Choosing the Right PC Power Supply (PSU) as Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2014-05-07
·
1,029 words · ~5 min read
0:00
the computer power supply it's almost as
0:03
mysterious as the phrase i'm fine just leave me alone
0:07
i mean what does that even mean if i actually leave you alone to go play
0:10
video games will i be making a huge mistake and will i pay for it later i
0:14
mean if you were fine wouldn't you want to talk to me like you normally do and
0:17
if you're not fine when it blows up later will it be your fault for not
0:21
communicating clearly or my fault for not understanding please just tell me
0:24
what you want anyway so while i'm not qualified to help you understand women i
0:30
can help you choose the right wattage power supply for your pc step one is
0:34
finding out how much power you actually need for the components inside your pc
0:39
this is expressed in the total number of watts that the unit is capable of
0:44
outputting and the best way to find all that out is to head over to
0:47
coolermaster.outervision.com it's linked in the video description and
0:51
enter the stuff you're using or plan to use it's that simple if you run into
0:57
anything confusing just post it in the linustechtips.com forum under power
1:01
supplies and our awesome community will help you out now that calculator does
1:06
add a bit of fudge factor for stuff like the aging of your components over time
1:10
so it might err on the side of a little bit too much but it's best not to try to
1:16
squeeze under that and use something insufficient that can result in
1:20
unexpected shutdowns and wear and tear over time now
1:24
some people will naturally go completely the other way and see 400 watts in the
1:29
calculator and figure well to be safe i'll just grab a 1200 watt power supply
1:33
but that's not necessarily right either first your wallet will be more empty
1:38
than it had to be and second your system efficiency will actually be lower than
1:43
if you bought something more appropriate a power supply operates optimally above
1:49
about 15 to 25 percent of its total capacity that means that your system
1:54
will actually draw more power from the wall than it has to and your power bill
1:58
will cost a bit more sounds terrible right well
2:01
sometimes it makes sense i'm one of those people who went overkill on my
2:06
power supply but it's because it has a fanless
2:11
zero decibel mode for completely silent operation when i'm not fully utilizing
2:16
my pc an example of this is cooler master silent pro hybrid series which
2:21
doesn't even turn on the fan until it reaches 200 watts of load so you can
2:25
trade a bit of efficiency for quiet if you're into that step two is finding a
2:30
power supply that matches the wattage your calculator spat out there are two
2:33
ways that the capability of a power supply can be expressed as peak wattage
2:38
or continuous wattage now i have a hint for cutting through the bs here if a
2:43
power supply is rated in continuous then that's good if it's rated in continuous
2:48
with a separate peak rating then that's good too if it only has a peak rating
2:54
then don't put it anywhere near your system because there's no real standard
2:58
for what peak means can it handle that for an hour a minute a week a split
3:02
second before it goes nuclear we don't know if a power supply is rated only in
3:07
peak wattage but not continuous don't even consider buying it which leads us
3:11
to the final step picking a power supply of sufficient quality it's important and
3:16
this isn't one of those used car salesmen moments here guys i get asked
3:20
all the time why i don't review the latest power supply with 100
3:24
multi-colored leds in an acrylic case from jack tech and the answer is that i
3:29
don't care about it at all a power supply is a serious piece of equipment
3:34
not a fashion statement and unless it's from a trusted manufacturer with all the
3:38
appropriate safety certifications and or gets a seal of approval from johnny guru
3:44
or a similarly reputable power supply review site i'm not going to touch it a
3:48
power supply can fail spectacularly triggering the premature or even
3:53
immediate failure of other components in your system and your warranty will not
3:57
cover you being a doofus and relying on a potato to provide safe stable power to
4:02
your pc and that's not even the worst case scenario a fire caused by a power
4:07
supply can burn down your house on that somber note our sponsor for this episode
4:11
is cooler master and the only power supply brand you should ever consider
4:16
buying is cooler master because i'm just messing with you guys cooler
4:21
master would have to pay me a lot more than they are to pretend that they're the only solid power supply brand that
4:25
exists in all seriousness though this video was
4:28
brought to you by cooler master and they are one of the solid power supply makers
4:32
with options ranging from uh value-oriented solutions like the gn
4:36
series all the way up to the v series which includes modular cabling extremely
4:41
low ripple and uses only high quality japanese capacitors and
4:46
i think we're done here if you guys enjoyed this video and you're shopping
4:49
for a power supply it is definitely worth checking out the sponsor link in
4:53
the video description to see if they have anything that floats your boat
4:56
thanks for watching guys like this video and share it if you liked it dislike it
5:00
if you disliked it leave a comment if you have any suggestions for future
5:03
fastest possible episodes or any comments for me and the rest of the team
5:07
here and as always don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any videos
5:11
from us here at techwiki