1. The Power supply must be able to supply its rated wattage continuously.

Many lower-quality PSUs state a maximum rated power level only, but do not guarantee that they will supply that power level continuously. The continuous power as opposed to the peak power are in fact quite different things that are frequently being misused. The continuous power describes the real output power a PSU can provide continuously, i.e. during the entire time of operation. In stark contrast, a PSU’s peak power only describes a maximum power output that can only be sustained for a few seconds. As your computer’s work load increase and with many peripherals installed, it naturally requires more power output. Therefore, if your power supply doesn’t provide the rated power adequately 100% of the time, your PC’s components may not get what they need, as a result you might encounter overheating, short circuits and other damages to your system.

2. You want 80% or higher energy efficiency.

The ratio between AC input and DC output of a power supply defines its power efficiency, meaning, the better the AC power is transformed into DC power, the more efficient your PSU works. The 80 PLUS performance specification requires multi-output power supplies in computers and servers to be 80% or greater energy efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load with a true power factor of 0.9 or greater. This makes an 80 PLUS certified power supply substantially more efficient than typical power supplies. A highly efficient power supply uses less electricity, thereby wasting less energy. In other words, generates less heat and requires less cooling, resulting in less noise.

3. You want it quiet.

When using your PC to hear music and play games, you should not want to get annoyed by a heavy-duty fan. High-quality PSUs use large-diameter fans which can spin at lower RPMs. The large diameter fan should offer automatically adjusted speed controlled according to your system load.

4. Support for today’s PC components.

Especially if you are in for high-end computer you probably will run a high-performance multi graphics cards setup with a high-performance processor with the option to add multiple storage devices in the future, you need to make sure your PSU is in fact compatible with these components. So pay utter attention that the PSU you choose supports the ATX12V standard. The most recent specification of the ATX standard PSU is 2.31. This enables different power supplies to be interchangeable with different components inside the computer. ATX power supplies also are designed to turn on and off using a signal from the motherboard and provide support for modern functions such as the standby mode available in most current computers. This standard sets electrical specifications to ensure compatibility between motherboards, graphics cards, and other components.

5. PSU with Modular cables or non-Modular cables?

On the market you will usually find two different kinds of power supplies: with modular cable setup, and with non-modular cable setup. This describers how the power cables are connected to the PSU itself. A non-modular power supply has all the power cables hard wired, fixed to the PSU while the modular power supplies come with a set of peripheral, SATA and PCI-E power cables that are only being plugged in when really needed. You’ll want a modular power supply if you’re concerned about cable clutter and prefer to improve airflow or simply because you like the clean look of a system without any extra cabling. The modular cables included with the Thermaltake Toughpower and TR2 RX series give you more flexibility to build your system.

6. Power supply with high quality capacitors

Capacitors play very important roles in a power supply unit. Poor capacitors may result in a shorter product life time, system instability, voltages fluctuating or going out of range, and even damage the power supply unit. Reliable power supplies use high quality capacitor or even solid state capacitor that can withstand up to at least 85°C of heat. All Thermaltake PSU products are using highest quality capacitors to ensure long term reliability.

Which power supply is the right one for you?