If you’re thinking about upgrading or building your own computer, you probably haven’t given too much thought to your power supply. Because power supplies are basically all the same. Right? Wrong. The truth is, a cheap, generic PSU — such as the type you’ll find for rock-bottom prices at your local retailer — can play havoc with your computer’s delicate components. These shoddy chunks of metal can destabilize your system, cause sudden crashes, and even damage your computer’s expensive components. So while you might save a few bucks in the short term, you’ll end up wishing you’d invested in a quality power supply from a reputable manufacturer. (Like us, for example.) Here’s why:
1. Cheap power supplies can’t deliver the stable power your system needs.
Your computer’s delicate components — such as CPUs, motherboards, video cards, and so on — need stable power in order to work properly. If they don’t get it, you’ll encounter all sorts of strange behavior, including unexpected crashes. So take a close look at how well your power supply regulates the voltage it delivers. Our TruePower series includes voltage-feedback circuitry, which automatically maintains output voltages within razor-sharp tolerances. (How sharp? Well, TruePower’s voltages never vary more than ±3%, which is much more accurate than the ±5% voltage variances that Intel’s specifications require.) Of course, generic PSUs can’t come close to matching TruePower’s precision.
2. Cheap power supplies can’t actually deliver their rated power outputs.
All ATX12V power supplies deliver their power via 3.3V, 5V, and 12V lines. That’s because some computer components (such as motherboards) require 3.3V power, while others (such as disk drives) require 12V power.
But most power supplies share one output circuit for the 5V and the 3.3V voltages. How does that affect you? If you add an extra 5V device, you’ll have less power available for your 3.3V devices. And since the output circuits are shared, a sudden increase in power demand from your 5V devices can interfere with the voltage flowing to your 3.3V devices. In plain English, that means your system won’t be very stable.
So what should you do? Look closely at the “3.3V and 5V combined output” specifications on any PSU you plan to buy. The total amount of power you can draw from those two output circuits combined is typically less than half of the impressive-sounding “total output” rating printed conspicuously on the package. For example, a look at one of our competitors’ so-called ‘430 Watt’ power supplies reveals the following:
♣ +3.3V rated 38A = 125.4W
♣ +5V rated 44A = 220W
♣ +3.3V plus +5V = 220W max
In plain English, if you bought this PSU and loaded 220 Watts’ worth of 5V devices into your system, you’d have zero power left for your motherboard. (And here you thought you were getting a 430 Watt power supply!)
That’s why we created TruePower. It includes dedicated voltage outputs for the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V lines. So there’s no harmful interaction between the separate voltage outputs, and there’s no combined-output limitation of the type discussed above. (Of course, you can’t exceed the maximum total output rating of the power supply, but that’s true for any power supply.)
3. Cheap power supplies are noisy little buggers.
All power supply manufacturers claim that their PSUs are ‘quiet.’ Or ‘ultra-quiet,’ ‘whisper-quiet,’ ‘virtually silent,’ and so forth. But in reality, the cheaper a PSU is, the noisier it’ll be. Some power supplies achieve ‘quiet’ performance only by requiring users to manually reduce the fan speed to a quieter setting when desired. (To be honest, we think this is nuts. Imagine having to reach behind your computer to turn your fan up or down….and imagine what’ll happen to your hot CPU when your computer’s working hard and you forget to increase the fan speed on your PSU?) Other PSUs include basic thermal-response systems, which spin the fans slower when your computer gets cooler.
While this is certainly preferable to the manually-adjustable option, these basic thermally-controlled units can’t touch the advanced temperature-response system found in our TruePower series. (See the graph below.) Thanks to that system, TruePower runs significantly quieter than any other fan-equipped PSU. Our award-winning SmartPower line also includes a superior thermal-control system that delivers remarkably quiet operation, at a lower price than our TruePower series.
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