![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Hardware Information |
|
![]() |
Power and Your PC
The power coming into a computer is the most critical component, and it may be one of the most overlooked. It is just taken for granted that it will always be there and working properly. A top of the line processor and ultra powerful video card do nothing if a system does not receive the ample, stable power it demands. Having quality components providing and regulating the power supplied to a computer is critical, and this brief overview looks at a few areas worth consideration. Power Supplies Computer power supplies take the high (110V or 220V) DC voltages from an electrical outlet and convert it to the various lower AC voltages required for a system to operate. The typical voltages required inside a computer are 3.3V, 5V, and 12V, where the 3.3V and 5V lines are generally used to power circuitry, and the 12V line provides power to run items such as hard drives, optical drives, and cooling fans. Power supplies are sold in terms of their total power output, in terms of wattage. Choosing the correct power supply means not only finding one that will provide enough power for all of the components connected to the system, but also one that is the correct size physically, has enough connections for typical drives and fans, and if necessary, that also has special connections for things such as Serial ATA drives and modern video cards. Choosing a power supply with enough power shouldn't be much of a problem, as having more power than you need is never a bad thing. Just because a power supply is rated for 400W, or perhaps 600W, does not imply that it is drawing that at any given time. It just indicates the total power available to the various lines inside the computer. For those interested in getting a good idea of their minimum power requirements, this Power Wattage Calculator is a convenient reference. In addition to checking out the total wattage of a power supply, looking for strong amperage ratings on the 3.3V, 5V, and 12V lines is also recommended, as power supplies with identical total power ratings may distribute the power to the various lines in different quantities. Power supplies come in a few different physical sizes, but the most common are designed to fit the standard ATX and micro ATX (mATX) form factor cases. A typical ATX power supply, such as this Echo-Star 680W unit, measures 3.25" x 6" x 5.5" and features two cooling fans to not only cool the power supply, but to also help draw hot air out of the computer. A typical mATX power supply, such as this A-Power 320W unit, measures 2.5" x 5" x 4" and due to the smaller size features just one cooling fan. mATX cases are generally much smaller than ATX cases, and therefore have smaller power supplies, with generally lower power ratings, and fewer connectors. The connectors on a power supply also deserve consideration. Most power supplies come with what looks to be an electric octopus of wires hanging off the back surface, and you need to make sure that somewhere in that tangled bundle are all of the connectors you need. The power supply should at least have as many connections as the number of drives, cooling fans, and other items found in the case. Up until recently power supplies had a fixed number of connections, and if you needed more, you needed to use splitters to distribute the power to all the components. Modular power supplies, such as the Ultra X-Connect 500W unit, are now available that eliminate that "electric octopus" all together, and allow the end user to connect just the cables they need. The flexibility of a modular power supply design not only lets you customize the connections to your needs, it also makes for a simple and tidy installation, since there are no extra wires dangling inside the case. The selection of a high quality power supply may cost more money up front, but down the road it could wind up saving money. Many manufacturers now offer power supplies that consume less energy thanks to high quality internal components, advanced designs, and active power factor correction. These units are now able to provide the same power to the components in a computer, but due to increased efficiency, draw less power from the electrical outlet. Surge Protectors Surge protectors are intended to protect your electronics from a brief increase in voltage caused by such things as lightning, rolling blackouts, and heavy drawing electrical equipment. A surge protector reacts to divert the extra electricity to ground, and thus protects your expensive computer equipment from damage. A surge is any increase lasting three nanoseconds or longer, so a surge protector needs to react quickly. Most surge protectors also include a fuse (or breaker), and if the surge is too great to be handled without interruption, the fuse will