Power Supply 101 – A 5-Step Guide for Choosing the Best PSU

If you are assembling your own PC for the first time, but you do not have the slightest idea about what you should do, it is important to follow the following tips we give to our readers. These recommendations will help peoplechoose the best source of power, as it is not an easy task due to the different capacities, models, versions, and brands available out there.

Identify How Many Watts Your PC Needs to Power

This is one of the most common questions for most users because at the time of assembling a computer we do not know what capacity to choose.However, we recommend you to investigate the maximum consumption of your components, add them all, and multiply the result by 1.5 to leave a 50% safety margin.

Get a Certified PSU and Not a Generic One

Wewould never recommend a generic power source unless it is for basic computers with fairly low consumption.Nonetheless, it is highly recommended to use certified power sources because they handle quality components to ensure the power of your computer, keeping the risk of failurelow.

Choose Properly a Certified PSU According To Your Needs

Previously, we mentioned that certified power sources classify based on the quality of the components and the efficiency that each one of them provides. Said efficiency must be obtained at 20, 50, and 100 percent of the charge.

Meaning that, 80 plus certification equals to 80% or more of the energyis used as energy for the deviceswhile the remaining 20% of the energy consumed is lost as heat generated by the power source.

Modular or Not Modular? Here Is the Dilemma

This is another of the questions that people usually have.We know that among the certified power sources there are modular and non-modular, raising doubts about which model to choose.

However, when it comes to preferences, the decision depends only on the user, as they must choose the one that fits their needs rather than choosing what others use.

Consider your Budget

If you are not in the position to splurge and waste more money than needed on power supply and other devices, simply go with the cheapest option of the one that fits your needs.

In the market, there are great power supply options that go from $70 to up to $150 in most cases. The recommended ratio is to set aside up to 15% of the total budget to power supply only.

After analysing the different certifications, we strongly recommend that you choose a power source with a gold certificate, depending on your needs.