After the successful opening of the international technical support forum, Enermax offers its customers a new useful “service advisor”: New online calculator power supply capacity allows users to quickly and easily calculate system power consumption. On the occasion of the opening of the new service, users can win three popular power supplies from Enermax.
Before buying a power supply, most buyers ask themselves what level of power consumption is needed to power their system. Not always the indications of individual manufacturers are accurate enough to calculate the total amount of energy consumption of the entire system. Many users follow the motto "more is better than less" in this case. Result: the choice of a too powerful and more expensive power supply that will be loaded on full power systems by only 20-30 percent. It should be taken into account that modern power supplies, such as Enermax, achieve efficiency above 90 percent only when the power supply is loaded at about 50 percent.
Count and win
Enermax is presenting an exclusive competition for the opening of the Power Supply Power Calculator. Entry Requirements: Enermax offers three various configurations systems. Competitors must use the power supply wattage calculator to calculate the power consumption of the system. Between all the correct answers, Enermax draws three popular power supplies:
More detailed information about the tender is located .
BP calculator saves time and money
Enermax's new Power Supply Calculator ("Power Supply Calculator") is designed to help users calculate their system's power consumption reliably and accurately. The calculator is based on an extensive and constantly updated database with all kinds of system components, from the processor, video card to small things like a case fan. This saves users not only time-consuming searching for power consumption data for individual components, but also saves costs in many cases. Since for most simple office and gaming systems, a 300 - 500 W power supply is more than enough.
Enermax professional support
More than a month ago, Enermax announced the opening of an international support forum. At the Enermax forum, participants have the opportunity to receive qualified assistance in solving technical problems and answering all questions regarding Enermax products. In addition, the new forum provides a platform for enthusiasts from all over the world to exchange experiences and tips on tuning and optimizing their computers. Enermax product managers and engineers are responsible for professional assistance on the forum - that is, company employees who are primarily responsible for the development of Enermax products.
After the successful opening of the international technical support forum, Enermax offers its customers a new useful "service advisor": The new online power supply wattage calculator allows users to quickly and easily calculate the power consumption of the system. On the occasion of the opening of the new service, users can win three popular power supplies from Enermax.
Before buying a power supply, most buyers ask themselves what level of power consumption is needed to power their system. Not always the indications of individual manufacturers are accurate enough to calculate the total amount of energy consumption of the entire system. Many users follow the motto "more is better than less" in this case. The result: the choice of an overly powerful and more expensive power supply, which will be loaded at full system power by only 20-30 percent. It should be taken into account that modern power supplies, such as Enermax, achieve efficiency above 90 percent only when the power supply is loaded at about 50 percent.
Count and win
Enermax is presenting an exclusive competition for the opening of the Power Supply Power Calculator. Entry Requirements: Enermax offers three different system configurations. Competitors must use the power supply wattage calculator to calculate the power consumption of the system. Between all the correct answers, Enermax draws three popular power supplies:
More information about the competition is located.
BP calculator saves time and money
Enermax's new Power Supply Calculator ("Power Supply Calculator") is designed to help users calculate their system's power consumption reliably and accurately. The calculator is based on an extensive and constantly updated database with all kinds of system components, from the processor, video card to small things like a case fan. This saves users not only time-consuming searching for power consumption data for individual components, but also saves costs in many cases. Since for most simple office and gaming systems, a 300 - 500 W power supply is more than enough.
Enermax professional support
More than a month ago, Enermax announced the opening of an international support forum. At the Enermax forum, participants have the opportunity to receive qualified assistance in solving technical problems and answers to all questions regarding Enermax products. In addition, the new forum provides a platform for enthusiasts from all over the world to exchange experiences and tips on tuning and optimizing their computers. Enermax product managers and engineers are responsible for professional assistance on the forum - that is, company employees who are primarily responsible for the development of Enermax products.
Most computers are bought for multimedia and gaming, and this, in turn, requires high system performance. And if a few years ago, in the characteristics of a PC, before buying, the power supply was provided along with the case, now the power of the power supply is being calculated, and the buyer can only choose a brand. This article will assist the consumer in making the correct power supply calculations for the fully functional operation of the computer.
The bigger, the better?
