{"video_id":"7h6kUNlC6cs","title":"Thousands of You are Buying Dangerous Power Supplies","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2025-05-04T14:53:29Z","duration_s":964,"segments":[{"start_s":1.88,"end_s":7.08,"text":"woo look at her go here in my hands is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.0,"end_s":12.24,"text":"the power supply that's responsible for that fireworks display and guess what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":9.36,"end_s":18.32,"text":"guys we didn't try to kill it and it isn't from some random AliExpress brand","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":15.48,"end_s":24.0,"text":"this unit has five stars on PC part picker and thousands of sales on Amazon","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":20.92,"end_s":26.279,"text":"and yet it failed spectacularly during","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.0,"end_s":30.519,"text":"routine testing for power supply circuit our Channel that's been testing Legions","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":28.279,"end_s":36.04,"text":"of power supplies and along the way discovering that many power supply","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":32.719,"end_s":38.239,"text":"manufacturers aren't so honest some are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":36.04,"end_s":43.16,"text":"over representing their products and wait some are underselling their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":40.239,"end_s":48.44,"text":"performance that's not what I expected well either way it's finally time to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":45.68,"end_s":52.32,"text":"take a look at our power supply Gauntlet and when I say Gauntlet I mean it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":50.199,"end_s":59.199,"text":"because our power supply testing process has resulted in a staggering 23% failure","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.32,"end_s":63.32,"text":"rate really separating the good from the uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.64,"end_s":69.2,"text":"well bright at least speaking of failure I just failed to do a segue to our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":65.4,"end_s":72.439,"text":"sponsor H MSI their core liquid a15 aiio","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":69.2,"end_s":74.28,"text":"cooler is quiet stylish and best of all","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":72.439,"end_s":77.84,"text":"easy to install cool down your high performance build by picking one up","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":75.6,"end_s":82.88,"text":"today using our Link in the description 9 months ago now we launched our first","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":80.32,"end_s":88.4,"text":"Labs team Channel PSU circuit and since then we've tested 39 power supplies nine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":85.96,"end_s":92.119,"text":"of which died at some point during our test Suite but we're getting ahead of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.439,"end_s":98.159,"text":"ourselves a little bit first it's time to take a look at our fully armed and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.759,"end_s":99.88,"text":"operational power supply station because","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":98.159,"end_s":103.6,"text":"the keite among you might have noticed that it looks a little different from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":101.759,"end_s":108.119,"text":"how it looked 2 and 1/2 years ago when we first unboxed this bad boy starting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":105.96,"end_s":114.56,"text":"at the bottom we've got our AC source which is able to deliver 3 kilovolt amps","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.88,"end_s":117.84,"text":"which is basically 3,000 Watts but not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.56,"end_s":120.079,"text":"quite because reasons this is enough for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.84,"end_s":125.759,"text":"us to test up to, 1600 W power power supplies because we need to be able to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":122.52,"end_s":127.68,"text":"briefly deliver 200% of the rated power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":125.759,"end_s":135.08,"text":"for the power supply for Excursion testing as for why it isn't exactly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":130.72,"end_s":137.04,"text":"double the reasons anyway above that we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":135.08,"end_s":142.239,"text":"have what chroma calls their onoff controller which is just a big relay","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":139.68,"end_s":145.92,"text":"which is just a fancy name for switch then above that we have our short","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":144.04,"end_s":149.519,"text":"circuit and over voltage protection tester moving up we have our DC power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":148.12,"end_s":155.64,"text":"source which we don't really use at this time and then above that we have our timing and noise analyzer which is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":153.04,"end_s":159.599,"text":"basically a headless oscilloscope with a host of relays that can be used to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":157.64,"end_s":164.56,"text":"automate functions like turning the power supply on or off or changing the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.28,"end_s":168.68,"text":"characteristics of our load say for example to add","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":165.92,"end_s":173.159,"text":"capacitance then there's a shelf which does shelf things above the shelf we've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.04,"end_s":176.8,"text":"got the connection panel which allows easy connections so that poor Lucas","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.0,"end_s":181.319,"text":"doesn't