one of 8088 guy here now over age-50 whom built the latest 13-gen i5 last week, never know how PSU works, learnt a lot after watch this video, thank you Sir.
Please note the following minor corrections: (1) The 4-pin ATF 12V power connector was introduced in 2000 to power the first “Pentium 4” processors, not “Pentium” processors (which were first launched in 1993). I somehow mislaid the “4” during production! My apologies. (2) I should have said that most and not all PSUs contain a fan. As has been noted below, there are a few, large, fanless PC PSUs -- for example this one: seasonic.com/prime-titanium-fanless Again my apologies.
Been working on PC for over 25 years and still learned quite a bit about PSU from this video. Amazing the amount of information you squeezed into 16 minutes, very concise and to the point.
Same here, over 30 years, now retired but some new stuff that I did not know! And very good pointing that PSU watts are not what it consumes. Oversizing is the key for long lasting PSU.
It's topics like this, the attention to detail and the wonderful narration that make this channel and Chris himself a treasure to be protected and supported. You may not think you need to know about PSUs, but when you do, you do! Thank you Chris, much respect indeed!
I think it's another missed opportunity to talk about warranty length and save ppl from buying the slightly cheaper PSUs that will fail much earlier than they would have to.
@@Breakfast_of_Champions I would argue that extended warranties for any product are virtually irrelevant - beyond the "usual" one year period, extended warranties are usually filled with clauses that make it very difficult to get a free replacement or repair on the basis that the end user probably has to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to demonstrate that it wasn't something they did that caused the failure and thus voided the warranty anyway. And let's face it - how many hours of your time does fault-finding a PSU and its associated PC to gather enough evidence to claim a free warranty repair buy, as opposed to just buying a new one.
@@terrydaktyllus1320Well without going into too many details that's a pile of nonsense. There's no reason a PSU wouldn't last a decade if the manufacturers weren't incentivised to save a dollar or two with bottomfeeder parts by ppl who know nothing and are happy to surrender their rights.
@@Breakfast_of_Champions But unless you go into details to demonstrate some proof of your point, then your point is no more or less opinion than mine is. If you choose not to backup your arguments with more definitive statements, that's not the same as "pretending" that you can but just don't want to. So we're at stalemate - which is fine by me. But I suggest you do find some time to read extended warranty documentation to see the likely "pitfalls" that you will come across - for example, the cost of parts may be covered under warranty but the labour cost to fit those parts may still be chargeable to the customer. You've lived an extremely sheltered life if you're trying to tell me that you've never seen such clauses in extended warranty documentation.
I recently had a no boot no beep issue with an old HP Z230. Thought it was the PSU. I learned that HP Z workstation PSU's are proprietary and are 11V standby and 18 pin motherboard connection. Thankfully after further diagnosis I changed the CMOS, got it to beep 5 times that pointed to the CPU which I cleaned and it booted. Always great videos on this channel that is a source of informative information, thank you.
Thanks for sharing this topic! I always inform all my PC customers of the importance of a good PSU! This is a component NEVER to skimp on! BRAVO Mr. Barnatt!
Trouble is, the PSU is such a mundane component that it's often overlooked. I know people who put more effort into choosing LEDs than the power supply. By the time they get round to choosing one the budget is tight because most of it has already been spent on CPU, GPU, RAM and storage.
@@johnm2012 I do hope these folks worked up their power budgets including all these whiz-bangers and go-fasters before they bought that cheap PSU that won't really tote the load... That would just be silly. That said, sometimes a PC is as much about looks as it is about performance, but that's no excuse to cheap out on the PSU. Find the price/performance point that's right for all of your system.
This is great information! I've been trying to learn about building a pc for the last couple of months and nobody talks about what power supply you should be running based on the usage. This was what I was mostly after, but also knowing that the sustained and peak supply rating is different but labeled the same across different manufacturers is good to know as well.
I had a 1000W power supply from 2008 that didn't even have any efficiency rating on it. When I switched to a Platinum rated power supply nearly a decade later it dropped my idle wattage use by ~30-40W! I was blown away!
This video is well timed and much appreciated. I was just working on giving my PC a mid-life upgrade, including upgrading to a modular power supply. Perhaps a video on UPS devices and how best to pick one to match one's PSU?
Great video Chris! Interesting to see how the efficiency of the unit changes depending on the load, so therefore going for a way overkill PSU can make your efficiency worse.
@@ohrun3106 Yeah, but you wouldn't want a 200 W supply, either. Not all vendors' 200W ratings are specced the same way. With a reliable vendor like Corsair or Delta, I'd go with something between 350 W and 500 W, just to have a little headroom, and for "future proofing". (Of course, with modern video cards being so power-hungry, be sure to leave room for the cooling tower... 😆 )
Nice thorough coverage of the necessary details. A small investment of around $10 has proven it's worth time & time again, and that's a PSU tester. When a PSYU goes bad, it's not necessarily all at once. Being able to test for everything and also each individual output is very handy. Paul M., Atlanta, GA
I subscribed a few years ago (I think) but only come back every so often. And I am consistently blown away by the way you break down every subject you cover in easy to understand, informative and well-thought out pieces. I don't often watch but when I do, I watch entirely to the end even if I more-or-less know the subject. For example, I've been making my own computers since the late 90's and I knew quite a bit about PSU's but even then, I learned more from this video than I thought I would. Like, I didn't know off hand the actual power rails being sent into the MB unit via the 20+4 and the 4+4 cables but here you laid it out plain and easy. Thank you very much, sir.