Insufficient power of the PSU in the first place leads to unstable operation of the system. This is expressed by banal freezes and reboots. If the overload occurs during the game - there is a "blue window of death" Windows BSOD. Naturally, the user will scold the developers operating system, games, drivers, but never thinks about the power supply. The owner of the PC will find out about the insufficient power of the power supply in service center when it tries to repair burnt out parts under warranty motherboard and video adapter. It is clear that most users, in order not to calculate the power of the power supply, will prefer to purchase a device with a maximum possible characteristics. Why not, if funds allow. You just need to take into account that the power consumption of the computer can be significantly less than that which will load the household electrical network, forcing the meter to rotate very quickly. Everything must be calculated within reason.
Easy way
What is the power of the computer's power supply, a calculator specially designed for this purpose will tell. On the this moment Almost all manufacturers of computer components have such a tool in their arsenal. Programs from the famous brands Asus and Cooler Master are very popular. The calculator can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website or use the online service. The user is prompted to fill in all the fields in the program, indicating the processor, motherboard, video adapter and other components. The program will calculate and give the recommended power at which the power supply can operate at 100% load. Some manufacturers of software calculators throw in a few tens of watts in reserve, but the user is not notified about this.
Difficulties with power calculators
Calculating power supply wattage with a calculator is subjective. After all, it takes into account only the basic devices, and does not address the issue of the periphery at all. The calculation does not include the cooling system, connected multimedia devices and office equipment, keyboard, mouse, external drive. All these devices are powered by the computer's power supply and together consume a lot of current. Experts recommend reserving about 100 watts of rated power for the periphery, which must be added to the maximum calculated in the calculator. For those who like to increase system performance by overclocking the processor and video card, the calculator is not an assistant at all. This requires manual calculation using knowledge from school course physics.
simple math
The usual calculation of power supply power can be done mathematically by adding the power consumption of all components together. The method is not easy, but it is the only objective one. If you look closely at the inscriptions on computer components, any user will pay attention to the sticker, which indicates operating voltage and consumed current. By multiplying these data, you can calculate the required power consumed by this device. A little more complicated with processors. Information on their power can be found on the official website of the company. Fans of overclocking the central processor need to know one more calculation formula. Increasing the processor frequency increases power consumption by 25% for every 10% overclock. Such mathematics is also suitable for calculating the increase in performance of video cards.
PSU effective power
Having calculated the required power, it is still too early to go to the store to buy a new power supply. Ahead of the calculations of the effective power of the device. After all, the transformer built into the PSU tends to heat up, and the cooling system tries to reduce the temperature of the device. And the higher the temperature of the transformer, the worse it works. All this is combined by the seller into one indicator, which is called the "power factor of the power supply." On average, it is 80-85%. That is, if it is written on the device that the rated power is 500 watts, in fact it will be 20% less - 400 watts. Naturally, there are devices on the market with an efficiency of about 90-95%, but their price is much higher than competitors - these are power supplies from FSP, Seasonic, Enermax, Hipro, HEC.
About voltage channels
In most cases, buying an inexpensive Chinese device with a high power rating can still lead to system inoperability. The fact is that the maximum power of the power supply is not an indicator for the device itself. Any user will notice that the PSU is moving away a large number of different cables, the task of which is to connect the power of devices. You can connect components to the system that consume 3.3, 5 and 12 volts. Accordingly, the cables for them are specialized. The power supply system distributes the load between these three voltage channels, giving more at 12 volts.
Sometimes this power is not enough. Therefore, the task of the buyer is, first of all, to determine the power consumption of devices along the 12 volt line, and this is a processor, video card, hard drives and a cooling system.
Performance analysis of installed equipment
It is worth noting that there is an instruction on how to find out the power of the power supply on the computer. To do this, you need to remove the cover of the system unit and look at the sticker on the power supply. Its obligatory attribute will be information on the distributed power of the PSU between channels 3.3, 5 and 12 volts. The indicator in the "max output" field under all columns is the maximum theoretical power of the PSU. This is without taking into account the efficiency factor. It remains to understand how to determine the actual power of the power supply. To do this, subtract 20% from the specified value. Naturally, all voltage lines are subjected to power calculations, primarily with a preference for the 12 volt line. In addition, it is recommended to calculate the required power of all devices operating on the 12 volt line, and then compare the resulting amount with the data indicated on the power supply label with a difference of 20%. There are also special testers that can measure the actual voltage and current supplied by the power supply, but there are many questions for them regarding the calculation of peak power.
