If graphics cards are the most exciting part of a computer upgrade then it's safe to say that the power supply (PSU) is at the other end of the scale for being the most boring and often neglected part of an upgrade. We do agree with the boring part, as there really isn't anything to get excited about. However, this is one component that should never be neglected, especially if you are a gamer or a person who upgrades his PC often.
Think about it this way, your shiny new graphics card or motherboard will only work well as long as it receives clean power, especially on load. It is when playing a game or encoding videos that most of the cheaper PSUs fail to deliver. So how do you sort the good from the bad? And how do you know how much power is enough for your need? Well, that's exactly what we'll be telling you today.
The components inside your PC cabinet will not work directly on the current coming out of the wall socket, which is AC (Alternating Current). That's the reason you need a PSU in the first place, to convert the AC voltage from the wall, which is 220V in India, into DC (Direct Current) voltage that the motherboard can handle. How efficiently this conversion takes place depends entirely on the quality of the power supply, which we'll get into in a little bit. But first you need to decide how much power you'll actually require.
Check how much power you need
Before you go out and start hunting for a power supply, first check your system and see how much you'll actually need. For a very basic system that includes a dual core CPU, single hard disk and DVD drive, the PSU that comes with cabinets like Circle, TAG, Zebronics and VIP are decent enough. Most of these cabinets come with 400W PSU, and while they never really deliver much, you'll never need more than that. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say that even sticking an entry level graphics card should not cause any problem, as these don't require an extra power connector.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator is one very good program that gives you an approximate of how much power your system will consume on load. The good thing about this site is that it's regularly updated with all the latest hardware.
Only look at branded PSUs
Now that you know how much power your system will need on load, it's a good idea to get one that's a bit more powerful so you have a little room to play around with in case you decide to add case fans or another hard disk. If you're out to buy a PSU separately then it usually means the components you've chosen are not exactly entry-level and so you should be looking at good brands.
For starters, if you're building a basic PC, then brands like VIP, Zebronics, Gigabyte have good offerings for tight budgets. These are definitely better than ones bundled along with iBall and other nameless cabinets. Believe it or not you get 500W PSU for Rs.500 which should immediately set off alarms in your head that there's something wrong here. Stay away from these products if you value your investment. You can't go wrong with veteran companies like Antec, CoolerMaster, Corsair, Tagan and the recently available Seasonic and FSP. The last two are actually OEM companies that have started selling PSUs under their own brand name in India.
Think about it this way, your shiny new graphics card or motherboard will only work well as long as it receives clean power, especially on load. It is when playing a game or encoding videos that most of the cheaper PSUs fail to deliver. So how do you sort the good from the bad? And how do you know how much power is enough for your need? Well, that's exactly what we'll be telling you today.
The components inside your PC cabinet will not work directly on the current coming out of the wall socket, which is AC (Alternating Current). That's the reason you need a PSU in the first place, to convert the AC voltage from the wall, which is 220V in India, into DC (Direct Current) voltage that the motherboard can handle. How efficiently this conversion takes place depends entirely on the quality of the power supply, which we'll get into in a little bit. But first you need to decide how much power you'll actually require.
Check how much power you need
Before you go out and start hunting for a power supply, first check your system and see how much you'll actually need. For a very basic system that includes a dual core CPU, single hard disk and DVD drive, the PSU that comes with cabinets like Circle, TAG, Zebronics and VIP are decent enough. Most of these cabinets come with 400W PSU, and while they never really deliver much, you'll never need more than that. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say that even sticking an entry level graphics card should not cause any problem, as these don't require an extra power connector.
eXtreme Power Supply Calculator is one very good program that gives you an approximate of how much power your system will consume on load. The good thing about this site is that it's regularly updated with all the latest hardware.
Now that you know how much power your system will need on load, it's a good idea to get one that's a bit more powerful so you have a little room to play around with in case you decide to add case fans or another hard disk. If you're out to buy a PSU separately then it usually means the components you've chosen are not exactly entry-level and so you should be looking at good brands.
For starters, if you're building a basic PC, then brands like VIP, Zebronics, Gigabyte have good offerings for tight budgets. These are definitely better than ones bundled along with iBall and other nameless cabinets. Believe it or not you get 500W PSU for Rs.500 which should immediately set off alarms in your head that there's something wrong here. Stay away from these products if you value your investment. You can't go wrong with veteran companies like Antec, CoolerMaster, Corsair, Tagan and the recently available Seasonic and FSP. The last two are actually OEM companies that have started selling PSUs under their own brand name in India.
