If there's one component in your beloved gaming PC that you should never cheap out on, it's the power supply unit, especially if you're using a high-end CPU and graphics card. Corsair's AX1600i has been the PSU of choice for many enthusiasts, but its design is somewhat lacking these days. Well, good news: it's been brought bang up-to-date with a whole host of much-needed changes.

Before I mention what Corsair has been showcasing at Computex, check out the current version of the AX1600i. Yes, it's frighteningly expensive, but you're getting an awful lot of PSU for the money. What you're not getting are things like dedicated 12V-2x6 sockets, a compact form factor, or a monitoring system that easily integrates with the rest of Corsair's software ecosystem.

Well, that's exactly what's new in this update. Instead of using its proprietary connectors or sockets that require an adapter cable for Nvidia graphics cards, you now get two 12V-2x6 sockets (the update to 12VPWR), meaning that you can now use any such cable with this PSU. Corsair will obviously tell you to use its cables, such as its ThermalProtect model, but the 12V-2x6 sockets will take any relevant cable.

Directly related to that is a pin monitoring system that reports back to iCUE, and on that point, the new AX1600i has an iCUE Link hub and USB Type-C port built into it. I don't know if the PSU will actively control the current flow on 12V-2x6 pins that are overheating, but at the very least, you can enable single or multi-rail over-current protection, as well as get warnings about it via software.

To address the sheer bulk of the old design, Corsair has trimmed 30 mm off the length of the AX1600i so that it's now only 170 mm, and it's achieved this by using compact GaN components and applying its Shift PSU design, i.e. the power connectors are on the side of the PSU, not the end.

The result of these updates is the Corsair AX1600i Shift: a top-end power supply that will now fit into many mid-tower cases and far better support RTX graphics cards that have a penchant for all the power you can provide them.

Naturally, you'll want to know what all these changes have done to the already high price tag. That hammer blow has yet to fall, but I guess if you're already happy to spend many thousands of dollars on an RTX 5090, the additional cost of a new AX1600i perhaps won't matter so much.

Thermaltake says it's bringing innovation back to power supplies with its latest unit, shown off at its booth right in the centre of Computex's busiest intersection. It was hosting a surprise visit by Jensen Huang at the time of my visit—chaos. Luckily I could hide away from the action down the company's power supply aisle.

The Dockpower series looks to be more or less your standard power supply. Available from 750 to 1200 watts, in black or white, and including a 12V-2x6 connection, it's got most gaming rigs covered. Though remove one screw from the end with all the ports and it reveals its hidden talent: this part comes away from the body entirely.

The idea is that you can fit the PSU inside the case without this part, which Thermaltake calls the dock module. Then you fit whichever cables you need to it and reattach, saving having to fiddle around with each individual connection in what can be a cramped space inside a PC or under a PSU shroud. The dock modules uses, what I'm told is, a server-grade gold-plated connection. It's secured in place with a provided screw (which has a d-ring to make it easier to tighten by hand).

"Last time when the power supply had innovation was 20 years ago," says Thermaltake representative Mingkei at the booth. "When modular units came out."

"There's no innovation at all until now."

Those are fighting words, as I'm sure some of the power supply products from Seasonic (Connect), Corsair (Shift + AX1600i), and Lian Li (Edge) could claim innovative aspects to their designs over the years, to name a few.

In a press conference from its Computex booth, Thermaltake called the PSU the "next generation of PSU architecture." It also noted the upgradeability of the power supply: rather than rewiring your entire PC, you just swap the power unit and reconnect the dock module.

I do wonder about the overall utility of Thermaltake's design. For one, you can fit most of the cables you need onto a modular PSU before you install it with fairly little effort. Similarly, how easy will it be to secure the connection module into place with the screw once the PSU is installed and cables are attached? Lastly, upgrading a PSU is such a rare occurrence, I doubt most mind the odd bit of cable management that comes with it.

Nevertheless, I get what Thermaltake is reaching for here: it's trying to do something different with what is usually, but not always, a fairly boring black box. How well this works will be clearer once it's out into the hands of PC builders. The Dockpower series—FS, FC, and FI—launches this September.

The old marketing saying of 'sex sells' frequently gets converted to 'excess sells' when it comes to computer tech, and for the 20th anniversary of the ROG brand, Asus has taken this to another level with a new 3000 W power supply unit for gaming PCs.

It's not the power rating that's so eyebrow-raising about the Asus ROG Thor 3000W Titanium III Edition 20, as 3 kW PSUs aren't anything new in the world of workstations. For example, Corsair has the WS3000 and Asus itself has the Pro WS 3000W Platinum. However, for gaming PCs, it's completely overkill and totally unnecessary, even if you're overclocking the twangers off every single component in your rig.

And yet, that's the exact market that Asus is selling its latest mega supply to. Making matters even worse is the fact that the PSU sports four 12V-2x6 power sockets, despite the fact that you can only game on a single RTX 5090. Sure, you could slap another three into your PC for giggles, but it won't help to make anything run faster.

For AI workloads, it's a different story, but that's not mentioned in Asus' marketing, nor is it what ROG is all about. The Thor 3000 W Titanium III Edition 20 does have gaming-related features, such as an OLED display that can be magnetically attached to the PSU or your PC's case via an extension cable, plus a voltage monitoring system to prevent your RTX 5090 from self-destructing.

But no gaming setup is going to get anywhere near the unit's 3000 W power limit (1600 W when using a 115 V supply), and even though the Thor's peak efficiency will be around the 1600 W mark, that's still far more than you're likely to need.

Well, unless you just happen to have an overclocked 800 W Asus RTX 5090, plus a heavily PBO'd Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition, a mountain of DRAM sticks, an even bigger mountain of Gen5 SSDs, plus a small warehouse-worth of fans and RGB lighting.

Of course, I am applying logic to a product that isn't logical. It's not really a gaming PSU at all: It's an over-the-top statement from Asus, simply because it can, and partly because the whole ROG brand has become synonymous with this line of thinking.

But even if you can afford it, I would recommend that you look elsewhere for an all-singing, all-dancing power supply, because when you look closely at Asus' images for the new PSU, you can see that it's just a spruced-up standard design. The main power switch and some of the connectors also look somewhat wonky, indicating that this isn't a special, hand-crafted unit. Ho-hum.

The games industry has been putting transparent glass and plastic on its hardware for decades now, yet Corsair's see-through power supply might feel a tad too vulnerable for my liking. Luckily, Corsair has also shown off a case that seems hardy enough to protect it.

We have seen Corsair's HX1000i Shift Crystal before (its 1000W transparent power supply) before but the reappearance of this tech at this year's Computex is a good sign that it's no longer just a prototype. It now has some official specs on the Corsair website, and all.

Speaking of specs, it's a platinum-certified ATX PSU with a RGB 140 mm fan, a ten-year warranty, and it has custom-made capacitors. On the capacitors, Corsair says, "If you’re going to showcase the internal components of your PSU, they should not only look good enough to attract attention but also be built to a high standard to complement the impressive aesthetics."

Given it's a Shift power supply, it has power connectors on the side, as opposed to the back, which gives easier access in compatible cases. It's a pretty neat function that should help your cables look equally neat.

Corsair has also announced the Warthog PC case, which is a military-themed case that's supposed to take after the Vengeance C70 the company launched back in 2012. It's a mid-tower case which can accommodate a 430 mm GPU (without front fan in), 200 mm PSU, 3 x 120 mm front, side and top fans, as well as 1 x 120 mm fan in the rear and bottom.

It might be because it's called Warthog, but the Olive Drab really reminds me of the Warthog from Halo, and I think that makes me like its chunky military look a little more. It has fighter jet controls on the front to turn the PC on, and built-in handles to pick it up. It's an easy thing to say about a military-inspired PC case, but it's a bit over the top.

At Computex today, Corsair has also shown off the iCUE Link Titan II 360 RX RGB cooler, iCUE Link Titan II 360 RX LCD cooler, 2800X RS-ARGB case, and has taken its wooden Frame 5000D case to the floor too. Still, none of it is quite as striking as getting to literally see the capacitors in your power supply, even if that's a bit more intimate than I wanted to get with such zappy components.

Not content to let MSI run away with the GPU-protecting power supply market, Gigabyte has announced its new Gaming Series of PSUs. The company says that these units are the ultimate "Hardware Guardian" for high-performance systems, thanks to their T-Guard active thermal monitoring technology.

Complete with a promotional image showing a superhero-like figure between two of the aforementioned models, no less. Similar to MSI's efforts, Gigabyte says these power supplies have built-in sensors to monitor 12V-2x6 connector temperatures in real-time, and can reduce power to the GPU if they detect any abnormalities.

Which should help allay concerns about another meltgate, for anyone still worried. There's also a dual-colour cable design to help prevent any connector insertion mishaps, and the PSUs have been awarded the Cybernetics ETA Platinum certification and maintain 80 Plus Gold status, so they should be pretty efficient, too.

The range supports ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards, and comes in 750 W, 850 W, and 1000 W capacities, with a total of six models to choose from—including some white and silver "Ice" models that look rather sharp. I'm not sure why I care about power supply aesthetics, as they're usually tucked deep within the bowels of your PC case, but I do.

And if they can provide some extra reassurance and prevent your precious graphics card from melting at a crucial point? Well, all the better. The PSUs also come with a 10-year warranty, which is an encouraging thing to see on any specs sheet.

Who knows where Gigabyte's Hardware Guardian might appear next? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a box that powers your PC components. Sleep safe, citizens. If you pick up one of these, your graphics card might live to fight another day. Hopefully.

If you frequently haunt the usual social media channels for PC enthusiasts, you'll notice that nary a day goes by without someone posting an image of their expensive graphics card, replete with a melting power connector. Various efforts to combat the problem have yet to completely nix the issue, but Asus reckons it now has the solution: one seriously beefy power cable.

Called the ROG Equalizer, it looks just like any other premium 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 power cable, but there's more to it than meets the eye. Asus says that the new design "ensures balanced current delivery from PSU to ROG Equalizer" so that you shouldn't get situations where a single 12 V pin has to deal with the full 575 W of an RTX 5090, for example.

But for situations where things do go awry, each power cable is rated to 17 A of current draw (compared to 9.2 A as per the 12V-2x6 specification), and there's an additional cable integrated into the Equalizer, that you can plug into a little socket in Asus' ROG Thor 3 and ROG Strix PSUs.

At some point in the near future, GPU Tweak III (a software tool by Asus that works a bit like MSI Afterburner) will be updated to have a 'ROG Equaliser mode', which should give you a real-time monitor of current draw in each 12V-2x6 pin.

Asus isn't the only company to offer such a feature, of course, as MSI and ASRock have their own solutions, though this seems to be the first instance of creating a more capable cable that I've seen so far.

While there's no indication as to the ROG Equalizer's price tag, the good news is that you don't need to own an Asus megabucks PSU to use it (though you will be able to get the cable at a discounted price, if you do).

Since the ROG Equalizer uses standard 12V-2x6 connectors at both ends of the cable, it will work in any PSU that sports a similar socket.

In Asus' own words: "[It has] no specific model requirements. The ROG Equalizer is bundled with the 2026 ASUS ROG Thor III and ASUS ROG Strix Platinum power supplies, and is also compatible with power supplies (ATX3.1 with native 12V-2x6 connector) from all leading manufacturers."

I can foresee many an RTX 5090 owner eyeing a purchase right now.

Is it just me, or does everything feel pretty serious right now? With that in mind, a little whimsy is awfully welcome. Enter the Seasonic Focus ATX 3.1 Sakura Limited Edition.

It's basically an ATX 3.1 power supply with some cherry-blossom themed styling accoutrements, an aesthetic known as sakura in Japan, which is where Seasonic is based.

Not a huge amount is officially known about the Seasonic Focus ATX 3.1 Sakura Limited Edition, which Seasonic has teased on its official X account, merely commenting, "An evolved design, with meticulous attention to detail in every aspect. That cherry blossom color, once more."

The "once more" sign off probably refers to the existing Seasonic Vertex GX Sakura Limited Edition, which also sports those cherry blossom styling vibes.

Anywho, the Seasonic Focus ATX 3.1 Sakura Limited Edition very much looks like a derivation of the Seasonic Focus GX ATX 3.1. That's available in 750 W, 850 W and 1,000 W configurations and complies with the ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 standards. All three version are built into the same chassis within a compact 140 mm depth.