PSU performance boost
An urgent problem for users is the question of how to increase the power of the power supply, because, in fact, any components of a personal computer can be improved. Professionals recommend that owners of inexpensive Chinese devices do not waste time on increasing power, but buy best device. But the owners of decent power supplies from famous brand can help themselves, which is to reduce the power consumption of devices using the 12 volt channel. First of all, the entire cooling system needs this alteration, which can be converted to 7 volts without loss of quality.
- All coolers have a three-pin connector. Black - ground, red - 12 volts, yellow - speed sensor.
- Taking the 12 volt cable coming from the power supply, you need to insert the black wire from the cooler into the red connector, and the red cooler cable into the connector yellow color. As a result, a voltage of 7 volts is applied to the fan.
PSU power check
When wondering how to check the power of the power supply, many users do not suspect how dangerous an adventure awaits them. No wonder the developers software before stress testing computer equipment, they are warned about the likelihood of failure of low-quality power supplies. After all, even theoretically correctly calculated power of the power supply does not guarantee power surges that will be required for the operation of basic devices to the limit. The stress test is designed to check the stability of the work, but it is suitable only for owners of branded power supplies. The result will be information on all power lines with the output of dip voltage graphs, if any. The test will make sure that the power supply is stable when the load changes. There are situations when the power of the proprietary power supply is not enough to complete the test. In such cases, the check is interrupted by the "window of death" Windows BSOD. There is nothing wrong with this. The result is the same - the power of the PSU is not enough for the system to work.
Portable devices and laptops
In unforeseen situations, when the power supply of a laptop or tablet fails, there is a need to purchase a new device. The choice on the market is great, as is the difference in price. However, the power supply of a laptop or tablet will have to be calculated. To do this, just turn the device upside down and study the sticker, which indicates the recommended voltage and current for the operation of the device. Simple manipulations of multiplying the values \u200b\u200band will give the minimum power that the power supply should have. Naturally, the power factor must also be taken into account. However, most experts in the field computer technology recommend not to do mathematics, but to trust the specifications of the devices that can be found on the manufacturer's website. There is also a list and marking of all power supplies that are suitable for the operation of a mobile device.
Finally
So, we figured out, on a computer, to calculate the required voltage consumption by the components of the system unit and increase the performance of the PSU. It remains to be added that any actions that require physical intervention in the operation of the power supply can lead not only to serious damage to the device. In most cases, the combustion of the PSU is accompanied by the failure of the motherboard, video adapter and random access memory. And if it is enough to solder the capacitors on the motherboard to restore functionality, then the rest of the components cannot be returned.
Good day, dear readers of the blog site. This time, I would like to talk to you about how to calculate the power supply for a computer, and without any special efforts from your side. Next, I will talk about two methods that will help you calculate the power of the power supply for a computer of any configuration with the necessary accuracy.
Why is it so important not to make a mistake with the power of the power supply? Because in the case of power selection in big side(if the power supply turns out to be more powerful than necessary for your configuration) nothing may happen (well, unless more electricity is consumed + overpay for the unit itself, an extra amount), but if the opposite is true - i.e. when the power of the block is not enough, the performance of the computer will drop, it may also periodically fail, freeze, or may simply not turn on. When upgrading computer hardware, it is also necessary to recalculate the power, it may be necessary to change the power supply to a more powerful one.
If you buy a ready-made computer from a store, most likely the power supply is already installed there. However, personally, I am categorically against such decisions, due to the general incompetence of the assemblers in matters right choice accessories. For the same reason, power supplies in such computers are often installed "do not understand what company", or not at all of the power that needs to be installed. Therefore, it is best to choose a power supply yourself, and the first thing to do here is to figure out which minimum power must have a power supply for the assembled computer.
And you can do it in two ways, by using online calculator power supply, as well as manually. Naturally, the result obtained manually will be much inferior to the first in terms of accuracy, so I suggest starting with the first option.
To do this, you need to follow the link outervision.com/power-supply-calculator , as a result of which the "advanced power calculator" of the power supply calculation service from the notorious company Coolermaster will open. You can also go to standard calculator, which offers fewer possibilities for calculation, simply by clicking on the "Standart" link in the upper right corner. In most cases, the standard option should be enough, so let's start with it.
