Something I have noticed about a good power supply verse a lower brand.

[Byte 2.0]

I have been paying more attention to details lately and I noticed something.

Two of my computers with 450 Watt power supply's are very different.

One exhausts almost room temp air, while the other is notably higher.

PC1. AMD XP3200+, not OC. I checked and found a raidmax power supply, came with the case and I never changed it, it is now slated for change.

PC2. AMD xp1700+, not OC. It had been running for several years and the Deer had died and I had replaced with an Antec about a year ago.

I know due to the processor in PC 1, it is going to be hotter, in the case. I just wonder, if all other things being equal if the better brand Power supply's are more efficient as well and run cooler?

Don't get me wrong, I know there are many advantages to running better power supply's, such as if it blows, they normally don't take the reset of the PC with them.

[Cricket]

From what I've read most good quality power supplies are able to push more power than they're rated at and do tend to run cooler because they have more headroom.

With cheaper quality power supplies they sometimes can't even supply the power advertised on their labels and tend to run closer to the edge and so run hotter.

Cricket

[Byte 2.0]

That is what I was thinking, I guess I needed someone else to either agree or disagree.

Lately my work has kept me from staying as current an update with computer hardware and I am having to make extra effort to joggle my current job and keep up to date with computer changes.

[Panama Red]

Heat produced in a power supply can be from a couple of different sources. Components will obviously run hotter when subjected to a greater load so you should expect a 3200 cpu to cause a bigger load than a 1700. Also consider the other components attached like fans, hard drives, etc. How those devices are attached can also have an affect on the load and heat. Equally loading the various psu branches is far more effective than many items on one branch. Than can cause excessive load on some psu components. Another reason for heat generation is the efficiency of the psu. Inferior components can reduce the capability of carrying the full load and may increase watts loss. Watts loss shows up as heat.

[Hi Ho]

There was a dramatic difference in heat output from my PSU when I upgraded from a cheap PowMax 350w to an Enlight 360w. The PowMax put out very hot air. The air coming out of the Enlight is almost room temp.