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Not as easy as you thinkMar 06 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Power supplies are not a commodity item - quality counts. Choosing a power supply is easy, right? You figure out how many devices you are planning to use and get a power supply that provides that many watts of power. Piece of cake. Then things start to not work quite so good as applications lock up, your devices aren't detected right and things generally go haywire. About 40 hours of troubleshooting later, you replace the power supply out of desperation and the problems go away. What happened? The ease of choosing a power supply is deceptive, and most people don't realize that this is one of the most important components in your system (along with the motherboard, processor and memory). Every single device in your system depends on electricity to function, and unless there is a separate power cord leading to an outlet, it depends on the power supply. First, decide how much power you need. Then get a little extra so you don't have to worry about adding a card later. Keep in mind that today's graphics cards are extremely power hungry and that USB devices draw power from the power supply as well, unless you have a powered USB hub. At home, I use a 350W power supply, but then, I really don't want to have to worry. Most people have plenty with a 300W supply, but I don't recommend dipping down to 250W. Your system may not use more than 220 or 230 watts, but the closer you get to the power supply's maximum rating, the more likely you are to have problems. Another thing that isn't commonly known is that 300W is a measure of the total current provided by the power supply, but that is divided up into several different voltage levels. The only voltage levels worth special attention is the +5Vsb channel. This is what is used for special power management functions. If you plan to use standby or hibernate modes, make sure you have 1.0A (or 1.5A if you can get it) of +5Vsb power available. Note that this is different than +5V power - the "sb" stands for standby. Lastly, although most important in my opinion, is to choose a power supply from a reputable, high quality manufacturer. In general, you get what you pay for. If your power supply doesn't adequately prepare the electricity for use by your system, this can generate feedback circuits and electrical noise that will cause very, very unpredictable behavior with your computer. Not only is it annoying and frustrating, but it usually appears to be a problem with one or more devices, making it very difficult to track down the problem. My personal favorite is PC Power & Cooling power supplies. They have an incredible industry reputation and I've worked with a LOT of them, but still haven't seen one fail. I'm sure it happens, but I haven't see it yet. Of course, they're also very expensive, but again, you get what you pay for. Personally, I think it's worth it.  |
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