- So in the field System Type in the vast majority of cases the value will be "1physical CPU". Means - the number of processors in the system, almost all personal computers equipped with one central processing unit.
- In field mother board indicates the type of motherboard. If you don’t have a server at home, which is most likely the case, we indicate here Regular-Desktop, or High End-Desktop - if a fancy gaming or overclocker motherboard is installed with large quantity slots.
- Concerning CPU (central processing unit), its model and the type of socket in which it is installed can be found, for example, through a utility called CPU-Z, downloading it from the official website
- Video card- video card model. You can find it out using the same "CPU-Z" utility by going to the Graphics tab. Unfortunately, in the simplified version of the calculator, there is no way to specify several video cards at once if you have them, for example, in SLI mode.
- In field Optical Drives you must specify the number of installed optical drives, please note that a separate item is a Blu-Ray drive.
- Well, the last item here is the number of hard drives. After all the steps taken, press the Calculate button and voila, the value of the minimum power of the power supply recommended by the calculator will be written below. This is exactly minimum value, i.e. below this value, it is better not to take the block, it may simply not be enough.
As you can see, a simplified version of the calculator has a number of disadvantages, for example: it is impossible to specify several video cards at the same time, if they are installed in the computer; unable to specify rotation speed hard drive(for some reason only one option is available - IDE 7200 rpm); Plus, the power consumption of overclocked components is not taken into account here, and the difference, I must say, is not so insignificant. Advanced Mode allows you to bypass these problems, although you will have to explain something, since not all points in it may be clear.
"Advance" (advanced) mode of the power calculator
In the CPU Utilization (TDP) field of the advanced mode, I recommend setting it to 100%, which means the energy consumption of the processor when it is 100% loaded. If you overclocked the processor, then check the corresponding box and indicate the frequency and voltage values \u200b\u200bafter overclocking. By pressing the Overclock button, the value of the power consumed by the processor after overclocking will appear in the field on the right. Naturally, this value should be slightly higher compared to the drain.
As you can see, where in the standard version there was only one field for a video card, there are already four of them. In addition, it is possible to specify the type of connection between video cards - SLI/CrossFire. Some changes have also taken place in the hard drive selection section, in particular - now you can specify the hard drive interface and its class (approximate number of revolutions): Regular SATA - 7200 rpm; High rpm SATA - over 10000 rpm; Green SATA - 5200 rpm. You can specify the number of SSD drives, if any.
In the PCI Cards section, you can specify devices (expansion cards) that provide extended functionality - for example, a TV tuner or a sound card. In the Additional PCI Express Cards item, specify the expansion cards that are connected via the PCI Express interface (the slot where the video card is installed and others below), excluding the video card itself.
The External Devices section lists all devices currently connected to the computer that are powered exclusively through USB port. It can be a fan, a Wi-Fi module (which is usually always connected to the system unit), etc. All kinds of printers and scanners are not included in this category, as they have their own power sources.
The next broad category is Fans (fans, coolers). As you can see, in the simplified mode there was not even a mention of this, although they consume significantly, especially the larger their diameter and quantity. Also, a little lower is the Water Cooling item - here you can specify the parameters of water cooling for your system, if you have it.
The last item in the extended calculator is the System Load item - here you can set system load percentage generally. By default, this field has a value of 90%, but I still recommend setting it to 100%, since there should be even a slight margin of power. Capacitor Aging - as I understand it, means capacitor aging percentage in the power supply, please correct me if anything. This percentage is taken from the initial state (a brand new power supply) and varies in direct proportion to the number of hours worked.
And although this parameter is very conditional, I still recommend taking it into account too, you need to calculate something like this: 5 years of operation (in nominal mode - that is, not under 100% load and not 24 hours a day) - 20-30 %, i.e. it's like a loss of power due to aging. It turns out, having approximately estimated how long the block will work for you, you can thus buy a block with a power reserve, in general, this is exactly how you need to choose a power supply - with a margin, try not to take what is called "back to back".
That's it, after all the fields are filled in, click Calculate and see the recommended power value. I have a difference in the result was about 18 watts.
