ATX Power Supply

[LaurV]

Originally Posted by preda

I would recommend to get a 850W or at least 750W PSU, Gold 80+

+1. A 500W PSU will work close to the limit, have a shorter life time and possible cause glitches when the power requirement of the system spikes.

[EdH]

Originally Posted by LaurV

+1. A 500W PSU will work close to the limit, have a shorter life time and possible cause glitches when the power requirement of the system spikes.

Thanks for posting this. Somehow I missed the post from Preda. It must have been made while I was answering Chris.

I will indeed consider the 850, looking at the probability it will outlast the ancient hardware it will first support.

[chris2be8]

Originally Posted by EdH

Thanks, but that page does not work for me. Clicking the ATX Power Supply link on the initial page gets a 404 error page and then I can't get back to the original page until I reload my browser.

Odd, it works for me. But I'm probably using a different browser. In Firefox try holding down the shift key while you click on the link, that should open the destination in a new window so you still have the old window to go back to. Or in Konqueror right click the link and you should get an option to do the same thing.

However, after a closer look at the list of recent changes (the last was in 2019, the one before in 2018) I don't think it's being kept up to date very often. Which is a pity.

Chris

[EdH]

Originally Posted by chris2be8

Odd, it works for me. But I'm probably using a different browser. In Firefox try holding down the shift key while you click on the link, that should open the destination in a new window so you still have the old window to go back to. Or in Konqueror right click the link and you should get an option to do the same thing.

However, after a closer look at the list of recent changes (the last was in 2019, the one before in 2018) I don't think it's being kept up to date very often. Which is a pity.

Chris

You are apparently correct about Firefox and Tor, which I guess is Firefox based on my machine. Chrome on my tablet does get the 20 pin ATX connector at the shown link. On Firefox, I can do a right click to open a new window, tab, etc., but it still gives me:
=============================================

Not Found

The requested URL /ATX_Power_Supply was not found on this server.
Apache Server at www.hardwarebook.info Port 443

=============================================

The .net portion also redirects to .info (as displayed in the above message) on the home page.

If I try to adjust the .info to .net in the link call, I get the same except for:
=============================================

Apache Server at www.hardwarebook.net Port 80

=============================================

I have compared the links and they are identical. I wonder what's up with Firefox. . .

Thanks!

[Mark Rose]

If you bought something like a Dell or HP, make sure the motherboard uses standard ATX connections before you go buying a new power supply.

[EdH]

Originally Posted by Mark Rose

If you bought something like a Dell or HP, make sure the motherboard uses standard ATX connections before you go buying a new power supply.

Thanks, for the reminder. The machines I'm thinking of possibles, have actually been running some standard Chiefmax ATX supplies, but they are small and have no extra connectors for PCI-e power, etc.

[EdH]

Some more questions, if I may:

How much poorer can I expect a Corsair Bronze PS to perform compared to a Gold?

Do I really want modular? That seems to add a possible trouble spot with an added connector. I can see that being able to not have as much clutter and air flow interference may be a plus, but I would probably stuff the extra cables inside the case to keep from losing them, anyway.

It kind of seems Corsair has good reputation, while EVGA has a poor one.

If my current motherboard only has a single PCI-e slot, would I be able to make use of 850 watts, other than for efficiency and possible reuse elsewhere in the future?

Thanks!

[Viliam Furik]

Originally Posted by EdH

Some more questions, if I may:

How much poorer can I expect a Corsair Bronze PS to perform compared to a Gold?

Do I really want modular? That seems to add a possible trouble spot with an added connector. I can see that being able to not have as much clutter and air flow interference may be a plus, but I would probably stuff the extra cables inside the case to keep from losing them, anyway.

It kind of seems Corsair has good reputation, while EVGA has a poor one.

If my current motherboard only has a single PCI-e slot, would I be able to make use of 850 watts, other than for efficiency and possible reuse elsewhere in the future?

Thanks!

In order:

Not by much, only a few percents, about 2-4 %, depending on other things. However, that difference can still be significant. It depends on your opinion on the electricity bill.

The airflow resistance from cables is really tiny (I think Linus Tech Tips had a video on this). If you are more comfortable with non-modular, it's alright.

I don't know anything about their reputation.

PSUs usually have peak efficiency at about 50% load, that means less heat loss, less money paid for (kind of) wasted electricity. But you are asking "other than for efficiency"... Then I can say, most probably no. Unless you buy a more power-hungry GPU or something.

[VBCurtis]

Bronze and Gold refer to efficiency of the supply- you should be able to find a percentage effficiency in specs online.

Say the bronze is 82% and the gold 90%. The difference in at-the-wall draw will be around 8% of your load. If you're using a GPU, that load might be 400W, and 8% is around 32-33W of extra power drawn. Multiply by e.g. 20 hours a day, and you're around 0.65 kwh/day of extra use, or about 10 cents a day?

How fast does a nicer power supply pay for the additional cost, at $3/month?

Now, the gold supply you're looking at might not be 90% efficient (I think 90 is a typical platinum stat).... but this gives you an idea of savings. There's some chance the higher-rated supply is better quality overall and might last longer, but that's rather thin speculation and more a guess to feel better about the bigger initial outlay.

Edit; Here's a sample site illustrating the typical efficiencies for different ratings at 50% load and 100% load. I personally wouldn't run a power supply at more than 70% of rated load, or I'd expect to reduce its life. https://appuals.com/gold-vs-bronze-psu/

[dcheuk]

Originally Posted by EdH

Some more questions, if I may:

How much poorer can I expect a Corsair Bronze PS to perform compared to a Gold?

Do I really want modular? That seems to add a possible trouble spot with an added connector. I can see that being able to not have as much clutter and air flow interference may be a plus, but I would probably stuff the extra cables inside the case to keep from losing them, anyway.

It kind of seems Corsair has good reputation, while EVGA has a poor one.

If my current motherboard only has a single PCI-e slot, would I be able to make use of 850 watts, other than for efficiency and possible reuse elsewhere in the future?

Thanks!

(My 2 cents)

- I would at least get a gold or platinum. The price difference between bronze and gold ATX psu usually isn't all that much if you shop around (I did not take into account the PSU supply atm given that GPUs and CPUs are low in supply)
- I had good experience with both Corsair SFX and EVGA ATX Supernova products). Had a 1200W platinum EVGA Supernova that ran for 4+ years without problem.
- A modular psu really helps with smaller cases but not really necessary. I think it's worth getting if it's not that much more $.
- 850W should be enough for any mb with any one gpu. Correct me if I am wrong. I have a 600w gold running a 3950x with one 2080super on an itx board.

Oh one more thing: do not mix cables between different PSU manufactures or different product lines. I "borrowed" a SATA cable from my EVGA psu on a corsair psu and it killed my AIO.

[EdH]

Thanks everyone.

I had seen something about the modular cables not being swappable, but thanks for mentioning it.

All good points. I have some more studying to do. . .