Fun fact, since I live in a pretty cold end of the world and houses is heated in some way 7-8 months of the year, it's worth noting that 99% of the power that goes in to a computer comes out as heat, physics states that energy can not dissapear, just be converted into otherf forms of energy, when you talk about efficiency of a PSU like 80% means that 20% comes out as heat, then running GPU, CPU, RAM and HDD's all outputs equal amount in heat as is drawn from power socket in you wall... so for me running several computers can lower radiators and that way I'm pretty much running the computers for free... Summer is the time I loose, but here it is short and sweet :)
Precisely. I've been trying to explain to people that the higher power draw a GPU has the more heat it will output to the air around it regardless of how good it's cooling is. More power more heat simple as that. Most people don't even look at power draw they just want the most powerful GPU and don't look at efficiency. You are the exception, but most people don't want a space heater computer.
@@chrimony and even if you're using electricity, you can be more efficient in heating with a heat pump than a computer/electric heater (although at super cold temperatures I'm not sure how well they work, but this definitely applies to people in moderately cold temps)
@@drojf heat pumps don't work well 15 degrees F and below they are not very useful for most people it is better to keep home heating at minimum to keep pipes from freezing and simply use a personal heater in the room you are residing
It's the same with light bulbs. Some people push for fluorescent and LED lights everywhere, but if you live in a cold climate, incandescent bulbs are still useful in heated spaces. Their reduced efficiency in light emission translates to increased heat emissions, which might keep your heating system cycling on and off just a tiny bit less often. Depending on what fuel(s) your heating system and your local electric grid use, the difference in efficiency may be a wash or if one system is much more expensive than the other, there might still be a difference.
Note: modular power supplies cables from one manufacturer should not be used on a PSU from another manufacturer. They all use the same connectors but there is no standard for the wiring I.e. what is + or - voltage. You risk damaging a peripheral if you do this
Yep, one of the reasons why I stick to one brand. In my case it's EVGA. Although between models they *can* change designs so I usually keep the extras in a plastic bag with the model marked on it.
Man, I have been watching your videos for years now, but you don't have idea how useful this video was for me. You dropped it in the exact right moment. Thank you.
I have 3 PSU's. One, of course, is in my PC. The other two have been 'surgically modified', using appropriate safety precautions. One supplies DC power for my model railroad layout, and the other is a workbench power supply for electronics projects. I'm telling you: PSU's, they're not just for PC's anymore!
Thanks Chris for a thoroughly interesting video. I've learnt a lot from this, sometimes we give little though to something that's so important for a stable system! The Coolermaster & BeQuiet PSU calculators are the ones I use, one tip I was given is 'Never cheap out on a PSU' otherwise it's false economy :)
The most useful bit for me was the illustration of a typical PSU airflow setup. I've been thinking about how best to cool my PC and not fighting the PSU (which is mounted toward the front of my case) is a good place to start. I appreciate the history of the ATX spec and different cable types too.
This video was quite helpful for me when I build PCs. I had very little knowledge on PSU's so I thank you for this great insight. Keep up the great work.
Very good video: well structured, clear, comprehensive, accurate, touching on all the necessary details. That said, what lead me to comment was at 6:34 "... the 4-pin Molex connector which used to be used to power most hard drives and optical disks and SADLY remains in use to this day as a general PC power connector" 😆 I'm an electronic engineer and I've been designing electronics for longer than 20 years. The job often includes selecting and verifying all sorts of connectors. I've been dabbling with PCs for longer than I've been an engineer and I've always been puzzled by the choice of such connector. How did Molex manage to get such terribly flawed design to be selected for such a popular industrial standard like the PC? The 4-pin HD/FDD Molex connector is extremely awkward to plug (receptacles and pins typically refuse to align) and the shape of the cable-end housing seems purposefully designed to hurt the fingers and prevent gripping it.
Spectacular video. I based one whole lecture on PSUs for the highschool I am teaching at, based on your video. Bowing down at your skill to explain and organize, we know how much time it took to prepare so much information.
Whoever thought that 600W through a little 6 pin internal connector was a good idea??? As you said, that's the equivalent of a small electric fire. So glad I now know the difference between a top mounted and bottom mounted PSU. Mine's top mounted, but the case originally shipped with a Windows 7 system, so it's knocking on a bit!
Excellent video, very informative. I’ve been messing with PCs so long that I remember the old pre-ATX power supplies, with an input voltage selector switch and an output socket to supply a monitor.
Great video as usual, Chris, but I really missed a mention of Cybenetics efficiency and noise certification programmes, which are far more relevant and thorough than 80 Plus nowadays.
1:25 -- that's one thing that we just don't have in the States. Those awesome wall-plugs with built-in fuses and switches. How convenient to simply be able to switch the thing off there instead of having to physically unplug it to remove a device's power.
God video. No way I would go back to using a non-modular PSU these days. Perhaps a point also to make is not to purchase the cheapest unbranded PSU, esp if you have high-end components attached and value them.
wow, I last dealt with home built PC-s in the 1990's what a lot i missed out on. Thank you for the update, it was great to see how the power supplies got developed over the decades.
Very concise and straightforward explanations of how PSU are specified and implemented. I have come not to trust 80 Plus ratings in isolation (and I realize that you never said we should), and have never specified an 80 Plus Titanium for any build for a customer (or for myself, for that matter), finding the price differential typically does not justify the actual payback. I would rather put my money in PSUs from reliable vendors that are in the 80 Plus Gold or Silver range for efficiency, and couple them with a reliable and properly sized UPS unit for surge protection and backup power in the event of an unplanned outage.
