Power supply watt calculation. Power supply calculator. Which power supply to choose for your computer

When assembling a computer, the components of the future system are carefully selected. If you plan to build a gaming machine, then the processor and video card are installed to be powerful and with high performance. But at the same time, rarely does anyone accurately calculate the power consumption, and the power supply is chosen “by eye”. This approach often leads to errors and subsequent computer failures.

To avoid freezes, reboots, sudden shutdowns and other problems associated with the power supply, you need to correctly calculate its power. Below is a calculator for calculating the power supply.

Enter sequential information about the components installed in the computer and as a result you will receive a figure for the minimum power consumption of the system and the required minimum power value of the power supply.
Please note that before choosing the type of video card and processor, you must first specify the component manufacturer. When choosing a processor, multi-core ones are considered as one. Don't forget to indicate the number of installed components.

To calculate power, select
system configuration

Motherboard

Select board type Budget Desktop Advanced Desktop Workstation Server

RAM

Select memory type 256MB DDR 512MB DDR 1GB DDR 512MB DDR2 1GB DDR2 2GB DDR2 4GB DDR2 1GB DDR3 2GB DDR3 4GB DDR3 8GB DDR3 x 1 2 3 4 5 6

Video card

ATINVIDIA

Video card type

Select video card x 0 1 2 3 4

CPU

AMDINTEL

Processor type

Select processor x 1 2

Hard disks

x 0 1 2 3 4

Select disk SSD 5400RPM 3.5″ HDD 7200RPM 3.5″ HDD 10,000RPM 2.5″ HDD 10,000RPM 3.5″ HDD 15,000RPM 2.5″ HDD 15,000RPM 3.5″ HDD x 0 1 2 3 4

Optical drives

x 0 1 2 3 4

Select a Blu-Ray DVD-RW COMBO CD-RW DVD-ROM CD-ROM drive x 0 1 2 3 4

PCI

x 0 1 2 3 4

Select device Modem Network (LAN) Sound card SCSI/IDE/SATA x 0 1 2 3 4

Fan

x 0 1 2 3

Type 80mm 92mm 120mm 140mm 250mm Normal With display High speed x 0 1 2 3

Minimum system power - 0 Watt
Required power supply power - 0 Watt

• Software

Today we will look at the issue of calculating the power of a power supply for a computer and choosing it, we will find out which components consume the most.

The first aspect that must be evaluated when calculating the power of a PC power supply relates to the load with which the power supply will be effectively used. For example, using a 500 watt power supply as a reference, if that PC's internal component consumption is only 500 watts, then the load will be 100%; similarly, if the internal component consumption of this PC is 250 W, then the load in this case will be 50%.

Efficiency expressed as a percentage is a very important factor to consider when choosing a good power supply because the higher the efficiency of the power supply, the lower the required consumption and the heat produced. However, given that the efficiency unfortunately tends to decrease depending on the amount of energy required from time to time. The power supply performs best at around 70% load, which is between around 60% and 80% load. So, if you buy an oversized power supply, the efficiency may not be ideal.

To obtain ideal efficiency, select the power supply wattage according to the maximum system consumption. Therefore, to choose the right power supply, you need to find a power supply that, according to the consumption of the internal components, will achieve maximum efficiency.

WHAT POWER SUPPLY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR COMPUTER?

Let's assume that there is no magic formula that allows you to figure out exactly what is the ideal power supply for a particular PC. However, there are several tools online - calculators - that allow you to calculate the wattage of your power supply by selecting one by one the components you decide to install. But these tools aren't 100% accurate, so they're just good starting points to get an idea of ​​your PC's maximum consumption. How to calculate the power supply power of a PC? The best way is to use these tools first, but then do the calculations yourself to understand what the individual component consumption is.

In the photo: Power calculation calculator “KSA Power Supply Calculator”

WHAT COMPONENTS CONSUME THE MOST?

Typically, the main sources of power consumption for any computer are only two: the processor and the video card (there are cases when one video card consumes as much as the sum of all other system components). Then there's the motherboard, hard drive, SSD, RAM, optical drive, and fans, which only use a few watts each.

Here is a sample list of consumption:

1. For RAM memory modules, a consumption of about 3 W per module can be taken into account;
2. for SSD you can consider consumption of about 3 W;
3. for a traditional hard drive, it can be considered to consume about 8/10 W;
4. for an optical drive such as a DVD recorder, a consumption of about 25 W can be considered;
5. for fans, a consumption of about 3/4 W per fan can be taken into account;
6. for a motherboard, it starts at 70/80W for an entry-level model, but you can also get around 120/130W for a high-end motherboard;
7. for a processor we can consider the consumption to be less than 50 Watts if it is a low-end processor, 80 to 100 Watts for a mid-range processor and 160 to 180 Watts for a high-end processor;
8. Finally, for a video card you can consider consumption from 100 W to 300 W depending on the model used.

