Understanding Power Supply Unit of Computer (PSU)

What is a Power Supply?
Power Supply Unit usually abbreviated as PSU is commonly called an electronic network that serves to convert AC voltage to DC, then passes it to some other computer hardware that requires power, among others such as the motherboard and the CD-ROM. Put the PSU of a computer is usually located in the rear section of casing. Power supply is part of the side that is plugged into the electrical installation while other plugged into the motherboard.

When buying a computer chassis, PSU's usually already come supplied. Default location is on the back of the computer case. There are several aspects of the PSU you need to know in choosing PSU, such as power output, power consumption, and noise levels. If you do not get along, or want to upgrade, then you can buy a special PSU and later added to the processor.

Power Supply Output
Important factors to consider that the power supply is a good power output that it generates. A good power supply, the minimum should be able to supply all the power required by the computer. If the power supply is less strong, then the components in a computer will experience a power shortage problems that arise, such as computer crashes and restarts automatically continuous.

The output power generated by the power supply is expressed in units of watts. Each watt power supply produces different depending on the specifications. If using a desktop computer with a lot of components, you are advised to have at least a 300 watt power supply.
The output power is 300 watts of output power which enables components such as motherboards, processors, hard disks, and CD / DVD devices obtain the needed power. However, if more power is available, will be better.

Here, you can see the average power the various devices in the computer PC desktop so that you can estimate the need for a power supply you need:

• Motherboard need an average of 25 watts.
• Floppy disk requires an average of 5 watts.
• Keyboard, heatsink + fan, and the mouse need an average of 3 watts.
• Processors need an average of 90-120 watts.
• The video card requires an average of 50-120 watts.
• Memory cards need an average of 10 watts per module.
• The hard disk requires an average of 25 watts per drive.
• Optical drive on average require 25 watts per drive.
• Additional expansion cards need an average of 7 watts per card.
• Each USB device is plugged into the computer usually requires 7 watts.
• Each device that is plugged into the computer firewire average require 8 watts.
• Each fan for the average case requires 3 watts per fan.

From the list above, then matched with the use of devices that exist on your computer, you can see how the minimum output power to be supplied by the power supply. Therefore, you should make sure the power supply can provide this much power.
Try also using a power supply that can provide greater power output so that you can add additional devices of the future without having to replace the power supply again.

Some power supply voltage can be set as 110 volts or 220 volts. Therefore, if your power supply supports multi-voltage, then the first set of power supply voltage to 220 volts or 230/240 volts. To change this voltage, you can move the slider which is usually determined at the back of the power supply.

Another important aspect that is often associated with power supply is the noise level. This is because the power supply has a fan which is a moving component. Most computer users do not like the power supply is noisy. Because of this, you can buy some silent power supply. The silent power supply is generally more expensive, but suitable for use if you want a quieter atmosphere of the room, for example when computing in the classroom, or in the bedroom.