When I ask many people who are fanatic gamers this question “What’s the most important part in your gaming machine?” I received almost the same answer “It’s the video card man!” But let me tell you, it's not the truth!
When I ask many people who are enthusiastic gamers the question “What’s the most important part in your gaming machine?” They said almost the same answer “It’s the graphic card man!”
Seriously,
I don’t argue that the graphic card is like the face of a pretty girl.
But boys, if the girl is always out of breath and fall down all the time, do you want to make a life long and serious relationship with her? (Yet I still hear some “Yes” answers! What the… )
It’s time for the fact.
If I’m asked the same question, my answer will be “the power supply unit - PSU.”
Because without that component, your PC is not going to run. And without a fair PSU, your heavy-duty graphic card and your latest micro chip won’t operate!
No power, no computer, no games. Period!
Now you have it. Power supply unit plays an important role in your computer. Especially when it comes to entertaining computers. But how to pick a fair one so that it can support the HUGE amount of electric power consumption?
Let me share with you some tips.
What is the type of the motherboard?
Because there are more than one type of motherboards and each form of them requires different types of computer supply unit. And take a close look at the number of pin for your PSU on your motherboard.
Many older motherboards have lesser features, therefore they utilize 20-pin ATX. Whereas newer boards utilize 24-pin ATX. Take a short amount of time to check your board, it is important.
You can calculate the total power consumption of your machine?
Desktop PC’s for gaming or home entertainment are usually MONSTERS!
They always use a ridiculous amount of electric power. And guess what, if you can’t provide them their need, they reject to work! And I’ve seen many strong computers that use up to 850W or even 1200W with their PSU!
But in exchange, they will show you realistic motions from your new (and high requirements) computer games. Or provide you with beautiful images from photo-editing software.
What about MTBF?
It stands for Mean Time Between Failure.
It’s nothing more than a measurement of running hours a PSU can bring you. To say in other words, how many hours it can operate before it dies!
This depends on your activities with your PC. When it comes to this point, try to shoot for something like 100,000 hours or more.
Want other components work together like a charm? Then take a close look to the PSU’s load current!
It’s a range of electric values that your PSU can deliver to other pieces of the computer.
Because each piece has different value of input current. Therefore your supplying unit must deliver exactly what they want.
There are always a maximum load current and a minimum one. If one piece doesn’t get its minimum requirement, it refuses to work. It’s simple as that.
Another thing is, the amount of noise the PSU produces.
It’s a cold, hard fact that computer power supply unit can be a HUGE source of noise!
Especially when it’s a low quality PSU, and can’t shut its mouth up when running. And for photo editors or entertain-at-home people, noise is very annoying!
Therefore, a great PSU with no noise even when it runs at its best is a big plus! Consider this point when you build your own PC.
Care to know about my favorite PSU that score all of the above points?
If you want a hard-working PSU, something like 850W to 1200W, I will give you a recommendation.
