For a long time, in the various components of a PC, people focused their attention on CPUs, mainboards, video cards and so on while neglecting the functions of the power supplies that play an important role in a complete PC set. If we take the CPU as the brain of a person, then the power supply is his/her heart – it continuously supplies current to the whole PC, ensuring normal, effective operation of other hardware. By statistics, 40 to 60 percent of PC failures are caused by the power supply. Improper selection of power supplies can cause damage to other expensive parts, or even loss of health, life or property. Therefore, it's essential to re-understand the significance of power supplies.

 

When the grid power comes into a power supply, HF clutter and interference signals are eliminated by the choke coil and capacitive filter. Then, after being rectified and filtered, an HV direct current is obtained. After that, the HV direct current is converted into an HF pulsating direct current by the switching circuit and then delivered to the HF switching transformer for step-down. Then, the HF AC component is filtered and a relatively pure LV direct current is delivered to the PC.

 

The rated power is the maximum load of a power supply in a stable, continuous operation. For example, if the rated power of a power supply is 300W, it means that its total load should not exceed 300W 24 hours a day, 365 days a year of continuous operation. The rated power represents the actual loading capacity of a power supply, while other indicators have no actual meaning. Between the rated power and OPP, the power supply can continuously work under maximum power for tens of seconds without automatic protection. This output power is the peak power. So only the rated power can reflect the real output capacity of the power supply.

 

A port of electric energy is wasted as heat during operation of the power supplies, so this heat loss must be as low as possible. The conversion efficiency is the percentage of the output power divided by input power. The definition of the power factor is the ratio of active power to apparent power. The reactive power that is not utilized flows back and forth between the grid and the power supply. While increasing line loss, it becomes a source of pollution causing, for instance, malfunction of electronic devices, noise over telephone networks, and over-temperature or even burn of condenser choke coils of substations. Though both power factor and conversion efficiency mean the utilization rate of power, the difference is great. The power factor is used to improve the utilization rate of the grid while reducing the pollution of the grid. Simply put, the loss caused by the power factor is the burden of the electricity sector, while the loss caused by the conversion efficiency is the user's own burden.

 

Evolvement of power supply versions:

 

Versions	Features
ATX12V 1.1	Added +12V output and P4 special plug
ATX12V 1.3	Added +12V output, weakened +5V output, cancelled -5V
ATX12V 2.0	Dual +12V output, 24PIN
ATX12V 2.2	Dual +12V output, strengthened peak current of +12V
ATX12V 2.3	Improved +12V1 output capacity, reduced +12V2 output capacity

 

    80PLUS is a strict standard established by a governmental organization of the United States to improve the environment and save energy sources. The 80plus certified products will bear 80plus certification label and their manufacturers can also be awarded by this organization. 80plus certified products feature energy-saving, environmentally-friendly, high-efficiency, representing the future tendency of future electronic products.

Grade	20% load	50% load	100% load
80PLUS bronze	82%	85%	82%
80PLUS silver	85%	88%	85%
80PLUS gold	87%	90%	87%

 

First, HUNTKEY is a professional power service supplier engaging in development, design, manufacturing and selling of power supplies and power systems. It has the largest power-manufacturing base currently in mainland China and has established subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Japan and Europe successively. The power products include PC powers, communication powers, utility powers, adapters/chargers and many other types. Our products are widely used in brand PCs, compatible PCs, laptops and many other fields. We keep a good cooperation relationship with many large international PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, Dell and so on.

Second, HUNTKEY has an enormous R&D team and frequently issues new technologies and concepts for power and other products. This often draws intensive response from customers and the industry. Each version of power supply is subject to checks at all levels such as R&D persons, DQA test persons, production line test and so on to ensure perfect power supplies are delivered to the customers.

In the global financial crisis, HUNTKEY persists under the principle of "Suitable is the best" to provide customers with the most suitable power supplies for them. Selecting HUNTKEY means selection of quality and a "heart" suitable for your PC.

 

1.My PC has a mainstream configuration, how much rated power of the power supply is needed?

Many customers are unable to determine how much watts of power supply should be used while configuring a PC. In fact, this is very simple. You can add the power consumptions of all components of the PC and roughly estimate the watts of the power supply. The specific power consumption of PC components can be found on their manufacturers'websites. Certainly, the simplest method is to visit Huntkey's website to use our professional, personalized power calculator page to help you calculate the power consumption of the mainframe. You only need to select the specific configuration.

 

2.With the HUNTKEY power calculator, I've figured out that my PC needs a 300W power supply. Can I select 400W? If so, does it consume more electric power?

There is certainly no problem if you use 400W power supply for 300W configuration. The rated power of the power supply has no direct relation with the power consumption of your mainframe. It depends on the PC’s state. The power consumed in standby state is much lower than that consumed when you are playing a game.

 

3.I saw a 300W HUNTKEY power supply just now. Why is its price almost the same as the 400W power from other manufacturers?

In fact, it is a problem of rated power and peak power. Many power supplies in the market have the peak power on the nameplate to confuse the customers while each power supply of HUNTKEY marks its real rated power. It is quite possible that 400W peak power means 300W or lower rated power. Using a power supply of insufficient rated power can cause many faults on the PC and result in economic loss that can be otherwise avoided.

 

In fact, there are many components that can cause noise. For example, CPU radiator, video card radiator, cabinet fan, etc. If you feel your PC is noisy, you can press the radiators and fan one by one for several seconds to find out from which one the noise comes from. Most HUNTKEY power supplies are designed with temperature control. This can ensure very quiet operation of the power supplies almost all the time.