blow. Although the fuse may be destroyed, it's a small loss compared to what it may have saved. Surge protectors come in all shapes and styles. Some basic models can even be found at your local dollar store, but offer no more than a few outlets connected to a breaker. No serious protection is obtained, but many people just want more outlets, not protection. More serious surge protectors will probably cost a bit more than a dollar, but will offer some peace of mind that your equipment is actually being protected. In addition to protecting from electrical surges, some devices include extra features such as conditioning to filter out line noise and ports to protect other lines such as cable television, telephone, and networking. The Fellowes Smart Surge Power Strip protects up to 10 devices from surges, as well as offering line conditioning and ports to protect your phone line. A highly appealing feature of such a surge protector is that 4 of the ports are designed to accept bulky AC adaptors. For those with surge protectors that weren't designed to be this user friendly, there is still hope in the form of Power Strip Saver Cables. Basically just 7 inch long extension cords, these items can come in very handy when trying to connect multiple AC adaptors to a more traditional surge protector. Uninterruptible Power Supplies Many people familiar with Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) know that they can keep a computer up and running during a total power failure, but don't know what else they do. Most UPSes will also provide protection from voltage surges and sags (when the voltage drops below normal), as well as protection from the possibility of a shift in the electricity's frequency. UPSes come in two varieties, standby and continuous, although standby versions are far more common and less expensive. A standby UPS allows the devices connected to it to run from the normal electrical connection until a loss of power is detected, at which point it quickly (in a matter of milliseconds) switches to the battery backup of the UPS. A continuous UPS always has the devices connected to it running off of battery power, while the batteries are recharged by the normal electrical connection. UPSes are sold in terms of their capacity, in terms of VA (voltage multiplied by amperage). This implies that devices connected to the UPS can draw a maximum of so much amperage at a specific voltage. A run time after a power failure is also generally specified for a UPS based on a full load being placed on the device. Selecting a UPS needs to be based on the intended use? A smaller unit, such as the Fenton 600VA, would be adequate for powering a typical desktop computer, monitor, and smaller peripherals such as a printer and lighting for what they rate as 15-23 minutes at full load. If multiple systems need to be powered, or perhaps there are plans for future expansion that will add to the power demands, a larger unit such as the Tripp Lite 1500VA may be more appropriate. The first two units are intended to be set in close proximity to the devices to be powered, perhaps on the floor behind a desk, but if you are seeking to add a UPS to a server, there are also rackmount solutions such as the Opti-UPS 1100VA. No matter the application, sizing a UPS may seem overwhelming. One manufacturer, APC, has created a handy UPS Selector Application which will take some of the guess work out of choosing the right UPS for any particular application. Final Words A computer system is only as strong as its weakest feature, and many times that distinction falls on the power supply and related components. By choosing a quality power supply, surge protector, and perhaps a UPS, one can make sure that they have adequately strong and stable power to keep their system running now, as well as down the road when upgrades may increase the demand on their system. Jason Kohrs
MORE RESOURCES: Nvidia confirms it is investigating RTX 50-series BSOD and black screen troubles, no timeline for a fix Tom's Hardware Framework may release AMD Strix Halo Gen 2 hardware as Team Red joins February 25 Gen 2 launch event Notebookcheck.net FTC settlement requires disconnection of hardware from all no longer supported software Data Protection Report Hardware Wildlife Education Center Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Loggins Hardware celebrates 50-year milestone in business Highlands Star Crosby Courier Ray tracing is quickly becoming inescapable and I think it's time we bit the bullet and embraced it PC Gamer Enermax Revolution D.F. 12 750W ATX 3.1 power supply review Tom's Hardware Nvidia explains the missing ROPs — defective silicon in 0.5% of RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti GPUs Tom's Hardware Leaker claims Ryzen 9 9950X3D embargo lifts on March 11 Tom's Hardware Luminkey Magger 68 HE Review: Small