Can anyone define these PSU terms?

D

davisphive

Geek Trainee
Ok I have read some things about power supplies but I don't understand any of the terminology that is listed in it tech specs. Can anyone define these terms for me, why are they good...or bad?

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Type ATX12V
Maximum Power 550W
Fans 1
PFC No
Dual +12V Yes
SLI Support nVIDIA SLI Certified
Power Good Signal 100-500ms
Hold-up Time 17ms min.
Efficiency > 70%
Over Voltage Protection +5V trip point < +6.5V, +3.3V trip point < +4.1V, +12V trip point < +14.4V
Input Voltage 115/230 V
Input Frequency Range 47 - 63Hz
Input Current 12A @ 115AC, 6A @ 230AC
Output +3.3V@32A, +5V@40A, +12V1@19A, +12V2@19A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2A
MTBF >80,000 Hours
Approvals UL, TUV, CB, FCC CLASS B, CUL
 
Basically:
ATX12V - The type of power supply; Compatible with most P4 and AMD systems
550W - The maximum power output of 550 Watts, which is pretty good
Fans 1 - Self explanitory
PFC - A method of increasing the power factor of a power supply. Typically referring to a European requirement. Needed when input power is above 70 watts - normally 60 watts of output will pass without special circuitry
Dual +12V Yes - This means the power supply has dual +12V rails which are needed by the CPU and Video Card and are a good feature to have and are found in nearly all SLI certified PSU's
SLI Support nVIDIA SLI Certified - nVidia have certified many PSU's to aquire the SLI standard. If you see a PSU with this certification and want to run two Video cards in SLI, this is good thing
Power Good Signal 100-500ms - Not sure; someone else will advise
Hold-up Time 17ms min. - As far as i know, this is how long the PSU will stay on after a surge or power spike
Efficiency > 70% - This is how effecient the PSU is compared to it's normal power rating when the temperature rises above a certain level
Over Voltage Protection +5V trip point < +6.5V, +3.3V trip point < +4.1V, +12V trip point < +14.4V -
At +5.5V the trip point is less than 6.5V, and the rest is self explanitory
Input Voltage 115/230 V - This is a no brainer
Input Frequency Range 47 - 63Hz - How many times the PSU turns itself off and on again in seconds
Input Current 12A @ 115AC, 6A @ 230AC - Nothing needed to know here
Output +3.3V@32A, +5V@40A, +12V1@19A, +12V2@19A, -12V@1A, +5VSB@2A -
These are pretty good specs, the +12V Rail is what you need to pay attention to, 19 Amps on both are good
MTBF >80,000 Hours - Expected lifespan, this is a pretty basic lifespan
Approvals UL, TUV, CB, FCC CLASS B, CUL - Just a buch of crap no-one cares about except techo's

Hope i explained it well enough :cool:
 
Pelvis did a pretty good job, but I'll clarify on a few points.

ATX12V. ATX is a standard motherboard formfactor and power supply specification. 12V is the DC voltage at which the computer components operate with.

Input voltage 115/230. North American and European power circuits are 115-120 and 230-240V, respectfully, from a wall socket. This spec means that the power supply can work in North America or Europe or anywhere that provides the voltage from a wall socket within either of these two specs. Typically, there's a switch on the power supply that you can change between 115 and 230V.
 
Yeah athough some power supplies have automatic switching and can accept voltages anywhere between two values (i.e. mine can accept anywhere between 115~230VAC) Dont mix these up with set voltages!
Good definitions there pelvis_3 nice one! :good:
EDIT: I changd the wording slightly, I don't know why I didn't see it before, sorry, yeah now I can see what Addis means, I should have put don't get the Switching Voltage and Set voltages muddled up...
Switching voltages which can be between a range of values are defined by a ~ between the two values and set voltages have / between them.
 
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