– Which power supply unit fits which PC and how much power does it have to be? On the basis of current test reports, BitcoinMinersHashrate provides constantly updated help in choosing from a confusing offer on the market. A distinction is made between office, multimedia and gaming PCs.
Which power supply is the best choice for your own computer depends primarily on the planned components such as the graphics card and your own priorities in terms of volume, warranty period or optics. Also, a 150-euro power supply in a 500-euro system makes as little sense as a 40-euro power supply in a 1,000-euro computer. Buying unnecessarily strong power supplies can have a negative impact on efficiency, and for example, at the prices of an 80Plus bronze power supply with over 600 watts, there are 450 watt power supplies that have a higher efficiency certification according to 80Plus Gold.
Based on current tests of power supplies and derived best lists, BitcoinMinersHashrate gives purchase recommendations in the price range of just under 45 to 150 euros. Form factors away from ATX are also an issue.
When it comes to finding the right power supply performance class for a gaming PC, there are many opposing opinions. Graphics card manufacturers are particularly exuberant in terms of performance requirements because the recommendation is made independently of the rest of the system and the quality of the power supply – and supposedly sufficiently cheap power supplies cannot deliver their full rated power at all.
Power supply computers take the individual configuration into account more precisely, but also exaggerate with the determined wattage requirement. Only the maximum consumption of each individual component is included in the calculation. In addition, a large amount of performance is added for drives and fans, regardless of whether it is an economical SSD or a high-speed HDD. The calculation may be good for a worst-case estimate under synthetic full load, but gaming systems consume significantly less power under gaming load.
For the following system configurations, the recommendations for the nominal power are between 400 and 650 watts. More performance is only required in exceptional cases. The decisive factors are in particular the CPU and GPU, which can consume significantly more power for a short time than their TDP suggests. Very high-clocking graphics cards from board partners can consume significantly more power under certain circumstances, which is why the power requirement should be assessed more precisely in such a case. The same applies to overclocking attempts on your own.
More useful than a power supply calculator: the BitcoinMinersHashrate recommendation for power supply size:
For office computers, multimedia systems and very economical gaming computers, 300 watts of continuous power are absolutely sufficient. Power supplies in this performance class usually offer a 6-pin PCIe power connector to supply even small to medium-sized graphics cards. The following are particularly recommended:
The cheapest entry is covered by the Xilence Performance C power supplies in the expansion stage with 350 watts, which could assert itself as the price-performance winner. With the System Power series, be quiet! affordable power supplies for system integrators on the market. The test of the B8 300W and S9 400W did not reveal any critical weaknesses. Rather, the series is particularly convincing with its complete protection circuitry and three-year manufacturer’s guarantee. The B8 power supplies are only supplied in bubble wrap, which is why the more expensive System Power 9 400W has to be used for a chic outer packaging. In addition, the smaller B8 variants have no housing paint and there is no cable sheathing.
For gaming PCs with a single high-end graphics card, fast CPU from Intel or with AMD Ryzen and a slight overclocking, a good power supply unit with 500-watt output is sufficient in most cases. Power supplies with 80Plus gold and an independent voltage regulation are available at prices starting at 60 euros and are thus becoming the standard.
In relation to the total price, it can also be a power supply unit of a lower price range for a cheaper gaming system. From a retail price of 40 euros, sophisticated technologies such as independent voltage regulation in be quiet! System Power 9 400W and Xilence Performance A + 430W available. If a graphics card with high power consumption is installed in the PC, the more powerful 530W variant must be considered. The Power 9 400W system is of higher quality, has completely sheathed cables and has an uncomplicated guarantee process.
Rule of thumb for the table: The higher the price range, the higher the efficiency, the quality of the installed technology and the processing. Details in the text.
The be-quiet! -Pure-Power-11 series offers a price range higher, which has rock-solid electrical measurements and a higher efficiency at 80Plus-Gold level. Thanks to the quiet fan, the current Pure Power power supplies are also suitable for systems with (very) quiet cooling. If cable management is desired for the power supply, the Cooler Master MasterWatt 450W is a possible alternative. Compared to the Xilence Performance A +, the complete cable sheathing and a comparatively long guarantee period of up to five years are essential incentives to buy these power supplies in the price range between 45 and 55 euros , All the important features of qualitative power supplies are therefore included in these recommendations and generally cover all requirements – only those who want even higher efficiency, for example, have to consider more expensive alternatives.
The efficiency class of 80Plus-Gold offers the largest selection, in the price comparison there are currently power supplies from over 20 manufacturers. In the price range between 55 and 70 euros, the representatives of be quiet !, BitFenix and Xilence dominate, who have been awarded this efficiency certification. In the disciplines of power quality, volume and component quality, the BitFenix Formula Gold 450W, Xilence Performance X 550W and be quiet! Pure Power 11 500W CM show good results. The BitFenix and Xilence models are more expensive in terms of modularity because the harnesses cannot be removed from the power supply. The competition is otherwise only from partially modular Corsair power supplies, both of which are equipped with a simpler and louder fan.
