How to Choose A Power Supply: 5 Things to Know Before Buying A PSU 103
One of the most difficult components for first-time builders to choose is their power supply. Power supplies won’t improve your framerate and they aren’t really a big part of your system’s aesthetics. However, there is no component more central to your system’s long-term health than your power supply.
If you choose a low-quality power supply, your build will either not run, or it will suffer over the long term.
On the other hand, if you don’t understand how much power you need in order to efficiently power your system, you could end up allocating more of your budget towards your power supply than is necessary and, as a result, lose out on actual system performance.
Figuring Out the Correct Wattage for Your System
Before you choose a power supply, you need to first figure out how much power you will actually need from your power supply in order to run your computer
You can do this in a couple of ways:
- Find power draw benchmarks from sites like Tom’s Hardware on the components in your system (mainly, you’re GPU and CPU) and add them together to give you a minimum wattage rating.
- Use OuterVision’s power supply calculator.
In my opinion, OuterVision’s power supply calculator is the much easier and less time-consuming method for determining how much power your system will actually need.
All you have to do is use the drop-down menus provided to enter in your components into the calculator and then hit the calculate button to see what the recommended PSU wattage is for your system. With the ‘Expert’ tab you can even account for overclocking on both your CPU and graphics card as well.
OuterVision’s calculator is probably the most accurate calculator out there. Other calculators I’ve tried end up suggesting wattage ratings that are much higher than you actually need. As a good rule of thumb, though, it’s not a bad idea to add some headroom onto the number that OuterVision gives you. So, if it tells you that you need a 450W power supply, going with a 500-550W unit isn’t a bad idea.
A High Wattage Rating Doesn’t Equal A Quality Unit
Just because a power supply is listed as a 600W unit (as an example) doesn’t mean it can deliver that amount of power over a long period of time.
A lot of no-name PSU manufacturers list their power supplies at wattage ratings that are much higher than what they can actually deliver over a given period of time. Some first-time PC builders make the mistake of thinking that just because a power supply has a high wattage rating, that means it is a good enough power supply for their needs.
And, because a lot of these low-quality power supplies come in at ridiculously low prices, some make the mistake of thinking they are getting a solid power supply for a great price. The reality, though, is that they are purchasing a very bad unit that has a misleading wattage rating.
So, it’s important to avoid no-name power supply manufacturers and just stick to well-known manufacturers. Here’s a quick list of manufacturers who are known for making quality power supplies:
- EVGA
- Corsair
- Seasonic
- Antec
- Cooler Master
- Silverstone
- Thermaltake
- be Quiet!
This, of course, is not an end-all list and it’s important to note that not every power supply from the manufacturers listed above are quality units. So, it’s important that once you have a wattage rating, that you do your due diligence in researching what quality units are available in your price range.
The best way to do that is to read expert reviews or check our curated list of quality power supplies in our PSU Buyer’s Guide.
The Importance of Expert Reviews on Power Supplies
Testing a power supply is a bit more involved of a process as compared to testing/benchmarking other components. Take a look at the testing methodologies from sites like Tom’s Hardware.
As you can see, a lot of extra equipment is used in their power supply tests. And, some of that equipment is fairly expensive.
And, because the process of testing power supplies is a bit more difficult than testing other components, there aren’t as many power supply reviews out there as there are reviews on other components.
Fortunately, there are a handful of reputable power supply reviewers out there. Here are a few of them:
Before you purchase a power supply, it’s a good idea to check and see if any of the above websites have done a review on it first.
Explaining The 80 Plus Rating System
Another factor you’ll need to consider when choosing a power supply is the different 80 Plus efficiency ratings.
80 Plus (trademarked 80 PLUS) is a voluntary certification program intended to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units (PSUs).
To further understand the 80 Plus rating system, you first need to understand a little bit of how a computer power supply works.
Also Read: 80 PLUS Bronze vs Gold vs Platinum vs Titanium: Which PSU Rating do you Need?
Your computer’s components use DC (direct current) power. However, the power coming from the outlet that your computer is plugged into delivers AC (alternating current) power.
Your power supply is responsible for converting the AC power from the wall into the DC power that your components need to operate.
During this conversion, there is some loss of power to heat. So, 100% of the AC power drawn from the wall does not get converted into DC power. A decent power supply will convert at least 80% of the AC power it draws from the wall into DC power.
A really good power supply will convert 90% or more.
The 80 Plus rating system basically tells you how efficient a power supply is at converting AC power into DC power. But, it goes a little deeper than that, as the 80 Plus rating system judges a power supply’s efficiency when it is under specific loads.
In order to earn one of the 80 Plus badges, a power supply must maintain a specific level of efficiency when it is under 20%, 50%, and 100% load. (The newest 80 Plus rating, Titanium, considers a power supplies efficiency when it is under 10% load.)
Here’s a table that breaks down each of the different 80 Plus ratings and what efficiency level it needs to reach in order to qualify for that specific rating:
| 80 Plus Rating Levels | 115v non-redundant | |||
| % of rated load | 10% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
| 80 Plus | 80% | 80% | 80% | |
| 80 Plus Bronze | 82% | 85% | 82% | |
| 80 Plus Silver | 85% | 88% | 85% | |
| 80 Plus Gold | 87% | 90% | 87% | |
| 80 Plus Platinum | 90% | 92% | 89% | |
| 80 Plus Titanium | 90% | 92% | 94% | 90% |
It’s important to note that the 80 Plus rating system isn’t perfect and doesn’t necessarily indicate that a power supply is a quality unit. And, therefore, it shouldn’t be used as the main determining factor in the quality of a power supply.
However, it is true that power supplies that achieve the higher spectrum of 80 Plus ratings (Gold, Platinum, and Titanium) are generally well-built and quality units. But, just note that, if you are in the market for a power supply, it’s a good idea to consider the 80 Plus rating system of a unit in conjunction with in-depth reviews on that same unit.
A Quick Note on Power Supply Aesthetics
For a large portion of people who build their own computers, aesthetics play an important role in the component selection process. However, power supplies are one component where aesthetics usually doesn’t play a large role.
Yes, there are RGB power supplies out there. And, there are power supplies that look better than others.
However, for me, the main thing I look for in a power supply in terms of aesthetics is mainly its cabling/sleeving.
You can spend a lot of time ensuring that your other components are color-coordinated and you can have the cleanest cable management around and you can show it all off inside of a case with a nice full-glass side panel.
However, if your power supplies cables look like this…
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