Another excellent breakdown of something that can often be more complicated to get across. Melting connectors does indicate the introduction of a standard that was clearly not fully tested, which is always a concern.
Thanks, Chris the understanding and history of the PSU were informative and interesting. Also over the weekend, I worked on my new computer build, here is the parts list and I am using it now. New Computer Build Corsair 110R Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case EVGA 500 GD, 80+ Gold 500W Power Supply Corsair Vengence LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Desktop Memory kit-Black Gigabyte H610M S2H DDR4 (H610/Intel LGA 1700/Micro ATX/DDR4/ Single M.2/PCIe 4.0/USB 3.2 Gen 1/Realtrek GbE LAN/Motherboard Intel Core i5 12400F Desktop Processor 18M Cache, up to 4.40GHz
@@ExplainingComputers Yes, finished it over the weekend. Was inspired by Carey Holzman's channel. I watch and subscribe to his channel. I'm in the process of cloning my old drive to the Samsung NVMe 970 Pro SSD 500GB using Acronis.
Wonderful production! You covered power supplies in a very concise manner.. I look forward to your TH-cam each week.. thank you for your interesting shows
Great video. I like the fully modular power supplies -- though I've never had a computer that uses one. If I ever replace my power supply or build my own machine, fully modular would be the way to go. Doing away with all those extra wires would simplify maintenance.
Important correction: Semi-modular only means that some cables are modular, but not all. In many cases, this means that "expected" cables are wired in, which usually includes EPS 8pin or 4+4pin, 24pin, and often also includes one of PCIE and/or SATA, or even one of molex on older models. It was even a point against some units for being semi-modular but having some odd choices of which cables were and weren't modular, as it was at a time where molex power was increasingly uncommon to require or use already.
Thanks for the video. My PSU is a be quiet! Straight Power 11 750W Platinum. Both of my PC builds required an 8-pin connector for the CPU (i5-10400 & 12400). And while my Sapphire RX 6600 just needed a single 8-pin, my ASRock Arc A770 requires two 8-pins.
I'm not sure how an i5 10400 can "require" a 8-pin power connector. There is nothing in the CPU specification about this -- www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/199271/intel-core-i510400-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-30-ghz/specifications.html - and I have one myself which I know will run fine with a 4-pin connector. Your motherboard in which the chip is fitted may have an 8-pin connector. But as the video notes, this does not mean that an 8-pin connector is required in all circumstances, and certainly not for a 65W TDP chip.
@@ExplainingComputers I mean, you might be right. I remember putting in an 8-pin connector because that's what was on my motherboard. Now that I think about it, I don't think I actually looked up how many pins the i5-10400 needed. The more you know.
Thanks for such a brilliant and informative video on PSUs. It is such an important thing to get right if you don't want to frazzle ⚡your expensive pc components. We're lucky that there are a wide range available at various prices these days. The psu cultist list is great to check the quality of a potential purchase and the sites you mentioned are very helpful to check how much power you might need. Brilliant work as usual 👍
I have seen cases that take 12 volt only power supplies and are fitted with secondary unit modular power supply cards you plug those 12 volt supplies into that split it up into the various normal power supply plugs. The cases take the current motherboards.
this is a great video Chirs, but i wish to have some addition it also has the PFC, and the output ripple needs to be care of. PFC, the Power Factor Correction, is build for increase the power factor, it more closer to 1, it is better. it is not the efficiency, but it will also effect the computer input. for example if we got a 900w hardware, and PSU at 90% efficiency, which require input 1000w of power. if now, we got 2 PSU, A has PFC running at 0.99 PF, and B got no PFC running only at 0.45 PF, now both of A and B running at the same input power of 1000w running at 240 to 220V (which is majority in the world), A only require around 4.2A (taking 240), B will require 9.2A, more than doubling the current which will give more pressure to your house electricity circuit and generate more heat, it also not friendly to the electrical grid. so please if you have the chance, please get the PSU with active PFC. output ripple in short it will effect your hardware stability
This is a good back to basics video. My personal recommendation is to never buy anything lower than gold or silver, and target it so the power you use is around 50% of the max output. Its not just the power saving , to get that rating you have to have a well designed power supply, a lot of the 80+ (below bronze) units are very old architectures made to look new, stay clear. Cheap PSUs are never worth it. A good high end PSU can last decades if not longer. Not ATX but my nice thurlby thanadar bench top power supply is over 30 years old if its a day and still going strong.
when I built my pc I bought a seasonic titanium not just because I wanted efficiency, but I wanted top of the line components that will guarantee the power supply to run for many years to come
As always, your videos are very well organized and very informative. It amazes me to think that the power supply is often the most overlooked component of the entire system even though the system won't work without it. Thank you and hope to see you again, very soon.
Brilliant video covering something I am sure many don't give a lot of consideration - naturally depending on how demanding a machine you're building. I am sure many have built, for instance, a Linux machine from older components using just any old power supply that'll fit in the build and has the right plugs.
Thank you Chris, this is great detail for understanding PSU's. I had only basic knowledge but knew enough to make sure the right connections and voltage coverage was there. Keep up spreading the knowledge!
Because I didn't allow ego to get between me and useful information (IT pro of 30+ years, self-employed and in possession of an alphabet's worth of certificatory toilet paper) I learned from this seemingly-simple message. Thank you!
