Just as the body has a heart that beats and pumps blood throughout the body, and then one of us can move and work. The computer’s PSU power supply pumps energy to all parts of the computer, and then the computer can then do all this wonder. What is a power supply or a PSU, what are its components, and how do we choose it?
There is no doubt that there are many sources or power supplies everywhere, and perhaps this large number of power supplies may cause some confusion in the selection process. But there is no doubt that when you know what goes on inside this small metal box, the selection process will be much easier than before, so knowing how these servers work will help you determine the best options for your specific applications which is what we will discuss in our article today, so let’s get started.
What is a PSU power supply?
There is no doubt that whether you need high-voltage power on a ship or need to plug in a laptop for charging, you ultimately need a power source. And you, dear reader, should first of all not confuse the Power Source with the Power Supply. The power source is the origin or the source from which the incoming electricity comes. In most cases, the source of electricity is an outlet, battery or generator, but on the other hand, the power supply is something completely different. In terms of definition or function, a power supply converts the power from the source into the correct form and voltage. That is, it works to regulate the energy received from the source in its original form and convert it to the form that is appropriate for the receiving device, which in our case here will be the computer.
In general, a computer or PSU power supply converts a home or office voltage (eg 230/120 VAC) into a DC voltage much lower than that needed by electronic components (for example, a typical hard disk drive may need a 5-12 volts only). The power supply is usually in the form of a metal box with many of its connectors attached directly to it or plugged into special sockets in the power supply body, and there is a large cooling fan on the outside of the power supply case itself near the power socket or the outside of the The power supply is to the rear or, on some equipment, the fan is from the bottom. (The fan is much smaller in laptops, and is usually on one side.)
What does the power supply do?
Let us first clarify that the electrical current that reaches the place of your home or workplace is not suitable in its raw state to operate the majority of the electrical devices in your home. It is an intermittent, fluctuating current or Alternate Current. This type arrives at your home in the form of undulating pulses back and forth, interruption and arrival, so electrical devices cannot exploit it to perform any work. Some may ask here, if this is the case, then why do we use this type of electric current? The simple answer is that this type of current is much easier to transport and connect from power plants to homes and buildings, and of course less expensive, and can be transmitted over distances of hundreds of kilometers. On the other hand, direct or continuous electric current that does not fluctuate, requires very thick wires and very complex equipment to transmit it over huge distances.
Therefore, most electrical devices contain what are called internal transformers. The function of these transformers (as the name suggests) is to convert alternating current into direct current that can operate these devices as they should. From here, we got the Power Supply for Personal Computers and Home Consoles. These supplies also reduce the electric current to small charges that fit the small electrical circuits inside personal computers and game consoles. This occurs by reducing the voltage/volts coming from the electrical socket from 220 volts to smaller values not exceeding 12 volts.
Perhaps this functionality is the reason why these power supplies are often referred to as “alternating power supplies”, as they use inverters or switches technology to convert alternating current to a lower DC voltage. Typical supplied voltages are: 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts.
Usually, voltages of 3.3 and 5 volts are used by digital circuits inside the computer, meaning that the power supply supplies these digital circuits with voltages of 3.3 and 5 according to the needs of these parts. While larger voltages such as 12 volts are used to power motors or small motors found in hard drives, for example, and fans for cooling. The main specifications of the power supply are measured in watts. A watt is the product of voltage in volts and current in amperes (Watt-hours = Amp-hours * Volts).
One of the things you would also have noticed if you were a follower and an old user of computers, you probably remember that the original computers had big red switches that had a great deal of weight to move. When you’ve been turning your computer on or off, you knew you were doing it, as these switches were actually controlling the flow of 120-volt power to the power supply.
Today, you can turn on the computer and connect it to power with the press of a small button, and you can turn off the device with an option from the menu inside the operating system. These capabilities were only added to power supplies as standard capabilities several years ago, as the operating system can now send a signal to the power supply telling it to shut down. The power button also sends a 5V signal to the power supply telling it when to turn on.
The power source also contains a circuit that provides a current of 5 volts, called VSB, which is an abbreviation for the word “standby voltage”, which works to put the computer in standby mode even when the device is officially “off”, so that the power button works when pressed directly.
Switcher technology
Before or around the 1980s, power supplies tended to be very heavy and bulky, as computers used large, heavy transformers and bulky capacitors (some the size of soda cans) to convert power line voltages from 120 volts, 60 Hz to Extremely small as 5V and 12V DC. But today’s power supplies are much smaller and lighter, and they can convert 60Hz current to much higher frequencies, which means more cycles per second. This conversion allows a small, lightweight transformer in a power supply to drop the actual voltage from 110 volts (or 220 in certain countries) to the voltage needed by the computer components.
It’s worth noting that the high-frequency alternating current supplied by the switcher power supply is also easier to rectify and filter than the original 60Hz line AC voltage (which we just mentioned), which reduces voltage differences, which in turn adapts to the sensitive electronic components of the computer. The switcher power supply also draws only the power it needs from the AC line, so the typical voltage and current supplied by the power supply are shown on the label on the power supply.
