Power Supplies Quick Knowledge... or Dougal and the spiderbaby..

David Shaw


27 November 2013


okay sooo..


Thought I'd share some info on PSU's Power Supplies.. Rob knows a fair bit too.. but I don't think we have any engineer experts in the group. (afaik but..if you are, please chime in! ) so i'll do what I can to share some knowledge and opinions.


There are many 'fly-by-night' PSU (power supply) manufacturers .. mostly chinese companies looking to make a few fast quid. They sell PSU's incorrectly branded.. some might say 'deliberately' shock 'no!'. sell you a 100w PSU and brand it as 1200w.. but 750w is more believable so they do that too hahaha. they are lucky to output 100w. if you expect 1200w power supply for £15.. erm.. that won't happen. .. it's a bit like dougal and the spider-baby. not really a baby. not as advertised.

'An aul fella weh a saddle oan him' apt words.. like 100w PSU trying to output for a system designed for more power.

There are rules of thumb.. like the 80Plus system. This ensures your PSU *should* have 80% of the branded wattage. .. there are 5 standards. 80Plus Standard/White. 80Plus Bronze. 80Plus Silver. 80Plus Gold. 80Plus Platinum.


80Plus Standard/White


this ensures your PSU does at least 75% of the branded wattage under load.


80Plus Bronze.


this ensures your PSU does at least 80% of the branded wattage under load.


80Plus Silver


this ensures your PSU does at least 85% of the branded wattage under load.


80Plus Gold


this ensures your PSU does at least 90% of the branded wattage under load.


80Plus Platinum


this ensures your PSU does at least 95% of the branded wattage under load*.


What is 'LOAD'??


I could go into much detail about this.. but.. so you get this.. basically when you are gaming. thats it.. or thats how ill put it for 'now'.


your CPU might be very thirsty! and in need of constant rails.. rails sounds complicated and.. well if you're reading this kind of thing for the first time it is. but the PSUs who have said above standards AND are from a modern era to match your CPU*.. should be fine.


Peace. Dava.

* although they give platinum for 92% efficiency, as 95% is so hard to get. but 95% is the target, I read the 80Plus's cheatsheet PDF from their website.
*made in the same era as your CPU socket.