It sports 80 PLUS Gold certification with 90% efficiency at 50% system load, and in a claimed industry first, also offers Seasonic's patented, three-phased thermal control with Digital Hybrid Fan Control functions in three operational stages: Fanless Mode, Silent Mode, and Cooling Mode.

Fully modular cabling, including three PCIe 8-pin connectors, and a 10-year warranty are likewise part of the mix.

The Focus GX ATX 3.1 starts at just under $145 for the 750 W model, and extends to $169 and $204 for the 850 W and 1,000 W models respectively. Perhaps add a small premium on top for the new Sakura Limited Edition.

However, going by the Seasonic Vertex GX Sakura Limited Edition, which is only available in 1,000 W-spec, the full range of wattage options may not be available for the Focus ATX 3.1 Sakura.

We haven't reviewed a Seasonic PSU for a little while now. But the last unit we eyeballed got the thumbs up. There's no word on when the PSU will go on sale, with Seasonic simply saying it's "coming soon." Watch this space then. Or maybe this one.

Hey, remember Meltgate, in which 12VHPWR (and latterly, 12V-2x6) GPU power connectors were blamed for melting graphics cards in a horrifying fashion? MSI remembers, and as a result, two of its newest PSUs have been equipped with an upgraded version of its GPU Safeguard tech to keep an eye on the current levels being delivered to your card.

MSI says that not only will a software pop-up alert you to any power-related issues, but a hardware buzzer will merrily scream "your very expensive hardware is about to be ruined" if it detects anything going pear-shaped with the pins. Okay, it probably just buzzes.

GPU Safeguard+ is supported by MSI's MPG Ai 1600TS PCIE5 and MPG Ai1300TS PCIE5 power supplies, and works by interfacing between your graphics card and MSI Afterburner to form an "intelligent bridge" with your PSU.

If any abnormalities in the power delivery are detected, MSI says the system will instantly throttle consumption and provide the aforementioned warnings. It's also GPU agnostic, which means it should work on all graphics cards that make use of a 12V-2x6 connector, MSI or otherwise.

Given that both of the supported PSUs are very high wattage, this strikes me as an excellent idea. They're the sort of power supplies you'd buy if you were building a machine with an RTX 5090, and that card can pull some serious juice.

Not to mention the price. Any graphics card melting is a tragedy, but a $4,000+ model? It doesn't bear thinking about.

That being said, the melty-power-connector fiasco seems to have been primarily caused by improper installation, so it's a concern no matter what kind of GPU you're using with the modern 16-pin connector designs. No matter the power supply, it's always worth checking the graphics card connection is properly seated several times before first boot.

Here's hoping the tech trickles down into lower-specced PSUs, as I think it's a good shout for anyone who wants total peace of mind from their machine. MSI has missed the opportunity to give it a hilarious "Awooga" sound effect, though. Perhaps a Star Trek-style red alert? I'm just spitballing here. Call me.

The ever-hungry AI industry doesn't just demand hardware; it needs an awful lot of power too. With electricity bills threatening to increase as a result, many are questioning just how the heck they're gonna power their gaming rig. Well, one tech creator has proven (for a second time) that AA batteries are not a viable alternative.

ScuffedBits has returned to their 'gaming PC powered by nothing but AA batteries' experiment, this time turning in slightly more favourable results. Using 64 AA batteries—comprising a mix of carbon, alkaline, and nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries—to create a 25-volt battery pack, their gaming PC achieved a whopping 33 minutes and 19 seconds of up-time.

During that time, the tech creator raced to the top of the mountain in A Short Hike, ran a full CineBench CPU stress test, and even completed several rounds of party games in Minecraft. It's a vast improvement over the first attempt, which enjoyed barely enough uptime to beat Minesweeper.

ScuffedBits has made several improvements to the AA battery pack in the two weeks since. For one thing, ScuffedBits broke out the soldering iron and also rewired it, with the circuit now including two capacitors to buffer the batteries' inconsistent voltage.

The result is no more practical, but I can't help but still be impressed by it. I'm also reminded of another creator, Chris Doel, who salvaged 500 disposable vapes to power not just his gaming rig, but also his entire house and workshop. It's always heartening to see disposable tech given a renewable lease of life.

As for those AI data centres I alluded to up top, I really wasn't kidding about either their serious hardware or power demands. By now, you'll likely be aware of how the industry is fuelling the memory supply crisis. As for powering the whole thing, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last year, "The biggest issue we are now having is not a compute glut, but it’s power. [...] that is my problem today. It’s not a supply issue of chips; it’s actually the fact that I don’t have warm shells to plug into."

A couple of AA batteries just aren't going to cut it. For the time being, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, plus a few more AI-focused companies have recently turned to the government to fit the bill. Earlier this month, big tech major players signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge in a bid to prevent household bills from escalating, but how much protection this actually affords to your average consumer over the long term remains to be seen.

If you've kept up with hardware news in recent years, you'll likely have seen reports of graphics card power connectors melting or similar. It happens enough as to be noteworthy, and led to a redesign for the connector itself, 12VHPWR. It's also led to companies building out their own countermeasures, including a new one baked into the latest version of MSI Afterburner.

The latest version of Afterburner, developed by Unwinder, incorporates a new feature that will warn a user when a power supply is showing signs of abnormal load or instability. Using a new PSU.dll plugin, Afterburner now supports new power supply reporting functionalities:

"New plugin provides traditional PSU 12V/5V/3.3V voltages, currents, output power, efficiency, temperature and fan speed monitoring functionality on MSI MEG Ai1x00 series power supplies and additional per-pin current monitoring for 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 connectors on new MSI MPG Ai1x00TS power supplies.

"When you set critical threshold for such sensor, you may see alarms from 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 overcurrent or current imbalance in monitoring window, in On-Screen Display, enable sound alarm, load some specific emergency MSI Afterburner profile (e.g. a profile with drastically lowered power limit), perform emergency system shutdown and so on," the 4.6.7 beta notes say.

Afterburner support also offers the ability for a system to set an emergency power brake, knocking 25% off the total power limit when an emergency occurs to prevent damage to the card, or worse, an electrical fault that causes physical damage to the card, power supply or more.

This feature currently only works with select MSI PSUs, however. The forthcoming MSI MPG Ai1x00TS range—which I've not seen on sale anywhere yet—feature the prerequisite GPU Safeguard+ feature.

Other non-MPG PSUs, such as the MSI MEG Ai1x00 range, support GPU Safeguard (without the plus) and some real-time monitoring features in Afterburner. Though not the per-pin current monitoring.

GPU Safeguard+ was announced back at CES 2026. It involves hardware and software monitoring and protections for faults, alerting a user when something crops up.

If a fault occurs, a buzzer on the power supply sounds. Upon hearing this, a user is meant to shutdown their PC, though if it happens when they're not around, a black screen will be thrown up to try and prevent a continued load from doing damage to components. MSI Center is also able to throw out an error message, as is Afterburner with this update.

These PSUs also offer a low-level anti-melt mitigation (if you want to be grandiose about it), and one that I've found pretty handy on a couple of builds. The connector itself is painted yellow, so it's easier to spot when it's not quite fully seated. Slightly loose connectors are often blamed for melted cards, though notably not in all cases, and MSI suggests this dual-colour connector is enough in itself to prevent a good deal of issues.

"While our dual-color connectors have mostly addressed issues caused by loose connections, we wanted to do a bit more to address the other factors that can contribute to this overheating," MSI says.

These measures go a good way to ensuring peace of mind with a high-wattage graphics card inside a system. Though you have to wonder, why is this something that the consumer has to be worried about to begin with? Graphics cards are more demanding than ever, with wattages easily in excess of 300 W for some cards, but does that necessitate a higher risk of malfunction, or does the power solution just need to be more robust to begin with?

Other companies have solutions for the same problem: Asus has a chunky power connector for its BTF cards that does away with the need for a cable entirely, and ASRock's PSUs include sensors and dual-colour connectors to lower the chance of anything bad happened. Whatever the case, paying for new kit for peace of mind doesn't feel like a long-term solution to a problem, especially as graphics cards aren't cheap themselves.

Between potential power supply price increases and the not too distant memory of melty cables, it feels like we were due for a spot of PSU recall news. However, Lian Li's latest announcement offers a delightful, low-stakes twist in a seemingly familiar tale.

So, what's the story? Well, for one this isn't a straight recall. Lian Li is offering to replace the SX Platinum Series PSU's power cables, but not because they are in any way faulty. Instead, it's because initial batches of the platinum white cables look ever so slightly "purple".

Lian Li wrote, "After further review, we agree that the current white cables do carry a noticeable purple hue, which may not be visually ideal for certain PC build aesthetics. For users who prefer a cleaner and more unified look, we’re happy to provide a replacement set of pure white cables to replace the existing ones and better complement their PC builds."

Placed side-by-side, the difference is subtle but undeniable. Folks looking to replace their loosely lilac power cables need only submit a request via Lian Li's support request form.

Now, I'm a fiend for purple hardware and personally don't see a problem with the lightly lavender cables—these could look banging in a patchwork purple build, for instance…and I may or may not be scouring eBay for these very cables as I type. However, if you've built an all-white everything gaming PC, I can see how distracting even a little bit of uninvited blue spectrum light would be.

Lian Li now also offers the RS Series PSU, a power supply with a swivel-y connector that we first saw back during Computex 2025. The unusual feature can rotate 90 degrees in order to allow for a wider variety of cable management solutions for your system. As neat as that is, our Jacob voiced some concerns when he saw it last year, writing that long-term, "it could add a big point of failure to a PSU to have stuff moving about in there." Obviously, that remains to be seen, as the RS Series PSU has not been the subject of any product notices from Lian Li.

The same cannot be said for the company's HydroShift II LCD-C 360 and HydroShift II LCD-S water coolers. Over the last six months, Lian Li has addressed the latter model's USB detection issues and pump speed problems. The company has also sent replacement parts out to those who can't get the cooler to work with their motherboard due to power issues.

Additionally, Lian Li also addressed the LCD-S model's AMD mounting bracket tolerance issues last year, as well as USB disconnections, and the cooler's improperly functioning Advanced Mode earlier this month. When it comes to hardware complaints, those definitely pale in comparison to some, and makes slightly purple power cables an almost pleasing change of pace for PC gamers.

Update, October 28, 2025: Cooler Master has commented on the issue, rescinding its support's previous recommendation to tamper with the cable to help with cooler clearance. According to the company, who sent the comment to Igor of Igor's Lab, the previous right-angle connector aimed to "reduce cable bending stress" and "improve visual cleanliness and cable routing in tight cases" but this created clearance issues with some GPUs. Cooler Master says it does not recommend users modify or alter the cable, and regional support teams have been instructed to stop recommending people do so. Newer 12V-2x6 implementations which ditch the right-angled design, the company says, should be "compatible with all GPU power socket layouts."

Original article: Will the drama ever end for the 12V-2x6 power connector? GPU meltgate still hasn't really ended and companies are seemingly hellbent on fumbling the ball when it comes to the connector's design. And then apparently recommending potentially dangerous 'fixes' that, er, don't even work.

At least, that seems to be the case with Cooler Master's support recommendation to a customer who connected support about a power connector that wouldn't fit their GPU.

This is relayed by Igor Wallossek of Igor's Lab who, true to form, has thoroughly tested the power cable and the proposed fix. The problem the customer relayed was that the angled connector that came included with a certain Cooler Master power supply was angled so it was hitting the cooler when attempting to plug it into an Asus RTX 5070 Ti OC.

Cooler Master's suggested fix was to adjust the angle of the cable by using "a small pick or flat screwdriver to release the clips from both sides of the cap."

If your initial reaction to this suggestion isn't to pull a cartoonish O-face, then maybe you've forgotten about the fact that these 12V-2x6 cables seem to be prone to melting, at least with higher-end graphics cards. That's a problem that hasn't gone away, either, despite attempted solutions such as yellow connector pins. Check out a bunch of X user Unikoshardware's recent posts to see just how far from fixed this issue is.

If that's the lay of the land without tampering, then Cooler Master's suggestion to start prying at the connector and angling the cables differently doesn't fill me with an overabundance of confidence. And it turns out my gut's right in that assessment, according to Igor's testing.

Igor tried this proposed fix and found that changing the angle of the Cooler Master MWE Gold V2 ATX 3.1's connector in fact shuffles the cables around and changes their tension. He says: "Even minimal relief at this point is enough to measurably increase the contact resistance" finding that "the shorter strands are now under tension, which leads to a permanent load on the crimp connection."

