does 80+ psu is a myth?are all generic power supplies bad?let's discuss

masteranu · Jan 5, 2015

Sorry about long description but i hope there are people who are smarter than me who is willing to help I'm a medical student not computer geek,but i did lots of reserch before asking this question
i will select best answer

I have pc with following
I5 2400k 3.1ghz
Asus Gtx 670
Ect..

I calculated total power consumption using online website and got 360w theoretical maximum
It.means
If we assume all components use 12v
360w/12v =30A in 12v rail right?

I bought 600w Korean psu with
25A,22A in two rails and 440W for total 12v
Which means 440w/12v = 36A total in 12v output
It seems more than enough even in 100% power consumption of all my components which only requires 30A

Psu is good looking with quality cabels, fans and external heat sink
But it's not 80+ rated!
I don't have money for new psu
And I'm still poor medical student!
So don't have money at all

I know it's drawing more power from socket but I don't care about my electricity bill
(coz I'm living in university hostel and bill is paying government)

FYi: i I have played farcry 4 in ultra for few hours and pc worked well without any issues,and it gave around 12v as i recorded using monitoring software while playing game coz i wanted to check whether it's giving stable 12v output
As i know if it got below 11.3v pc should power off automatically right?
Well it didn't and graph was good

My question is

1.is this genaric psu harmful for my pc components (because not 80+ rated but seems good quality )

2.will it provide sufficient output,
in other words can it give 36A(440w) if it's necessary
(I'm asking about output, not power draw from socket,even using 800w from socket will it give 36A.maximum rated output)

3.what does 80+ rating means?

Efficiency = power out/power draw from socket
or,
Actual power output(xxA)/rated power output (36A)

In other words does 70% efficiency means 36A*70%=25A?

06yfz450ridr · Jan 5, 2015

if its a no name brand do not use it, the ratings are most likely not true either and could kill your other components

Eximo · Jan 5, 2015

#1 Generic PSUs can be harmful if they are poorly designed. Producing less then accurate DC signals (too much ripple) Or going out of spec at temperature under load. Producing too much or too little voltage on either end of the load scale.

Just because a supply doesn't meet the 80+ standard (80% efficient at 50% load I believe), doesn't mean it is a bad power supply. Just means that to reduce costs they didn't use an efficient design.

In general the higher the rating the more likely the design is sound and the components used are of decent quality.

Less efficient designs are more prone to failure under high loads and temperatures, because they get less efficient as they get hot, and less efficient designs produce more waste heat.

#2 is the correct assumption.

#3 Other way around on your math. If you need to supply 36A and you are 70% efficient, then you need to add 30% as waste heat: .3*36A + 36A = 46.8A

Or Input = 46.8A * .70 = 36A

Pinhedd · Jan 5, 2015

masteranu :

Hi,

80 Plus is voluntary certification program which certifies that a PSU meets certain energy efficiency metrics. The 80 PLUS symbol is a trademark owned by Ecova and only PSUs tested and certified by Ecova may use the trademark on their packaging.

Certification is not free, but it is not terribly expensive either. It is possible for a PSU to meet or even exceed the 80 Plus requirements but be unable to wear the badge due to a lack of certification. Given the inexpensive nature of certification, it is exceedingly rare for quality PSUs that meet the requirements to not be certified. Some PSUs are undercertified (they may meet 80 PLUS Silver, but only be certified as 80 PLUS Bronze) but a lack of certification is usually an indicator of poor build quality.

To answer your specific questions

1. It can be. Generic PSUs are a huge contributing factor to PC component death. Price is a good litmus test, there's a reason why top end 1,000 watt+ PSUs cost $250 USD or more. If you paid only $40 for a 600 watt PSU there's a good chance that the build quality is quite low. Furthermore, good PSUs can deliver between 95% and 110% of their marketed output wattage on the 12 volt rail. Under 75% is quite low by today's standards.

2. It's hard to tell. Many low-quality manufacturers are deliberately misleading or outright fraudulent when it comes to their PSU's specifications. I've heard of PSUs rated for 400 watts total output failing after drawing only 250 watts due to deficient design.

3. See above. 80 PLUS branded PSUs meet certain energy efficiency metrics with respects to AC to DC conversion. Higher efficiency means that the PSU wastes less energy converting electricity which means that it generates less heat and usually lasts longer.

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does 80+ psu is a myth?are all generic power supplies bad?let's discuss

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