I look forward to these every Sunday! Thank You for another great video. I did not know about the upcoming pci 6, I'm still striving to get on pci4.0.. What the future holds@@
I learned quite a lot about PC power supplies this morning! Thank you, Chris. 😁 Also, massive yikes regarding 9:03. Mmmmmm, melted plastic and metal bits. Delicious on fries. At least nobody hesitated developing a new power connector!
now I can put a name on power supplies and motherboards power connectors I wasn't familiar with , Thanks a lot Sir, your English is easy to understand , I speak French , Merci beaucoup Monsieur
Chris always amazes me with new information, even if the subject sample and I know a lot about it he give me new info in short video. Thanks Chris and please keep up
Thank you for this presentation, which will serve as the ultimate reference for many of us... That said, I love it when technological extravaganzas end up deep-fried! I hope that these experiences will lead some engineers to a little more humility and common sense! The fact remains that the challenge of the next few years will be the quest for efficiency and the efficient use of electricity... To be continued, with you, of course... 😉
When you connect the motherboard to a ups, and use it more times with a better battery, after a while you can disconnect your cpu fan, you don’t need it anymore, the performance remains high. The Hdd switches on a careful spin up, it doesn’t spin up with high power, instead it uses a very careful spinup, more silent. The new features remain. It needs about 10 20 h on ups to turn on these features.
It's practically a standard that non-modular PSUs come with cables that resemble ketchup and mustard (red and yellow), and some other occasional condiments such as relish (green). My guess is that each color represents a different voltage, with black denoting ground.
it's a standard with non modular PSUs that there are simultaneously too many cables for the PC you're building and that they are only just long enough. Are there any cases out there with busbars?
There are not enough cables if you want to fill the PC with as many disk drives as it can fit, requiring the use of cable splitters, even though a "500W" unit could supply enough power.
Nice illustrative video. I have been seeing the hatred for the Molex connectors, I used them in the past, and even being kinda problematic to handle and connect properly, I still don't see the problem with them
Nice. I wonder if you'll delve deeper into their safety system, such as Over Current Protection (OCP) and Over Temperature Protection (OTP)? I think this is a valuable information for first time PC builders, or at least helping understand their PSU safety features. I have a Gigabyte GH750 Power Supply Unit, it works well, but it does lack of OCP, which mean I have to pay attention to it and make sure that I don't overload any of its power rail.
@@liontuga155 Ho ho. But I think those only happen when you use 120V AC. I'm using the dreaded Aorus P850G PSU and it works like a charm. My location uses 240V AC and yeah, while I heard a lot of issues with this PSU from the American side, I didn't encounter any faulty unit in my area.
I sincerely hope ATX12vo makes it to the DIY PC market. Pre built pc's have apparently used it for many years and my one uses 10-15 watts. I simply refuse to build myself a PC which will be pulling 70-80 watts minimum. Especially when I'm paying 50p per kWh for electricity. Great video 👍
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one of 8088 guy here now over age-50 whom built the latest 13-gen i5 last week, never know how PSU works, learnt a lot after watch this video, thank you Sir.
Please note the following minor corrections:
(1) The 4-pin ATF 12V power connector was introduced in 2000 to power the first “Pentium 4” processors, not “Pentium” processors (which were first launched in 1993). I somehow mislaid the “4” during production! My apologies.
(2) I should have said that most and not all PSUs contain a fan. As has been noted below, there are a few, large, fanless PC PSUs -- for example this one: seasonic.com/prime-titanium-fanless Again my apologies.
Been working on PC for over 25 years and still learned quite a bit about PSU from this video. Amazing the amount of information you squeezed into 16 minutes, very concise and to the point.
Same here, over 30 years, now retired but some new stuff that I did not know! And very good pointing that PSU watts are not what it consumes. Oversizing is the key for long lasting PSU.
Same here just more like 11 years
It's topics like this, the attention to detail and the wonderful narration that make this channel and Chris himself a treasure to be protected and supported. You may not think you need to know about PSUs, but when you do, you do! Thank you Chris, much respect indeed!
Thanks for your support, always appreciated. :)
I think it's another missed opportunity to talk about warranty length and save ppl from buying the slightly cheaper PSUs that will fail much earlier than they would have to.
@@Breakfast_of_Champions I would argue that extended warranties for any product are virtually irrelevant - beyond the "usual" one year period, extended warranties are usually filled with clauses that make it very difficult to get a free replacement or repair on the basis that the end user probably has to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to demonstrate that it wasn't something they did that caused the failure and thus voided the warranty anyway.
And let's face it - how many hours of your time does fault-finding a PSU and its associated PC to gather enough evidence to claim a free warranty repair buy, as opposed to just buying a new one.
@@terrydaktyllus1320Well without going into too many details that's a pile of nonsense. There's no reason a PSU wouldn't last a decade if the manufacturers weren't incentivised to save a dollar or two with bottomfeeder parts by ppl who know nothing and are happy to surrender their rights.
@@Breakfast_of_Champions But unless you go into details to demonstrate some proof of your point, then your point is no more or less opinion than mine is.
If you choose not to backup your arguments with more definitive statements, that's not the same as "pretending" that you can but just don't want to.
So we're at stalemate - which is fine by me.
But I suggest you do find some time to read extended warranty documentation to see the likely "pitfalls" that you will come across - for example, the cost of parts may be covered under warranty but the labour cost to fit those parts may still be chargeable to the customer.
You've lived an extremely sheltered life if you're trying to tell me that you've never seen such clauses in extended warranty documentation.
A valuable teaching tool!