have to go splunking in the back of a rack every time a wire needs to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.92,"end_s":188.28,"text":"plugged in of course the real meat and potatoes is up here our 13 loads an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.799,"end_s":192.319,"text":"unlucky number for many a power supply basically these guys use Moss feds to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":190.72,"end_s":198.12,"text":"dissipate the energy from our power supply as heat we've got 12 400 W loads","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.12,"end_s":204.879,"text":"that can be strung together to fully load any rail on any power supply up to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.48,"end_s":207.519,"text":"1600 watts and then our 13th unit has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":204.879,"end_s":212.84,"text":"two 100 WT loads which we typically use for 5vt standby and- 12 volt since we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.72,"end_s":218.68,"text":"don't really need a big individual load for those it uh can get pretty warm","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":216.159,"end_s":223.319,"text":"Behind These Guys and beside that is a digital multimeter which we use for the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.959,"end_s":227.319,"text":"well the seven thermocouples that go into our test chamber to measure ambient","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":225.2,"end_s":232.76,"text":"air intake and exhaust air for the power supply and measures the connectors to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.64,"end_s":234.48,"text":"make sure that they don't you know melt","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.76,"end_s":239.76,"text":"we don't publish our temperature results yet but it is something that we're working toward finally there's the crown","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.84,"end_s":245.2,"text":"jewel of our tester our road and schwarts mxo 58 oscilloscope she's got","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":242.92,"end_s":249.519,"text":"eight analog channels 16 digital channels which is nice but the real","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.519,"end_s":254.239,"text":"benefit of this scope is the ease of programming and the nice waveforms you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.76,"end_s":258.919,"text":"get to look at truthfully we know we're kind of using the Ferrari of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.799,"end_s":260.519,"text":"oscilloscopes to go get groceries but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.919,"end_s":265.96,"text":"that can be worth it when you acquire this equipment and sometimes it takes","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.0,"end_s":272.36,"text":"years to finally start using it which yeah yeah what's the deal with that okay","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.88,"end_s":276.84,"text":"I do know the deal with that the chroma is not exactly user friendly or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":274.68,"end_s":281.36,"text":"documented making matters worse the programming is very similar to assembly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":279.199,"end_s":286.96,"text":"code which turned the automation process for our testing from a two-month project","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":283.68,"end_s":289.12,"text":"to a 10mon project for poor Lucas","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":286.96,"end_s":294.479,"text":"thankfully I didn't have to do it but now that it's finally done we can figure","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":291.199,"end_s":296.28,"text":"out what power supplies are good and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.479,"end_s":301.639,"text":"which ones are not so good which brings us to an important question what makes a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.88,"end_s":307.68,"text":"power supply good well at its most basic level a good power supply must adhere to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":304.24,"end_s":310.24,"text":"the ATX specification and deliver these","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":307.68,"end_s":314.68,"text":"voltages to your compy regardless of the kind of load that it's under or the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":312.16,"end_s":320.199,"text":"input power conditions now we don't follow exactly the ATX prescribed test","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":317.44,"end_s":325.479,"text":"plan but we try wherever it's practical and our tests are heavily inspired by","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":322.96,"end_s":330.56,"text":"ATX the good news is pretty much everything we've tested even the ones","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.72,"end_s":336.319,"text":"that failed has pretty pry much operated within the ATX specification until it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":333.52,"end_s":341.36,"text":"didn't but the bad news is we have seen some big differences in efficiency in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.36,"end_s":344.96,"text":"simple terms the efficiency of a power supply is the percentage of the power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.319,"end_s":349.52,"text":"that you draw from the wall that gets turned into useful energy that your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":346.72,"end_s":353.4,"text":"computer can use now many manufacturers Market their power supplies with a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.319,"end_s":358.16,"text":"little 80 plus certification that you'll find on the box but in our testing there","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":356.039,"end_s":365.919,"text":"were two power supplies whose measured efficiency didn't match their ratings","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":361.08,"end_s":369.479,"text":"The