This can lessen longevity due to movements at contact points, and can also cause hotspots.

In fact, he explains that the results he saw would almost certainly cause the cable to fail in an uncontrolled environment unlike his, which has active current monitoring and automatic shutdown safety measures.

The real kick in the teeth here, though, is that this 'fix' doesn't even seem to be a fix for the issue. The problem, Igor identifies, is not the angle of the cable, but a guiding clip that remains on the plug even once you unclip the right-angle element. This will interfere with a large number of especially high-end graphics cards (you know, the ones that draw all the power) and make it difficult to make a secure connection.

What this reveals is arguably a much worse issue than originally thought. Igor finds that, because this little latch that catches on the GPU cover thanks to the sunken socket in the RTX 5070 Ti he's using, this stops the cable plugging in all the way. This is particularly dangerous for these cables because having the cables properly seated is one of the main ways to decrease the chances of them melting. That's why companies have started making the pins yellow, because that way you can notice the yellow if they're not plugged in all the way.

That the Cooler Master cable is designed this way leads Igor to conclude that "neither a practical quality control nor a mechanical test on real hardware can have taken place."

"No manufacturer who had even once tried to use this connector in a current high-end GPU such as an RTX 5090 Suprim, a 4090 Strix or similar cards would have been able to get past this design without noticing the massive design flaw. The connector is simply too high, the cap too bulky and the exit angle of the cables too steep. Even a single installation test would have shown that the mechanical fit is not given."

So, we seem to have a cable that just doesn't work with many modern high-end GPUs, and a proposed 'fix' that doesn't fix anything but instead makes failure and damage even more likely. Yeah, I'd be keeping away from this one.

The Gravelines nuclear power station in northern France shut down several of its reactors last weekend due to an unusual problem—pumping stations in the non-nuclear part of the facility were clogged up with the 'massive and unpredictable presence of jellyfish.'

The jellyfish were said to be amassed within the filter drums of said pumping stations, causing a potential blocking hazard and forcing three of the six reactors to shut down, with a fourth being brought offline on Monday (via The New York Times). The operator of the plant, EDF, released a statement confirming that the unwanted jellyfish "had no impact on the safety of the facilities, the safety of personnel, or the environment."

Still, when it comes to nuclear power generation, I'd say better safe than sorry is the operative phrase. The reactors appear to have been automatically shut down as part of pre-existing safety protocols, and EDF has since begun the reconnection of two of the reactors back into the French national grid.

Many nuclear power plants use huge volumes of seawater to cool their reactors, which is pre-screened within pumping stations to prevent debris (or in this case, jellyfish) from gumming up the works. However, such a vast number appear to have been present within the Gravelines filtration system that the safety protocols kicked in to prevent potential cooling issues while the problem was rectified.

Speaking to the NYT, professor of biogeochemical cycles at the University of Bristol, Erica Hendy, said that dead jellyfish can also potentially "liquefy into a gel", passing through the filtration screens and causing deeper issues in the plant's systems.

Mmm, delicious jellyfish gel. The proliferation of vast numbers of jellyfish in the world's oceans is attributed to warming waters caused by climate change, which I've taken to be another sign of the coming apocalypse.

Anyway, ever-increasing numbers of jellyfish in our oceans are said to be responsible for a whole host of knock-on effects, including their vast consumption of plankton (damaging potential food sources for other marine life), their tendency to clog fishing nets, and their potential to ruin your next holiday with a painful jellyfish sting.

So much so, in fact, that some researchers (and chefs) have suggested we should be eating them in an attempt to curb their numbers. I mean, I'm game if you are. Jellyfish tempura, anyone?

It's also worth mention that, given AI data centers (and their associated massive power requirements) are now springing up in vast numbers, more nuclear power plants may be the way forward—which, combined with our current jellyfish issue, suggest this might be an ever-increasing problem in years to come.

Still, while many scientists are claiming we're currently in the middle of Earth's sixth mass extinction event, jellyfish appear to be thriving—and as a result, one of Europe's biggest nuclear power plants has had to pause its operations to clear the little blighters out. A butterfly flaps its wings, and a jellyfish... err... dangles its tentacles? Something like that, anyway.

Transparent tech is such a throwback that I can't help but feel nostalgic when I see it. Sure, we have fish tank cases these days, but that's more to display our neat and tidy, cable-free interiors than to proudly display all those circuits and cables. So when I see a fully transparent PSU like this one, a Redditor just bought off eBay, I can't help but feel more than a twinge of nostalgia.

The power supply in question is a Logisys PS550AC Clear Acrylic ATX 550 W, an early 2000s-era PSU that not only lays its guts bare but also lights up blue. I asked why the Redditor chose to get one, and they said they've just always liked how transparent electronics look. You and me both—ever since my translucent Glacier Blue Game Boy Advance.

Came in the mail from ebay today from r/pcmasterrace

I must say, though, it does bring upon me a certain amount of the nervous sweats. There's something about seeing the insides of a power supply, in particular, that makes me nervous.

That bit of potentially very burny and sparky hardware is much easier to rest content with when all its voltage regulation is going on in the dark: Out of sight, out of mind.

A transparent or translucent power supply isn't something that's relegated to the past, either. Earlier this year, our Jacob Ridley got to lay his very own retinas on a new one in the form of the Corsair HX1000i Shift presented at Computex 2025.

That one certainly does lose the retro factor, though, with its tidy, coiled and cylindrical interior bits and bobs. Plus, it's only a prototype (come on, Corsair, give the fans what they want).

Made my own case back in 2003 from r/pcmasterrace

What sprang to mind regarding the Logisys PSU, though, and to further demonstrate its retro credentials, is how nicely it would suit this other Redditor's old PC build I remembered spotting a while back.

That's a gaming PC build from back in 2003, featuring an AMD Athlon XP CPU and ATI Radeon 9700 Pro GPU. Most impressively, though, the Redditor says the case is bespoke, made from 12 mm thick acrylic panels.

You know, PSU innard heebie jeebies be damned, I'm sold on all this retro transparency stuff. I'd slap one of those on my desk in a heartbeat. And crank that blue power supply RGB up to max, too.

It's fair to say that, compared to CPUs and graphics cards, power supply units aren't really PC components that normally get one's hardware juices flowing. They're mightily important, of course, and you should always get the best you can afford, but once they're hidden in the depths of your gaming rig, you'll never pay much attention to them. That said, the new Asus Pro WS 3000W Platinum is so wonderfully over-the-top that I'm drawn to it like a proto-hobbit to a band of gold.

I caught wind of the mighty PSU over at ComputerBase and immediately headed over to Asus' site to pore over its specs. Let's begin with the most important aspect here: the Pro WS range isn't aimed at gamers, as the construction and feature set are firmly in the workstation camp. That said, they will fit any decent-sized desktop case, and if you're feeling flush and foolish, you could always pop one in.

The range-topper is the Pro WS 3000W Platinum, and as the name clearly states, this is a 3,000-watt PSU. Yep, three thousand watts. It's that high because it's designed to power up to four GeForce RTX 5090 cards. Or just one and never even notice it.

As well as supporting a ludicrous number of GPUs, and the obligatory CPU and motherboard requirements, you've also got scope to host a small mountain of other devices via four 8-pin PCIe and six SATA/Molex connectors. You'd probably need all those just to power the sheer volume of fans required to keep four RTX 5090s from melting the motherboard, though.

For me, though, I just really like how industrial it looks. There's no mere flimsy metal grill covering the cooling fan here; the PSU's casing itself acts as a barrier to inquisitive fingers, and it just shouts heft and solidness.

Now, I should imagine that you'll be thinking that the Pro WS 3000W Platinum is rather expensive. And you'd be right if you are, as ComputerBase says the range-topper has an estimated MSRP of €699 (around $822/£602 with current exchange rates). It's not due to appear until the last few months of 2025, so the price may alter somewhat by then.

But while 699 euros is a lot for a PSU, it's actually not that bad considering its capabilities. I'd say that it's better value than the other Pro WS models, but none of them are what I'd call excessive: the 2,200 W one is €599 and the 1,600 W version is a surprising €479. If you head over to Amazon and check out other 1,600 W PSUs and you'll see that they're all just as pricey, if not more.

👉Check out all the early Prime Day deals on Amazon👈

That's a surprise because you'd expect a 'workstation' product to sport a 'workstation' tax, but if Asus does stick to these prices, then fair play to them for not going wild with the price tags. I suppose the specs are ludicrous enough for anyone.

One thing that's worth noting about all PSUs is that they typically hit their peak efficiency at around 50% of the maximum rated load. The exact point varies from model to model, but I reckon that this one will run best in the 1,500 W region. That's still more power than most RTX 5090 gaming rigs will draw, but if you have an extreme overclocked one, then this supply could be the perfect match.

Alas, I'll never be able to afford one and my house has rather iffy electrics—I'd hate to plug a fully-loaded Pro WS 3000W Platinum into any of my sockets—but one can dream, yes? Famous fictional characters may be driven to a life of desperate yearning by cursed rings of power, but it's chonkmeister power supplies for me.

I'm just as susceptible to a flashy OLED screen or over-designed chassis as the next person, but I'll be damned, I think the two favourite things I've seen from Computex this year have been on power supplies, of all things. Yesterday there was the PSU with a swiveling power connector, and today we're seeing that ASRock is making power supplies that fit 12V-2x6 power connectors with extra sensors to check for overheating.

That's presumably as a response to the apparent issues some RTX 50-series graphics cards have with overheating power cables. The whole 'melting RTX cable' started last generation with the RTX 4090, but there have been some problems this generation, too.

We first heard about some RTX 5090 power connectors melting not long after launch. And just last month there was a report of a melted power cable on an RTX 5070, too—not even a high-power RTX 5080 or RTX 5090.

Tech YouTuber Der8auer investigated with a thermal camera and discovered that there was a lot of variance in how much current is flowing through each of the 12 wires on the 12VHPWR cable, and that two of the 12 wires were much hotter than the others. This was identified as a possible cause of the reported melting.

We don't know to what extent each of the reports of RTX 50-series melted cables is down to user error, of course, such as might be caused by not having the power cable inserted fully.

That's something yellow connector pins are supposed to help with, and of course it's one reason behind the switch from the 12VHPWR cable's original, shorter connector pins to the new, longer 12V-2x6 pins.

But if there are measurable drastic differences between the power flowing through different wires of the cable, it's hard to imagine that it's entirely the end user's fault.

In theory, RTX 50-series cards could have per-pin power sensing to stop such variation, but not all do and apparently even Nvidia's own Founders Edition RTX 5090 design doesn't have it.

Which means some additional protection should be useful, and ASRock seems to have that in mind here with its PSU and cable/connector design. It looks like the new power supplies (in the company's Taichi or Phantom Gaming line-ups) have two standard 12V-2x6 connections but with additional two-pin sensors off to the side, with the 12VHPWR cables having a corresponding two-pin sensor to plug in.

This should check for cable temperature and shut it off if it gets too hot—a nice extra bit of security. Plus you get those yellow pins so you can more easily check the pins are fully inserted. We don't know how well it works yet ourselves, of course, but it's a great, practical idea.

Now, with the smart and sensible out of the way, let's get back to those flashy OLEDs. Might as well stick one in all these PSUs, too.

Computex always delivers copious amounts of things that swivel and twist for who knows what reason—just ask Lian Li's motorised curved water cooler. But I didn't expect to see a power supply of all things to get the swivel treatment. This power supply featuring swivelly tech is from Lian Li too, so let's go back and ask them what exactly is going on here.

What's going on is the company has decided to make the power connector portion of a power supply rotatable by 90 degrees. My reaction to this came in three phases. First: What the hell is that for? Second: Oh, that's what it's for, but why the hell would you need that? Third: Oh, that's why you'd need that, that's hella cool. True story.

The long and short of it is this seems to be something Lian Li has done to allow for different cable management in different systems. The power connector rotates onto one side of the PSU or another, meaning inside your case the power cables can jut out of it in one direction or another.

I wasn't entirely sure how useful this would be, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. For instance, just look at the rear side of the Lian Li O11 Vision case, our current pick for the best budget PC case (image below). With the power supply in its pictured rotation, the cables jut out and must take a circuitous route to the passthroughs. If the PSU could be rotated, the cables would have a more direct route.

It might not be the most exciting thing in the world—not when you have a gaming mouse with a fan inside and weird and wonderful PC cases on the Computex show floor—but I'm here for it. Something simple and practical.

