While choosing components for a gaming desktop, one of the most overlooked components is the Power Supply Unit (PSU). That’s the fact that most people plan to shop for the best processor, best motherboard, best CPU and even the best RAM. However, the component that helps your entire desktop perform well by keeping it cool with powerful cooling technology is often underestimated.
Without power supply, there is no way that your computer can even run. And when you are planning to build a gaming desktop, it is even more important. It is important to make the right pick and get a powerful PSU because the quality of the PSU will dictate what other components you can put into your computer.
For example, a low-end PSU will be unable to supply enough cooling for the Graphics card, which means you will only rely upon the low-end graphics card. Even though this won’t supply additional power to your motherboard and won’t provide you a higher framerate or allow you to play on a 1440p monitor, but PSU is very important components for your gaming PCs. Hence, it is important to make the right pick as you start your hunt of buying the best PSU s for your gaming machine in order to make sure that you can choose latest and heavy other components for your PC.
In this article, I’ve given a detailed introduction of the best PSUs available on the market for gaming machines. Additionally, we’ll also know a little bit about the things that you may keep in mind while buying one for your desktop.
Quick Shopping Tips:
Before you proceed to place an order, it is essential to keep these quick shopping tips in mind, because they’ve been suggested by the experts according to the technical specifications of latest PSUs and what can affect your choice.
First of all, it’s essential to figure out your wattage requirements. It may depend upon the kind of other components you are planning to use and what are their wattage requirements. While it is not a smart choice to buy way more potential power than you’ll ever use, it is even not a smart choice to go for the less power as well. The power you need for your PSU may be calculated from the wall and look for a capacity point that satisfies your demands. You can also use the online wattage calculators, available to give you a rough estimate of your system’s power needs.
The most common mistake that people make is going with the highest wattage possible i.e. 1,000-watt PSU. However, it is important to keep in mind that no desktop will need such high wattage PSU, even for an extreme gaming rig.
You probably don’t need a 1,000-watt PSU – It was in the past when the heavy PSUs were very power-hungry, but Nvidia’s recent architectures changed the entire scenario. It’s simply not necessary to buy a 1kW PSU for a couple of RTX 2080s.
Physical dimensions of case – Before buying, it is good to check the physical dimension of your case. If you have a standard ATX PC case, then using an ATX power supply will fit easily. But the higher wattage PSUs are longer than the typical 5.5 inches. So, in this case you will need a bugger case to be sure of your case’s PSU clearance.
Working in a tiny case – If you are planning a clean build or working on a small case, then it is good to go with a modular power supply. These modular PSUs are designed to let you easily plug in the power cables you need and leave the rest in the box.
Knowing the Wattage Ratings – While you are buying PSUs, it is essential to have a look into its wattage ratings as it can be deceptive as this is the total combined wattage of all the voltage lines. With the components demanding more power, the total required output, particularly for the +12V line, has become increasingly important.
PSU Connectors – You are likely to have a wide range of power connectors that come off a power supply. Some of these include 20/24-pin power, 4-pin Molex, 4-pin ATX12V, floppy, etc. Make sure to identify the power connectors your PC components require so you can be sure about its compatibility with your PC.
Low or No Noise – Earlier in the past, power supplies were expected to make a lot of noise, but in the present time, we all love things that are silent. For low noise PSUs, the best choice is a unit that uses larger fans or to get one with temperature controlled fans.
When you are on a tight budget and need something affordable that can deliver the desired performance for your gaming desktop, then Cooler Master MasterWatt 750W can be the most tempting product you can go with. Of course, you may choose to go with the low-end brands in comparison with the renowned ones. It may sound good and lucrative for the other components, but we can’t stress enough that power supplies should be given at least a little bit of thought.
When buying the PSUs, only a few more dollars can make a great difference between just a simple power supply failure or a catastrophic. Here I present Cooler Master’s MasterWatt, designed specifically for the budget-friendly gaming enthusiasts who don’t want to compromise on quality.
The 750 watt PSU by Cooler Master is a Semi-fanless Modular 80 PLUS Bronze Certified Power Supply, which comes with high-performance DC-DC module design and durable LDB bearing fan. The 80 PLUS Bronze certification means that the product delivers an average efficiency of 85%.
Its super powerful 120mm Silencio FP fan combines sealed LDB bearings which means you get more cooling with no noise at all. And its Dual Forward and DC-to-DC design ensure better reliability and stability.
Corsair’s RM-series power supplies have been the top choice among enthusiastic professional players for years. The brand has managed to successfully develop a strong reputation as one of the leaders in reliability for PSUs. The Corsair RM850x is one of its latest releases, featuring a quiet fan and a fantastic price point.