Corsair SF 850l and the fsp Vita","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":365.919,"end_s":372.44,"text":"850gm both of them actually exceeded","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":369.479,"end_s":379.319,"text":"their rated deficiency a result that is validated actually by clear results own","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":375.24,"end_s":382.16,"text":"80+ testing why would anybody Market","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":379.319,"end_s":386.88,"text":"their unit as 80 plus gold when they could have labeled it 80 plus Platinum","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":384.319,"end_s":391.52,"text":"instead when we talked to Corsair and fsp about this we got similar answers","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":389.16,"end_s":396.56,"text":"from both of them these power supplies it turns out were designed to be gold","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":394.199,"end_s":401.16,"text":"efficiency power supplies but then their Engineers went and did a bit too good of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":398.56,"end_s":405.639,"text":"a job and they exceeded their target but here's the thing even though their","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.44,"end_s":409.8,"text":"tested units exceeded the target they're not confident that every single unit off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.28,"end_s":414.319,"text":"the line is going to hit Platinum efficiency so they decided they'd rather","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.599,"end_s":418.8,"text":"be conservative with their ratings also in the case of Corsair the design team","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":416.52,"end_s":422.759,"text":"had just Plum finished the box and label designs with that gold rating on it so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":421.479,"end_s":428.28,"text":"they ran with that we verify more than just 80 plus","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":425.919,"end_s":432.319,"text":"though which honestly is kind of falling out of fashion and part of the reason","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":430.039,"end_s":438.84,"text":"for that is 80 plus only factors in efficiency from 20% to 100% load so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.08,"end_s":444.08,"text":"instead we measure all the way from 2% load to 110% so that you know how your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":442.599,"end_s":450.24,"text":"power supply is going to perform when your computer's asleep all the way up to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.24,"end_s":451.599,"text":"when it is oops slightly overloaded now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":450.24,"end_s":456.879,"text":"I can't say that it'll make a big difference on your power bill if you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.24,"end_s":459.52,"text":"pick up a c850 or c1000 from Enz XT both","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":456.879,"end_s":464.199,"text":"of which have outstanding 2% load power efficiency LTT hat Pro is off to them","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":462.4,"end_s":470.36,"text":"what I will say is that this expanded testing scope helps us to separate the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":466.84,"end_s":473.08,"text":"overbuilt units from the underbuilt ones","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.36,"end_s":479.159,"text":"while testing at 110% we have registered four power supply deaths total including","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":475.72,"end_s":482.12,"text":"uh this one which is not a good result","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":479.159,"end_s":486.72,"text":"in fairness to these power supplies 110% of rated power is out of spec and we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":485.12,"end_s":490.599,"text":"perform some of these tests with the input voltage and frequency being","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":488.44,"end_s":495.919,"text":"slightly off to simulate non-ideal conditions but thing is with all of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":494.159,"end_s":500.479,"text":"protections that a power supply is supposed to have an overpower or an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.44,"end_s":505.52,"text":"overcurrent event really shouldn't result in outrate Failure but sometimes","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":503.199,"end_s":508.68,"text":"it does the game max power supply that we featured in the thumbnail the one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":507.08,"end_s":513.56,"text":"that Lucas is looking at here spectacular failed during this very test","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":511.68,"end_s":517.839,"text":"the AC Source on the tester went into protection mode and when Lucas popped","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":515.399,"end_s":524.159,"text":"the power supply out of the test chamber he wisely fired up his phone camera","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":520.8,"end_s":526.36,"text":"plugged the unit into the wall and yeah","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":524.159,"end_s":534.88,"text":"you don't want that going on inside your PC but I mean lonus and Lucas that was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.12,"end_s":537.16,"text":"probably just one bad unit right no see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":534.88,"end_s":541.64,"text":"here's the thing anytime a power supply dies during our testing we obtain","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":539.0,"end_s":548.48,"text":"another one and almost every time the second unit has also","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":545.24,"end_s":550.279,"text":"died across our overcurrent overpower","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.48,"end_s":555.32,"text":"and