If you take these five factors into consideration, you’ll have a much easier time choosing the right PSU for your needs.

It’s tempting to buy just any power supply to run your PC, but that’s not a wise choice. And if you’re buying a pre-built PC, then you’ll want to make sure you know what power supply it uses to make sure it can handle whatever you might want to add – or that it’s easy enough to replace at some point.

On the subject of wattage, one common power-supply myth holds that higher-wattage power supplies necessarily consume more power. system is a sabertooth z77 it intel chip, (i7). And, there are power supplies that look better than others. Make sure to have a large enough power supply by giving yourself a 20% cushion over the total wattage you calculate from your LEDs. The advantage – and it’s a small one with modern power supplies – to hard-wired systems is that it’s both simpler and doesn’t impose any additional resistance with extra connectors. Now that we’ve considered the most important power-related factors, there are a couple of other things to consider when choosing a power supply. So, while aesthetics aren’t a major thing to consider when buying a power supply—especially at the higher end of the market—the cabling, to me, is an important aspect that you might want to consider if you are looking to build a clean-looking system. Contributor, If you use a power supply with an 85% efficiency rating, your PC will pull about 353 watts of input power from your power company. Basically, voltage (volts) multiplied by current (amps) equals watts. Desktop power supplies have a power output rating of from 200 watts to 1800 watts (for ultra-high-end, enthusiast-class products). Hey Beach Boui, thanks for reading and commenting. Higher-quality power supplies almost always use bigger and better capacitors, chokes, and other internal components, and they come outfitted with larger heatsinks for superior heat dissipation—all of which translates into more weight. Here’s a table that breaks down each of the different 80 Plus ratings and what efficiency level it needs to reach in order to qualify for that specific rating: It’s important to note that the 80 Plus rating system isn’t perfect and doesn’t necessarily indicate that a power supply is a quality unit. A power supply that doesn’t provide reliable or clean power can cause any number of problems, including instability that can be hard to pin down. Look for this information in the detailed item specifications or on the PSU information label. That’s because a system’s components—not its PSU—dictate its power consumption. ATX power supplies use a single 20-pin connector as the main power connector. On the other hand, if you don’t understand how much power you need in order to efficiently power your system, you could end up allocating more of your budget towards your power supply than is necessary and, as a result, lose out on actual system performance. The important number here is the one for sustained or continuous power, not the one for peak power. Read our, Learn more about PCWorld's Digital Editions. Building to about 50 to 60 percent of a PSU’s capacity is advisable to achieve maximum efficiency and yet leave room for future expansion.