There is one concern with this, however, this being safety and longevity—it could add a big point of failure to a PSU to have stuff moving about in there. I'm sure it's all been designed with that in mind and it's not like any capacitors are being spun around in there, but it's still surely a concern when compared to one that has zero parts that swivel.

Still, I can't help but be impressed by the simple ingenuity of this: a simple mechanism that might make a lot of practical difference in someone's build. Forget all that glitzy RGB and bendy screen nonsense, give me a solid, simple, practical improvement any day.

This 'Rotation PSU' seems to come in a couple of configurations right now: 1,000 W and 1,200 W, designated by RS1000G and RS12000G monikers respectively.

Corsair has put together a sneaky concept for Computex 2025 in Taiwan this year. Sneaky because 1) it was hidden at the bottom of a crowded case and surrounded by cables, and 2) it is quite literally transparent.

It's a Corsair HX1000i Shift, which is a new PSU model being introduced by Corsair. This one is slightly different in that it's see-through. It's also just a prototype, though I and likely everyone else at Corsair's Computex event tried to convince them to make it the real deal.

Is a power supply an interesting component to look inside of? Not massively, and you shouldn't go prodding inside one either as you might actually die. Seriously, don't do that.

But as someone that enjoys a chunky power supply for no discernible reason, I appreciate the complete pointlessness of it, and the gall of Corsair to make a prototype see-through power supply and not make a big fuss about it.

Seriously, you could easily have missed this thing at its booth and that's not just a joke about it being see-through.

Though it does highlight, in a roundabout way, the new power supplies Corsair is releasing right now. Including new Shift HXi models: 1000 W, 1200 W, and 1500 W.

These are all Platinum Cybenetics certified and fully modular, with a 140 mm fan and a 10-year warranty.

The Shift part means that this power supply has its power connectors on the side, rather than the back, for easier access in compatible cases. I've given it a go in the past, and it's a pretty neat solution if you have all the Corsair bits to go with it.

Speaking of Corsair bits, the company has also added a new feature to its latest HXi PSUs: an iCUE Link System Hub right there on your power supply. This supports up to 24 iCUE Link devices, such as fans or RGB lighting. This saves you from having to plug one in and using up a precious PCIe power connector, which each System Hub demands, and which can be in short supply with an RX 9070 XT in your system. Ask me how I know.

There's one last thing to mention on this prototype PSU. It was being used in conjunction with a PowerBoard, by Singularity Computers, a motherboard tray that acts as a intermediary PCB to keep down cable clutter and allow for shorter cable runs to and from the PSU.

It's a neat idea, if only really serving to neaten up the back of your build a bit, which is usually not very visible anyways. It's also slightly outgunned by a BTF motherboard, though they do achieve slightly different results.

Nvidia's 12VHPWR power connector, later updated to the 12V-2x6 format, has been at the centre of controversy since it first appeared on certain GeForce RTX 30-series cards four years ago. Now there's a new chapter in its history, as MSI has become the first PSU manufacturer to all but abandon the evergreen 8-pin power connector in its latest top-end power supply units.

Over the years, the power demands of a gaming PC have steadily increased and power supply units have followed suit by offering additional sockets for all the extra cables needed. Take any modern PSU and you'll see multiple sockets for powering the CPU, motherboard, drives, and of course, the graphics card.

In the case of the latter, one typically gets two or three 8-pin sockets. Take the Corsair RM750X, as an example. It has two connectors for driving a graphics card, next to those for the CPU. Nothing unusual about that whatsoever and it's pretty much the norm. However, as reported by Overclock3D, MSI's new MPG A1000GS and MPG A1250GS PSUs only sport one 8-pin socket.

You may well ask why would MSI do this. Let me be clear right now: this isn't a move against AMD, which has many graphics cards that require two 8-pin power cables, but it's instead more of a move towards… yes, you've guessed it… AI.

The reason why those two new PSUs only have one 8-pin connector is because they both sport two 12V-2x6 sockets instead. The company does offer PSUs with up to three 8-pin and one 16-pin power slots.

The only reason why anyone would want to use two 12V-2x6 cables is to have a PC with two Nvidia graphics cards but given that SLI is dead and long gone on the latest generation of GeForce GPUs, dual setups are purely for AI, to let you do your own training and inference.

One could argue that all of this is a nothing burger, as the PSU market is chock-full of different manufacturers and models, and there is no shortage of PSUs with two or three 8-pin connectors. However, it does make me wonder just how much longer the ol' 8-pinner will stick around.

While the 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 has questionable margins of safety when operating at its maximum rated current load, the dinky connector is absolutely fine when dealing with power demands of, say, 300 W or so. I personally find the design to be much easier to use than the traditional 8-pin but that's purely because I'm constantly swapping graphics cards around on a near-daily basis, so I'm hardly representative of the whole PC gaming market.

However, from a system manufacturer's perspective, using a single 16-pin cable is more agreeable than having two use up to three 8-pin ones. I know we're talking mere cents and minutes here, in terms of cost and fitting time, but when you're churning out thousands of PCs on a regular basis, it all adds up.

And that's why I wonder how long it'll be before OEM/SI companies put enough pressure on AMD and Intel (and Nvidia for its mainstream cards) to switch to the PCI group-ratified power connector for every graphics card.

We hardly ever see Molex connectors used in a new PC build these days so it's not like older designs always stick around. Fortunately, the PSU market is so competitive, that I suspect that we'll still be able to purchase three 8-pin socket units for at least another ten years.

But it looks like MSI is happy to start the transition now, at least for a few, niche power supplies.

I'm always babbling on about how power supplies are the unsung heroes of computing. They're a silent guardian, a watchful protector, a dark knight. That's actually about Batman but the same applies to a humble PSU, and hey, MSI get it. The component company is handing out the hottest new game on the planet, Monster Hunter Wilds, with its biggest PSUs.

If there's anyone out there still in need of a game code (what's that, nearly one million players on Steam so far?) you will need to buy one of three PSUs. Here they are:

• MEG Ai1600T PCIE5
• MPG A1250GS PCIE5
• MPG A1000GS PCIE5

The most powerful PSU is the MSI MEG Ai1600T PCIE5. This is, as the name suggests, a 1600 W power supply, which is about the highest wattage a power supply can be on a standard US outlet. Europeans, and most of the globe, in fact, could go higher, but let's be honest, you probably shouldn't. This is more than enough wattage for even an RTX 5090, and likely any future RTX 6090 or 7090 for that matter—though don't quote me on that.

Ignoring the 'AI' mention on the Ai1600T—which I'm sure means something very important and isn't just waving the AI flag for absolutely no reason at all—this is a beefy unit in a lovely gold trim. It has dual 12V-2x6 connections, the cables for which come with yellow tips to ensure they're inserted fully, and nine (9!) PCIe 8-pin connections, though some are doubled up on a single cable. It's rated to 80 Plus Titanium and Cybenetics Titanium, which leaves little energy going to waste. A good thing when you're using a power supply of such monstrous specification.

The two other power supplies are more realistic purchases for a PC gamer, however. Both come with 80 Plus Gold certified, 10-year warranties, and have twin 12V-12x6 connections to avoid adapters.

This code promotion lasts from today, February 28, to March 28.

I should note that you don't have to buy a 1000 W or more power supply to get a free code for Monster Hunter Wilds. There are other less exciting ways to nab a copy for free. You could also buy an AMD graphics card, CPU, or system from participating retailers. Though you might want to hold off on the graphics card front until the new Radeon RX 9070-series arrives next week.

Though the RTX 50 series line has just launched, plenty of gamers are still choosing 40 series cards, partially because the former is so hard to get a hold of. With increasing power demands for those still rather beefy cards, one company has put out a neat adapter with built-in fans, temperature and power consumption figures, and a little screen to display it—though it currently only works on the RTX 40 series of graphics cards.

Posted on Chinese shopping website TaoBao (via VideoCardz), company K.A shows off a 16-pin graphics card adapter for 229 RMB, which works out to just over 30 dollars. You can monitor power consumption and temperature from afar but it also actively cools the wires too.

It is a 180-degree adapter that effectively sits to the side of your GPU and has a screen for displaying the temperature and power consumption. The cables will be kept cooler with the adapters fans but it's also just a nice addition to make sure your rig is performing as it should.

Of course, you will need to display your PC and have a seethrough side panel to actually watch the adapter but it could be a smart way of making sure everything is performing as it should.

This product goes some ways to solving anxieties that have popped up around the most power-hungry graphics cards of the last few years. When the RTX 4090 launched, some connectors were melting, partly down to the design of the 12VHPWR connector and also partly down to user error, as cables hadn't been fully inserted. Companies like MSI have even put out adapter cables with a yellow tint to signify when you've fully plugged it in to avoid this user error.

However, despite the fact that many of these issues have already been mitigated, the best graphics cards have high TDPs and that power needs to come through wires. Heat is just part of the deal of using a high-end rig, and dealing with that heat can be important for long-term use.

However, it is worth noting that buying adapters or extensions for cables can be a dangerous endeavour, as a PSU expert recently told us. The smartest move when picking out your rig is to grab an appropriate power supply and use the cables the power supply manufacturer includes.

As this is a third-party adapter, and only for the RTX 40 series cards, we won't see this entirely shake up the cable adapter market but it's a neat idea, and one manufacturers could learn from as more customers get their hands on RTX 5090s, RTX 5080s, and even start to overclock RTX 5070 Tis. Instead of working this tech into an adapter, one can always hope for card and PSU with more monitoring built in.

The RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 are power hungry beasts, but the first report of a melting power connector was actually caused by an RTX 4090, likely due to an improperly seated power cable.

Hong Kong media outlet PCM initially reported that its testing of an RTX 5090D and RTX 5080 resulted in melted cables, with a picture of two 600 W 12VHPWR connectors looking worse for wear.

However, the outlet later clarified that a clear burn mark was present on the back of an RTX 4090, while the RTX 50-series cards appeared unscathed (via Videocardz). That suggests user error when installing the power connectors on the RTX 40-series card, evoking memories of the whole Meltgate debacle regarding melting power connectors on the RTX 4090's initial release.

The original 12VHPWR power connector was blamed for overheating and melting under heavy workload due to improper seating, before Nvidia switched to a revised 12V-2x6 connector with shorter sensing pins and longer conductor terminals which was less prone to incorrect installation.

Since then, several cable manufacturers have also released angled connectors that put less stress on the connection point when wrangled into a tight case, while MSI has gone one step further and released a yellow-tipped cable to make it clearer when a power connector is correctly installed.

If you see yellow, don't be mellow. Something like that, anyway. Still, it looks like PCM has fallen victim to a slightly misaligned cable connection on the older card, and paid the smoking-hot connection price.

As we found in our testing, the RTX 5090 is a particularly thirsty card, drawing up to 637 W peak power under a 4K native Metro Exodus torture test. Still, we've had no issues with the power connector even at those lofty power draw heights, although we did experience a lot of coil whine using a Seasonic Prime TX 1600 W PSU.

However, this was mostly mitigated by swapping the power supply out for a 1600 W EVGA model, and the card has performed pretty much flawlessly otherwise.

So while there's a fair bit to critique the RTX 50-series for currently (not least that they're expensive, and difficult to find in stock even if you can stump up the cash), melting power connections don't seem to be an issue so far. Let's hope it stays that way, too.

Thermaltake has a handful of new Toughpower PSUs on display at its CES 2025, and I've been over there to check them out. First off, the Thermaltake Toughpower D2000, which is quite literally too powerful for use in many American homes.

The D2000 is a 2000 W power supply, which is double the recommended capacity for use with an RTX 5090. It's so powerful that many US homes won't offer that sort of wattage as standard from an everyday outlet. Therefore, as Thermaltake spokesperson Mike tells me, it won't be sold there. Thermaltake does have a 1650 W power supply available as a replacement.

Europe and most other regions around the globe do, however, have the outlets to deliver this sort of power, and we should expect to see this PSU sold in some places. Though even then, you have to be sure your home electrical outlets are up to code, as that's a lot of watts to draw from a single plug. It's just a lot of watts in general, what are you planning to build?!

This modular PSU comes with heaps of connectors, including a bunch of SATA, PCIe, and GPU connections. There are four (4!) 12V-2x6 connections available, though you should try to use each of these 600 W connections at full whack together… not even a 2000 W PSU can pump out that much power.

Even for most workstation set-ups with a couple of GPUs, 2000 W should be plenty. That's ultimately what this PSU is intended to be used for.