ShortCircuit protection testing we've found six power supplies that have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":552.24,"end_s":559.0,"text":"gone to sleep permanently securing our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":555.32,"end_s":561.56,"text":"coveted we cannot recommend award see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":559.0,"end_s":567.04,"text":"while catastrophic failer protection is technically a recommended part of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":563.959,"end_s":568.8,"text":"ATX specification we feel that any power","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":567.04,"end_s":574.2,"text":"supply that you spend good money on should do three things one it should","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":571.56,"end_s":579.279,"text":"protect you we can't have your house and there for you Lighting on fire number","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":576.68,"end_s":583.36,"text":"two it should protect your computer you can't have your motherboard and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":580.8,"end_s":588.04,"text":"therefore your computer Lighting on fire and three it should protect itself we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":586.279,"end_s":592.76,"text":"can't have your power supply and therefore your power supply Lighting on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":590.399,"end_s":597.56,"text":"fire producing molten material or making startling","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":594.2,"end_s":600.12,"text":"noises another surprisingly effective","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":597.56,"end_s":604.24,"text":"killer has been our Brown out test which has claimed the lives of these three","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":601.92,"end_s":609.12,"text":"power supplies this test is pretty simple you know when the lights flicker","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":606.24,"end_s":612.959,"text":"briefly well we're testing to see how long that needs to last before your","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":610.88,"end_s":616.8,"text":"computer will shut down we're not even looking at surges or anything like that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":615.16,"end_s":621.959,"text":"it just turns out that some power supplies really don't like power getting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":619.399,"end_s":626.36,"text":"turned off briefly and then back on a surprising non-k killer though is our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":623.92,"end_s":633.44,"text":"Excursion testing where we hit the power supply with a 150% load for 1","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":629.6,"end_s":635.519,"text":"millisecond and then a 200% load for. 1","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":633.44,"end_s":641.56,"text":"milliseconds to see how it'll handle something looking at you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":638.399,"end_s":644.0,"text":"gpus briefly drawing way more than it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":641.56,"end_s":648.2,"text":"should while this hasn't killed anything yet there are differences in performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":646.279,"end_s":651.56,"text":"in these tests so if you plan on overclocking you're going to want to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":649.519,"end_s":656.8,"text":"look for a power supply with all green check marks here now that we know what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":654.04,"end_s":660.92,"text":"we're testing for let's set up a test why don't you explain step one because","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":658.72,"end_s":663.92,"text":"it's not obvious to me looking at it yeah so the first thing we do we unbox","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":662.519,"end_s":667.519,"text":"it find out any of the manufacturer's claims and write a lot of it down for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":665.72,"end_s":670.8,"text":"metadata that later gets up the loaded to the website then we go through input","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":669.24,"end_s":674.48,"text":"and output ratings for the power to make sure that we're loading it correctly and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":672.279,"end_s":677.8,"text":"that the loads are properly portioned to it and configured for that so we're not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":676.0,"end_s":680.56,"text":"nailing it on one rail and then leaving another one alone and then we go through","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":679.04,"end_s":683.68,"text":"and we decide what tests thrun on it which is exactly the same for all of our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":682.2,"end_s":686.519,"text":"standardized testing that we go up on PSU circuit and the lab's website and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":685.2,"end_s":689.72,"text":"then we take kind of an inventory of all the cables that comes with it and quick","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":688.24,"end_s":694.6,"text":"measurements of the length so we have that data as well and then we can just run this cell in Python and some code","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":693.44,"end_s":700.04,"text":"I've written on the back end uh generates a whole mess of data and files","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":697.72,"end_s":703.0,"text":"that we can run off of I said step one you gave me what sounded like at least","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":701.519,"end_s":706.279,"text":"like half a dozen steps that's great that's efficient step one 80 plus","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":704.959,"end_s":709.92,"text":"Platinum this guy it's not even titanium I