and speedy Tom's Hardware Polestar 3 benefits from software and hardware updates Motor Authority Dual Raspberry Pi Picos power this portable mini PC Tom's Hardware U.S. software/hardware charts for Jan. 2025 GoNintendo Wildcats clinch Capitol South hardware Monroe Times Circana: US hardware revenue down 45% in January, with overall game spending down 15% to $4.51 billion Game World Observer Microsoft CEO says there is an 'overbuild' of AI systems, dismisses AGI milestones as show of progress Tom's Hardware Phasecraft and Quantinuum Partner to Utilize Phasecraft’s Algorithms with Quantinuum’s Hardware Quantum Computing Report Chinese chipmaker claims new Loongson 3B6600 CPU could hit 13th-Gen Intel performance Tom's Hardware Intel 8th, 9th and 10th Gen processors absent from Microsoft's Windows 11 24H2 CPU support list for new OEM systems Tom's Hardware Trump to introduce 25% and 'higher' tariff on imported semiconductors, timing unclear Tom's Hardware Intel principal engineer bemoans potential TSMC takeover, touts company's 18A tech advantage Tom's Hardware Retailer held RTX 5080 ransom unless buyer paid more after the sale had been completed Tom's Hardware Some RTX 5090s are shipping with missing ROP units, leading to less gaming performance: Updated Tom's Hardware Is Richelieu Hardware (TSE:RCH) Using Too Much Debt? Simply Wall St Elon Musk's Grok 3 is now available, beats ChatGPT in some benchmarks — LLM took 10x more compute to train versus Grok 2 Tom's Hardware Quincy takes large team to Mat Classic, hopes for hardware Columbia Basin Herald Lady Wolves bring back hardware and Alex Wahl is State champion Cut Bank Pioneer Press Chinese-made gaming GPUs get up to 120% FPS boost — new drivers and stability fixes for MTT S80 and S70 cards Tom's Hardware Kioxia's new 10th gen 332-layer 4.8 GB/s 3D NAND flash is 33% faster than its 8th gen ICs Tom's Hardware Residents flock to hardware stores ahead of winter storm for snow salt, shovels CBS 6 News Richmond WTVR Glasgow High School Wrestling Brings Home Hardware Glasgow Courier AMD's game-changing Strix Halo APU, formally known as the Ryzen AI Max+, poses for new die shots and gets annotated Tom's Hardware The Surface you know and love (or hate) is dead — Microsoft's Windows hardware enters a new era Windows Central Asus continues fragrant device trend with an aromatic mouse Tom's Hardware Apple picks up pace in replacing hardware with in-house solutions: Kuo (AAPL:NASDAQ) - Seeking Alpha RTX 5090 supplies to be 'stupidly high' next month as GB200 wafers get repurposed, asserts leaker Tom's Hardware AI and the Promise of Hardware Iteration at Software Speed Andreessen Horowitz Musk announces Grok 3-powered xAI gaming studio to develop 'AI games' with photo-realistic graphics Tom's Hardware Montech Titan Gold 1200W ATX 3.0 power supply review Tom's Hardware 12VHPWR adapters sporting heatsinks and thermal pads show how problematic the connector is Tom's Hardware TSMC and Broadcom explore deals to split Intel's foundry and chip design wings, says report Tom's Hardware Ace Hardware coming to Anderson The Herald Bulletin Fujitsu celebrates 50 million laptops produced with one-off exquisite kumiko wooden lid model Tom's Hardware AWS Cloud Revenue Hits US$330bn as AI Hardware Drives Growth Data Centre Magazine Nvidia brings back scalper-beating Verified Priority Access program for RTX 50 Founders Edition GPUs Tom's Hardware Dell aims for highly lucrative hardware deal with xAI Techzine Europe RTX 5070 Ti restocks expected within 2-6 weeks, says UK retailer — All sold out on launch day Tom's Hardware |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
RELATED ARTICLES
Where does technology come from? Ever wonder where all the cool gadgets come from? Ever wonder who gets to try this stuff out first? Usually the war machine scientists get it first, try it out and find an application by using it for destruction; an obvious outlet for the human species and our desire to blow things up. It then moves into the private sector for important projects like, Microwave Ovens, Nuclear Energy, aviation space travel, telecommunications, Internet (which of course Al gore created first?), even Hummers, the ultimate SUV was created to cruise troops around in, Helicopters, hydrofoils, you name it man it came from military first. TiVo: An Introduction for the Few Who Dont Know Yet TiVo will change your life.. Getting A Great Refurbished Laptop Are you sick of all the high priced notebooks out there? Does getting a used laptop seem like a better choice to you? Refurbished laptops are everywhere these days, and the word itself seems like a "buzz word" of the industry. But do these used machines actually hold up to the strict standard of the word "refurbished"?In this article I will discuss exactly what process a used notebook should go through before it is called "refurbished", as well as the advantages and disadvantages purchasing one brings. The Printer Cartridge Wars: Generic or Remanufactured Cartridges Right for You? OverviewAs "generic", "remanufactured", and "new compatible" inkjet printer cartridges and laser toner cartridges creep deeper into the printer accessories market, the choices become varied and often confusing. It is estimated that by the year 2004 the aftermarket share of the inkjet and toner cartridge market will exceed 11% of the estimated 12 billion dollar printer accessory market [source: CART magazine, March 2001] Here's a look at what all these terms mean, and an examination of the upside and downside of using non-"brand name" printer cartridge products in your printer. Toner Cartridges - How They Work In the past computers and their accompanying printers were huge. Toner reservoirs and toner cartridges were used instead of ink cartridges like the ones in use today. Computer Parts Online In today's age, building computers on yourself is often chosen as the safest and choicest option by a sizeable part of the market for computers. There are various advantages and disadvantages for doing so. An Introduction to Tape Backup If you run a small business, chances are you're saving important files to a server. But what happens when disaster strikes? How are you ensuring that your files won't be lost? Many people fail to realize that the loss of files could cripple their business. Inkjet Jargon Explained With all the technical terms out there, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with inkjet jargon. Unfortunately, understanding the differences between the various terminologies is a must in todays advanced technological age. DVD Media DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. DVDs resemble compact discs: their physical dimensions are the same-12cm or the mini 8cm-but they are encoded in a different format and at a much higher density. Tips To Select Proper Hard drive Day by day computers are getting advanced. Capacity and performance are increasing with every passing year. A Technical Introduction to Audio Cables What is so important about cables anyway?One of the most common questions asked by consumers faced with purchasing cables for their audio or home theater system is, "What is so important about cables anyway?" They can cost as much or more than some of the hardware in the system and to many it is difficult to understand why wire isn't just wire.To begin to understand how audio cables work, we have to start with the two fundamentally different types of audio cables you are likely to have in your system. Buying / Selecting Computer Components This is the step takes the most time and consideration. Which parts do I buy? Which are best?There are many good places to buy computer parts. SED is Coming One of the bigger challenges facing display manufacturers is to develop a picture with the same warm characteristics as Cathode Ray Tube, but with far less weight and size.The disadvantage of CRT, however is the size, weight and power consumption. The Top 10 Must-Have Laptop Accessories You've laid out good money for your laptop computer, but you're not done spending just yet.There are a few more laptop accessories you may want to consider to make the package complete. A Look at Laser Toners Laser toner is the ink for laser printers. It is an extremely fine synthetic powder (usually plastic) packed into a cartridge. Build Your First Computer from Hardware Scratches Wow- if you do it first time and have some asset of time in your disposition - then go ahead and purchase motherboard, your favorite processor, memory, video card (probably it is better to purchase it external for advanced quality). You will also need computer case - first computer should probably go to the cheap one - with USB 2 ports from the front side - the only question - you might want to replace noisy cheap power supply with $50 dollars one. Used Laptop Computer: Your Quick Purchase Inspection Guide - Part 2 Used laptop computers are everywhere these days. How can you sift through the mass of available used laptop computers to narrow your search down to the right laptop for you? This is the second part of a series of articles designed to give you a few suggestions for your next purchase. Ergonomic Products 101 Human beings are scaling new heights day by day. Markets are becoming more and more complex and competitive. Printers: What Really Happens When You Hit "Print" You just poured hours upon hours into a lengthy research paper. All that's left to do is print it out. Security Risks and Ways to Decrease Vulnerabilities in a 802.11b Wireless Environment IntroductionThis document explains topics relating to wireless networks. The main topics discussed include, what type of vulnerabilities exist today in 802. ![]() |
home | site map |
© 2006 |