Best Power Supply Under 100 Dollars

The main job of PC power supply is to provide the required electrical energy to other hardware in the entire computer system, just like our human heart. Now the power supply on the market is also a mixed bag. An unsuitable power supply, such as a small power supply, will increase the PC power consumption when computer is running a large program, which may easily cause black screen, crash, computer restart and other failures. A power supply with poor quality will also cause hardware damage when outputting voltage, so it is particularly important to choose a suitable power supply for your PC. To eliminate your confusion on how to pick up the best power supply under 100 dollars, we have highlighted the best ones along with a section on how to choose them.

1. EVGA G5 850W Power Supply

2. EVGA 750W Power Supply

3. EVGA N1 750W Power Supply

4. EVGA W1 500W Power Supply

5. EVGA GQ 850W Power Supply

6. EVGA 600W Power Supply

7. EVGA SuperNOVA 850W Power Supply

8. Thermaltake Smart 430W Power Supply

9. ARESGAME 850W Power Supply (AGS850)

10. ARESGAME 750W Power Supply (AGW750)

What To Consider When Picking The Best Power Supply Under 100 Dollars?

1. How many watts of power do you need

First figure out how much power you need. The graphics card and CPU consume the most power in the computer, accounting for about 90% of the total power consumption of the computer, so we only need to add up the power of the graphics card and the CPU, plus a margin of about 100 watts for fans, motherboards, and hard drives, that is enough.

There are currently six common power wattages: 450W, 500W, 550W, 650W, 750W, and 850W.

• The computer without independent display: 450W or below.
• Gaming computer with discrete graphics card: 500W or above.
• High-end graphics card and CPU recommendation: 650W or above.

2. Look at the quality of power supply

2.1. 80PLUS certification

80plus certification is a power conversion rate standard. The higher the conversion rate, the more power saving. Although it cannot be directly used as a standard for judging the quality of the power supply, those with gold or platinum certification are not too bad and can be used as a reference.

2.2. Power supply design solution

The design solution of power supply is important, but also difficult to understand, so I will briefly talk about it. The power supply design solution affects the conversion rate of the power supply (saving power or not) and whether the output voltage is stable. Most power supply design solutions can be found in the product details introduction.

LLC half bridge + DC-DC is the current mainstream design solution, which not only has high power conversion efficiency (power saving), but also the output voltage is very stable.

Double-tube forward + single-magnetic circuit amplification is the solution in the early years. Now some cheap power supplies generally use this solution. The power conversion efficiency is low, and the output voltage is not as stable as the DC-DC solution. Generally, it is difficult to get Gold certification.

And there are very few solutions of single-tube forward + single/dual magnetic circuit amplification, even if there is one, don’t buy it.

2.3. Capacitance of the power supply

Capacitance is a very important component in the power supply, which affects the durability of the power supply. Some experts can judge the quality of the power supply by disassembling the power supply and looking at the specifications of the capacitor, and what we can see before purchasing is where the capacitor used in the power supply comes from.

In terms of durability, advantages and disadvantages: Japanese capacitors > Taiwanese capacitors > Chinese capacitors. Therefore, if you have requirements on the quality of the power supply, try to choose a power supply with all Japanese or all Taiwanese capacitors. This type of power supply usually has a longer warranty.

2.4. Warranty time

General power supplies have a 3-year warranty, better power supplies have a 5-year warranty, and some flagship power supplies have a 10-year warranty.

Specification and form factor of the power supply

1. Specification

The power supply is divided into: non-module, semi-module and full-module power supply.

Non-modulars are the cheapest, but the wires are all fixed. After the computer is installed, there will be a lot of unused wires, which is more troublesome to organize.

Semi modulars are a little more expensive, the wires that must be used are fixed, and some extensible wire ends can be removed, which is simple to organize.

The fully modular is the most expensive, and all cables can be removed, which is not only convenient for cable management, but also simple and beautiful.

2. Form factor

The power supply is divided into SFX power supply and ATX power supply according to the size. Generally, we choose ATX power supply, and the most used is ATX power supply; SFX power supply is generally used on mini computers.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many levels is 80plus certification divided into?

Currently, 80plus certification is divided into gold, silver and bronze levels.

2. What are the mainstream power supply brands？

EVGA, Super flower, Seasonic, Uscorsair, Delta, Segotep, Huntkey and so on.

3. What is the role of MOV？

The main function of MOV is to suppress mains power spikes. If the electricity environment is relatively harsh, or in areas with more lightning, MOV will play a role. In short, MOV has a certain degree of protection against lightning strikes. Some power supplies are used to control costs and this element will be omitted.

Final Thoughts

The power supply selection is actually not so difficult. In short, there are two steps. Step 1 is to determine how many watts of power supply you need, according to your needs. Step 2 is to choose a psu with a corresponding wattage from a well-known power supply brand. Although the price of a well-known brand power supply is a little more expensive, it is mainly used for peace of mind. It is not recommended to choose some inferior power supplies in order to save money. Choosing a good power supply can guarantee the safety of other computer hardwares, data safety, and even the safety of life and property with a greater probability. Of course, a good power supply also has a bad probability, but the probability of being bad is much smaller than that of a cheap power supply.