think","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":708.279,"end_s":714.519,"text":"titanium is better next it's time for Lucas to turn on the tester and the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":716.04,"end_s":721.36,"text":"scope there a lot of buttons yeah now I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":719.24,"end_s":724.92,"text":"can even reach most of them next up we shove our power supply into the chamber","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":723.24,"end_s":728.76,"text":"and reposition our thermal couples according to the exact physical","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":726.36,"end_s":732.639,"text":"dimensions of the unit then it's time to plug into this guy connector board","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":730.959,"end_s":735.839,"text":"interface board I don't know what it's called and it doesn't matter but shout","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":733.959,"end_s":741.24,"text":"out cic for sending this thing over to us because it saves a ton of time we can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":739.04,"end_s":745.8,"text":"plug in as many connections as you could possibly find on a modern power supply","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":743.48,"end_s":750.68,"text":"and the best part is this was some special work from Lucas some tedious","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":748.12,"end_s":755.079,"text":"work from Lucas we take our measurements right at the bottom of where everything","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":752.839,"end_s":759.48,"text":"plugs in which is important because otherwise the length of these wires","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":757.6,"end_s":763.279,"text":"could affect our readings and we don't want that oh there's one more thing we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":761.48,"end_s":768.0,"text":"have a thermo couple that we plug right into the uh 12vt high power you know the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":766.44,"end_s":774.6,"text":"one that has a reputation for being kind of melty once everything's hooked up we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":771.519,"end_s":778.76,"text":"start our tests at 0 degre C then we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":774.6,"end_s":781.16,"text":"move to 20° C and finally 40° everything","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":778.76,"end_s":785.36,"text":"is a automated except the temperature of this chamber we could automate that but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":783.639,"end_s":788.04,"text":"it's actually nice to have a few check-in times to make sure that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":786.76,"end_s":794.839,"text":"everything is looking good with the results our hardest tests are only done","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":790.639,"end_s":796.76,"text":"at 20° C 16 hours later we get this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":794.839,"end_s":800.8,"text":"which as you can tell needs some processing but fortunately that's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":798.399,"end_s":805.16,"text":"automated by some code that Lucas wrote then from there we get a script template","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":802.959,"end_s":809.16,"text":"for PSU circuit videos that gets filled in with the results that are sent to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":807.24,"end_s":814.24,"text":"Emily for the voice in the videos we we use 11 Labs an AI text to speech dubbing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":811.639,"end_s":817.68,"text":"service and specifically we use Brian because we like his voice the most it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":816.04,"end_s":821.399,"text":"can take a couple of tries to get a good read from Brian and I need to balance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":819.48,"end_s":827.48,"text":"how natural he sounds with how accurate his reading is some more Niche phrases","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":823.6,"end_s":830.8,"text":"like ATX tend to trip them up 1 atx3","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":827.48,"end_s":832.44,"text":"2024 manufactured by cesic each video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":830.8,"end_s":836.88,"text":"has a template with parts of the voice over that don't change in blue down here","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":835.079,"end_s":841.16,"text":"and then I insert the generated voice above that in green then the footage and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":839.16,"end_s":844.8,"text":"Graphics get added in and after 2 to 3 hours of work we have a video now if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":843.079,"end_s":848.8,"text":"you've ever watched PSU circuit you're probably wondering why don't you guys","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":846.72,"end_s":854.12,"text":"just have a human voice the videos and then have a human fully edit it and I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":851.16,"end_s":857.959,"text":"get it I would genuinely love to do that but let me put it this way so far on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":856.519,"end_s":864.759,"text":"this channel we have made an eyew watering $138 in AdSense","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":862.279,"end_s":869.519,"text":"$138 plus a few bucks here and there from private internet access VPN","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":866.68,"end_s":875.24,"text":"Affiliates and that's across all of the so the economics of humans doing that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":872.12,"end_s":876.399,"text":"stuff they just don't make any sense but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":875.24,"end_s":881.959,"text":"that doesn't mean that the Channel's going anywhere we are committed to continuing to test power