Your PC’s energy provide is considered one of its most important parts, however most individuals barely ever give it a second thought as soon as it’s put in. And that’s type of bizarre, contemplating it’s the one that would principally soften your machine and/or burn down your home if one thing goes unsuitable. To grasp precisely what goes into making an influence provide and, extra importantly, making it protected, Gordon took a tour of Intel’s Folsom campus to take a deep dive into the ATX energy spec.
The ATX specification was really created by Intel method again in 1995, which is why the corporate nonetheless does testing and verification on it. (You’ll be able to see the outcomes at compatibleproducts.intel.com.) To begin issues off, you possibly can hear from Intel’s Stephen Eastman, the man who formally maintains the ATX spec. He’ll present you ways Intel assessments, certifies, and sends the outcomes again to distributors on just about each energy provide offered at retail. The method takes weeks for every unit.
However what occurs when an influence provide fails the testing? Most producers have gotten this right down to a literal science during the last 25 years, so Gordon introduced alongside just a few “Gordon Special” items, historical, low cost, and abused PSUs from the times of yore. He had Stephen run them by way of Intel’s standardized testing system…with some attention-grabbing outcomes.
Not too long ago, energy provides have been given their first main shakeup in years due to the brand new ATX 3.0 specification, particularly its 12HVPWR connection for next-gen graphics playing cards. In the event you’re on the lookout for a straightforward information on how you can choose the correct one in your system and your elements, take a look at Gordon’s information beneath.
For extra in-depth appears on the present state of PC {hardware} (and a bit burning and smoking in unhinged experiments), make sure you subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube.