Manual power calculation method
And although the considered method of calculation allows you to get the most exact result, however, such a calculator may not always be at hand, sometimes it is necessary to at least approximately "estimate" the recommended power of the power supply manually. I think you already guessed how to do it, just adding values power consumption of all computer components. However, the result from manual method will be even more inaccurate, in comparison with the very first option (the simplified mode of the "Standart" online calculator).
Below is a list approximate values power consumption of various components:
- The power consumption of the motherboard is in the range from 50 to 100 watts, in most cases - 50 watts, on inexpensive gaming motherboards up to 75 watts.
- One stick of DDR2 RAM eats up 1W of power, 1 stick of DDR3 memory consumes 3W.
- Ordinary HDD(not Green-series) 7200 rpm - consumes up to 25 watts, hard drives of the Green series (environmentally friendly) - about 7 watts. The SSD drive consumes 2W.
- The appetite of the optical drive averages 23 watts. As a rule, this is a drive that can read / write DVD / CD discs, the so-called Combo drive.
- Fans. When it comes to case coolers, the most common option among them is 120 mm - 5 W, 140 mm-200 mm - 10 W. LED lights on coolers takes an additional 1 watt of power. CPU coolers (80-90 mm) - 8 W.
- Expansion cards (TV tuners, sound cards) - 30 W. Devices powered by USB - 7 watts.
- It is not even possible to indicate the power consumption of your particular video card and processor here, even approximately, there are too many models of different video cards, so the power spread is simply cosmic. However, you can see their power consumption in the specifications, the maximum power consumption of the processor can be viewed in the CPU-Z program in the Max TDP field.
Adding all the above values, we get the required power. As a result, the power of the power supply for my system, when calculated manually, was about 325 W, which is quite close to the result obtained when calculating standard calculator. Thus, I have to admit that manual calculation can take place. If you are planning to do overclocking of components, then add another 15-25% to the resulting value.
Convert the AC voltage coming from the network to DC, power the computer components and ensure that they maintain power at required level- These are the tasks of the power supply. When assembling a computer and updating components in it, you should carefully look at the power supply that will serve the video card, processor, motherboard and other elements. You can choose the right power supply for your computer after you read the material in our article.
We recommend reading:
To determine the power supply that is needed for a particular computer assembly, you need to operate with data on the energy consumption of each individual component of the system. Of course, some users decide to buy a power supply with maximum power, and this is really effective way make no mistake, but very costly. The price of a power supply unit of 800-1000 watts may differ from the model of 400-500 watts by 2-3 times, and sometimes it is quite enough for selected computer components.
Some buyers, when collecting computer components in a store, decide to ask a sales assistant for advice on choosing a power supply. This method to decide on a purchase is far from the best, given the not always sufficient qualifications of sellers.
The ideal option is to independently calculate the power of the power supply. This can be done using special sites and is quite simple, but this will be discussed below. Now we invite you to take a look at some general information about the power consumption of each component of the computer:
The main components of the computer are listed above, according to which the power of the power supply sufficient for a particular computer assembly is calculated. Please note that an additional 50-100 watts must be added to the figure obtained by such a calculation, which will be spent on the operation of coolers, keyboards, mice, various accessories and a “reserve” for the system to work correctly under load.
Services for calculating the power supply of a computer
It is not always easy to find information on the required power for a particular computer component on the Internet. In this regard, the process of independently calculating the power of the power supply can take a lot of time. But there are special online services that allow you to calculate the power consumed by components and offer best option power supply for the computer.
One of the best online calculators for calculating the power supply. Among its main advantages are a user-friendly interface and a huge base of components. In addition, this service allows you to calculate not only the “basic” power consumption of computer components, but also the increased power consumption, which is typical when “overclocking” a processor or video card.
The service can calculate the required power of the computer's power supply using simplified or expert settings. The advanced option allows you to set the parameters of components and select the mode of operation of the future computer. Unfortunately, the site is completely English language, and not everyone will be comfortable using it.
The well-known company MSI, which produces gaming components for computers, has a calculator on its website for calculating the power supply. It is good because when you select each component of the system, you can see how much the required power of the power supply changes. Also, a clear advantage can be considered the full localization of the calculator. However, when using the service from MSI, you should remember that you will have to buy a power supply with a power of 50-100 watts higher than he recommends, since this service does not take into account the keyboard, mouse and some other additional accessories when calculating the consumption.
Loading...