supplies and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":880.32,"end_s":886.16,"text":"continuing to upload these videos because the data isn't just valuable to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":884.079,"end_s":890.92,"text":"viewers of the videos it's also incredibly valuable to LTT's ability to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":889.0,"end_s":895.759,"text":"do build videos that feature power supplies that we can truly stand behind","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":893.6,"end_s":899.68,"text":"also if you don't like the AI voice you're not alone but you can just read","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":897.6,"end_s":903.68,"text":"the articles at LTT Labs.com you'll even find some extra data there","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":901.32,"end_s":908.279,"text":"you might even find this segue to our sponsor Microcenter March is Monitor","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":906.24,"end_s":912.079,"text":"Madness month at Microcenter try saying that three times fast they have great","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":909.839,"end_s":918.12,"text":"deals on monitors of all shapes sizes and specs like this Alienware 34in OLED","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":914.639,"end_s":919.48,"text":"175 HZ refresh rate Beast for $400 off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":918.12,"end_s":924.0,"text":"whether it's something simple for your work setup or a companion for your Ultra","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":922.12,"end_s":927.639,"text":"powerful gaming rig they have something for everyone plus if you want to save","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":926.12,"end_s":931.959,"text":"even more money you can take advantage of their GPU trade inogram","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":929.56,"end_s":936.24,"text":"if you purchase the GPU at Microcenter simply bring it back and receive an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":933.72,"end_s":940.279,"text":"offer on the same day they can even help you recycle your old Tech or help donate","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":938.8,"end_s":943.44,"text":"it to someone in need if you need to make space for your new purchase so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":942.12,"end_s":947.959,"text":"click our Link in the description to check out their monitor Madness event","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":946.079,"end_s":952.839,"text":"we'll also have another link there where you can get a free 128 gig flash drive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":950.44,"end_s":956.399,"text":"if you visit their new Santa Clara store when it opens this year if you guys","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":954.759,"end_s":960.88,"text":"enjoyed this video why not check out the one we did on a 3,000 W power supply","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":958.639,"end_s":964.88,"text":"where you can see what our testing capabilities used to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"woo look at her go here in my hands is the power supply that's responsible for that fireworks display and guess what guys we didn't try to kill it and it isn't from some random AliExpress brand this unit has five stars on PC part picker and thousands of sales on Amazon and yet it failed spectacularly during routine testing for power supply circuit our Channel that's been testing Legions of power supplies and along the way discovering that many power supply manufacturers aren't so honest some are over representing their products and wait some are underselling their performance that's not what I expected well either way it's finally time to take a look at our power supply Gauntlet and when I say Gauntlet I mean it because our power supply testing process has resulted in a staggering 23% failure rate really separating the good from the uh well bright at least speaking of failure I just failed to do a segue to our sponsor H MSI their core liquid a15 aiio cooler is quiet stylish and best of all easy to install cool down your high performance build by picking one up today using our Link in the description 9 months ago now we launched our first Labs team Channel PSU circuit and since then we've tested 39 power supplies nine of which died at some point during our test Suite but we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit first it's time to take a look at our fully armed and operational power supply station because the keite among you might have noticed that it looks a little different from how it looked 2 and 1/2 years ago when we first unboxed this bad boy starting at the bottom we've got our AC source which is able to deliver 3 kilovolt amps which is basically 3,000 Watts but not quite because reasons this is enough for us to test up to, 1600 W power power supplies because we need to be able to briefly deliver 200% of the rated power for the power supply for Excursion testing as for why it isn't exactly double the reasons anyway above that we have what chroma calls their onoff controller which is just a big relay which is just a fancy name for switch then above that we have our ShortCircuit and over voltage protection tester moving up we have our DC power source which we don't really use at this time and then above that we have our timing and noise analyzer which is basically a headless oscilloscope with a host of relays that can be used to automate functions like turning the power supply on or off or changing the characteristics of our load say for example to add capacitance then there's a shelf which does shelf things above the shelf we've got the connection panel which allows easy connections so that poor Lucas doesn't have to go splunking in the back of a rack every time a wire needs to be plugged in of course the real meat and potatoes is up here our 13 loads an unlucky number for many a power supply basically these guys use Moss feds to dissipate the energy from our power supply as