{"id":2055,"date":"2021-08-27T13:01:27","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T11:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.batteriedeportable.com\/guides-et-conseils\/choose-gaming-pc-power-supply\/"},"modified":"2021-08-27T13:01:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T11:01:27","slug":"choose-gaming-pc-power-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/choose-gaming-pc-power-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Choosing the Right Power Supply for a Gaming PC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most important thing for a gamer<\/strong> is to be able to play smoothly and without problems on their PC. That\u2019s only possible with a laptop built with very high\u2011performance components. Such a machine requires a powerful graphics card<\/strong>, very fast RAM<\/strong>, a high-speed processor<\/strong> and an optimal cooling system<\/strong>. The power supply also plays a major role. It has to meet the needs of all these power\u2011hungry components.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideal wattage for a true gaming PC<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What are the risks of an underpowered PSU?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For a gaming PC<\/strong>, an underpowered power supply can cause random restarts. A frustrating situation! You may lose your game and have to start again from the last save point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A low\u2011wattage PSU also increases the risk of overheating<\/strong>. Voltage instability can also occur. In such cases, the expensive components in your PC<\/strong> can suffer damage. If the power level is too low, you may also notice electrical noise that spoils the game\u2019s sound effects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What about an oversized power supply?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An oversized power supply unit does not give you any extra performance<\/strong>. It will mainly be reflected in a higher electricity bill. The only real benefits are that it will run cooler and generally last longer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what is the ideal wattage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In practice, a gaming PC<\/strong> power supply should offer at least 550<\/strong> W<\/strong> of power. Online PSU wattage calculators can help you work out the exact power requirements of your PC<\/strong>. These are automated tools available online, usually free to use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The type of graphics card<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As the graphics card<\/strong> is the most power\u2011hungry component, you can use the following guidance to choose your PSU wattage:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • 550\u2013650 Watts<\/strong>: enough for around 80 % of today\u2019s gaming PCs<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 650\u2013850 Watts<\/strong>: needed if you use a high\u2011end AMD or Nvidia graphics card. This is especially recommended if you run a multi\u2011GPU setup such as Crossfire or SLI.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • 1000 Watts<\/strong>: recommended if you use a powerful processor such as a Phenom II X6. This is also reserved for gamers who do extreme overclocking.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Efficiency level<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    There is a difference between the power going into the PSU and the power coming out to the components. Some of the energy is lost as heat. To put it simply: if a power supply wastes 30 %<\/strong> of the power it draws, then its efficiency is 70 %<\/strong>. In this example, to cover a real need of 380 Watts<\/strong>, you would need a power supply rated at around 542 Watts<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    To help users, the \u201c80 Plus<\/strong>\u201d certification was created. To be certified, a PSU must have a minimum efficiency of 80 %<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are the different certification levels<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Standard<\/strong>: minimum 82 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Bronze<\/strong> (Bronze<\/strong>): minimum 85 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Silver<\/strong> (Argent<\/strong>): minimum 87 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Gold<\/strong> (Or<\/strong>): minimum 89 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Platinum<\/strong> (Platine<\/strong>): minimum 90 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Titanium<\/strong> (Titane<\/strong>): minimum 94 % efficiency<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Connectivity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      The number of connectors<\/strong> on a power supply varies depending on the model you buy. One thing is certain though: recent models have a 24\u2011pin ATX<\/strong> connector for the motherboard<\/strong>. This is compatible with both older<\/strong> 20\u2011pin boards and newer 24\u2011pin<\/strong> boards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Pay close attention to the graphics card<\/strong> connector<\/strong>, known as PCI-Express<\/strong>. Some graphics cards require 6\u2011pin<\/strong> connectors, others 6 + 2<\/strong>, others 8\u2011pin<\/strong>. You must therefore choose a power supply with PCI-Express connectors that match your needs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The other components in your gaming PC<\/strong> also need power<\/strong>. Their connectors may be SATA<\/strong>, PCI-E<\/strong> or even Molex<\/strong>. It is therefore impossible<\/strong> to give universal advice without knowing your PC<\/strong> configuration. The best approach is to list all your connector needs, taking into account every component in the PC<\/strong> (watercooling, optical drives, etc.).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Modularity<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      From the overview of the connectors<\/strong> and the components that use them, you can see there are two<\/strong> types of power supply<\/strong>. First, there is the non\u2011modular<\/strong> PSU. Its cables are already connected<\/strong> to the power supply housing and are fixed<\/strong>. Second, there is the modular<\/strong> PSU, whose cables are detachable<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The inside of your PC case<\/strong> should be neat and well ventilated<\/strong>. For this reason, we recommend choosing a modular power supply<\/strong>. It lets you connect only the cables you actually need, preventing the case<\/strong> from being clogged up with a mass of unused wires.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      For ease of use, choose braided or sleeved cables. This way, the wires are grouped together in a sleeve, making them less bulky and easier to route inside the case<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      If you want to customise your gaming PC<\/strong>, note that PSU cables are available in a range of colours. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The most important thing for a gamer is to be able to play smoothly and without problems on their PC. That\u2019s only possible with a laptop built with very high\u2011performance components. Such a machine requires a powerful graphics card, very…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-2055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-en","tag-power-supply"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batterylaptop.co.uk\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}