Standard Power Supply Standards
Over time, there have been at least six standard power supplies, or let’s say six different power supply standards for personal computers. But recently, the industry has settled on using power supplies based on the so-called ATX standard. The ATX symbol is simply an industry specification that means a power supply has the physical characteristics to fit standard ATX-standard computer cases, and the electrical characteristics to work with motherboards that use the same standard or gauge as ATX motherboards.
One of the great things about this kind of generalization or standardization is that it has made it easier for power supply manufacturers and users alike in some ways. PC power supply cables use standard header connectors that make it difficult to connect the wrong connectors. In addition, fan manufacturers often use the same connectors as those for power cables for hard drives, allowing fans to easily get the 12 volts they need. Color-coded wires and industry-standard connectors allow consumers to have many alternative options for their supply power connections.
Advanced Power Management (APM) mode or system provides a set of five different states (in terms of its power mode) your system can be. This system or standard was developed by Microsoft and Intel for PC users who want to conserve energy. Every component of the system, including the operating system itself, BIOS, motherboard, and connected hardware all must be compatible with APM in order for you to use this feature. Also, if you want to disable APM because you suspect that it is using system resources or causing a conflict, for example, the best way to do so is through the BIOS settings. This way, the operating system will not attempt to reinstall these modes again, which would happen if they were disabled programmatically only from within the operating system.
PSU wattage
Normally, a 400-watt power supply won’t necessarily use more than 250 watts of power in a practical setting, and of course that doesn’t mean you can’t use more than that. More power may be required if you are using all available connections on the motherboard, a combination of volumes, etc. It is always better to get a power supply that can supply you with more than 250 watts if you have a total consumption of 250 watts from your computer, as the supply should not be loaded at 100% of its capacity.
According to PC Power & Cooling, Inc., some of the power consumption values (in watts) for common PC items are:
- 20W-30W Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) Card
- Peripheral Component Interconnect Card or PCI Card Approx. 5W
- 4W network interface card
- RAM = 10W per 128M
- Hard Disk Drive (IDE) 5200 RPM 5-11W
- 7200RPM IDE HDD 5~15W
- Motherboard (only alone without CPU or RAM) 20-30W
- Pentium III processor with a frequency of 550MHz = 30W.
Of course, these values are approximations, but they do express some of each. As the most modern processors now can consume much more than 30 watts only, which may sometimes reach 200 watts with processors that are overclocked. In contrast, graphics cards that work with PCIe 4.0 ports consume up to 200 watts on average, and of course consumption may reach more than that “or less” depending on the type of card, its overclocking and other factors.
High Efficiency True Rated PSUs
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)?
As we mentioned at the beginning, the power supply or PSU converts the alternating current coming from the electrical source into DC power, which is then sent to all parts of the computer. But what we didn’t mention at the beginning is that 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 the 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.
Power supply problems
Like any other electronic component, power supplies suffer from some technical and technical problems with work and the nature of the environment or electricity of the place to which this supply is connected. Some consider a computer’s power supply to be the most failing component of a personal computer. It heats up and cools down every time it’s used, and receives the first surge of alternating current when the computer is turned on (which in turn can sometimes cause problems for the computer itself if there is no necessary protection).
A stopped cooling fan is usually an indication of a power outage due to the hot components of the power supply. Where all the devices in the computer receive their energy – in the form of constant current – through the power supply, so the load on it is usually large, especially if the difference between the consumption rate and what the provider provides is small. Typically, a power supply failure is noticed as a smell of burning electronic parts just before the computer shuts down.
Another problem you may have with the power supply is the failure of its cooling fan, which allows the components in the power supply to overheat, in which case the machine restarts the computer, or even some random problems with Windows (such as freezing image, or blue screen of death) for no apparent reason.
To solve some of these problems, many companies are now resorting to providing many protections that protect the power supply against high and low temperatures, electric shocks, short-circuit problems, and other problems. This type of server is usually a little higher in price, but in exchange for more security for your entire device!
Conclusion, choose what suits you very carefully
Today we didn’t talk much about how to choose the next power supply, or in detail about common problems and how to deal with them. But this is because the nature of the article is only introductory to the different power supplies, and the technical standards and terms usually associated with them, and talking about these other points will take a lot of time that we don’t have after all this long talk. So let me tell you one point in this regard so that we will meet in another article soon on how to choose the right power supply for you, the most common problems and how to solve them.
The power supply, or PSU, is the beating heart inside your computer, and everything else depends on it. Without it, you own a useless piece of metal, and its efficiency will relieve you of many haunting problems, whether those problems are related to the amount of energy you need or even what you may need in the future when updating. Also, having a notorious or low-quality power supply can seriously threaten the integrity of your kingdom that you stayed up to build piece by piece, so it doesn’t make sense to waste an effort to save some small money, does it!