The second PSU worth talking about at Thermaltake's booth is the slightly more sensible Toughpower SFX 1200W. It's for small form factor builds and is only 125 x 63.5 x 103.8 mm. Nevertheless, it puts our 1200 W of power and is rated to, wait for it, 80 Plus Titanium efficiency.

That's top-shelf efficiency in an adorably small power supply. I recently used one of Thermaltake's Toughpower SFX unit in a small form factor build for PC Gamer, and I was impressed it managed Platinum efficiency at 750 W. This thing is on a whole other level. Paired with a next-gen RTX 5080 or 5090 of relatively slim sizing, we could have the recipe for immensely powerful compact PCs. Though so far most high-end next-gen GPUs appear pretty large, except the Founders Edition.

A good PSU is such an important part of putting together a new gaming rig. Powering the entire machine, you need something with enough power draw to run that beefy graphics card and CPU, whilst being able to fit inside your case. If you are worried that your current PC can't handle the next major line of graphics cards, Corsair has you covered. 

Corsair says its "award-winning range of power supplies will fully support the highly-anticipated next generation of graphics cards". Following this up, it says that the latest graphics card requirement of 12v-2x6 GPU power connector is expected to stay the same for the next generation of GPUs. 

The same press release also says it anticipates rigs will take anywhere from 750 W up to 1500 W to run all the components within them. To reach that upper wattage, you would need a high-end graphics card, CPU, and more, but this is still indicative of a broader trend of increased power for the next generation. 

Importantly, the confidence with which Corsair puts all of this information forward suggests that it knows something we don't about the next generation—or maybe just that Nvidia can't actually launch a graphics card with a TDP that much higher than an RTX 4090, right? 

The RTX 4090, which is one of the most high-end cards right now, has a power draw of 450W, which is already pretty high and means you should be looking at a minimum of 800-900 W for the whole rig. Corsair notes a potential max of 1500 W, which could be a bit higher than needed to avoid any potential problems around release, and account for future CPU demands. 

During the launch of the 40-series cards, the 12VHPWR connector for graphics cards was at fault for RTX 4090 boards overheating, so it seems likely that manufacturers will be keen to avoid any similar issues. 

No new PSUs are being announced here. Instead, Corsair is reassuring customers that its RMe line, which goes up to 1000 W; Shift PSU line, which goes up to 1200 W; and top-of-the-line HXi series, which goes up to 1500 W, will all support future graphics cards. 

Notably, AMD is also anticipated to launch new cards at the start of next year but they are expected to be more budget-friendly, and therefore not expected to have a huge power draw. 

A company as large as Corsair wouldn't announce its PSUs were compatible with next-gen tech if it weren't. Importantly, the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 graphics cards are expected to be revealed at CES in January 2025 and these announcements could indicate that is all still due to go ahead. At least it feels like we're moving towards an official launch window, whereas previous RTX 50-series rumoured launch dates were met with a deafening silence from manufacturers.

If you've been holding out for an upgrade, and you're looking for a good PSU to support it, next-gen graphics cards could be here very soon. 

Back at Computex earlier this year, Noctua showed off its upcoming Seasonic-partnered power supply. Featuring all the "shhhh" engineering might Noctua can throw at it, the Seasonic Prime TX-1600 Noctua Edition PSU is now officially set to launch before the year's out.

According to a Noctua product roadmap (via Overclock3d), the Seasonic-Noctua wombo combo should hit the shelves in Q4 2024, and I'm certainly here for it. In short, it should make for a very quiet but still incredibly powerful power supply.

As cool as it will surely be (both literally and figuratively), there's heated disagreement in the virtual halls of PC Gamer's hardware department over its aesthetics. Listen, I love Noctua's cream-and-brown styling, but I don't think it goes quite so well with, well, plain old black metal. (Isn't it fashion rule number one that brown and black don't mix?) That's just me, though, so I'll keep schtum. 

What's more important is that this should make for a gloriously quiet power supply. When our (other, better-dressed) Jacob visited Computex back in June, he was told the PSU should run 8-10 dB quieter than the standard Seasonic Prime TX-1600, this achieved in part by preventing the fan blades from ever being parallel to the grill struts.

The Prime TX-1600 runs fanless at up to 50% load, so it's only when game frames start churning that it should spin up. But when it does, don't you want it to do so in nice and unobstructive way? Don't you want that sensual Noctua whisper to soothe you into your late-night sessions?

Noctua's on a roll right now because it also recently introduced its next-gen 140 mm fan, the NF-A14x25 G2. This will succeed the stellar the stellar NF-A14 and NF-A12x25, the latter being our current pick for the best PC fan on the market.

We might, therefore, soon have enough to fully deck our rigs with silent-as-can-be Noctua gear, which would be lovely. This might not be too expensive, either, given we were told the Noctua Edition of this PSU should only be around $30 more than the standard edition. And with 1600 watts behind you, I doubt you'd be needing to upgrade it for quite some time. Noctua sure knows how to pick 'em!

I was recently over in China, visiting MSI's factory where it makes motherboards, graphics cards, monitors, etc, and at the event, the company launched several new products. One of which was its MEG AI1600T power supply unit, replete with RGB lighting, a host of high-end features, and oh yes—two 12V-2x6 sockets for Nvidia graphics cards.

The days of multi-GPU setups (aka SLI and CrossFire) are long dead and given that MSI specifically notes that the AI1600T is "ready for AI computing usage", it's clear that this PSU is aimed directly at folks wanting to do a spot of homebrew AI stuff. But a few of us at the event got to talking about how it could be for something else.

In passing, one of MSI's engineers had said that its new PSUs were all ready for the next generation of graphics cards and that obviously refers to Nvidia's RTX 50-series, as they're the ones that seem next in line to appear (AMD's RDNA 4 series look likely to launch much later on).

The 12V-2x6 socket is an updated version of the somewhat infamous 12VHPWR socket that Nvidia first introduced in some of its RTX 30 models, e.g. the GeForce RTX 3090. Designed in conjunction with the PCI-SIG, the connector is rated to a heady 600 W of power but as some RTX 4090 owners found, shoddily made cables (or even good ones that just weren't fully seated) meant the design was prone to melting.

So that got us thinking. What if the RTX 5090 has a much higher TGP than the RTX 4090? Rather than being a 450 W card, what if it's 550 or even 600 W? While the 12V-2x6 design is supposed to prevent another episode of Meltgate, what if Nvidia was concerned about the reputation of the previous design, and thought that it would come across as being a much safer system having all that power spread over two connectors?

Using two cables would mean each one could be kept well under its rated power/current limit and help prevent too much heat develop in one small area on the circuit board.

The obvious issue with this idea is that how many potential RTX 5090 buyers have a PSU with two 12VHPWR/12V-2x6 sockets? I can't see Nvidia selling a card that requires one to buy a new PSU but then again, it'd be one hell of a marketing thing.

I don't think the RTX 5090 will be as power-hungry as that, though, and I really think that the two 12V-2x6 power sockets on the AI1600T PSU are just for multi-GPU setups handling AI workloads.

But I do wonder what the future for high-end graphics cards is going to be, in terms of power consumption. While the 450 W TGP of the RTX 4090 is incredibly high, the card often doesn't reach that limit in gaming and it's by no means the most power greedy GPU ever launched.

That honour goes to AMD's Radeon R9 290X2 and 390X2, both of which were twin GPU cards with 580 W power limits. There are plenty of other cards with even higher power limits but they're all for workstations and whatnot.

A single 12V-2x6 cable would, in theory, be sufficient for either of those AMD cards and, as far as I can tell, any GPU that's heading our PC gaming way in the foreseeable future.

With AMD bailing out of the ultra-high-end market, there's nothing to stop Nvidia from making its halo model utterly ludicrous in terms of size and power.

And even though the lack of competition will mean there's nothing to keep prices in check, there will be no shortage of PC gamers who will line up to buy one.

There's no sign of 600 W GPUs just yet but who knows in the near future? If they do appear, then you'll almost certainly going to need a PSU like this MSI one. And I bet if it does happen, there'll be a vendor launching a four-socket PSU just because it can!

Corsair is ditching 80 Plus ratings for its power supplies. Instead, it'll opt exclusively for an efficiency standard from Cybenetics. Don't worry, it's a pretty easy switch to get your head around.

80 Plus Gold becomes Cybenetics Gold. 80 Plus Platinum becomes Cybenetics Platinum. You're seeing a pattern emerge here, right? The Cybenetics range uses mostly the same system of metals to signpost efficiency as 80 Plus.

However, these efficiency ratings from Cybenetics, in Corsair's own words, are a "more comprehensive assessment of PSU performance than its predecessor."

"Cybenetics testing, however, is far more thorough and detailed than 80 Plus, leading to more accurate results."

Some new ratings from Cybenetics won't be entirely familiar to some, though. These are the Cybenetics Noise ratings, which offer a graded system from "standard" to "A++" for noise level measurements. The lower the grade, the more noticeable and loud a PSU is. You can read up on how Cybenetics tests PSUs a little more on its website, which also includes reports on heaps of recent power supplies and is a handy reference if you're in the market.

Cybenetics' CEO is Aris Mpitziopoulos, who we've trusted to review heaps of power supplies for PC Gamer and put together our best PSU for gaming guide over the years. He's also someone who's been quite outspoken about the limitations and issues he sees with the 80 Plus program.

"We are thrilled to have Corsair working exclusively with us, and we hope that the rest brands will follow soon", Mpitziopoulos says. He also tells me Cybenetics is working on ISO 17065 certification, to apply for Energy Star, next.

The 80 Plus certification has been the de facto standard for efficiency ratings on PSUs. However, we have seen more and more manufacturers in recent years leaning towards Cybenetics certification as an alternative. That now includes Corsair, Thermaltake, FSP, MSI and even Intel.

Intel officially noted within its ATX specification documents for power supplies the validity of Cybenetics certifications, alongside 80 Plus. You can check out the full documentation here [pdf warning], though it's not exactly light reading. 

I've been over to visit Aerocool at Computex 2024. The company has a few new cases, coolers, and fans to show off, yet I'm most interested in its new power supplies. Yes, they're still plain black boxes with cables falling out of them, but Aerocool is promising a big uplift in the warranty with its most recent models. 

"Normally this is a maximum of 10 years," an Aerocool representative tells me. "This is 15-year."

The exact model with this incredibly long warranty is the Max P1 1300/1000W. It's an 80 Plus Platinum PSU with all Japanese capacitors, a large 135mm silent fluid dynamic bearing fan, and a mahoosive front grill—though this grill does have fan and grill arm at a parallel, which Noctua was keen to point out isn't great for noise.

The Max P1 is manufactured by CWT, which is the same company responsible for many of Corsair's PSUs. Aerocool is keen to point this out, of course.

The Max P1 is a platinum model, though further down the stack you have gold and bronze. These mostly correlate to the 80 Plus ratings applied to each PSU, though they also get you different warranty lengths.

The entire range runs from 15-year on the biggest through to 5-year on the cheapest. I'm told it's competitive on warranty all the way down the stack, and it certainly looks to be the case. The Smart B1, the lowest with 80 Plus Bronze certification, comes with a 7-year warranty. That's pretty darn good.

This Noctua power supply is really something. It's an optimised and improved version of Seasonic's Prime TX-1600. It now comes in brown, of course, including the cables, and includes a single NF-A12x25 fan and redesigned grill. 

For these seemingly small changes, it's 8-10 dB quieter than the standard Seasonic model. 

"Depending on where in the RPM range, you'll look at around six to eight of that is coming from the fan and around two decibels contributed by the fan grill," Noctua's Jakob Dellinger tells me.

"So that's custom designed to reduce turbulence."

I'm told the idea with the new grill is the fan blades are never, ever parallel to the grill's struts. If that were to happen, the high and low pressure fluctuations that would occur would increase noise. You'll notice looking at Noctua's grill, the fan blades and grill never run the same way.

So, next time you're PSU shopping, keep an eye out for those parallel struts.

Other features of the Seasonic PSU include semi-passive operation, ATX 3.1 and PCIe 5.1 compliance (good for modern GPUs), and 80 Plus Titanium and Cybenetics ETA Titanium certification. It's also a honking 1600-watt power supply that'll keep pretty much everything you plug into it well fed.  

I'm told the Noctua Edition, as it's set to be called, is expected to be around $30 (€30) more than the standard Prime TX-1600. That's more reasonable than I was expecting. Though it isn't set to arrive until the end of the year.