This is the maximum consumption of each component, i.e. consumption when the computer is under heavy load. For example, particularly complex software or very heavy games. In fact, during normal PC use, the overall consumption of individual components is significantly lower. To get a more accurate estimate, it is best to rely on those sites or those experts who review the products you are interested in.

To calculate the power of a PC's power supply, simply compare first the maximum consumption of the processor and graphics card, and then the maximum consumption of all other components of the PC. Remember that the power supply must be able to support the PC when it is under its highest load and therefore only takes the maximum consumption as the reference level for individual components. Once you have done this calculation, adding another 20% you will finally find the correct wattage of your power supply. However, if you intend to overclock your PC, then to find the right power supply, in this case, in addition to the consumption of various components, you will need to add another 30% of the energy consumption.

On video: Selecting a power supply by power.

PRACTICAL EXAMPLE

Suppose, for example, a computer assembled with the following components:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-8600;
• video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070;
• motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z370-A;
• hard drive: any;
• SSD: any;
• optical drive: any;
• RAM: any two DDR4 modules;

On average, the processor consumes 75/80 W, video card 180/200 W, motherboard 110/120 W, 7 W hard drive, 3 W SSD, 25 W optical drive, two 5 W DDR4 memory modules and three other 10 - watt fan. Thus, we consume approximately 420-450 Watts of consumption. We added another 20% consumption and so we get a 550 watt power supply, which is already more than enough for this configuration, reaching 600 watts (i.e. 30% more) if you wanted to overclock.

The power supply is a very important part of the computer. After all, it is he who supplies energy to all components. Therefore, its power plays a fundamentally important role, since the overall performance of the devices depends on it. But to understand how much power is needed to power your computer, you need to have a good understanding of computer technology. However, there is a way to calculate the required power without delving into the details of the technical characteristics.

To avoid performance problems in the future, it is better to immediately make sure that you buy a sufficiently powerful power supply when you assemble your computer. Of course, experienced users can simply look at the remaining components and intuitively (or by accurate calculations) determine which power supply should be taken.

But what about those who are not so well versed in computer technology? For such people, there are special online services that have unique calculators for the required power.

Let's take, for example, the fairly well-known site casemods.ru. The site has its own service where the user can enter the parameters of his computer and get two results: average power and peak.

To do this you need:

As a result, the fully completed table looks like this.

The calculation results are displayed below. It is not necessary to buy a power supply that exactly matches the indicator that the service gave you. You can take a power supply that is close in power value. Or purchase a device with excess power.

How to find out PC settings

How to find out your computer settings using Everest

There are many programs that allow you to find out your computer's parameters. The most popular of them are AIDA 64 and Everest. Let's look at them using the last example.

First you need to download the program. This can be done on any site that specializes in software. For example, Softportal.

1. We go to the website, find the Everest program on it and download it.

   

   

2. Launch the downloaded file. A window will open in which you need to click on the “Install” button.

   

3. To avoid cluttering your computer, uncheck all the boxes and click “Next”.

   

4. The “Installation Wizard” opens. Click “Next”.

   

5. We accept the terms of the license agreement. And then we click “Next” all the time.

   

6. Open the program. We are interested in the “System board” branch. Let's open it up.

   

7. Go to the “CPU” menu. There we will find out the processor parameters.

   

8. In “SPD” we find out the number and capacity of RAM slots.

   

9. Expand the “Data Storage” branch to find out the number of drives.

   

10. In the “Display” branch, select “Graphics Processor” and find out the data about the video card.

    

Now you have enough information to calculate how much power the power supply needs for stable operation of your computer. Of course, if you use a special service.

Read detailed steps in our new article on our portal.

Video - How to calculate the power of a power supply

How to determine the power on a working power supply

Everything is clear with the required power, but how can you find out information about the current device installed on your computer? Unfortunately, no software designed to analyze the characteristics of a computer can find out the characteristics of the power supply.

Again, there are three ways to find out the information we need.

What you should know about power supply manufacturers

The first thing you should focus on when you are going to buy a power supply is the manufacturer. The fact is that most manufacturers deliberately overestimate the power indicated on the sticker. If large and reputable companies lie by 10-20%, which does not have a very noticeable effect on the operation of the device, then smaller companies can overestimate the power by 30%, or even 50%, which may already be critical for the operation of the computer.

