Best power supply for PC gaming in 2024

The

best

power

supply for PC gaming

can make an enormous difference to the operation of your machine. The Power Supply Unit (PSU) converts electricity from the power outlet into usable power to ensure that all your components get the power they need to function.

If you invest in a quality power supply, it’ll likely become the longest-standing member of your rig throughout years of upgrades as you turn your tower into the best gaming PC. You might not consider it to be a critical part of your PC, but if the gaming CPU effectively acts as the

brain

, then a PSU is the heart of your rig. These are the best power supply for your gaming PC with our recommended options.

Best power supply for PC gaming:

What is a power supply?

When it comes to PCs, the main power supply unit (PSU) is the box into which you plug a mains power cable that then converts the 120V or 230V alternating current (AC) power from your wall sockets to the direct current (DC) 12V, 5V and 3.3V power required by the components of your PC.

They come in a wide range of power and efficiency ratings that tell you how much power the components of your PC can safely draw from the power supply and how much energy is lost in that conversion process. Most modern power supplies can deliver between 500-1500W and between 80-95% efficiency – 5-20% of lost energy is dispersed as heat.

What is 80 Plus Certification?

80 Plus Certification is something that manufacturers can submit their products to. If they receive the certification, it means that you can count on the product to run to a certain level of efficiency. Here’s the benchmark for each certification:

• Standard certification: 80 – 85% efficiency
• Bronze certification: 85 – 88% efficiency
• Silver certification: 85 – 90% efficiency
• Gold certification: 87 – 92% efficiency
• Platinum certification: 89 – 94% efficiency
• Titanium certification: 90-96% efficiency

If you’re thinking that the overlap of several of these certifications means that you might get a more efficient power supply with bronze certification than with the standard certification, that’s not quite how it works. With any particular setup, a higher certified PSU will always run better than a lower one, the range merely reflects different levels of efficiency when using them in different types of setup.

What is form factor?

The form factor refers to the size of the motherboard in which the power supply will be housed. The majority of the PSUs that we’ve detailed in this list are standard ATX, which will work across most motherboards, though we’ve included one SFX (Small Form Factor) option for anybody working with something that isn’t so big. If you’re shopping for the first time, we recommend double-checking the form factor of your motherboard.

What power supply is needed for RTX 4090 and other high-end components?

The likes of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-14900K can draw huge amounts of power, drawing over 500W from the wall each when pushed to their max. As such, you’ll need at least a 1000W power supply for such high-end components, and ideal at least 1200W.

What size power supply do I need?

Size isn’t the right term when most people talk about power supplies – while PSUs do range in physical size, they’re mostly quite similar. Instead, ‘size’ refers to the power rating of the power supply, and what you need will vary based on your system.

For an entry-level gaming PC with integrated graphics or a graphics card that doesn’t require an extra cable to be plugged into it (so it draws less than 70W) and a CPU that’s six or fewer cores, a quality high-efficiency 500W supply should do the job, though you might want to go for a 650W unit to be on the safe side – especially it’s not 95%+ efficient.

As you buy more powerful components, you’ll have to consider upgrading your power supply, as not only do more powerful chips require more power but graphics cards in particular require specific extra cables. By the time you’re buying an RTX 4070 and an

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

, you’ll be wanting a 750W supply.

To find out just what sort of supply you’ll need, check the specifications of your other components and add up the total peak power draw. It doesn’t need to be exact but if your chosen CPU can draw over 350W alone, a 400W power supply probably won’t be enough.

Many manufacturers and retailers have power calculators that can estimate how much power your system will need. Here are a few:

What type of power supply is the most efficient?

No power supply will ever be 100% efficient, because it is not possible to avoid losing power in the process of converting AC power from the wall into the DC power that your gaming PC uses to function. The highest level of efficiency that you can expect is around 96% and you can use a product’s 80 Plus certification to determine its efficiency.