Will be sharing this among people new to building.
Thank you!
This was a great video. I learned so much. I have been building PC's for ten years and never thought much about PSU's.
Thx for the update, Christopher. Since 15 years I’m on Mac, so I lost the track. Amazing! 1300 W! Weird!
30 plus years knowledge actualization in 16 minutes. Tank you Professor.
Every Sunday Morning I Look At What The Professor Is Up To & As Always, Many Thanks For Sharing Your Knowledge!
I recently had a no boot no beep issue with an old HP Z230. Thought it was the PSU. I learned that HP Z workstation PSU's are proprietary and are 11V standby and 18 pin motherboard connection. Thankfully after further diagnosis I changed the CMOS, got it to beep 5 times that pointed to the CPU which I cleaned and it booted. Always great videos on this channel that is a source of informative information, thank you.
Thanks for sharing this topic! I always inform all my PC customers of the importance of a good PSU! This is a component NEVER to skimp on! BRAVO Mr. Barnatt!
Trouble is, the PSU is such a mundane component that it's often overlooked. I know people who put more effort into choosing LEDs than the power supply. By the time they get round to choosing one the budget is tight because most of it has already been spent on CPU, GPU, RAM and storage.
@@johnm2012 I do hope these folks worked up their power budgets including all these whiz-bangers and go-fasters before they bought that cheap PSU that won't really tote the load... That would just be silly. That said, sometimes a PC is as much about looks as it is about performance, but that's no excuse to cheap out on the PSU. Find the price/performance point that's right for all of your system.
Getting to learn more about PC Power Supplies.
Thanks Chris :)
This is great information! I've been trying to learn about building a pc for the last couple of months and nobody talks about what power supply you should be running based on the usage. This was what I was mostly after, but also knowing that the sustained and peak supply rating is different but labeled the same across different manufacturers is good to know as well.
I had a 1000W power supply from 2008 that didn't even have any efficiency rating on it.
When I switched to a Platinum rated power supply nearly a decade later it dropped my idle wattage use by ~30-40W! I was blown away!
This is without a doubt the best video I've seen about PSUs on here.
This video is well timed and much appreciated. I was just working on giving my PC a mid-life upgrade, including upgrading to a modular power supply.
Perhaps a video on UPS devices and how best to pick one to match one's PSU?
A good idea, noted.
I'm glad you included airflow along with you're other Quality standards and comparisons.
Great video Chris! Interesting to see how the efficiency of the unit changes depending on the load, so therefore going for a way overkill PSU can make your efficiency worse.
yeah exactly, you wouldn't want a 1000W psu for a system that only draws 200W.
@@ohrun3106 Yeah, but you wouldn't want a 200 W supply, either. Not all vendors' 200W ratings are specced the same way. With a reliable vendor like Corsair or Delta, I'd go with something between 350 W and 500 W, just to have a little headroom, and for "future proofing". (Of course, with modern video cards being so power-hungry, be sure to leave room for the cooling tower... 😆 )
Nice thorough coverage of the necessary details. A small investment of around $10 has proven it's worth time & time again, and that's a PSU tester. When a PSYU goes bad, it's not necessarily all at once. Being able to test for everything and also each individual output is very handy.
Paul M., Atlanta, GA
I subscribed a few years ago (I think) but only come back every so often. And I am consistently blown away by the way you break down every subject you cover in easy to understand, informative and well-thought out pieces. I don't often watch but when I do, I watch entirely to the end even if I more-or-less know the subject.
For example, I've been making my own computers since the late 90's and I knew quite a bit about PSU's but even then, I learned more from this video than I thought I would. Like, I didn't know off hand the actual power rails being sent into the MB unit via the 20+4 and the 4+4 cables but here you laid it out plain and easy. Thank you very much, sir.
Thanks for watching. :)
Fun fact, since I live in a pretty cold end of the world and houses is heated in some way 7-8 months of the year, it's worth noting that 99% of the power that goes in to a computer comes out as heat, physics states that energy can not dissapear, just be converted into otherf forms of energy, when you talk about efficiency of a PSU like 80% means that 20% comes out as heat, then running GPU, CPU, RAM and HDD's all outputs equal amount in heat as is drawn from power socket in you wall... so for me running several computers can lower radiators and that way I'm pretty much running the computers for free... Summer is the time I loose, but here it is short and sweet :)
Precisely. I've been trying to explain to people that the higher power draw a GPU has the more heat it will output to the air around it regardless of how good it's cooling is. More power more heat simple as that.
Most people don't even look at power draw they just want the most powerful GPU and don't look at efficiency.
You are the exception, but most people don't want a space heater computer.
It's only free if you use electricity for heat. Natural gas or oil tend to be much cheaper than using electricity for heat.
@@chrimony and even if you're using electricity, you can be more efficient in heating with a heat pump than a computer/electric heater (although at super cold temperatures I'm not sure how well they work, but this definitely applies to people in moderately cold temps)
@@drojf heat pumps don't work well 15 degrees F and below they are not very useful for most people
it is better to keep home heating at minimum to keep pipes from freezing and simply use a personal heater in the room you are residing
It's the same with light bulbs. Some people push for fluorescent and LED lights everywhere, but if you live in a cold climate, incandescent bulbs are still useful in heated spaces. Their reduced efficiency in light emission translates to increased heat emissions, which might keep your heating system cycling on and off just a tiny bit less often. Depending on what fuel(s) your heating system and your local electric grid use, the difference in efficiency may be a wash or if one system is much more expensive than the other, there might still be a difference.