heat we've got 12 400 W loads that can be strung together to fully load any rail on any power supply up to 1600 watts and then our 13th unit has two 100 WT loads which we typically use for 5vt standby and- 12 volt since we don't really need a big individual load for those it uh can get pretty warm Behind These Guys and beside that is a digital multimeter which we use for the well the seven thermocouples that go into our test chamber to measure ambient air intake and exhaust air for the power supply and measures the connectors to make sure that they don't you know melt we don't publish our temperature results yet but it is something that we're working toward finally there's the crown jewel of our tester our road and schwarts mxo 58 oscilloscope she's got eight analog channels 16 digital channels which is nice but the real benefit of this scope is the ease of programming and the nice waveforms you get to look at truthfully we know we're kind of using the Ferrari of oscilloscopes to go get groceries but that can be worth it when you acquire this equipment and sometimes it takes years to finally start using it which yeah yeah what's the deal with that okay I do know the deal with that the chroma is not exactly user friendly or documented making matters worse the programming is very similar to assembly code which turned the automation process for our testing from a two-month project to a 10mon project for poor Lucas thankfully I didn't have to do it but now that it's finally done we can figure out what power supplies are good and which ones are not so good which brings us to an important question what makes a power supply good well at its most basic level a good power supply must adhere to the ATX specification and deliver these voltages to your compy regardless of the kind of load that it's under or the input power conditions now we don't follow exactly the ATX prescribed test plan but we try wherever it's practical and our tests are heavily inspired by ATX the good news is pretty much everything we've tested even the ones that failed has pretty pry much operated within the ATX specification until it didn't but the bad news is we have seen some big differences in efficiency in simple terms the efficiency of a power supply is the percentage of the power that you draw from the wall that gets turned into useful energy that your computer can use now many manufacturers Market their power supplies with a little 80 plus certification that you'll find on the box but in our testing there were two power supplies whose measured efficiency didn't match their ratings The Corsair SF 850l and the fsp Vita 850gm both of them actually exceeded their rated deficiency a result that is validated actually by clear results own 80+ testing why would anybody Market their unit as 80 plus gold when they could have labeled it 80 plus Platinum instead when we talked to Corsair and fsp about this we got similar answers from both of them these power supplies it turns out were designed to be gold efficiency power supplies but then their Engineers went and did a bit too good of a job and they exceeded their target but here's the thing even though their tested units exceeded the target they're not confident that every single unit off the line is going to hit Platinum efficiency so they decided they'd rather be conservative with their ratings also in the case of Corsair the design team had just Plum finished the box and label designs with that gold rating on it so they ran with that we verify more than just 80 plus though which honestly is kind of falling out of fashion and part of the reason for that is 80 plus only factors in efficiency from 20% to 100% load so instead we measure all the way from 2% load to 110% so that you know how your power supply is going to perform when your computer's asleep all the way up to when it is oops slightly overloaded now I can't say that it'll make a big difference on your power bill if you pick up a c850 or c1000 from Enz XT both of which have outstanding 2% load power efficiency LTT hat Pro is off to them what I will say is that this expanded testing scope helps us to separate the overbuilt units from the underbuilt ones while testing at 110% we have registered four power supply deaths total including uh this one which is not a good result in fairness to these power supplies 110% of rated power is out of spec and we perform some of these tests with the input voltage and frequency being slightly off to simulate non-ideal conditions but thing is with all of the protections that a power supply is supposed to have an overpower or an overcurrent event really shouldn't result in outrate Failure but sometimes it does the game max power supply that we featured in the thumbnail the one that Lucas is looking at here spectacular failed during this very test the AC Source on the tester went into protection mode and when Lucas popped the power supply out of the test chamber he wisely fired up his phone camera plugged the unit into the wall and yeah you don't want that going on inside your PC but I mean lonus and Lucas that was probably just one bad unit right no see here's the thing anytime a power supply dies during our testing we obtain another one and almost every time the second unit has also died across our overcurrent overpower and ShortCircuit protection testing we've found six power supplies that have gone to sleep permanently securing our coveted we cannot recommend award see while catastrophic failer protection is technically a recommended part of the ATX specification we feel that any power supply that you spend good money on should do three things one it should protect you we can't have your house and there for you Lighting on fire number two it should protect your computer you can't have your motherboard and therefore your computer Lighting on fire and three it should protect itself we can't have your power supply and therefore your power supply Lighting on fire producing molten material or making startling noises another surprisingly effective killer has been our Brown out test which has claimed the lives of these three power supplies this test is pretty simple you know when the lights