Power Supply Units
Power Supply Units
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A Power Supply Unit (PSU) is in my opinion one one the most important components in a PC. Without one, your PC won't turn on. If it fails, components in your PC can get damaged or even broken. A faulty power supply is dangerous which is why I recommend to never buy a used power supply. Used Power supplies are cheap for a reason and it's that no one wants to buy one for the reasons previously mentioned. There are two reasons why someone with a low wattage power supply would want to sell it, either the power supply has a wattage that is too low for their upgraded components or that the power supply is faulty. When someone is trying to sell their used high wattage power supply it can't be because they need a higher wattage because even the high end Processors and graphics cards don't go over 250 Watts each. So it is either that the power supply is giving them problems (faulty) or that they are taking apart their PC and selling the parts individually (which wouldn't make sense). So pay the extra money to get a new power supply for the safety of you and your PC.
How Much Wattage?
How Much Wattage?
To find out how much wattage you will need your power supply to be able to supply do this: find the TDP of your Processor and Graphics card then add them together then add around 100 watts on top (this will cover the power needed for the motherboard, RAM , fans, storage devices and RGB). This will be the minimum wattage power supply you will need. I would recommend then choosing a power supply with around 20% more wattage than what number you have come out with because most power supplies are most efficient when around 60-80% of their total wattage is being used. Do not go with an overkill power supply, there is no need. It will cost you more money. Also if you are using less than 40% of what your power supplies max wattage is then it can be less efficient than having a lower wattage Power Supply Unit.
What Efficiency rating?
What Efficiency rating?
I recommend to have a power supply with an 80+ efficiency rating. This is a standard with most power supplies. You can also get 80+ bronze, 80+ silver, 80+ Gold and 80+ Titanium. The lower on the list the less efficient. I would recommend anything that says 80+ if it says bronze or silver then I think of that as an extra. I personally have a VS 650 power supply it has an 80+ efficiency and I use about 60% of its wattage.
Should I Choose a modular Power supply?
Should I Choose a modular Power supply?
This depends. If you want are looking for something a bit cheaper and don't mind having more cables to cable manage (or just leave at the bottom of the case) then you should choose a non-modular power supply. But if you are looking at the premium end and want your PC to have good cable management then modular is for you. If you are in-between then having a semi modular power supply would decrease the cost a bit but still have a reasonably easy time doing cable management. The pictures on the right show the different types.
Fully modular
Non-Modular
Semi-Modular
What do I recommend?
What do I recommend?
I cant really recommend one power supply because different people need different wattages for their PC. I've had a VS 650 for nearly a year and it's reasonably quiet. I have has no issues with it and I would definitely recommend it as a cheap option for mid range PC's. It is non-Modular but if you have a place to store the excess cables then the cable management will still look good. For £54 I think that its a pretty good buy.
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