Thanks! I finally got around to replacing my old 300W PSU with a 550W but had to use an adapter since the 550W only had a 24 pin power connector.
Thanks for your support, most appreciated. I'm glad your upgrade worked out.
Tx Chris. Always spellbound when I watch your vids.
Note: modular power supplies cables from one manufacturer should not be used on a PSU from another manufacturer. They all use the same connectors but there is no standard for the wiring I.e. what is + or - voltage. You risk damaging a peripheral if you do this
Yep, one of the reasons why I stick to one brand. In my case it's EVGA. Although between models they *can* change designs so I usually keep the extras in a plastic bag with the model marked on it.
Man, I have been watching your videos for years now, but you don't have idea how useful this video was for me. You dropped it in the exact right moment. Thank you.
I have 3 PSU's. One, of course, is in my PC. The other two have been 'surgically modified', using appropriate safety precautions. One supplies DC power for my model railroad layout, and the other is a workbench power supply for electronics projects.
I'm telling you: PSU's, they're not just for PC's anymore!
Especially for older PSUs that are not quite powerful enough for newer PCs or don't have the right connectors.
I have a AC to DC converter for my CB mobile radio, which use as a base station, that is another type of PSU. Good recycling on the units!
Thanks Chris for a thoroughly interesting video. I've learnt a lot from this, sometimes we give little though to something that's so important for a stable system! The Coolermaster & BeQuiet PSU calculators are the ones I use, one tip I was given is 'Never cheap out on a PSU' otherwise it's false economy :)
Hi Alan, thanks for your support. :)
Thanjs Chris, it's great to see the info in one place. The evolution of components since I built my first PC in the good old days of XP, is amazing
All I ever need to know about PSUs and then some, delivered with customary efficiency. 👍👍
The most useful bit for me was the illustration of a typical PSU airflow setup. I've been thinking about how best to cool my PC and not fighting the PSU (which is mounted toward the front of my case) is a good place to start.
I appreciate the history of the ATX spec and different cable types too.
Great video. Great production as always. Your channel reminds me of BBC's "The Computer Program" with Chris Serle and Ian McNaught-Davis.
This video was quite helpful for me when I build PCs. I had very little knowledge on PSU's so I thank you for this great insight. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for your support. :)
@@ExplainingComputers your welcome in fact I think your channel is brilliant. You should do a video on freebsd itself.
FreeBSD is rising up the list. :)
@@ExplainingComputers epic, it's my most favorite operating system of all time thank you.
Thanks! I learned quite a bit toward the end. Looking forward to your next video
Very good video: well structured, clear, comprehensive, accurate, touching on all the necessary details.
That said, what lead me to comment was at 6:34 "... the 4-pin Molex connector which used to be used to power most hard drives and optical disks and SADLY remains in use to this day as a general PC power connector" 😆
I'm an electronic engineer and I've been designing electronics for longer than 20 years. The job often includes selecting and verifying all sorts of connectors. I've been dabbling with PCs for longer than I've been an engineer and I've always been puzzled by the choice of such connector. How did Molex manage to get such terribly flawed design to be selected for such a popular industrial standard like the PC? The 4-pin HD/FDD Molex connector is extremely awkward to plug (receptacles and pins typically refuse to align) and the shape of the cable-end housing seems purposefully designed to hurt the fingers and prevent gripping it.
Spectacular video. I based one whole lecture on PSUs for the highschool I am teaching at, based on your video. Bowing down at your skill to explain and organize, we know how much time it took to prepare so much information.
Thanks for your find feedback. :)
Whoever thought that 600W through a little 6 pin internal connector was a good idea??? As you said, that's the equivalent of a small electric fire.
So glad I now know the difference between a top mounted and bottom mounted PSU. Mine's top mounted, but the case originally shipped with a Windows 7 system, so it's knocking on a bit!
Excellent video, very informative. I’ve been messing with PCs so long that I remember the old pre-ATX power supplies, with an input voltage selector switch and an output socket to supply a monitor.
I liked those monitor sockets. They made things very neat at that desk.
Thanks, another great video. One thing I was curious about is the negative voltage.
Thanks again Chris. Even after 40 years in the industry, I knew I would learn something from you. I was not disappointed.
Not quite 40y, but very ditto. Thanks
What did you learn?
Jolly fantastic . . . once again!
Thank you Chris 👍
My home built PC has a Cooler Master 600 watt PSU but it all seems to work well together.
Another great video 👍🏻
I think this channel has one of the most positive, friendly, and supportive comment sections in all of TH-cam
Thanks. :)
Great video as usual, Chris, but I really missed a mention of Cybenetics efficiency and noise certification programmes, which are far more relevant and thorough than 80 Plus nowadays.
They might be relevant and thorough, but I've never seen one printed on a box! :)
Truly a powerful topic. Looking forward to your next video!
1:25 -- that's one thing that we just don't have in the States. Those awesome wall-plugs with built-in fuses and switches. How convenient to simply be able to switch the thing off there instead of having to physically unplug it to remove a device's power.
Not even a minute-and-a-half in, and already learnt something. Definitely a thumbs-up!
God video. No way I would go back to using a non-modular PSU these days. Perhaps a point also to make is not to purchase the cheapest unbranded PSU, esp if you have high-end components attached and value them.
wow, I last dealt with home built PC-s in the 1990's what a lot i missed out on. Thank you for the update, it was great to see how the power supplies got developed over the decades.
Now I know way more than I thought I would ever know about power supplies. Another amazing video.