Have you ever seen a product that is so adorable you feel obligated to let everyone within earshot know? That's happening to me right now. I came across this little cutie today, and I would be an absolute monster if I didn't let the world know about this retro PC charger on sale at Drop for $32. I don't know if I can get the word out to absolutely everyone, but I'd settle for, like, a billion people putting their eyes on this thing.

The Retro PC GaN Fast Charger is a 35W charger shaped like an adorable retro personal computer. I assume the name is as generic as possible to avoid any copyright attention from Apple, but the description on the product page says it's modeled after an "old school Mac." Of course, it has a little happy face on it. 

The feature I really like is how the screen on the charger lights up different colors to let you know what kind of charge you're getting (fast, slow, or normal). It also comes with a handful of transparent stickers that go on top of the computer, though according to some of the product reviews, there's no way to remove the happy face, so the stickers sort of just sit on top of it, which looks a little odd. 

The charger outputs a maximum of 35 watts via USB-C 3.0 power delivery, charging small devices like tablets, phones, handhelds like the Steam Deck, and even small laptops (though for those last two, you're probably going to want a 45W charger or higher). The box also includes travel adapters to make for easier vacation charging. 

$32 is a reasonable price for a 35W USB-C charger since decent ones sell for around $25-$40, and none of them are this cute. As someone with no problem overpaying (due to poor impulse control) for cool-looking things, like custom keycaps or a terrible Sonic the Hedgehog headset, I was doomed the moment I saw it.

The Retro PC GAN Fast Charger is available now. I do have some bad news, though: the charger does not come with the mini keyboard, mouse, or floppy disks pictured next to it in promotional photos, which is an absolute shame. 

The design guide for modern power supplies has been updated to recommend just one type of cable plug for graphics cards. It's now recommended that the 12VHPWR connector capable of delivering up to 600W of power to a single GPU should use a plug design called 4 Spring, in a bid to reduce risk of rising temperatures.

The 12VHPWR connector is a pretty new concept in the world of PSUs, first introduced in early 2022 as a part of a wider redesign with the ATX 3.0 specification. The ATX 3.0 specification is basically a how-to guide to building a modern-day PSU for manufacturers, published by Intel, and it ultimately determines how different connectors and standards are actually brought to market.

In a recent update to the ATX 3.0 PSU specification, spotted by user harakaze5719 on Twitter, Intel now recommends just one design, known as 4 Spring, for the 12VHPWR connector, and is actively dissuading manufacturers from using the alternative, known as 3 Dimple.

"Crimp Contacts inside of the cable plug are recommended to use the 4 Spring design instead of 3 dimple design, which will increase the contact area for electrical current flow inside the 12VHWPR connector and reduce the temperature rise of each contact."

Intel then attaches a handy image (courtesy of Wieson* Technologies Co., Ltd.) to show the actual difference between the two, in case you didn't know your spring plugs from your dimples.

The reason why this seemingly minute design change is of any interest is because the exact design of these two connectors has been brought into question by cases of melting GPU connectors on Nvidia's high-end RTX 40-series graphics cards. AMD's latest graphics cards do not use the 12VHPWR connector.

In an Igor's Lab report on the issue back in November, they noted that Nvidia had two suppliers for 12VHPWR adapters: a company called NTK producing the 4 Spring design and another called Astron producing the 3 Dimple design. It's in this same article that Igor's Lab publishes a slide from Nvidia highlighting these two opposing designs, and notes that the NTK design appears the all-round more robust connector. 

Igor's Lab didn't lay all the blame for reports of melting power connectors on only these differences in the power plug on the connector. But they did chalk up some of the 12VHPWR's connectors problems to the less-than-ideal 3 Dimple design.

Nvidia has officially chalked up the failures to an improper connection, noting in a customer support update that users need to be absolutely sure they have fully plugged in the 12VHPWR connector into their graphics card.

Improper contact appears to be the problem, then. Whether from a poorly designed plug or an improperly plugged in connector.

Officially changing the ATX 3.0 specification is a step in the right direction to addressing the issue once and for all. But it's important to note that Intel does not actually design the 12VHPWR connector. It's laid out in the PCIe 5.0 specification, which means any changes to the connector are a job for PCI-SIG, a special interest group made up by hundreds of global tech firms.

Last year, PCI-SIG washed its hands of the affair following a class-action lawsuit filed against Nvidia for the melting connectors, noting in a statement sent to PC Gamer: "Members are reminded that PCI-SIG specifications provide necessary technical information for interoperability and do not attempt to address proper design, manufacturing methods, materials, safety testing, safety tolerances or workmanship. When implementing a PCI-SIG specification, Members are responsible for the design, manufacturing, and testing, including safety testing, of their products."

PCI-SIG has made changes to the 12VHPWR spec, though the only material change to the connector as noted so far on the PCI-SIG specification page is in regards to the four sense pins running along the underside of the 12-pin power connectors, and not the actual power pins. I suspect further changes will be made to the spec with time.

Corsair's done the impossible: it has made an actually exciting new power supply. To achieve this magnificent feat, it's taken all the connectors, shrunk them down, and moved them to the side of the PSU. No, the other side. The end result is a PSU that's extremely easy to build with, providing you have the right case.

Luckily, I have just that: the Corsair iCUE 5000T. This standard mid-tower is the perfect candidate in which to try out Corsair's newfangled power supply. There's ample room out from the side panel for the power cables to extend from their oddly-place connectors, around two inches, and the PSU mounts traditionally with the fan facing downwards.

I suspect many common case designs will work with the RMx SHIFT lineup, though, as I found out when looking at the NZXT H9 Elite, not all are suitable. In that case, the fan on the SHIFT is either facing the motherboard tray, or the side-loaded cables are inaccessible due to the PSU support bracket. That's a no-go.

The 5000T is a great fit, however. Inside that case currently resides an EVGA G2 850W power supply I've used in one build or another for around half a decade. Definitely time to swap that out. Since I've also had the monstrous Gigabyte Aorus P1200W in this machine—a PSU with an actual programmable screen on it—and I have an AMD RX 7900 XTX waiting to be installed, I've opted for the highest wattage RMx SHIFT PSU to replace the 850W G2.

That's the RM1200x SHIFT. It's an 80 Plus Gold certified power supply rated to Cybenetics Gold for efficiency and Cybenetics A for noise by our pal Aris Mpitsiopoulos. You can check out a short version of the Cybernetics evaluation [PDF] for yourself if you want a deeper dive on the details. One key takeaway is the RM1200x SHIFT uses the same OEM, Channel Well Technology (CWT), as the Corsair RMx (2021) lineup we currently rate as the best PSU for gaming.

With the RM1200x SHIFT deemed worthy for my rig, it's time to unpack this marvel. Inside the box you'll find the PSU, a slightly shoddy-looking pack of loose cables, and a wall outlet cable.

It's an odd-looking power supply. Not only because all the connectors have been cut and pasted onto the length of it, but also as it's replete with micro-fit connectors. Each of the many cables that plug into it are miniaturised versions of those we've come to expect from most power supplies these days, and the four-pin micro-fit SATA is especially sweet—it looks like it comes from a build your own PC set for kids.

While these micro-fit connectors serve to save space on the PSU, this is an ATX 3.0 power supply and, as such, comes with a single PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR cable in the box to hook up a high-end RTX 40-series graphics card. There are also eight PCIe 6+2 pin connectors (four dual/four single) for everything else, including the RX 7900 XTX I'll be installing.

Onto the build; the first step is removing the 850W G2. With that done and both power supplies side-by-side, you get a better feeling for the scale of the micro-fit connectors on the RM1200x.

Next up, loading the RM1200x SHIFT into the machine. This is where my build process first differs with the SHIFT versus a standard PSU form factor. Usually, I'd recommend allocating the cables you need for your PC and plugging them into the PSU before loading them into a chassis. That way, you don't have to mess around with hard-to-reach connectors or awkward cable runs after the fact. That's not necessary with the SHIFT.

All that is needed with the SHIFT is to orient it the right way up (in my case, with the fan facing down) and screw it in. It's not much of a time saver, but it makes switching around cables for adding or removing parts down the line much easier.

Now it's time to grab your cables and one-by-one plug them in. Taking note, of course, of how cute the tiny SATA cable is once again. 

With everything plugged in it's onto cable management. Not my forte, admittedly, but cable management is made easier by the straight cables running off the side of the RM1200x SHIFT. There's less of a stretch for the pesky CPU power cable, which solves one bugbear of mine, and plugging in another SATA cable for an easier run to my rear-mounted SSDs is a piece of cake.

I'm done in remarkable time, and what's more impressive is I'm not cursing a cable or missing connector at the end of it. The whole build process is a breeze, absolutely made easier by the shifted power connectors.

There's no need to bend the cables all that much to comfortably close the side panel, which was a part of the build I was initially worried about due to developments regarding the 12VHPWR connector. If you intend to pick up this PSU you'll need to pay close attention to the gap between the PSU and the side panel to ensure the same goes for your build, however. 

What started out as a fun concept I was tentatively excited for I've become a firm fan of. This whole power supply replacement has no doubt been my easiest to-date, and if you're regularly ripping out components like I am then the RM1200x SHIFT will continue to be useful. I admit the utility of this PSU is dependent on your case and if you're going to swap out your components all that often. If you're likely going to install a PSU once then not touch it for five years, there's less reason to take a punt on a non-standard design such as this, which will ultimately limit your choice of chassis.

Though for simply offering something different in the power supply world, I'm all for the RM1200x SHIFT.

A few weeks ago, images of an odd-looking PSU from Corsair leaked out. What made it so odd? Well, the connectors were on the "wrong" side. Could such an aberration be real? Yep: Corsair officially announced the new RMx Shift ATX 3.0 line of PSUs, making it the "world’s first power supply with side-positioned connectors," and honestly, I'm surprised no one has come up with this sooner. 

A standard power supply usually has its connectors on the rear of the unit. The Shift PSUs have theirs on the side, which should make it easy for you to access the power cables while promoting better cable management, which isn't a strong suit for some PC builders (me included). 

This also makes swapping out components like fans and coolers less of a nightmare since you no longer have to stick your hand into the cramped interior of a case and hope that you pulled the right power cable. 

The RMx Shift series has four models with wattages ranging from 750W to 1200W, which means you should have no problem feeding one of those power-hungry RTX 40-series graphics cards all the juice it needs.  

The RMx Shift may not be an ideal fit for every PC case design out there, but it seems like an ideal cable placement for most mid-tower designs. As our own Jacob Ridley points out, you'd need enough room in your PC case to route the cables from the side, or else you'd risk putting too much pressure on the cables, giving you an unreliable connection or straining a connector. 

Corsair says it has tested the RMx Shift in "all current Corsair cases to guarantee compatibility." It should fit third-party cases as long as they're at least 210mm wide, providing enough side clearance to run the cables. 

The RMx Shift series PSUs are available now through Corsair's website. Pricing is as follows:

• RM750x Shift - $149.99, €159.99
• RM850x Shift - $159.99, €174.99
• RM1000x Shift - $209.99, €219.99
• RM1200x Shift - $269.99, €259.99

Microsoft is rolling out three new features to Xbox Insiders that will attempt to reduce the environmental impact of its Series X|S consoles. For the inclusion of these new features, Microsoft has given its Xbox console the title of "the first carbon aware console", but if you can look past all that lofty marketing, the new features could go some way to reducing unnecessary power draw from its consoles.

The first new feature is carbon aware game downloads and updates, which schedules console updates for when it can suck the most renewable energy from your local power grid.

"Xbox will schedule game, app, and OS updates for your console at specific times during the nightly maintenance window that may result in lower carbon emissions because a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid," Microsoft says.

The next feature is actually pretty simple: Microsoft is changing it so Xbox Insider's consoles automatically shift to the Shutdown (energy saving) power option. If you leave your console in standby mode you could be drawing up to 20 times more power than if you shut the console down fully (0.5W to around 10–15W, according to Microsoft). Standby is likely the go-to option of choice for most gamers, which means this could be the real power saver of the lot.

Last-gen Xbox One consoles will also be receiving a new Shutdown (energy saving) power mode. Since there are roughly 50 million of those consoles out in the wild, plenty of which are likely to still be operating, this could be the feature that's most important for power savings on the whole. Then again, Microsoft is still trying to figure out the best way to tell users of the change, and there's no automatic shift to the new shutdown mode for the older model. 

The console's boot time will be slower with the new mode enabled, but that feels like a small price to pay for lower energy consumption. 

