Have you ever wondered what those tiny 80 Plus stickers found on power supply units mean? Well in the following article I’ll be going over what each type of 80 Plus certification means.
80 Plus is a voluntary certification program set in place by Ecos Consulting in 2004 to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units (PSUs). In the early days of desktop computers, many PSUs were very inefficient with a lot of energy being lost as heat. In 2004, Ecos Consulting created the 80 Plus program to identify energy efficient PSUs. The 80 in 80 Plus means that PSUs running at 20%, 50% and 100% usage will function with more than 80% efficiency.
As PC components became less and less expensive as well as technological advancement it became easier for power supply manufacturers to reach that 80% efficiency mark. At the beginning of 2008 new standards were introduced to really set apart power supply efficiency. New standards also came with new badges: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Introduced in 2009 was the Platinum standard, and just recently Titanium.
Figure 1 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus
Believe it or not, some manufacturers will claim or imply that their PSUs will reach the 80 Plus certification even though the requirements are not met. An example on how they can get around this is that when a reseller sells an OEM PSU under a new name, it must be re-certified under the new name, but some resellers claim the PSUs produce a higher wattage than the power supply can really deliver. There are two ways you can identify a false certification. First would be to stick with a recommended brand such as XFX or Seasonic, both of which are known for top quality PSUs. Second would be to check 80 Plus’s website here.
One last thing to take note of is to understand the amount of power your system requires. There is no reason to install a 1000W power supply into a system that only requires 450W. If you are unaware on the amount of power needed for your system you can always post in our TSF Power Supply Section.
Hopefully this gives you a clear understanding and good representation of the 80 Plus certification.
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