How Do You Determine The Wattage Capacity Needed By A Power Supply?

Learn how to determine wattage capacity needed by a power supply in this very easy-to-follow guide as well as key concepts to computing wattage capacity.

Before you power on your PC, have you ever wondered about your desktop’s power supply needs?

If you bought a new desktop computer or a personal computer gaming console, how do you determine the wattage capacity needed by a power supply? Why is there a critical need to know about wattage capacity and power supply sources?

While these questions seem to be trivial, and most electrical appliances supply such information already upon purchase, knowing the basic information about wattage capacity and power supply need is still important.

In this simple guide, you will be able to determine the relationship between wattage capacity and power supply and how to exactly determine wattage that matches the proper power supply.

Terms Simplified

In order to easily grasp the concepts discussed in this simple guide, let us first define the key terms we will use and their significance in answering this question: how do you determine the wattage capacity needed by a power supply?

• Power is measured through watts. Thus, wattage capacity means the measure at which power is generated, used, or supplied.
• In addition, electricity is measured in unit measurements of watts. Take for example a 10-watt LED strip lights or light bulb. A 10-watt LED light bulb means that it uses 10 watts of electricity when it is lit up. If you’re having problems with flickering LED headlights, click here.
• Meanwhile, a power supply is needed for certain electrical devices such as desktop computers and laptops. A power supply is an external hardware component that helps an electrical appliance convert the alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). DC is what powers up most electrical devices such as computers and laptops. To explain it simply, a power supply regulates the supply of power to the electrical device to prevent it from overheating or exploding.

Wattage Capacity and Power Supply

Overheating due to extensive use is one of the usual causes of computer malfunction.

Knowing all these key concepts, it is now time to share to you the simple guide to determining the wattage capacity needed for a power supply. Just follow these instructions:

1. The first thing you need to identify is how many components you have to use your electrical device. Let us take for example a personal computer. List down all the components of your computer.
2. After identifying all components, check for the individual wattage that each of the identified components needs. Most hardware components are properly labeled with the minimum number of watts needed to power them. In your list, itemize each component’s wattage requirements.
3. Add up all the wattage requirements in the list of components. The number you get is the minimum number of wattage needed to power up a full setup of a personal computer.
4. Now that you have computed the minimum wattage requirements, you can then identify the baseline wattage capacity you should be looking for in a power supply.
5. When sourcing for a power supply, make sure to use your baseline wattage capacity as a reference. Provide an allowance to your wattage capacity to cover any future expansion in the usage of the electrical devices. As a rule of thumb, your power supply must be able to regulate your power needs and prevent your electrical devices from overheating, electrical surges, or spikes.

Conclusion

We hope that you’re able to get as much information you need using this simple guide. Remember, your wattage capacity determines the type of power supply you will acquire, so better check and practice computing for it yourself.

Choosing a good and appropriate power supply will help you avoid any power supply loss or even overheating when any electric appliance like computers and gaming devices are used extensively.

Check other posts from KRM Light+ for more info on LED lights and the like.