Posts by fadedbadger11

Reading through all these posts, I’m honestly sitting here wondering how on earth I’m supposed to write my own—lol... but hey, let’s give it a shot.
I prefer to keep things simple. Basically, I’m looking to meet someone who just genuinely enjoys meeting new people—someone who values good company and real conversation. My hope is that as we get to know one another, we can both be completely open and speak with total honesty about anything and everything.
Who knows? Maybe we could actually improve each other's daily lives and serve as that spark of motivation needed to make some real life changes.
But we won't know unless we give it a chance. So, if there's anyone out there in the San Diego area or somewhere nearby, feel free to reach out.

Anyone from San Diego or the surrounding area looking to make some new connections? I’ve noticed most of the activity seems to be coming out of Washington, D.C.—it feels like the chances of someone actually reaching out from this neck of the woods are pretty slim, though I guess it's still possible. So, let's see what happens! :D

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:Efficiency isn't just about what's printed on the sticker. It's the actual ratio between the power delivered to your components and the power pulled from the wall—that's what the 80 Plus certifications are actually measuring.

But isn't that exactly what's being shown here? Manufacturers (or whoever is doing the testing) ran the numbers and found that out of 400W, this unit can deliver 336W—which works out to an 84% efficiency rating in this specific scenario.

I'm not trying to act like a know-it-all or anything—don't get me wrong—I just genuinely want to understand how this stuff works, especially when it comes to power supplies!
If there's already a thread somewhere breaking this down, I'd love to give it a read, since I haven't stumbled upon a clear answer yet.

Benjamin King2 said:...
With high-quality power supplies—like this Corsair CX430 in the photo—the efficiency curve stays relatively flat between the start and end points. With cheaper units, you’ll see a much more rounded curve. Generally speaking, most PSUs hit their sweet spot with the least amount of waste between 50-80% load.

Exactly. That's why you have to account for both your peak power draw and what you're actually pulling during everyday tasks. I've made my choice.
Given that, I'd aim to run my rig at about 50-60% capacity during a full load using this EVGA unit
while it'll probably sit around 30% during normal use.
Found a review for it here:
http://www.computerbase.de/forum/sho....php?t=1016882

Here's the label:
http://www.purepc.pl/files/Image/art...P_Art/400W.png

Basically, it can deliver 336W, which puts its efficiency at 84%—that lands it right in the 80+ Bronze category.

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:I haven't come across that APC unit before, but from what I can gather, it’s a killer value. You won't find better 80+ Bronze for $90. Based on everything I'm seeing, I'd go with that over the Corsair—though honestly, you can't really lose with either; they both get the job done easily.
http://www.realpower.de/product_info...us-bronze.html

It's a fact that both power supplies can handle my rig!
What I'm actually trying to figure out is whether one of them has a higher conversion loss when delivering, say, 200W. Keep in mind both are rated at 80% efficiency, but one is 400W and the other is 500W.

I forgot to mention that I'm looking for a power supply up to $100
. I've done a bit of digging and narrowed my options down to two
:
1. Corsair 400W Hexa
2. APC ECO Silent bronze 500W
Of course, if anyone knows of a better option, please let me know!

Here are my specs:

Motherboard: ASUS M4N78 Pro
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 7850 BE 2.8 GHz
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

Based on my rough math, my PC probably won't pull more than about 200W at peak—maybe 100W during normal web surfing
.
Both of these units are 80+ rated
. What I'm really curious about is the energy loss percentage—which of these two will actually be more efficient when delivering the specific 100W to 200W load I need?

fadedorca66 said:When you're looking at power supplies, the most critical number is the amperage on the 12V rail—since basically everything in a modern build runs off that.

Yours is putting out 15A, which is honestly pretty pathetic by today's standards. 15A x 12V = 180W.

If we assume an efficiency of, say, 50%, then you're pulling 200W from the wall just to deliver a measly 100W to your components.

That’s exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I was just guessing at 50%—I'm actually trying to find out what that percentage really is!
It looks like my math for this power supply is looking pretty grim 🙄
...and it seems like my only real move is to buy a new one, which, honestly, I'm expecting to do anyway.
So, I'm looking to pick up a 300W unit with an 80+ rating. If anyone has any solid recommendations, I'm all ears.🙂

Jeffrey Chavez6 said:It isn't calculated based on what’s printed on the label—you have to use actual measuring tools. What you see on that sticker doesn't mean much. 🙂

Hmm, interesting point! I noticed these newer power supplies carry those 80+ ratings.
I was actually thinking about picking one up because if my current unit is only running at, say, 50% efficiency in a worst-case scenario, that means out of the 420W listed on the label, it's only delivering roughly 200W to the components—the other 200W just vanishes during conversion. 😕
That's why I really need to figure out how efficient this thing actually is before deciding whether to upgrade.
Though, honestly, finding that out is going to be a nightmare. xD

Benjamin King2 said:Check the manufacturer's website. You can't calculate that just from what's listed on the sticker—unless you want to go out and measure it manually.

http://www.lc-power.de/index.php?id=182&L=1

The site doesn't mention anything about that specific issue, so my only option is to try calculating it myself using the values on the label.
That’s why I decided to ask for help here—if anyone actually knows how to run those numbers, please explain it to me!
I'm hoping there's someone here who really understands this stuff.

Hey everyone, this is my very first post here on Reddit 🙂
I'm not entirely sure if this is the right sub to ask this, so sorry if I'm out of line!
So... I was wondering if someone could walk me through how to actually calculate power supply efficiency? I've been scouring Google, but I'm coming up empty. I just learned about this concept recently and I really want to figure out the numbers for my current setup.
I'm using a Cooler Master LC420H-8 420w

I took a photo of the label for you guys

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7434/mypsu.jpg

Thanks in advance!