Related: 6 Things to Know When Buying a Power Supply Unit (PSU) That's double the price to ensure your PSU has the gold standard!
Pcmr psu tier list Pc#
PC Part Picker lists the average bronze-ranked PSU at just under $50, while a gold one will set you back just under $100. So, when you're buying a PSU, is it okay to settle for a bronze, or should you really be gunning for gold?īefore we hop in, let's take a look at the prices between bronze and gold PSUs. Take a look at the tier list we linked earlier and check to see which ones to look out for, and which to avoid.Ī Bronze vs. And in tier 2, a few bronze-rated PSUs sneak in amongst the gold-rated ones.Īs such, if you want a quality PSU you can rely on, it's best to go for a well-reviewed brand rather than the efficiency rating. At the time of writing, gold-rated PSUs and higher dominate tier 1.but still, one silver-rated one manages to sneak in. You can see this effect on the PSU tier list on Gamingscan. A gold-rated PSU from one brand may not have as reputable reviews as a bronze-rated PSU from another. And that goes double if you're comparing two PSUs from different brands. Just because one PSU has a higher award than another, that doesn't mean it's automatically better in every way. In reality, this is somewhat true however, it's not a hard and fast rule. Therefore, they should last longer and suffer fewer catastrophic events than lower-rated ones.
After all, a higher-rated PSU should use higher-quality components for better efficiency. It's easy to assume that the higher rating a PSU has, the better components it has. Related: Why Power Supply Unit Efficiency Matters in PC GamingĪre Higher Rated PSUs Made With Better Components? CLEAResult now measures PSU efficiency and awards those that achieve over 80% efficiency with a special seal. And have different levels of seal for better efficiency rates.Īnd that's exactly where we are today. Then, if the PSU manages to hit 80% efficiency or higher, give it a seal that shows that off. The solution? Set up an independent body that accepts models from PSU manufacturers and tests them for efficiency. On the other hand, making a device truly 100% efficient is extremely hard (if not impossible), so manufacturers require some leeway when it comes to making PSUs. If a PSU chucks out a lot of energy as heat, users will find themselves with a higher-than-expected energy bill, and all they'll have to show for it is a hot PSU. However, inefficient PSUs really suck for consumers. Some of the energy it'll consume will end up as waste heat, so it needs to draw more than 600 to keep your PC running at maximum output. The truth is, it'll actually draw more than that because PSU's aren't 100% efficient. It's easy to assume that a 600-watt power supply will draw a maximum of 600 watts from your plug socket. Related: The 5 Best Online Power Supply Calculatorsīut here's the thing about PSUs. When you plan out a PC's construction, you have to add up all these maximums and then purchase a power supply with a rating higher than that.įor instance, if your PC draws 520 watts when everything is firing at maximum, you can get a 600 watt PSU to cover the demand and ensure your PC doesn't suffer from power cuts. A PSU supplies power to the computer, and more expensive PSUs will supply more power.Įvery component in your PC has a maximum energy rating. The "80 Plus" text does have some significance as to what the PSU can do, but to understand where it fits, we have to break down how a PSU works. The next level up from that is Bronze, followed by Silver, Gold, Platinum, and then Titanium at the very top. All of them sport the text "80 Plus" but come in different styles and colors.Īt the lowest end of the bracket is a plain "80 Plus" sticker with no additional text.
You'll see a power supply rating somewhere on the PSU's box or somewhere on the unit itself.