It’s also better to buy power supplies in official manufacturers’ stores, since now it’s very easy to stumble upon a fake. As you know, counterfeit devices can not only be less efficient in terms of power, but are also known for their rather poor quality.

The choice of power supply should be taken responsibly, because it is an important part of the computer.

Video - How to check a computer's power supply? Checking and diagnosing power supply

Power supply power- this characteristic is individual for each PC. The power supply is one of the most important elements of a computer. It supplies power to every element of the computer and the stability of all processes depends on it. This is the reason why it is very important to choose the right power supply for your computer.

This is the first thing you need to do in the process of buying/assembling a new power supply. To calculate the power of a computer's power supply, you need to add up the amount of energy consumed by each element of the computer. Naturally, this task is too difficult for the average user, especially taking into account the fact that some computer components simply do not indicate power or the values ​​are obviously overestimated. Therefore, there are special calculators for calculating the power of the power supply, which, using standard parameters, calculate the required power of the power supply.

After you have received the required power from the power supply, you need to add “spare watts” to this figure - approximately 10-25% of the total power. This is done to ensure that the power supply does not work to the limit of its capabilities at maximum power. If this is not done, it can cause a number of problems: freezing, self-rebooting, clicking of the hard drive head, and shutting down the computer.

Options for correct calculating the power of the power supply:

1. Processor model and its thermal package (power consumption).
2. Video card model and its thermal package (power consumption).
3. Number, type and frequency of RAM.
4. Quantity, type (SATA, IDE) spindle operating speeds - Hard drives.
5. SSD drives from quantity.
6. Coolers, their size, quantity, type (with backlight / without backlight).
7. Processor coolers, their size, quantity, type (with backlight / without backlight).
8. Motherboard, what class it belongs to (simple, medium, high-end).
9. Also, it is necessary to take into account the number of expansion cards that are installed in the computer (sound cards, TV tuners, etc.).
10. Are you planning to overclock your video card, processor, or RAM?
11. DVD-RW drive, their number and type.

What power is the power supply?

What power is the power supply?- this concept will make it possible to choose the right components and characteristics. The first thing you need to know is how much power you need. The power of the power supply directly depends on the components installed on the PC.

Again, we repeat, you don’t need to take a power supply that will only have enough power. It must be taken into account that the actual power of the power supply may be less than that declared by the manufacturer. It is also important to understand that configurations may change over time.

And this is a very simple question, since manufacturers usually indicate the power in large font on the sticker. Power supply wattage is a measure of the amount of power the power supply can transfer to other components.

As we said above, you can find out it using online calculators for calculating the power of the power supply and add 10-25% of “spare power” to it. But in reality, everything is a little more complicated, since the power supply produces different voltages: 12V, 5V, -12V, 3.3V, i.e., each of the voltage lines receives only its required power. But there is 1 transformer installed in the power supply itself, which generates all these voltages for transmission to the computer components. Naturally, there are power supplies with 2 transformers, but they are mainly used for servers. Therefore, it is acceptable that in conventional PCs the power of each voltage line can change - increase if the load on the other lines is weak or decrease if other lines are overloaded. And on the power supplies they write exactly the maximum power for each of the lines, and if you add them up, the resulting power will be higher than the power of the power supply.

It turns out that the manufacturer deliberately increases the rated power of the power supply, which it cannot provide. And all power-hungry computer components (video card and processor) receive power directly from +12 V, so it is very important to pay attention to the current values ​​​​indicated for it. If the power supply is made of high quality, then this data will be indicated on the side sticker in the form of a table or list.

PC power supply power.

PC power supply power- this information is necessary since the power supply is the most important component of the computer. It powers all other components and the correct operation of the entire computer directly depends on it.

Again, we repeat, you don’t need to take a power supply that will only have enough power. It must be taken into account that the actual power of the power supply may be less than that declared by the manufacturer. It is also important to understand that configurations may change over time. This is done to ensure that the power supply does not work to the limit of its capabilities at maximum power. If this is not done, it can cause a number of problems: freezing, self-rebooting, clicking of the hard drive head, and shutting down the computer.

The vast majority of modern users who build their own computers pay attention exclusively to the processor, video card and motherboard. Only after this a little love and warmth goes to the RAM, the case, the cooling system, but the power supply is usually bought as change. Of course, I’m not saying that everyone does exactly this, but in most compilations from YouTube, articles from the Internet or advice from close friends, this is exactly the chain that sounds.
Why is the power supply the last thing people look at? It's simple - it does not affect the performance of the computer. Gamers absolutely always strive to get more FPS in their favorite games, investing their entire budget in three main components, and buying the rest with the remaining money. Designers and video workers invest resources in RAM and a processor with a large number of cores. No one is interested in the power supply, it just “starts the computer.”

