Choosing a power supply usually does not take much time. Some users believe that the purchase of this component of a computer system can be left for later. Yes, and do not bother in this regard.
In fact, the purchase of a power supply is a serious and important matter. To do this, you need to understand the power consumption of the computer and choose a quality device. In addition, it will be possible to calculate the electricity consumption that the PC consumes.
Power supply selection
To choose a power supply, you need to figure out how to find out the power consumption of a computer. To do this, you need to know all the details that are inside the system. Each component requires a certain amount of power.
In general, to measure the total power consumption of a PC, it is enough to take into account the performance of the components: the motherboard, video card, central processor, RAM and other devices that are connected to the system platform.
After you figure out the power consumption of your computer, you will need to pay attention to the brands. In general, almost the entire market of power supplies is represented by just a couple of manufacturers. The most popular are now considered Chieftec, Corsair or Aerocool.
In principle, giving preference to a particular company is the business of every customer. In this case, you can pay attention to the cost, appearance or availability of goods. The main parameter that is important to pay attention to is certification.
Now most power supplies are 80 Plus certified. This technology suggests that the developers tried to make the PSU economical. Cheaper models usually lose some power in vain. If the device has certification, then it has an energy efficiency of more than 80%. Over time, this technology has evolved and received a postscript, which indicated an even greater percentage of energy efficiency.
Energy metering
Many experts practically do not trust calculators. They say that often they are not entirely correct. Most likely, this is due to the fact that manufacturers of video cards and processors deliberately increase the required power. Accordingly, it is extremely difficult to correctly calculate the power consumption of a computer.
Therefore, experts prefer to measure this indicator from the outlet. In truth, it’s easy to do this, just get a household wattmeter. It can be purchased for about 1200 rubles, but it is important to understand how to use the device.
The power meter as a whole provides more or less accurate information. Easily handles hundreds of watts. Inside the device there is a microcontroller, it carries out the integration of current and voltage. A similar device is often found in companies that sell, repair or maintain a PC. But for a more accurate measurement of computer power consumption, you can use another method.
In this case, it is recommended to measure the current consumed by the load from the power supply. Interestingly, there are models in which such a device is built.
Approximate calculation
But in fairness it is worth noting that the average user absolutely does not need such calculations of computer power consumption. And even a wattmeter in this case seems like an unreasonable mess. The easiest way is to use a service calculator. You can also use a conventional calculator and information about the components of the system.
Calculator Services
This is the easiest way to find out information about energy consumption. For example, on the official MSI website there is a similar section. The resource helps to calculate the approximate power consumption of the system, and also immediately offers models of power supplies.
There is also an option with the manufacturer's website Be quiet. This is a popular brand that is famous for quality power supplies. The site has a calculator that has a clear and convenient interface.
The user must enter the system components: manufacturer, socket, and model of the central processor. All this can be found on the boxes with the components or in the system itself. Next, you need to specify the number of graphics adapters connected to the motherboard, their manufacturer and model.
After that, indicate the number of SATA, PATA, and RAM devices. This means that it is necessary to calculate the hard drives, video cards and RAM modules that are in the system unit.
At the end, the user should provide information about cooling. It indicates the type of cooling system, as well as the number of fans. Below you need to specify whether the user will use overclocking of any component or the entire system in general. Obviously, for this it will be necessary to raise the power of the device, respectively, it will require more from the power supply.
Special resource
In principle, it is absolutely unimportant how to calculate the energy consumption of a gaming computer or office model. In general, any service is suitable for these tasks. For example, on coolermaster.com, you can use an energy calculator. The peculiarity of this resource is that you can fine-tune your entire system on it.
For example, here you can select the form factor of the motherboard. After that the choice of processor follows: its manufacturer, socket on the board where the chip is installed, then the CPU from the available list. You can also specify multiple processors, if any. Below you need to configure the slider for the frequency and voltage of the chip, as well as its TDP.
In the next section, RAM configuration is available. Here you need to specify the number of modules, chip size, type. Next, you can specify several video cards, their manufacturer, model, frequency.
In the column "Drive" it is enough to indicate the number and types of devices. It is also possible to configure optical drives, expansion cards and other devices. Coolers, USB devices, etc. usually fall into the last category.
The keyboard and mouse, although they do not require much power, can still be specified. True, in this case there are only two options to choose from: gaming or standard equipment.
Self settlement
Of course, such calculators do most of the work for the user. But if for some reason you want to find out energy consumption on your own, you can take a conventional calculator and find all the information on the Internet.
For example, enter the name of the video card in the search: manufacturer and model, and then in any online store you study the characteristics of the device, look for energy consumption there and plus all the obtained indicators.
If the computer is low power, it will have a total of about 100-120 watts. In this case, it will be enough to purchase a 400 W power supply. If several video cards and a powerful processor are installed in the system, you will have to look at models from 600-700 W.