Power Efficiency
Once you have your eye on a couple of options, you need to dig a little deeper to see which gives you the best bang for buck. There are a couple of factors you should consider, and the first one is the efficiency of the PSU. In simple terms, it's how much of the AC being drawn from the wall socket is actually converted into usable DC voltage for your PC. No PSU in the world can be 100% efficient, as there is always some energy lost in the form of heat or otherwise.
Nowadays any branded PSU will be 80% certified at the very least and its important to choose one that is, you can't compromise here. Furthermore, you also have 80+ Bronze, 80+ Silver and 80+ Gold, but these are usually found on the premium PSUs and what it means is you're guaranteed more that 80% efficiency at any load state. When looking at how efficient a PSU is, there is an Efficiency curve that varies depending on how much load is placed on the PSU.
The above image is taken from Corsair's website that shows the Efficiency curves of the VX450, one of their most popular power supplies. If you look at the dark green plot, that's the efficiency of the PSU when plugged into a 220V outlet like ours. For the most part when gaming or doing some other work the load of the PSU falls in the 40-60% bracket, which is where the VX450 is the most efficient, making it a very good PSU.
Difference between Active and Passive PFC (Power Factor Correction)
This maybe a bit heavy to digest for some, but here it goes. Any electronic device that uses motors and transformers use two types of power; active and reactive. Power factor is the ratio between the active power and apparent power (which is the vector sum of the reactive power and real power). The ratio is variable between 0(0%) and 1(100%) and the nearer to 1 the number the better it is. Many countries have a legislation saying that if a PSU is to be sold there, it has to have a power factor correction circuit to optimize reactive power consumption.
That's when PFC came into existence and today we can find this on almost all good PSUs. When you see passive PFC mentioned on the box, it simply means the components used for PFC don't require power to operate where as Active PFC uses electronic components such as ICs. Transistors, diodes, etc. A passive PFC will give you a power factor between 0.60 (60%) to 0.8(80%) whereas Active PFC PSU's will give you a value over 0.95(95%).
So, should you care about this? Well, not really and here's why. PFC has no bearing on the efficiency of the PSU, so as an end user it makes no difference to us, as we aren't being charged more if our reactive power consumption exceeds a certain limit. This only applies to industrial consumers. In short, the reason PSU's have PFC built in them is so that they can be sold in Europe
Once you have your eye on a couple of options, you need to dig a little deeper to see which gives you the best bang for buck. There are a couple of factors you should consider, and the first one is the efficiency of the PSU. In simple terms, it's how much of the AC being drawn from the wall socket is actually converted into usable DC voltage for your PC. No PSU in the world can be 100% efficient, as there is always some energy lost in the form of heat or otherwise.
Nowadays any branded PSU will be 80% certified at the very least and its important to choose one that is, you can't compromise here. Furthermore, you also have 80+ Bronze, 80+ Silver and 80+ Gold, but these are usually found on the premium PSUs and what it means is you're guaranteed more that 80% efficiency at any load state. When looking at how efficient a PSU is, there is an Efficiency curve that varies depending on how much load is placed on the PSU.
Difference between Active and Passive PFC (Power Factor Correction)
This maybe a bit heavy to digest for some, but here it goes. Any electronic device that uses motors and transformers use two types of power; active and reactive. Power factor is the ratio between the active power and apparent power (which is the vector sum of the reactive power and real power). The ratio is variable between 0(0%) and 1(100%) and the nearer to 1 the number the better it is. Many countries have a legislation saying that if a PSU is to be sold there, it has to have a power factor correction circuit to optimize reactive power consumption.
That's when PFC came into existence and today we can find this on almost all good PSUs. When you see passive PFC mentioned on the box, it simply means the components used for PFC don't require power to operate where as Active PFC uses electronic components such as ICs. Transistors, diodes, etc. A passive PFC will give you a power factor between 0.60 (60%) to 0.8(80%) whereas Active PFC PSU's will give you a value over 0.95(95%).
So, should you care about this? Well, not really and here's why. PFC has no bearing on the efficiency of the PSU, so as an end user it makes no difference to us, as we aren't being charged more if our reactive power consumption exceeds a certain limit. This only applies to industrial consumers. In short, the reason PSU's have PFC built in them is so that they can be sold in Europe
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