PSU

[kitteh_]

Does a new Power Supply Unit know how much power to give all your components & hardware or do you have to tell it somehow?
I don't suppose that would be very safe for the rest of the guts?
Thanks

 

[Emperus]

If you can take care of the connections, the power supply will take care of the rest..

 

[kitteh_]

Connections being 'PCI-e or AGP port' on a graphics card for example?

Sorrii, I'm fairly new to all this :]

 

[Emperus]

Connections as in which wire goes where.. Don't worry, there are enough people here willing to help provided one asks politely and properly.. Welcome to Toms Hardware..

 

[kitteh_]

Connections as in which wire goes where.. Don't worry, there are enough people here willing to help provided one asks politely and properly.. Welcome to Toms Hardware..

;]
Thanks.

So that's just plugging it in inside?
And it'll know how much power to give?
Thanks

 

[Emperus]

The PSU will give out as much power as it is capable of.. You've to match up your power supply unit according to your components and requirements..

 

[Drakoes]

Don't forget to look out for "80 plus" certified PSUs - they tend to be more efficient than those that are not, especially at load. PSUs will obviously only fuel as much power as all the components in your PC will need, and not 'drown' it in power.

Here's also a rough guideline of what the connectors mean, let's take a Corsair HX650w PSU for example: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

1 x Main connector (20+4Pin) - Goes directly to the motherboard
1 x 8-Pin EPS/ATX12V - This is for the CPU
8 x Peripheral - Also known as 'Molex'. Some fans might need this.
9 x SATA - For all your hard drives and optical drives (also SSDs ofc). Most PSUs will supply you with quite a lot of SATA connectors.
2 x Floppy - For your grandma?
4 x PCI-E - To power up your graphics cards. Most only require 1-2, with the exception of going Crossfire/SLI.

 

[stecman]

The PSU will give out as much power as it is capable of.. You've to match up your power supply unit according to your components and requirements..

Exactly - it's like if you plug a 40w light bulb into a 120w socket, it'll only use 40w of the available 120w.

Also, a bigger power supply will not necessarily use more power, it just accommodates for it (some times bigger PSUs are even more efficient). For example. I have a 650w PSU. At idle it uses about 270w (it's an overclocked Intel i7 with SLI so this is probably higher than average), but when I play intensive games the power consumption goes up to almost 500w (I have a wall socket digital power meter).

 

[kitteh_]

The PSU will give out as much power as it is capable of.. You've to match up your power supply unit according to your components and requirements..

Okay, so what I'm saying is that if I put a 750 watt PSU in my PC wouldn't it be unhealthy if the components were given too much power [as I have a relatively old PC]?

 

[stecman]

By "matching to components and requirements" emperus means that for more power hungry parts you will need to provide more power. While there is an estimable minimum wattage a PSU can/should be in different systems, there is no such thing as a maximum. If you don't meet the minimum you will have problems from lock ups to POST failures or the computer will simply not turn on. The more you are over the minimum, the more headroom you are providing - there's nothing dangerous or risky about it at all.

To answer your question directly, components take only the power they need so there is no such thing as a component being given too much power. If your graphics card is uses 60w on a 300w PSU, it will use 60w on a 750w PSU and 60w on a 1500w PSU. It's simple physics

 

[kitteh_]

By "matching to components and requirements" emperus means that for more power hungry parts you will need to provide more power. While there is an estimable minimum wattage a PSU can/should be in different systems, there is no such thing as a maximum. If you don't meet the minimum you will have problems from lock ups to POST failures or the computer will simply not turn on. The more you are over the minimum, the more headroom you are providing - there's nothing dangerous or risky about it at all.

To answer your question directly, components take only the power they need so there is no such thing as a component being given too much power. If your graphics card is uses 60w on a 300w PSU, it will use 60w on a 750w PSU and 60w on a 1500w PSU. It's simple physics

Ah, thanks! :]

So if I had a 300w PSU and I put in one compenent that needed 60w & another that needed 100w [let's say].
Would that be 300 - 60 - 100 = 140watts left to use for other components?
Thanks

 

[Emperus]

Ah, thanks! :]

So if I had a 300w PSU and I put in one compenent that needed 60w & another that needed 100w [let's say].
Would that be 300 - 60 - 100 = 140watts left to use for other components?
Thanks

Something like that.. The power draw is dynamic most of the times which means that a component might draw less or more power depending on the load.. For a start, give us your system specs and the power supply you own (or wish to purchase) and we'll tell you if its adequate for your system along with explanation which might help you in understanding things in a better way.. Also, reading PSU reviews from sites like www.jonnyguru.com and www.hardwaresecrets.com etc. will also add up to your understanding..

 

[kitteh_]

OKay, so I've got a thread here: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/284485-10-what-upgrade on what my specs. are; http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1257056.
I know there're not good, this is why I'm looking to upgrade.
My PSU is 230v... I think, I've forgotton [looked in the earlier].
Thanks

 

[kitteh_]

Don't forget to look out for "80 plus" certified PSUs - they tend to be more efficient than those that are not, especially at load. PSUs will obviously only fuel as much power as all the components in your PC will need, and not 'drown' it in power.

Here's also a rough guideline of what the connectors mean, let's take a Corsair HX650w PSU for example: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012

1 x Main connector (20+4Pin) - Goes directly to the motherboard
1 x 8-Pin EPS/ATX12V - This is for the CPU
8 x Peripheral - Also known as 'Molex'. Some fans might need this.
9 x SATA - For all your hard drives and optical drives (also SSDs ofc). Most PSUs will supply you with quite a lot of SATA connectors.
2 x Floppy - For your grandma?
4 x PCI-E - To power up your graphics cards. Most only require 1-2, with the exception of going Crossfire/SLI.

Would this even be a good PSU to look for? For me, I'm upgrading soon, hopefully :]
It all depends I know

 

[Emperus]

Would this even be a good PSU to look for? For me, I'm upgrading soon, hopefully :]
It all depends I know

Resolve your dependency and start upgrading.. Those specs look ancient..

 

[kitteh_]

Resolve your dependency and start upgrading.. Those specs look ancient..

I've not upgraded or been much to do with the internal hardware so I'm trying to learn all this first.
I know they're old and this is why I'm upgrading soon.