However, it is the “engine” of your PC. If you choose the wrong power, then most of the money invested in the purchase will either be idle, or you will buy a 500 W unit, and then install a more powerful video card and there will not be enough power. Unstable operation of the system, crashes, overheating of components, and blue screens of death occur. Today we will learn to avoid all this. And, I’ll say right away, we will talk specifically about the power of the power supply. Not about which brand is cooler, not about lighting, coloring, design, not about cooling, there will be no debate about “modular system or not.” We're talking about power and the steps you need to take to purchase the perfect one.

Power from characteristics vs real power

It is worth immediately understanding that the Watts indicated in the characteristics always differ from real indicators. Absolutely always. The only question is how much. For example, if it is written on the power supply, then this does not at all guarantee real 500 W of output power. This is just a rounded value imposed by marketers. The same thing with other powers - 700 W, 1300 W. These are all beautiful numbers that attract attention.

Usually, on more or less decent blocks the efficiency factor is written. Mid-level models and above will have an 80 Plus certificate (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). This means that the efficiency of this model is above 80%. The higher the level of the certificate, the higher the percentage of efficiency. For example, a model with Bronze will have 82-85% efficiency of the declared figure, and a version with Gold will have 90% efficiency. Below I have given a plate showing the percentage of efficiency under different load levels. For those models that cannot boast of a certificate, the efficiency is usually 75% or lower.

So it turns out that you buy a 600 W power supply without a certificate, but you get 450 W of real power. It is worth considering this point when purchasing a computer “engine”, because very often they do not pay attention to this detail and are surprised when the PC constantly turns off under load. Today, most power supplies are certified 80 Plus Bronze; such models can be considered a reasonable minimum. Units without a certificate remain dark horses - who knows how much real power there will be.

Golden Rule

The next thing you need to know is the load level of your power supply. Often, due to budget problems, gamers take the power of the hardware for themselves. We assembled a system for 430 W of power consumption and took a 550 W model with a “bronze” certificate. The system element works, allows you to start the computer and play games, but is constantly working at the limit of its capabilities. Naturally, due to the maximum load, all elements of the power supply overheat, the fan runs at maximum speeds and makes wild noise, and the internal components wear out much faster.

To prevent your “engine” from dying out in a year and a half, you need to follow one rule - take the rated power one and a half (or even twice) times more than what the system requires. For example, you calculated (I’ll tell you exactly how to do this later) that your system needs 350 W of power. Multiply by two, we get 700 W - this is the model we are looking for. Even if you take away the 20% efficiency that is lost, your system will load the power supply by 50-60% in high load mode. This allows the block filling to wear out longer, not overheat, the fan will not spin like mad, and there will be much less noise. Using this rule, you will spend a little more money, but the system will last three to five years instead of a year.

Counting Watts

Now that we have studied the theory and learned the necessary rules, let's calculate the required power for your computer. If you assembled a PC in an online store and the purchase is hanging in the cart, or you have written down the components on a piece of paper, we will use the processor/video card frequencies from the specifications. For those who have already assembled the system, you only need to replace the battery, you can use real frequencies.

• Cooler Master Calculator
• MSI calculator
• Calculator be quiet!

I advise you to open three links at once and build your PC on three resources, then we’ll just compare the indicators and display the average number, this will be more accurate.

The first service will be a calculator from. There are a lot of switches, a lot of additional checkboxes and parameters. For an experienced user, they even allow you to select the frequency of the processor and video card, if you already know these parameters or can guess them.

Enter the data, click on the “Calculate” button at the bottom right and two numbers will appear in the same place. First, the power consumption of this system (Load Wattage) is written in black font, which is what we need. You don't have to watch the second one. For example, my system has a power consumption of 327 watts.

Based on these calculations, the MSI calculator in my case forgot to add something. Let's take the average power consumption as 328 W.

Putting knowledge into practice

So, our system consumes 328 W. Multiply by one and a half (remember the golden rule!) and we get 492 watts. But we remember that power supplies do not deliver 100% power, but only 80%, in the case of Bronze. This means that with simple mathematical calculations, we get the required power “on paper” of 615 W. This figure can be rounded to 600 W and take any model from bronze and above, you can take it with a slightly larger margin - 650 or 700 W so that our “engine” is loaded by 50-60%.

All you have to do is calculate the power consumption of your PC and do the same mathematical calculations. The remaining parameters - cable modularity, lighting, brand, noise level, smartphone applications and so on - are chosen separately, depending on your budget and desires.