flicker briefly well we're testing to see how long that needs to last before your computer will shut down we're not even looking at surges or anything like that it just turns out that some power supplies really don't like power getting turned off briefly and then back on a surprising non-k killer though is our Excursion testing where we hit the power supply with a 150% load for 1 millisecond and then a 200% load for. 1 milliseconds to see how it'll handle something looking at you gpus briefly drawing way more than it should while this hasn't killed anything yet there are differences in performance in these tests so if you plan on overclocking you're going to want to look for a power supply with all green check marks here now that we know what we're testing for let's set up a test why don't you explain step one because it's not obvious to me looking at it yeah so the first thing we do we unbox it find out any of the manufacturer's claims and write a lot of it down for metadata that later gets up the loaded to the website then we go through input and output ratings for the power to make sure that we're loading it correctly and that the loads are properly portioned to it and configured for that so we're not nailing it on one rail and then leaving another one alone and then we go through and we decide what tests thrun on it which is exactly the same for all of our standardized testing that we go up on PSU circuit and the lab's website and then we take kind of an inventory of all the cables that comes with it and quick measurements of the length so we have that data as well and then we can just run this cell in Python and some code I've written on the back end uh generates a whole mess of data and files that we can run off of I said step one you gave me what sounded like at least like half a dozen steps that's great that's efficient step one 80 plus Platinum this guy it's not even titanium I think titanium is better next it's time for Lucas to turn on the tester and the scope there a lot of buttons yeah now I can even reach most of them next up we shove our power supply into the chamber and reposition our thermal couples according to the exact physical dimensions of the unit then it's time to plug into this guy connector board interface board I don't know what it's called and it doesn't matter but shout out cic for sending this thing over to us because it saves a ton of time we can plug in as many connections as you could possibly find on a modern power supply and the best part is this was some special work from Lucas some tedious work from Lucas we take our measurements right at the bottom of where everything plugs in which is important because otherwise the length of these wires could affect our readings and we don't want that oh there's one more thing we have a thermo couple that we plug right into the uh 12vt high power you know the one that has a reputation for being kind of melty once everything's hooked up we start our tests at 0 degre C then we move to 20° C and finally 40° everything is a automated except the temperature of this chamber we could automate that but it's actually nice to have a few check-in times to make sure that everything is looking good with the results our hardest tests are only done at 20° C 16 hours later we get this which as you can tell needs some processing but fortunately that's automated by some code that Lucas wrote then from there we get a script template for PSU circuit videos that gets filled in with the results that are sent to Emily for the voice in the videos we we use 11 Labs an AI text to speech dubbing service and specifically we use Brian because we like his voice the most it can take a couple of tries to get a good read from Brian and I need to balance how natural he sounds with how accurate his reading is some more Niche phrases like ATX tend to trip them up 1 atx3 2024 manufactured by cesic each video has a template with parts of the voice over that don't change in blue down here and then I insert the generated voice above that in green then the footage and Graphics get added in and after 2 to 3 hours of work we have a video now if you've ever watched PSU circuit you're probably wondering why don't you guys just have a human voice the videos and then have a human fully edit it and I get it I would genuinely love to do that but let me put it this way so far on this channel we have made an eyew watering $138 in AdSense $138 plus a few bucks here and there from private internet access VPN Affiliates and that's across all of the so the economics of humans doing that stuff they just don't make any sense but that doesn't mean that the Channel's going anywhere we are committed to continuing to test power supplies and continuing to upload these videos because the data isn't just valuable to viewers of the videos it's also incredibly valuable to LTT's ability to do build videos that feature power supplies that we can truly stand behind also if you don't like the AI voice you're not alone but you can just read the articles at LTT Labs.com you'll even find some extra data there you might even find this segue to our sponsor Microcenter March is Monitor Madness month at Microcenter try saying that three times fast they have great deals on monitors of all shapes sizes and specs like this Alienware 34in OLED 175 HZ refresh rate Beast for $400 off whether it's something simple for your work setup or a companion for your Ultra powerful gaming rig they have something for everyone plus if you want to save even more money you can take advantage of their GPU trade inogram if you purchase the GPU at Microcenter simply bring it back and receive an offer on the same day they can even help you recycle your old Tech or help donate it to someone in need if you need to make space for your new purchase so click our Link in the description to check out their monitor Madness event we'll also have another link there where you can get a free 128 gig flash drive if you visit their new Santa Clara store when it opens this year if you guys enjoyed this video why not check out the one we did on a 3,000 W power supply where you can see what our testing capabilities used to be"}