Choosing a Suitable Power Supply (PSU) for your
Custom PC
The Power Supply Unit (PSU) is, in our humble opinion, the most important part of a computer; yet it remains the most overlooked.
Some considerations before you buy:-
First determine the demands of your machine by entering all the details into a Power Calculator, such as the one from eXtreme (click here). Not only will this provide you with reassurance but also allow you to plan for future expansion too. As a general rule of thumb, the following guides can be useful too:-
Standard Computers - often come with a power supply that is installed by the case manufacturer; rarely are these of a high quality and as a result, you can expect issues.
What are the main problems with budget PSUs? . The budget models are notorious for the noise they generate, voltage fluctuations (causing the infamous Blue Screen) and very poor energy efficiency. These issues are often indications of lower quality components and life expectancy is expected to be a lot shorter than a proper power supply.
Spending another £ 30 will see marked improvements, with noise pollution, energy efficiency and a reliability significantly better.
Another important issue is the amount of power required... have you got a power supply powerful enough for the PC you are purchasing (we will double check this for you) and more importantly (and something we can't predict!) will you be adding more components to it in the future? if so, make sure you have a large enough power supply from the outset. It may cost slightly more now, but it will cost a lot more if it has to be removed and replaced with a different model at a later date ie another unit will have to be purchased, carriage costs may be incurred, and labour costs would be high too.
Our recommendation - a basic machine for office or home use with the basic components and no plans for future upgrades, will only need a low power supply. We recommend one of the 420W quiet PSUs for this purpose; its more than you need but this will put little to no pressure on the device, its well made and will hopefully last a very long time.
For an intermediate Custom PC which is perhaps involved in some video editing, gaming etc with no plans for future upgrades, then a 480-500W device will be more than adequate in most cases. If you have big plans for the future, then building in a little future proofing now maybe sensible, say a 650W device etc.
Advanced Systems - if planning on a high performance SLi system with a large number of Drives, future upgrades etc, then Power Supplies circa 700-1000W maybe worth considering. Again we will provide advice if required.
The makes we use:-
Budget systems - these come with basic PSUs preinstalled by the manufacturers. The manufacturers vary from one case to another so regrettably we cannot provide a detailed breakdown. They are certainly on a par with High Street units and PCs made by Computer Company's operating over the Internet. Our recommendation is, assuming you can afford it, to replace these PSUs in order to enjoy the enhanced benefits described above.
Intermediate and high end custom pc's use, as a general rule of thumb:-
These devices have been chosen simply because they are, based on our own testing and results, the quietest most reliable and energy efficient units on the market today. Using them helps protect you and our reputation...
Budget PCs use basic PSUs that only carry a 12 month guarantee. Often the unit comes with the case and its cheap... but you only get what you pay for so they can be prone to make more noise and be less reliable. We recommend that you upgrade such units wherever possible and assuming funds permit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