This PSU also comes with the features that made the series, including fully modular cables, 80 Plus Gold certification, and a generous 10-year warranty.
The RM850x is more compact than its predecessor, but still, it is capable to deliver great performance. At the same time, it also offers 2x EPS and 6x PCIe connectors, which make it able to support a potent workstation with a high-end CPU. It also features 80 PLUS Gold and ETA-A efficiency certifications. As expected from the leading brand in manufacturing PSUs, all necessary protection features are present with Corsair RM850x.
Additionally, this power supply by Corsair features up to 850 Watts of continuous power, which is more than what you’d need for even multi-GPU builds. This product offers a great balance of performance and features.
This is another affordable, yet efficient PSU available for those who are concerned about their budget, but still don’t want their gaming PCs to perform under pressure. So, if you are planning to build a small form factor computer with a mini-ITX, then FSP Dagger 600W may be the right pick you can make. SFX is a compact and powerful power supply unit, designed for the small gaming machines. If your mini-ITX case doesn’t include a built-in power supply, then you have no reason to skip FSP Dagger.
Of course, it’s not a leading or most-heard brand in the market, but FSP manufactures really great products. The company has been responsible for creating PSUs for Antec, SilverStone, Thermaltake, etc. The Dagger 600W by FSP is one of its best models ever made, compatible for the compact builds due to its high-efficiency ratings and full modularity. This is 80 PLUS Gold-certified and equipped with almost all of the protection features we expect and additionally, it is armed with a single +12V rail.
To make it more reliable, FSP only uses Japanese capacitors for better stronger performance.
In 2019, if your PC isn’t strapped to the nines with RGB lighting, you’re missing out on something. Here I present the Thermaltake Smart RGB 850W. It doesn’t only provide a beautiful, addressable RGB lighting, but also it is technically advanced and comes with a reliable 80 Plus efficiency rating.
Of course, it’s modular and compact, but Smart RGB 850W is powerful enough to support even the best gaming PCs. Its RGB lighting can be easily controlled through a compatible motherboard from Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock using the software. And its 10-year manufacturer warranty means you need not to worry about the maintenance cost.
With powerful performance ability and low power consumption, the Smart RGB 850W exceeds the requirements of Cybernetics’ ETA-A and LAMBDA-A- efficiency. Additionally, it also comes with a built-in memory that saves your most recent setting. And the push-button enables manual lighting control easily.
Thermaltake claims that this model comes with all of the protection features we expect from a modern PSU.
Compact, stylish and powerful… These are some of the most common benefits of NZXT E650. If you are really trying to make your gaming machine looking attractive and appealing, the modular power supply is almost essential and this is where NZXT E650
Enters into the picture. The NZXT E650’s compact design and architecture allows you to avoid all of those messy looking wires cluttering up your case.
But, let’s not get confused with its compact look and appearance. The NZXT E650 is equally powerful and silent, making it one of the most renowned PSUs available out there. Its compact design ensures that you need not deal with those messy wires, but only need to connect the wires you actually need.
In addition to it, the NZXT E650 also comes with an 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating and a 10-year warranty, but it’ll deliver power efficiently and last forever while it does it.
The NZXT E650 is a good PSU, designed for the latest gaming machines that need more power, but at the same time are compact in size too. And its price fits in the budget of even the beginner players. The added digital controller doesn’t improve performance, and at the same time, it doesn’t help keep the E650’s noise down.
Since the E650 employs Seasonic’s Focus Plus Gold platform, It supports the same 80 PLUS Gold certification. Additionally, the E650 has also earned a LAMBDA-Standard+ noise rating, meaning that it’s not particularly quiet.
It features minor rails that offer up to 100W combined power and its +12V rail delivers as much as 70A. With the advanced features and technical abilities, the E650 is capable of handling a couple of high-end graphics cards, making it the right choice for everyone.
Final Verdict
Choosing the best PSUs for your gaming desktop may be a tough choice as you’d want to ensure power efficiency while having the power to keep your components cool while you enjoy your game. The final choice depends upon your individual requirements and the budget. Consider using a PSU wattage calculator before you proceed and buying from the list of these above-mentioned compact PSUs will serve the purpose as each of them is handpicked by the experts, following the performance, size and many other factors that make a perfect PSU.
Go through the technical specifications of each PSU mentioned in the list to make a smart, dedicated decision so you have the best product to let your desktop stay relaxed even during the rigorous gaming experience.