low power psu

badcompany · 16 Jun 2014 at 10:52

with the constant push for low power efficient cpus that now idle under 40w what is the best size psu for a htpc machine with all low draw components the lowest spec psu I can see here is a 300w and that seems like overkill so what is recommended?

tbyeah · 16 Jun 2014 at 11:51

You could go for an ITX case with integrated PSU, they often have 120W PSUs pre-installed.

One of the cheapest on here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-023-IW&groupid=2362&catid=2279

badcompany · 16 Jun 2014 at 12:23

I was often told to avoid psu's that came with cases as they were often poor quality? I would be looking at 24/7 usage so its needs to be suitable for that.

tbyeah · 16 Jun 2014 at 12:26

24/7, your best bet is to just use a proper PSU with as low power usage as possible (or a confirmed high quality integrated one).

los · 16 Jun 2014 at 12:38

I had the same issue I got an EVGA 430W, power draw is pretty low so I'm happy with that. I nearly got a picoPSU though, so it might be worth you looking at them.

Morfinel · 16 Jun 2014 at 12:58

Just because Wattage is higher doesn’t mean it will be less efficient then 200W. Best bet to go for 300W standard size or Silverstone make nice SFX format designed for 24h operation

pastymuncher · 16 Jun 2014 at 13:12

Some cases come with good psu's though. The Antec cases come with decent psu's and so do the SFF Silverstone cases. Not the likes of Powercool or Ez-Cool etc though.

badcompany · 16 Jun 2014 at 14:44

SuperFlower Amazon 300W "80 Plus Bronze" Power Supply

how good are these?

Morfinel · 16 Jun 2014 at 14:59

They are very good especially for the price

pastymuncher · 16 Jun 2014 at 19:00

Budget orientated and there have been reports on here of them being noisey. If you are sticking one in a SFF pc then it's only going to be worse.

Morfinel · 16 Jun 2014 at 22:04

Like with all PSu it will only be noise if you use all 300W but in his case it's not going to happen

mightymouse · 16 Jun 2014 at 22:36

Normally if you are running htpc, I failed to see how it will draw that much power and therefore heats up and requires the fans to go on max. I had a 450w antec power supply and on use it hardly draws much power.

Admetos · 17 Jun 2014 at 01:20

Seasonic 400 Fanless Platinum

40w is over 82% efficient
200w is 92% efficient

These will be tested using 110v, expect 1-2% more on 230v.

400w is maybe overkill, but it's one of the best PSU's quality wise and should last many years, no fan also.

Because of the low ripple you can undervolt the motherboard/CPU/memory more then cheaper PSU's.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-SS

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=334

Avenged7Fold · 17 Jun 2014 at 01:32

I personally would avoid running a fan-less PSU 24/7, even if it was rated for much higher usage.

EVGAdominik · 17 Jun 2014 at 08:05

With the power supplys you also have to take a look at which output wattage they have their 80+, bronze, gold, or whatever effiziency. If you are running the PSU outside of this area it can be possible that it waste lots of energy.

pandem0nium · 17 Jun 2014 at 13:08

Morfinel said:
They are very good especially for the price

I've got nothing but good things to say about mine, very reliable and quite happily runs an overclocked phenom ii x3 and MSI 270.

I can't hear it over the other components though, so I don't know how loud it would seem in a low power htpc.