As usual, a comprehensive (if not exhaustive) video on an important PC subject. Thanks you, Sir.
There is always a balance to strike of what to include -- and as usual in this type of video, some (nice) content disappeared in the edit.
I really enjoy the "Ronseal" episodes of explaining computers, where all Chris does is explain computers.
Very concise and straightforward explanations of how PSU are specified and implemented. I have come not to trust 80 Plus ratings in isolation (and I realize that you never said we should), and have never specified an 80 Plus Titanium for any build for a customer (or for myself, for that matter), finding the price differential typically does not justify the actual payback. I would rather put my money in PSUs from reliable vendors that are in the 80 Plus Gold or Silver range for efficiency, and couple them with a reliable and properly sized UPS unit for surge protection and backup power in the event of an unplanned outage.
Another excellent breakdown of something that can often be more complicated to get across. Melting connectors does indicate the introduction of a standard that was clearly not fully tested, which is always a concern.
Thanks, Chris the understanding and history of the PSU were informative and interesting. Also over the weekend, I worked on my new computer build, here is the parts list and I am using it now. New Computer Build
Corsair 110R Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
EVGA 500 GD, 80+ Gold 500W Power Supply
Corsair Vengence LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz
C16 Desktop Memory kit-Black
Gigabyte H610M S2H DDR4 (H610/Intel LGA 1700/Micro ATX/DDR4/
Single M.2/PCIe 4.0/USB 3.2 Gen 1/Realtrek GbE LAN/Motherboard
Intel Core i5 12400F Desktop Processor 18M Cache, up to 4.40GHz
This sounds like a very nice new system. :)
@@ExplainingComputers Yes, finished it over the weekend. Was inspired by Carey Holzman's channel. I watch and subscribe to his channel. I'm in the process of cloning my old drive to the Samsung NVMe 970 Pro SSD 500GB using Acronis.
Wonderful production! You covered power supplies in a very concise manner.. I look forward to your TH-cam each week.. thank you for your interesting shows
Thanks for watching. :)
Great video. I like the fully modular power supplies -- though I've never had a computer that uses one. If I ever replace my power supply or build my own machine, fully modular would be the way to go. Doing away with all those extra wires would simplify maintenance.
@gr-os4gd It should. After all, having a rat’s nest of wires takes up space that has to block airflow.
Important correction: Semi-modular only means that some cables are modular, but not all. In many cases, this means that "expected" cables are wired in, which usually includes EPS 8pin or 4+4pin, 24pin, and often also includes one of PCIE and/or SATA, or even one of molex on older models.
It was even a point against some units for being semi-modular but having some odd choices of which cables were and weren't modular, as it was at a time where molex power was increasingly uncommon to require or use already.
Thanks for the video. My PSU is a be quiet! Straight Power 11 750W Platinum. Both of my PC builds required an 8-pin connector for the CPU (i5-10400 & 12400).
And while my Sapphire RX 6600 just needed a single 8-pin, my ASRock Arc A770 requires two 8-pins.
I'm not sure how an i5 10400 can "require" a 8-pin power connector. There is nothing in the CPU specification about this -- www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/199271/intel-core-i510400-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-30-ghz/specifications.html - and I have one myself which I know will run fine with a 4-pin connector. Your motherboard in which the chip is fitted may have an 8-pin connector. But as the video notes, this does not mean that an 8-pin connector is required in all circumstances, and certainly not for a 65W TDP chip.
@@ExplainingComputers I mean, you might be right. I remember putting in an 8-pin connector because that's what was on my motherboard. Now that I think about it, I don't think I actually looked up how many pins the i5-10400 needed. The more you know.
Who knew that a video about power supplies could be so interesting? I enjoyed it. Well done!
Very good coverage Chris! 👍
This is such a well researched and professionally produced piece.
I have saved this in my archives for future reminding.
Thanks for such a brilliant and informative video on PSUs. It is such an important thing to get right if you don't want to frazzle ⚡your expensive pc components. We're lucky that there are a wide range available at various prices these days. The psu cultist list is great to check the quality of a potential purchase and the sites you mentioned are very helpful to check how much power you might need. Brilliant work as usual 👍
I have seen cases that take 12 volt only power supplies and are fitted with secondary unit modular power supply cards you plug those 12 volt supplies into that split it up into the various normal power supply plugs. The cases take the current motherboards.
this is a great video Chirs, but i wish to have some addition
it also has the PFC, and the output ripple needs to be care of.
PFC, the Power Factor Correction, is build for increase the power factor, it more closer to 1, it is better. it is not the efficiency, but it will also effect the computer input. for example if we got a 900w hardware, and PSU at 90% efficiency, which require input 1000w of power. if now, we got 2 PSU, A has PFC running at 0.99 PF, and B got no PFC running only at 0.45 PF, now both of A and B running at the same input power of 1000w running at 240 to 220V (which is majority in the world), A only require around 4.2A (taking 240), B will require 9.2A, more than doubling the current which will give more pressure to your house electricity circuit and generate more heat, it also not friendly to the electrical grid. so please if you have the chance, please get the PSU with active PFC.
output ripple in short it will effect your hardware stability
excellent video and a great topic, specially now with the higher costs of electricity.
