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What you should know before you buy a computer power Supply (PSU).
Kenilworth Computer
Repairs Mobile Computer Maintenance,
Repair, and I.T Desktop Support Services for Kenilworth, Warwick, Royal
Leamington Spa, Rugby, Stratford on Avon, Coventry, Solihull and environs.
What is a Power Supply / PSU ?
The power supply
or PSU is quite often the most overlooked component within apersonal
computer. It is the part of the system that supplies electrical current
to all the other parts of the system. it usually looks like a silver or
black box, that is bolted to the case, with various multicoloured wires
and connectors coming from it. Computer Solutions will happily advise on what is best for your requirements.
What should I know about buying a PSU ?
This answer to this question which
gets asked a lot is that it depends on what the computer is going to be
used for and how much you are likely to expand your PC in the future.
If for example the computer is just
going to be used at home for a bit of web surfing, has onboard graphics
and sound, with a very basic budget motherboard installed then one of
the bottom end 300 - 500 Watt models will be perfectly adequate and will
cost between in the region of about £25.00
This would also be true of an office
worksation PC which is connected to a server of some description as the
server is likely to be doing much of the work. The desktop PC is just a
way of communicating with it.
Typically more power will be required
with PC's that are going to e used in a graphically intensive
environment. This could include gamers or designers who use specialised
graphics hardware installed in their systems.
Most power supplies will quote an
"efficiency figure" which is based on laboratory tests, remember this is
ot the "real world" and these figures will probably not be reached
under normal conditions, but anything over 80% can be considered good.
More power please ?
For applications when more power is
required, there are specialist power supplies. Usually these will have
higher wattages (600 Watts to 1KW). They will also usually have larger
fans and additional connectors specifically for those graphics cards
that require them. They will typically have higher efficiency ratings
too.
Modular power supplies ?
Computer Solutions really like the
concept of modular power supplies. These power supplies have plug in
style connectors and when fitting them you only use the connectors that
you require. This cust down the amount of untidy wiring in the case and
also aids airflow around the major components. This will mean that your
computer will run a lot cooler and fail less.
We've been building computers
for around 25 years and as well as having seen some horror stories over
the years we've seen some really nice examples, with tidy wiring, using
modular power supplies.
Which make of PSU should I consider ?
There are three main makes of power
supply that we would consider. these are Antec, Corsair and CIT PSU's.
All three manufacturers do a range of power supplies to cover most
applications. These are extremely robust PSU's. Antec in particular also
supply them pre-installed in their cases, which can represent a saving
if you are buying the computer case and PSU together.
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