At prices between 70 and 85 euros, the Sea Sonic Focus GX 550W (formerly called “Focus Plus Gold”) and Bitfenix Whisper M 450W are two very good power supplies that are particularly quiet and have fully modular cable management. In addition to the fully modular version, BitFenix also offers a stronger, non-modular variant with the Formula Gold 550W in this price range. The only alternative is the Enermax Revolution X’t II 550W, in which only the somewhat short CPU cable is annoying.
In the upper class around 100 euros, no manufacturer can only offer mediocre products. Power supplies in this price range have to meet the high requirements for very quiet cooling, excellent electrical performance and modularity. The be quiet! Straight Power 11 550W closest, which works almost silently and shows no weakness at any corner. Other manufacturers are somewhat slower in terms of volume, but give a longer guarantee, for example. So the article on recommendations with 550/650 watts awards the EVGA Supernova G3 550W as an outstanding power supply. There is further competition with the Corsair RM550x, which is only slightly inferior in efficiency to the Straight Power 11 550W. The G3 550W, on the other hand, impresses with its low case depth of only 150 mm. The cooler master V550, which has dropped in price, can keep up technically without any problems and, with its housing depth of only 140 mm, is suitable for particularly compact ATX systems. If you attach great importance to a chic cable kit without wanting to order an expensive cable kit with single-core sleeve from CableMod or BitFenix and appreciate a partially higher efficiency compared to the Straight Power 11 550W, the Enermax Platimax D.F. 500W an interesting option.
In the luxury class, the selection becomes noticeably smaller. The Corsair AX850 can position itself at the top of the ranking, but is dimensioned with a very high output power of 850 W. A more reasonable dimensioning is possible with the be-quiet! -Dark-Power-Pro-11-, the Corsair-HX (i) – and the Aerocool-P7 series, but these are clearly behind the AX850 in terms of efficiency, the one with Market price of over 200 euros must also be bought expensive. If optical gimmicks such as RGB-LED lighting or an OLED display are buyable, Aerocool with the P7-650W and Asus with the ROG Thor 850P can offer interesting power supplies.
For fans of passive power supplies, Enermax and Silverstone offer a suitable, but also very expensive solution. The detailed volume measurements of current test reports reveal that a (semi) passive-cooled power supply can also be louder than an active one due to the electronic noise.
The recommended power supplies can be purchased from Amazon *, Caseking * or Alternate *, for example.
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Even with systems with multiple graphics cards, it doesn’t have to be a 1,600-watt power supply for 400 euros like the Corsair AX1600i, smaller and cheaper power supplies may also be sufficient.
Nvidia graphics cards have become significantly more economical in terms of power consumption in recent generations, so a good 550-watt power supply is now sufficient for two GeForce GTX 1070/1080 without overclocking. However, four PCIe connectors are required, which the FSP Hydro X 550W already offers as one of the cheapest power supplies. After all, graphics cards with a higher power consumption place higher demands on the power supply – 650 to 850 watts must now be.
With the LC8850III V2.3 Arkangel 3, LC-Power has a particularly affordable 850-watt power supply with four PCIe plugs, which is a price-performance tip for cheaper dual-GPU systems. However, the power supplies of the Corsair RMx, Super Flower Leadex II Gold and EVGA G3 series meet higher demands. Higher quality solutions are available with the be-quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 and Corsair HXi models, both of which have received a BitcoinMinersHashrate recommendation in the 850 watt versions. If the digital readout functions can be dispensed with, an equally good alternative can be found with the Corsair HX850. If three graphics cards are to be operated at the same time, the minimum output power must be 850 watts. If the highest efficiency is required, the Corsair AX850 currently top the ranking with an efficiency according to 80Plus Titanium. It is closely followed by the Super Flower Leadex Titanium 850W and Enermax MaxTytan 800W.
Compact computers in SFX and TFX format, together with suitable power supply solutions, are enjoying growing popularity, even if the sales figures still appear small compared to those of the ATX models. The Kolink SFX-250, SilverStone SST-ST30SF and Sea Sonic SS-300TGW are convincing and (very) quiet offers for office, multimedia and economical gaming systems. When it comes to a compact all-round power supply for gaming systems , Corsair dominates the competition with the SF series. Even that be quiet! SFX L Power 500W has to be beaten at a higher volume, although it is larger at 130 mm in depth.
The Corsair SF450 Platinum and Silverstone Nightjar NJ450-SXL are more efficient alternatives with an efficiency according to 80Plus Platinum. Compared to the SF450 (80Plus Gold), however, the SF450 Platinum has to accept a somewhat higher volume – the Nightjar NJ450-SXL becomes passive cooled, but therefore costs significantly more than the variants of Corsair.
Customers should keep their distance from extremely cheap offers, which can usually be found on eBay. In the test, seven out of seven power supplies failed to get the nominal power, and cheating with the 80Plus certificates is nowhere to be found. But you should also beware of supposedly good top sellers on Amazon. There are decent power supplies in the range of 30-40 euros, so it is not worth saving in the wrong place.
A detailed comparison of all current graphics cards with ranking and CPU benchmarks with comparisons and ranking can also be found on BitcoinMinersHashrate. In addition, BitcoinMinersHashrate offers extensive SSD purchase advice based on extensive tests.
(*) The links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links. If an order is placed via such a link, BitcoinMinersHashrate will share in the sales proceeds without the price for the customer increasing.
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