Question "Power Supply Idle Control"- What Does Each Option Do?

[The Guy From The Thing]

I stumbled across this settings in my Asus B550-F motherboard Bios called "Power Supply Idle Control", and there were 3 options:

Low Current Idle
Typical Current Idle
and Auto


this was set to Auto, I assume by default since I've not touched this setting myself and I have done a CMOS reset once in the past few months. is anyone able to explain what each of these settings does and if it's necessary to touch them?

my PSU, for context, is a Phanteks Revolt Pro 1000w, so I assume this should be left on "Auto"?

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Leave it at auto. It is meant for older PSUs where low idle voltages could cause the computer to shut off.

More detailed explanation - https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/crcezz/what_is_power_supply_idle_control/

 

[The Guy From The Thing]

Leave it at auto. It is meant for older PSUs where low idle voltages could cause the computer to shut off.

More detailed explanation - https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/crcezz/what_is_power_supply_idle_control/

interesting; I wanted to ask because usually "Auto" is the default setting, and the best one, but I saw people saying Typical Current Idle was the 'best' and some account saying Low was 'recommended' for newer PSUs so it got me confused


do these settings have any bearing on stuff like the GPU or CPU's power draw under load and whatnot?

 

[ThatVietGuy]

do these settings have any bearing on stuff like the GPU or CPU's power draw under load and whatnot?

No.

 

[The Guy From The Thing]

No.

thanks; I found a website that seems to break down each option, although it's like the only description I can find of all 3, talking about the power output of the PSU

• Typical: The typical setting is the default for most systems and ensures that your power supply will keep up with typical voltage and power demands even when your system is not in use.
• Low: When set to the low setting, your power supply will use less voltage and power while your system is not in use. This can aid in lowering your system’s overall power and energy use.

• Auto: The auto setting is the most versatile option, enabling your system to automatically alter its power supply idle control settings per your system’s load and consumption patterns. Depending on how you use your computer, this could help you optimize power usage and efficiency accordingly.

you say I should leave it to "Auto", which sounds good, but what's really the difference between Auto and Typical? unless I'm reading it wrong or the website explained it poorly, they sound pretty much the same


sorry for the questions, it's just an interesting setting that doesn't seem to have much info around it on google

 

[ThatVietGuy]

The difference is likely from the algorithm used for each; it probably comes down to the last line in the Auto description - "Depending on how you use your computer..."

You likely don't find much information about the setting since it's probably useless for the vast majority of normal users.