need to add some parts that need more power, and of course you don’t want the power supply to be the problem. The other reason here is that the power supply itself may decrease in capacity over the years, so the excess capacity here will benefit you greatly, to cover the decrease in efficiency that may occur over time.
3- Choose a high-efficiency True Rated PSU
With the continuous increase in the consumption of electrical energy, the need to preserve the environment and help the planet, through environmentally friendly components, has also increased. Even if you don’t care about nature, or use a 100 percent green energy resource, high-efficiency power supplies will still be your best option in terms of saving wasted energy, and thus saving money as well.
So, what are High Efficiency PSUs or (True Efficiency Power Supplies)?
We had talked in a previous article about the nature of the work of power supplies, and we learned that the power supply or PSU works to convert alternating current from the electrical source into DC power, which is then sent to all parts of the computer. This conversion process takes place with some energy loss. Therefore, the true power supply efficiency depends entirely on how much energy is being converted and how much energy is wasted during this process. To make it clearer, let’s take a quick example. The efficiency of power supplies that come with the 80Plus logo indicates that these power supplies can provide 80% efficiency, that is, they can convert 80% of AC power to DC, 20% is lost during operation. Similarly, 50 percent efficiency indicates that the supply can convert 50 percent of AC power to DC, and another 50 percent is lost.
So, in simpler terms: a higher percentage efficiency is always better, and it will require less power from the outlet. With this in mind, industry bodies and organizations have created a new efficiency standard, with the most efficient PSUs being those that come with an 80Plus rating, which is assigned by an independent certification body. It is also worth noting that even within that equipment that comes with this certificate of efficiency 80 Plus, there are different levels of this same efficiency such as: 80 Plus, 80 Plus Bronze, 80 Plus Silver, 80 Plus Gold, 80 Plus Platinum, 80 Plus Titanium. (This list is ordered from worst to best, from left to right.)
The other advantage of these efficient PSUs is that they generate much less heat than other power supplies, and usually operate at lower noise rates, meaning they are also quieter.
4- Pay attention to small details
Everything we’ve talked about so far revolves around the bare basics of power supplies. But as with any computer hardware or technology, there is always more detail about what you want or need. Of course, if you are a beginner, the three aspects mentioned above will be more important to you in your purchasing decision. However, there are some other terms you may encounter while shopping for your new PSU power supply. Some of these terms are of little interest to people new to the world of power supplies, and some are very important; In this sense, it is good to know what to ignore and what to watch out for, or at least get an initial idea of it.
AT Design vs. ATX and mATX Sometimes, you’ll see that power supplies are designed for AT, ATX, or mATX computers. In case you didn’t read the previous article, these are terms used to describe motherboards of all sizes and designs. Different and therefore have different energy needs. So, one of the important things that will save you the trouble of choosing a dedicated supply for a different motherboard, double check your motherboard (it should be listed in the specifications under the so-called “form factor” and buy a PSU that corresponds to the power factor Same shape (ATX motherboard will need an ATX power supply, and so on).
Rails or Rails: Another important thing that you should know is the energy bars or rails provided by the power supply, and the amounts of watts it supplies. You can get Multi Rails or Single Rail PSUs. Both have their pros and cons, and we won’t talk about the technical aspects for now (as we covered them in the main article). But simply let’s say that if you live in an area where power fluctuations or outages are normal, you should consider using multi-rail feeders. As for any other scenario, or if you are using a good uninterruptible or uninterruptible power supply (UPS) power supply (UPS), get a single rail PSU.
Voltage stability: The next point is voltage stability. For this point if you are doing all the above-mentioned points, voltage stability will not be a problem. Where this option in power supplies essentially refers to the ability of the PSU to continue to provide power at 12 volts without falling out.
Cables or Connectors: Unless you’re buying a specialized, high-end power supply, most of the time you’ll be fine with the cables that come in the box. On the other hand, advanced PSUs offer something called “modular cables,” which allow you to install cables and connections as needed. Of course, such things may not be important to the average user, but they usually provide more space and easier to organize cables.
5- Don’t resort to cheap solutions
Some may ask why we recommend a high-quality PSU instead of just using the solutions that come with the box or unknown brand models? As we said above, the power supply is the most sensitive part of your computer, as it supplies all parts of the computer with the power needed to function properly. It may also be the reason for the complete destruction of your platform, or at least the burning of some parts if it is not of high quality that allows you to use the computer normally.
But apart from that, high quality power supplies have other benefits that make them worthwhile. It lasts for a long time without worrying about performance deterioration. Also, if you buy a power supply with more power than you need by 100 or 200 watts, it will make you ready for any platform upgrade without worrying about the power supply. Another important point is that this type of power supply has value when reselling or upgrading to a new PSU. You’ll find old power supply buyers on buying sites like Amazon and eBay.
One very important last point is that this type of power supply will provide you with the electrical protection you always need. As one of the most important factors that make the power supply a distinctive product, is the availability of protection systems, which are systems that shut down the power supply automatically in the event of an error, thus protecting the power supply itself from burning or a fire. These are written on the supplier from the outside, including protection when Short Circuit Protection, Over Voltage Protection, Over Current Protection, etc…