The hard work will be getting users to make the change in their settings menu, especially on the older console where users may be less aware of new features being added. It looks like Microsoft is aware of the mammoth task of actually getting Xbox One owners to make the switch. To try and convince users to take the plunge on the energy-saving setting, Microsoft says it will save the equivalent amount of carbon removed by one tree planted and grown for a decade for every two consoles that switch to Shutdown (energy saving).

Lastly, Microsoft is adding an active hours feature for those console owners that absolutely require a swift boot time. During the stated active hours (automatically configured on X|S but manually set on Xbox One), the console will be available from standby as per usual. Outside of these active hours, the console will shut down.

These features are only available to Xbox Insiders currently, but Microsoft says the update will roll out to other users "soon".

These features have already made it to Windows PCs, if you're looking for ways to reduce your footprint on your desktop. Windows 11 will only update when more renewable energy is available in your local grid, using data from ElectricityMap and WattTime. These are likely the same services powering the Xbox X|S's carbon aware updates, too.

Gaming machines of all types are pretty power-hungry beasts, but no more so than high-performance PCs. It bears mentioning that simply shifting from sleep to shutdown can be a big help in reducing latent power draw for your machine, which not only helps save the planet but could save you a small amount on your energy bill. Sure, it's not going to amount to much month-to-month, but over a lifetime of PC gaming, it all adds up.

Images of alleged upcoming Corsair PSUs have me scratching my head today. All the parts of a conventional PSU are present on the new 'Shift' lineup—fan, connectors, power switch—but they're all topsy-turvy.

The bulk of the connectors on a regular PSU are located on the opposite facing side to the power switch and external power connector. However, on the so-called Shift models, they're instead on the side. From the information we have on these unreleased PSUs, this repositioning is intended to make these connections easier to access.

The pictures of the PSU were posted by leaker momomo_us on Twitter, so not yet confirmed by Corsair. They look legitimate enough, but we'll have to wait on official confirmation to be sure. Three capacities are noted with SKUs: 1200W (CP-9020254-NA), 1000W (CP-9020253-NA), and 850W (CP-9020252-NA).

Other specs alluded to include: 140mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan, 80 Plus Gold ratings, and ATX 3.0 certification. Notably there are no connectors for 12VHPWR, though cables terminating in twin 8-pin connectors can be substituted instead.

If the Shift lineup does turn out to be genuine, it seems likely Corsair would also have plans to tie this PSU launch alongside a suitably sized PC case at the very least. It's not a PSU format I can see working in every bog standard chassis.

Due to the orientation of the fan in the pictures, the cables would extend out towards the side panel of the chassis—at least in a standard PC tower. There'd need to be sufficient room to then route the cables out of the way or else you'll really have to squish them down to squeeze the side panel on. Too much pressure and you could end up with a dodgy connection, and that's the last thing anyone wants.

In the right case, however, I could see this design making accessing each PSU connector a helluva lot easier. Handy for upgrades where you might need to pull a cable or add one in on the fly. Similarly could offer some easy routing for cables with less of a mass of cables to untangle first. So perhaps there's something pretty ingenious here—in the right circumstances.

Sony's DualSense controller already had something of a rep for poor battery life. Now it seems the upgraded DualSense Edge is even worse. Sony's solution to this poor wireless battery life? Keep the controller plugged in. No, really.

Sony has confirmed to our sister site TechRadar Gaming that the DualSense Edge has slightly worse battery life than the original DualSense controller thanks to the addition of new features to the same form factor:

"The DualSense Edge wireless controller’s operating time is moderately shorter than the original DualSense wireless controller because we’ve included many more features within the same form factor and ergonomic design as the original DualSense controller," Sony says.

Somewhat redundantly, Sony also pointed out in its statement that keeping the controller plugged in preserves battery life:

"We wanted to strike a good balance between wireless operating time and delivering robust, high-performance features. Additionally, the longer USB braided cable is also great for competitive players who prefer playing with a wired connection to avoid wireless interference – this option preserves battery life."

So there you have it. The solution to poor battery life is keeping the DualSense Edge plugged in.

For the record, TechRadar found the original DualSense managed around 12 hours when new, but that degraded with battery wear to more like six hours over the course of a year. Sony doesn't specify battery life for the Edge, but the fact that it will concede the Edge will be worse than the original unit hardly bodes well.

Anywho, while the DualSense Edge is PC compatible none of this is making it seem like a remotely appealing alternative to the likes of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 which hits 30 to 40 hours of battery life. That's especially true given the new Sony controller is more expensive at $200/£209. Yikes.

The best power supply (PSU) fuels your PC with the energy it needs to run your components. It's a simple part of your rig, but a crucial one that could become a real pain. The best PSUs need to keep up with power-hungry graphics cards and CPUs and they need to do it with a good level of efficiency, and that can be too big an ask for some cheaper models from unknown brands.

That's why we're sticking to the best power supplies for this guide. These are PSUs we've tested for electrical worthiness, but also on their price and compatibility. The top of the lot for a mix of quality and wattage is the Corsair RM750x, but if you want to go bigger in terms of wattage we recommend the Seasonic Prime Titanium TX-1000 instead.

Overly cheap PSUs aren't worth it, so we chose the ones you want to spend a little more on to know you're secure. Don't think of it as wasted cash, however. The best PSUs run flawlessly, are more efficient, and can be carried forward to future builds. That doesn't mean every PSU we recommend is expensive. They're not—some PSUs we love are only $50. There's just a big difference between a cheap PSU from a well-known brand and one from someplace else.

If you're still unsure about where to start when it comes to power supplies, don't sweat, we've tested dozens of PSUs, and handpicked our favorites, highlighting the sort of builds they should be in.

The Quick List

The best power supply for PC gaming

For most PC builders, the Corsair RM750x is the best PSU available. The newest version, introduced in 2021, managed to improve an already outstanding product. Corsair’s RMx line is among the best in the PSU market, combining high performance and reasonable prices, and the RM750x is clear proof of this. The competition is tough, but Corsair’s R&D manager, Jon Gerow (aka famed PSU reviewer Jonnyguru), and his team of engineers manage to create products that set the bar higher and higher.

The build quality is outstanding in this CWT platform, which is only available to Corsair. The caps on both primary and secondary sides are Japanese and the FETs, along with the magnetic levitation fan, won’t have a problem outliving the ten-year warranty. 

The fan upgrade is a highly welcome feature, too. It boosts reliability, even under harsh conditions where most other fans would have issues in the long run. The cooling fan is the crucial part of every PSU, highly affecting its reliability, so it is important to use the best fan possible.

Read our full Corsair RM750X (2021) review.

The best 1KW power supply for PC gaming

Seasonic hit the jackpot with its Prime platform, which starts from Gold efficiency and goes all the way up to Titanium. The TX-1000 is rated to Titanium, hence the name, and is the best 1KW power supply around today. Several high-impact brands have already used Seasonic's base platform in their own PSUs, including Asus with its ROG Thor 1200W, Corsair's AX line, and Antec with its legendary Signature line. 

If Seasonic could make more of these units, I would expect more brands to get in line to source them, despite their high prices. The majority of buyers prefer low-efficiency and more affordable power supplies, unfortunately. Still, when an OEM is confident enough to provide a platform with a twelve-year warranty, you know that this is a bullet-proof product.

The Seasonic TX-1000 is a great power supply featuring top-notch build quality. Besides great soldering work, it also uses Japanese capacitors everywhere, including many polymer caps besides electrolytic ones and a fluid dynamic bearing fan. 

Seasonic's engineers did their best to offer sky-high efficiency under all load regions and silent operation, at the same time, along with increased reliability. Performance-wise, this PSU belongs to the top league since it achieves tight load regulation on all rails, it has terrific ripple suppression without using the annoying in-line caps, and its hold-up time is great. On top of that, the 5VSB rail's efficiency is high, and at light loads, the PSU achieves some of the highest efficiency readings we have seen so far. 

Another asset of the TX-1000 is that it has six PCIe connectors on dedicated cables. You won't have a problem powering energy-hungry graphics cards where the use of a single cable with two PCIe connectors should be avoided.

Read our full Seasonic TX 1000 review.

The best cheap power supply for PC gaming

This XPG Pylon is our favourite PSU for low wattage nowadays, covering just the bare essentials in terms of PC performance, as Corsair decided to withdraw the popular CX450 model. That used a modern but expensive platform, making it hard to keep its price low. From the moment the CX450 is out of the equation, the road is open for the XPG Pylon 450 to shine.

From 2022, XPG upgraded the warranty on all Pylon models to five years to keep up with the competition. Given the fluid dynamic bearing fan and the reliable platform, the warranty upgrade makes sense. The significant compromise that had to be made to keep the cost down was the use of an outdated platform.

The non-modular cable design won’t please most users, but modular cables would notably affect the final price, so they had to go to. Given the not-so-high number of cables in this PSU, the non-modular design isn't the worst. Thankfully, the five-year warranty that XPG provides is the cherry on top of this product.

Read our full XPG Pylon 450 review.

The best low-capacity power supply for PC gaming

Best CPU for gaming | Best graphics card | Best gaming motherboards
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Be quiet! has developed a unique platform alongside OEM partner Channel Well Technology for its Pure Power 11 FM line, and the results are fantastic. The Pure Power 11 FM with 550W capacity is our top choice for a low-capacity power supply, and it is ideal for not demanding systems where users require a top-quality PSU under $100.

The PSU is 80 PLUS Gold and Cybenetics Gold certified in efficiency and has a Cybenetics A noise rating, proving it is quiet. The dimensions are standard, with 160mm depth, and the cooling fan uses a rifle bearing for increased reliability. The five-year warranty is half than what the competition provides (e.g., the Corsair, RM550x). Still, you cannot call it short.

The Pure Power 11 FM 550 showed in testing that it has no problem facing intense competition from Corsair, Seasonic, EVGA, Cooler Master, and others. Perhaps its best competition is the Seasonic Focus Plus Platinum 550W, but this is still the outright winner.

Read our full BeQuiet! Pure Power 11 FM 550W review. 

The best high-capacity power supply for PC gaming

The Corsair AX1600i is the best high-capacity power supply, thanks to being one of the first desktop PSUs to use its cutting-edge power supply technology. Even several years after its initial release, few other PSUs utilize it. In short, the AX1600i uses a totem-pole PFC converter, utilizing GaN MOSFETs, which can offer up to 99% efficiency compared to the 96% efficiency levels that the most advanced conventional APFC converters can deliver. Okay, those are the technical details, but what you really need to know is that this is about as efficient as power supplies get.

Besides the totem-pole PFC, the AX1600i also uses two Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) to manage its circuits. A single microcontroller (MCU) is the communications bridge between the system and the PSU, allowing users also to control some vital functions of the PSU (for example, the fan speed profile and the selection between multiple and single +12V rails, setting up the OCP limits, etc.) besides monitoring tasks. 

The AX1600i is the worthy successor of the legendary AX1500i. Both units are made by Flextronics, using cutting-edge technology while offering the best performance that money can buy today, thanks to their digital platform. Besides being highly efficient, the AX1600i also offers outstanding load regulation, excellent transient response, long hold-up time, and excellent ripple suppression. 

Despite its high capacity, it remains impressively quiet in operation, thanks to the relaxed fan profile and a high-quality FDB fan. Finally, using the Corsair Link software, you're able to choose between three fan modes: performance, balanced, and quiet, so every user will be able to set the PSU according to their needs. You will pay a lot to get your hands on a Corsair AX1600i, but there is nothing else able to meet this PSU eye-to-eye when it comes to overall performance.

Read our full Corsair AX1600i review.

The best small form factor power supply for PC gaming

The SilverStone SX1000 is the strongest small factor unit we have tested so far, and it has enough connectors to support a strong gaming system even in a tight space. It even appears way stronger than its specs list appears, since we pushed it close to 1500W without issue.

SilverStone has equipped this PSU with two EPS and six PCIe connectors to ensure it can deliver its full power without any problems. Moreover, all cables are modular, making the PSU’s installation a breeze. Because of the small PCB, the temperatures at the internals can go high, so a double ball-bearing fan is used, which can handle hot conditions without any problems.

Since everything small and powerful is usually expensive, especially in the IT world, the SX1000 will empty your wallet. That said, PSUs are inexpensive given the vital role that they have in every system, so a 250-300 dollar power supply doesn’t look that expensive. Especially if you consider that you will keep it for many years.

