PSU guide

[stevozilik]

Hi guys,

recently PSU become more and more important. I'm buing a 2x HD4870 system and I'm struggling a little bit with finding the right = quality and not too expensive PSU. For example there are cca 800W PSU that cost £50 or £110. Which one to buy? A little test would by nice...

 

[masterclam]

most definitely agreed, this is a very confusing subject for a lot of beginners, and despite lots of research i admit it can make my head spin too; a good guide addressing the woes of 12v rails, efficiency, crossfire/sli and (i know its a hard one) reliability would be much appreciated by everyone im sure.

 

[Farrwalker]

Toms has reviewed many PSUs in the last year; now if they would compile that information in the form of charts, that would save their readers the work. After all that is one reason we come to tomshardware. Toms has access that we as consumers do not, and then toms does the work of testing and publishing their findings.

There are so many PSUs out there that seem to be suitable yet some are better values than others and some have more voltage variance than others. Unless an individual has the assets to buy many PSUs, buy the testing equipment, and the knowledge to properly test; then that individual must rely on what information can be gathered from reading dozens of reviews.

Toms could generate readership by doing all that for the consumer and putting the information in charts like they have done with graphics cards, hard drives, and CPUs.