Hehe a sucker born every minute. Much of the sales of power supplies is kids buying shiny objects, they want a red fan, purple light etc. And some just want higher numbers. Paint 10,000 watts on side they flock to them. Today you need even less than in the past for the average computer. We are getting MORE efficient. Some think the 1000 watts make their computers run way faster etc. Lots of wives tales with power supplies.
Interesting question. You often see a type of electrical version of Silicone Sealant used to add some mechanical stability to large items like big Electrolytic capacitors, as they might pull the connection wire out of the soldered joint if the item was thrown around during shipping, and they joggled about.What's the gloppy stuff?
Love the article. I recommend, if you ever need a power supply, either a seasonic or superflower based unit. They are well made and last FOREVER. My rosewill quark is going on 8 years now with no issues on its 4th build.
There is really no use in having a fuse that is user replaceable in a switching supply. All the outputs are self protecting from short circuits and if the switching FETs short on the primary the fuse will blow but replacing it won't fix anything.I recently built a Core i9900ks with EVGA 240mm AIO computer for one of my cousins. He chose a Corsair 850 and I ended up exchanging it for an EVGA model instead. Cables were too short.
The EVGA 850 had two power switches, longer cables and just felt like a higher quality product and it was only around $30 more.
I just wish PSU had an easily accessible, user replaceable fuse or circuit breaker as standard because the PSU is usually the first part to shut down if there's a short or a mistake made during the connection process.
In the end I felt so much better sticking with EVGA than the corsair.
He's happier as well.
I would disagree with that statement. Linear regulation has a shorter/ faster feedback loop (all on the secondary side of the transformer) than a switcher. Switching regulation feeds back from the secondary side to the primary side usually using opto couplers. The bandwidth roll off is kept fairly low to prevent oscillation. This longer loop using multiple components is slower. You might find an excellent switcher that is faster than a poor linear regulator but normally this is not the case.Efficiency also goes way down for linear regulators.
Switchers also tend to respond to transients far faster than linears.
Thanks for your answer!Inductors store electrical energy in a magnetic field, but that's only present when there is a current flowing - no current, no field, no stored energy. Capacitors, on the other hand, do store energy, even if there's no current.
Small caps don't store that much, so they're fine, but PSUs are packed full of large capacitors - they don't store for hours on end, but they will store it long enough such that if you immediately unplug the PSU and then go poking around inside, there's a good chance you could empty the cap instantly across your fingers.
And that will hurt. A lot.
When supplying lots of power, higher voltage levels are preferred.Should there be some transformer or other device in the first stage of the PSU?