This is a good back to basics video. My personal recommendation is to never buy anything lower than gold or silver, and target it so the power you use is around 50% of the max output. Its not just the power saving , to get that rating you have to have a well designed power supply, a lot of the 80+ (below bronze) units are very old architectures made to look new, stay clear. Cheap PSUs are never worth it. A good high end PSU can last decades if not longer. Not ATX but my nice thurlby thanadar bench top power supply is over 30 years old if its a day and still going strong.
when I built my pc I bought a seasonic titanium not just because I wanted efficiency, but I wanted top of the line components that will guarantee the power supply to run for many years to come
As always, your videos are very well organized and very informative. It amazes me to think that the power supply is often the most overlooked component of the entire system even though the system won't work without it.
Thank you and hope to see you again, very soon.
Brilliant video covering something I am sure many don't give a lot of consideration - naturally depending on how demanding a machine you're building.
I am sure many have built, for instance, a Linux machine from older components using just any old power supply that'll fit in the build and has the right plugs.
Thank you for the history lesson! It was interesting to learn about when and what changes were made to the industry standard over time.
I have this goal every sunday for EC new video: thumbs up before oppening ends 😊
Cheers! Nice video, by the way !
This is a very informative video. When I come to build a new PC (Not very often) there are so many changes. EC does a great job. Thanks, Chris.
Thank you Chris, this is great detail for understanding PSU's. I had only basic knowledge but knew enough to make sure the right connections and voltage coverage was there. Keep up spreading the knowledge!
What a fantastically in-depth video. Now when do we get the Explaining RGB 😂
As a "lover" of Power Supplies I instantly liked this video. Thank you!
Because I didn't allow ego to get between me and useful information (IT pro of 30+ years, self-employed and in possession of an alphabet's worth of certificatory toilet paper) I learned from this seemingly-simple message. Thank you!
I look forward to these every Sunday! Thank You for another great video. I did not know about the upcoming pci 6, I'm still striving to get on pci4.0.. What the future holds@@
Thank you for going through the details in depth. It is what makes these videos great.
I like knowing what I will encounter before I start on these projects. These videos never disappoint!
6:38 yep, sadly remains in use, the skin of my fingers used to love those connectors.
I learned quite a lot about PC power supplies this morning! Thank you, Chris. 😁
Also, massive yikes regarding 9:03. Mmmmmm, melted plastic and metal bits. Delicious on fries. At least nobody hesitated developing a new power connector!
now I can put a name on power supplies and motherboards power connectors I wasn't familiar with , Thanks a lot Sir, your English is easy to understand , I speak French , Merci beaucoup Monsieur
Chris always amazes me with new information, even if the subject sample and I know a lot about it he give me new info in short video.
Thanks Chris and please keep up
Very thorough and complete. Thank you!
Thank you for this presentation, which will serve as the ultimate reference for many of us... That said, I love it when technological extravaganzas end up deep-fried! I hope that these experiences will lead some engineers to a little more humility and common sense! The fact remains that the challenge of the next few years will be the quest for efficiency and the efficient use of electricity... To be continued, with you, of course... 😉
Greetings once again from Thailand, Sir Chris.
Greetings Don. :) I hope that you are doing OK.
Thank you, your comprehensive reviews such as this one are very valuable!
When you connect the motherboard to a ups, and use it more times with a better battery, after a while you can disconnect your cpu fan, you don’t need it anymore, the performance remains high. The Hdd switches on a careful spin up, it doesn’t spin up with high power, instead it uses a very careful spinup, more silent. The new features remain. It needs about 10 20 h on ups to turn on these features.
very comprehensive summary, thanks.
Thanks for another great video explaining history and technical details in easy to understand way.
It's practically a standard that non-modular PSUs come with cables that resemble ketchup and mustard (red and yellow), and some other occasional condiments such as relish (green). My guess is that each color represents a different voltage, with black denoting ground.
it's a standard with non modular PSUs that there are simultaneously too many cables for the PC you're building and that they are only just long enough. Are there any cases out there with busbars?
There are not enough cables if you want to fill the PC with as many disk drives as it can fit, requiring the use of cable splitters, even though a "500W" unit could supply enough power.
Another excellent video as usual. Keep up the good work.
Extremely informative video, especially if you are looking to build your own systems using contemporary technology.
Nice illustrative video. I have been seeing the hatred for the Molex connectors, I used them in the past, and even being kinda problematic to handle and connect properly, I still don't see the problem with them
So true to invest in a higher quality PSU! Low and/or unstable output is no bargain in the long run
Great video Chris! Thank you for sharing it with us!💖👍😎JP
Very informative. Thank you. Much of this information I did not know.
Nice. I wonder if you'll delve deeper into their safety system, such as Over Current Protection (OCP) and Over Temperature Protection (OTP)? I think this is a valuable information for first time PC builders, or at least helping understand their PSU safety features. I have a Gigabyte GH750 Power Supply Unit, it works well, but it does lack of OCP, which mean I have to pay attention to it and make sure that I don't overload any of its power rail.
Valuable info indeed. For a moment I even thought Chris was going to mention a certain video from Gamers Nexus about exploding PSUs... 🙂
@@liontuga155 Ho ho. But I think those only happen when you use 120V AC. I'm using the dreaded Aorus P850G PSU and it works like a charm. My location uses 240V AC and yeah, while I heard a lot of issues with this PSU from the American side, I didn't encounter any faulty unit in my area.
Very comprehensive and informative video, thank you for sharing.
I sincerely hope ATX12vo makes it to the DIY PC market. Pre built pc's have apparently used it for many years and my one uses 10-15 watts. I simply refuse to build myself a PC which will be pulling 70-80 watts minimum. Especially when I'm paying 50p per kWh for electricity. Great video 👍