While power supply units (PSUs) are often an afterthought, they are one of the most crucial components that you should invest on for any PC build. In fact, many gaming PCs suffered from catastrophic failures due to a faulty or low quality PSU, resulting in hundreds if not thousands of Ringgits worth of damages.
However, buying a PSU is not as straightforward as it seems, as there are numerous considerations, form factors and nomenclatures that you have to dig through before deciding which is right for you.
In this guide, we will go into detail about PSU ratings, wattages, and what you should look out for when purchasing one for your PC build.
Table of Contents
Understanding PSU Specifications
Wattage
From case fans to GPUs, every component in your PC draws power directly from the PSU. Power supplies are usually rated in watts (W), ranging from 300W all the way up to 2,000W.
As a general rule of thumb, the higher your PC performance, the more power-hungry it gets. If you are looking for an entry level PC build, a 650W power supply such as the MSI MAG A650BN is sufficient, while high end builds may require 1000W or more.
To minimise the amount of guesswork that goes into calculating your PC build’s power draw, MSI has a handy PSU Recommendation Table to help you figure out how much power you would need for your upcoming build.
80 Plus Efficiency Rating
Aside from wattage, you may have seen 80 Plus ratings on enthusiast grade power supplies. 80 Plus is a certification that denotes that the PSU is at least 80% efficient at drawing power from the socket. This means that a 500W PSU with an 80 Plus rating would draw at most 625W from the socket at 100% load. The 80 Plus rating has been expanded across multiple tiers, with higher tiers denoting better efficiency. Here are the 80 Plus ratings arranged in ascending order:
- 80 Plus White
- 80 Plus Bronze
- 80 Plus Silver
- 80 Plus Gold
- 80 Plus Platinum
- 80 Plus Titanium
The benefits of 80 Plus certified PSUs are two-fold. Not only are they more efficient, hence helping you save on electricity bills, they are also more reliable than non certified PSUs in the market.
While an 80 Plus Bronze certified PSU is good enough for budget PC builds, we highly recommend at least 80 Plus Gold for higher end gaming PCs, as the electricity savings becomes more substantial.
ATX 3.0 & PCIE 5.0
Introduced back in February 2022, the ATX 3.0 is the latest technical standard for PSUs to overcome the increasing power demands of modern components, especially GPUs.
One of the biggest changes in the ATX 3.0 standard is the new PCIE 5.0 12VHPWR connector that can deliver up to 600W of power via a single connector, thereby eliminating the need to daisy chain multiple connectors to deliver enough power to next-gen GPUs such as the MSI RTX 4070 TI GAMING X TRIO 12G.
Form Factor
PSUs normally come in two form factors – ATX (not to be confused with ATX 3.0) and SFX. ATX power supplies are the most common, and can fit in most mATX and ATX PC cases. SFX is the more compact of the two, and is usually used for small form factor builds and mini-ITX cases.
Modular VS Non-Modular Power Supplies
There are three kinds of PSUs in the market – modular, semi-modular, and non- modular power supplies. A modular power supply contains detachable connectors, allowing you to only hook up the connectors you need for ease of cable management.
Non-modular power supplies however, do not come with detachable cables, hence you will need to spend more time tidying up and tucking the unused cables in nook and crannies. Lastly are semi-modular PSUs, which is a mix of the two. While the essential cables are fixed, the 8-pin and 4-pin connectors are modular, giving you some flexibility when building a PC.
Power Supply Rails
Rails are basically ‘lanes’ or paths that deliver electricity in a PSU. While multi-rail units were common, they are slowly being replaced by 12V single rail power supplies. Newer components now draw power from a single 12V rail, rendering other rails obsolete.
What to Look for in a PSU?
Power Considerations
When it comes to budgeting for your new PSU, it is advisable to get one with slightly higher wattage than you need. For example, if your PC build requires 500W of power on paper, we recommend getting a 650W PSU. Not only does this allow for extra headroom for future upgrades, it also runs more efficiently at loads between 70-90%.
Budget
Budgeting for a PSU is a bit tricky. While you may be tempted to buy the most powerful components your budget allows, we advise against skimping on your PSU..
If your PC build contains an RTX 40 series GPU, we strongly recommend getting an ATX 3.0 compatible power supply, such as the MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5, which has a PCIE 5.0 12VHPWR connector to handle those pesky power spikes.
Reliability & Safety Measures
The last thing you’d want is to have your PSU fail and destroy your precious PC components beyond repair, which is why you should look for reliable PSUs from reputable brands. Most high quality power supplies come with a myriad of safety measures and features to protect your components in the event of a failure.
The MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 is equipped with a suite of protection features to give you a peace of mind, including over current, over temperature, over voltage, over power, under voltage and short circuit protection measures. On top of that, it uses quality components such as Japanese 105°C capacitors, and comes with a whopping 10-year warranty!
Connectors
Lastly, do consider the amount of connectors you would need. Different components would require different amounts of connectors. As a general rule, the more components you use, the more connectors your PSU should have.
Power Supply Recommendations
While it is hard to nail down the exact power supply you need, here are a few recommendations based on your power requirements.
Entry Level
If you are looking for an entry-level PSU, we recommend the trusty MSI MAG A650BN. It features all the essentials, such as an 80 Plus Bronze rating, 12V single rail, and a suite of protection measures for improved stability. It is also backed by a 5-year warranty, guaranteeing a long and reliable operation.
Midrange
Midrange PCs will have higher power requirements, hence we would recommend power supplies with better efficiency ratings. Chances are you will be using the latest generation of GPUs, which require the latest ATX3.0 standard. The MSI MPG A850GL PCIE5 has not only an 80 Plus Gold rating for added efficiency, it is also ATX 3.0 compliant to deliver up to 600W via a single 12VHPWR connector to power the latest RTX 40 series GPUs.
Speaking of RTX 40 series GPUs, you may have heard of 12VHPWR connectors melting due to user error, but MSI has a fix.
Their new 12VHPWR connectors are now painted yellow as a colour guide to help you ensure that the connectors are properly plugged in. If you still see the yellow bits sticking out, it means you need to seat the connector properly. Simple and elegant solution right? In fact, MSI is the only manufacturer to include a colour guide to prevent these accidents from happening.
High End
We recommend at least 1000 watts as top of the line hardware draws significantly more power. The MSI MPG A1000 PCIE5 is 100% compatible with the latest ATX3.0 standard, and has versatile support for all GPUs requiring 1/2/3 VGA or 16-pin PCIe connectors.
Moreover, the MPG A1000 PCIE5 features a sleek design that complements other MSI MPG components, such as the MPG Z790 CARBON WIFI motherboard and the MPG CORELIQUID K360 AIO cooler.
Purchase Powered By MSI Custom PCs and Redeem RM100 Touch ‘n Go E-Wallet Credits
From now until 30 September 2023, you can redeem RM100 in Touch ‘n Go E-Wallet Credits with every purchase of a Powered By MSI PC set that contains at least 3 MSI components in a single invoice*.
Regardless if you are an Intel, AMD or Nvidia fan, there is a custom PC for all sorts of budgets.
To learn more about the Powered By MSI Custom PC Promotion, please visit the official website here.
Purchase MSI Power Supplies here.
Check out MSI’s Power Supply Recommendations Table here.