Read our full Silverstone SX-1000 review.

The most flexible power supply for PC gaming

The Corsair RM1200x Shift is the most flexible PSU we recommend. The whole Shift lineup is a pretty wild concept for the world of power supplies, actually. What if, and stick with me here, you took the connectors off the back of the PSU and instead laid them out down the side of it? Then you could access all the plugs easier in a usual case after removing the side panel.

It seemed like a fun concept, so we called one in and tried it out inside a Corsair 5000T PC case. It works excellently once you start building, allowing you to skip over some of the hassle of pre-allocated connectors and running cables out of a tight spot. Instead you just load it into your chassis, decide on your cable runs, and it's all right there easy to use. Also all the connectors are micro-fit on the PSU side, meaning they're much smaller than usual, which makes things even easier.

The fundamental platform is made by CWT, the same manufacturer that takes on the job of crafting Corsair's RM750x, our favorite PSU for gaming. Also, it scores just as highly as that popular power supply in testing from Cybernetics, managing a Cybenetics Gold rating at both 115V and 230V. You can read a short version of the Cybenetics report if you want to get into all the details.

Read our story on what it was like to build with the RM1200x SHIFT.

How we test power supplies

Besides the experience and vast knowledge of electronics, the evaluation of power supplies also requires wildly expensive equipment, which not everyone can get their hands on. On top of that, even if you have the proper equipment, you need to know how to operate it, and above all, you have to properly maintain it (AKA calibrate it in frequent intervals to ensure that your results are correct). 

This is why there are so few PSU reviewers, and even fewer can deliver good PSU reviews. That's why PC Gamer relies on the work of Aris Bitziopoulos, and power supply testing and certification company Cybenetics, for the recommendations that we list in this article. That data is gathered using the following test equipment:

Aris uses top-of-the-line equipment to test power supplies, including Chroma electronic loads, Keysight AC sources, N4L power meters, Keysight and Picoscope oscilloscopes for PSU timing, and ripple measurements, along with other specialized equipment. 

They take complete readings at normal operating temperatures, 28-32 degrees Celsius, and under high operating temperatures (>40C), which expose the slightest problem that a power supply might have. Testing a PSU only at room temperatures doesn't provide the whole picture, and this is where most PSU reviews suffer. 

When it comes to noise measurements, besides a highly accurate sound analyzer, Aris also has a hemi-anechoic chamber at their disposal, with a close to 6dBA noise floor. The noise measurement's set-up is depicted in the photos below.

Best power supply FAQ

An 80 Plus Titanium certified power supply is more efficient than a Bronze one, meaning the parts within waste less power (heat) during the AC to DC conversion. These are often measured across three load levels: 20%, 50%, and 100%. Most PSUs tend to be rated at their most efficient at 50%, although Titanium PSUs tend to perform just as well, if not better, under heavy load.

Higher efficiency also means the internal components are subjected to less heat and are likely to have a longer lifespan. They may cost a bit more, but higher certified power supplies tend to be more reliable than others. Luckily, most manufacturers offer warranties.

Prior to the official reveal of Nvidia’s RTX 40-series, there were some disturbing rumors floating around regarding their power consumption, particularly the AD102 equipped RTX 4090. Thankfully, the most outlandish of those rumors didn’t come to pass. We won’t be seeing 900W GPUs this generation, though there’s surely the 4090 Ti to come, so never say never.

Nvidia posted an FAQ on its support page, and it addresses the concerns users may have regarding things such as the minimum wattage requirements, connector durability and compatibility with existing power supplies. The bottom line seems to be, if you have a good quality power supply now that meets the minimum wattage requirements, it should all be smooth sailing.

Beginning with the wattage. The RTX 4090 carries a TGP of 450W, the 4080 16GB draws 320W and the 4080 12GB draws 285W. These numbers have led Nvidia to set the minimum PSU wattages at 850W, 750W and 700W respectively. That’s more or less the same as equivalent RTX 30-series cards. The RTX 4080 12GB really should be called the RTX 4070, but I digress.

Another major PSU question relates to 8-pin to PCIe Gen 5 16-pin adapters and compatibility. Nvidia says the adapters have circuitry to quote: "translate the 8-pin plug status to the correct sideband signals according to the PCIe Gen 5 (ATX 3.0) spec." It can also tell the GPU whether three or four 8-pin connectors are plugged in. If four are detected (for 600W in total), it allows the card to unlock more power headroom for overclocking.

A couple of other rumors have also been debunked—though we’ll need to wait until the cards are in the hands of millions to be 100% sure. The first relates to the durability of the PCIe 5.0 connectors, which is officially rated for 30 connect cycles. That is the same is it has always been pretty much. As a reviewer changing GPU connectors just about every other day, I can confidently say that connector durability should not be a problem.

The last significant rumor revolved around the possibility of an overcurrent or over power risk with non-ATX 3.0 PSUs and the new 16-pin power connector. Nvidia says it encountered an issue with a single supplier early in development, which has since been rectified. However, this last point illustrates the need to use a good quality PSU from a reputable brand. A no-name OEM model may not stick to PCI-SIG guidelines as strictly as a well-known brand would.

The takeaway seems to be much like it has always been. A good power supply is a long-lasting component that’s perfectly capable of handling your RTX 40-series build. As long as it meets the minimum wattage requirements, you should be fine. Add more power if you plan to OC and handle the power connectors with care and you should have no problems.

Whether that's a blackout, brownout, or power surge, the best UPS battery backup will give you the time to save what you're doing and turn off your machine safely. Power surges and interruptions can be bad news for PC components, so what you're buying is peace of mind more than anything else. 

If you have a high-end gaming PC, pairing it with an uninterrupted power supply as a backup is wise. This protects your precious system from fluctuations in outlet power and acts as a surge protector. A UPS utilizes internal batteries to deliver a steady flow of energy, and a good one will give you plenty of time to save your work or get to a safe point before shutting down your PC safely. Our current favorite is the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD. It's a bit pricey, but it'll provide plenty of juice for even the most power-hungry gaming PCs going for about 10-20 minutes after you lose power. 

The time a UPS gives you to save your game or work will vary, depending on its power draw, and there are other things to consider, too. These aren't personal generators, so you're looking at up to 10-15 minutes max battery runtimes on average. The more devices plugged in, the shorter the runtime. Again it's meant to give you enough time to save your work and shut down your PC safely. 

We tested and found each UPS below to deliver precisely what we needed out of what should be an otherwise unremarkable-looking black box. So you can get a better read on which is best for you and your budget.

The best UPS for gaming PCs

The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD 1500VA is one of the best UPS on the market. Several factors contribute to it being our top pick for most gamers. First, it has enough juice to handle most gaming machines, even if you're running the beefiest of GPUs and an overclocked CPU.

Unless you've got systems with ten hard drives, quad-way GPUs, and other accessories, the CP1500PFCLCD should have enough juice to last 10–20 minutes (longer if you have a more moderate rig) if a power failure occurs.

One of the most critical features of the CP1500PFCLCD is its true sine-wave output. Most UPS backups in their price range only provide sine-wave simulated production, a stepped sine-wave that approximates what you get out of your wall outlet.

Some electronics are sensitive to simulated sine waves and will behave abnormally. At $214, having true sine-wave output is unheard of, so kudos to CyberPower for delivering such a quality output.

For smaller accessories and network equipment, the CyberPower EC650LCD is the best pick for most. Coming in at $88 for 390W/650VA, the EC650LCD has enough power reserves to keep the average home network alive for well over 15 minutes, which is enough time to exit your game/applications, save all your work through the network, and shut everything off gracefully during a power outage.

The EC650LCD is small enough to hide away, taking up very little desktop room for a 390W unit. One of my favorite features of the EC650LCD is its array of ECO ports. Depending on your schedule or use case, these ports can be managed and timed to turn on or off. The ECO ports will also power down accessories like speakers and display if your PC is asleep or powered down.

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The name APC is synonymous with high-quality UPS. I use three of the company's Smart-UPS professional-level units at home: two 1000VA units for my network and NAS gear and one 1500VA unit for my PC and displays.

APC's BE600M1 is excellent at providing battery and surge protection for the devices you use almost daily. That is your phone and possibly a tablet. However, it has enough power reserves to plug in a router and a single display. If you only plan to use the BE600M1 to power a Wi-Fi router, the unit will have enough juice to let you browse the internet in peace for several hours, even if the electricity in the rest of your house is gone. Priorities.

The best part of the BE600M1 is its size. Most UPS are large and belong on the floor, but APC encourages you to put the BE600M1 on a desk. The unit provides a single 1.5A USB port for charging a phone or tablet, so you don't have to use your device's power adapter, which is inevitably a wall wart that potentially overlaps another socket or two, so you free up sockets for other devices.

The best UPS for PC gaming FAQ

As it turns out, we've been burning quite a lot of gas to make electricity. About 29% of our gas is used for generating it here in the UK. Also, 3% of all the gas we consume here comes from Russia, and since Russia invaded Ukraine that supply line's been compromised. That happened during a period of soaring wholesale costs for energy sources created by sudden post-pandemic demand, and as a result it now costs about £10,000 to boil a kettle. 

We just have to laugh, otherwise we'd cry. The cost of living crisis is real, and let's not be so flippant as to suggest that running a gaming PC is among the chief concerns it creates, but let's also keep in mind that PC gamers are a broad group with varied financial backgrounds. In fact the only thing we all have in common in that regard is that we'd prefer to pay less for our expanding energy bills. 

Watts up 

These events have prompted many of us to seriously consider how much energy our gaming devices actually consume, perhaps for the first time. Before bills started skyrocketing in early 2022 onwards, you could use an average energy unit cost of 12.5 p/kWh to ballpark estimate your gaming PC's usage. Most PCs use 100-200W depending on their specs, so that would have cost you between 10p-20p per day. 

Now the average energy unit cost is somewhere around 28 p/kWh, so you can go ahead and double that figure now. And then tack on another 40% if electric bills increase by as much as the news media is telling us they could this winter. 

What can we do? Quite a lot, actually. Because we generally don't think about wattage until it's time to overvolt something, power an absurd new GPU with seven power connectors, or buy a new PSU—the least exciting upgrade possible—the marginal gains we can employ to reduce overall energy consumption and increase efficiency aren't necessarily at the forefront of our minds. Let us all channel our inner Martin Lewis and get our PCs looking after the pennies.

Turn it off 

Let's start with the obvious: turning your PC off, as in actually shutting it down instead of leaving it on sleep mode. This isn't going to transform the complexion of your energy bills and save you tens of pounds, since PCs generally use about 3W per hour in sleep mode (versus 100W in an active state), but it's so easy to do. And what's the downside? Marginally slower boot times? You can absorb that inconvenience, Sammy Stopwatch. 

Sleep mode does still have a part to play in helping out your energy bills though—by kicking in sooner after inactivity. In Windows 10's 'Power & Sleep' settings menu you can tell sleep mode to kick in sooner—say, after five minutes of inactivity instead of 20. Beats leaving your PC primed to run Crysis in seven different windows at a moment's notice while you pop away for a tea. 

Also in Windows power settings, you can choose a power plan. Even though it seems to go against every tenet of our existence as PC gamers, it really is fine to select 'balanced' instead of 'high performance'. The former won't affect your in-game performance at all. It'll just power down your CPU into a lower power state when it's not being used, then throttle it back up when Windows detects that an app or apps are placing demands on it again. It's not so different from Sleep Mode kicking in, except it happens much more dynamically without your noticing, and much sooner than Sleep Mode would begin. 

Cull the apps 

While you're still reeling from the idea of not clicking the option that features the words 'high' and 'performance' from a drop-down menu, consider this: those annoying startup apps you never wanted to greet you every time you boot to Windows are costing you system resources, and by extension, a small amount of energy bill money. That's right, EA Origin. You knew this day would come. 

It's time to disable all the startup apps you don't actually use or need. You can find the Startup tab in your Task Manager in Windows. For too long have we lived under Adobe Updater's cruel tyranny. Now we liberate ourselves, and spend energy bill money only on the programs we deliberately use, not the creepy ones in the background. Making these marginal gains at software level will help, but it probably won't be the difference between your energy bills being affordable or crippling. Hardware, on the other hand, makes a huge difference. Fortunately, the world of PC componentry's been making a real push towards energy efficiency for years anyway, quite independently of our current predicament, and that means you can shop around for some really low output parts. 

The most important of all, though, is your power supply. Yes, that again. PSUs with higher 80 Plus energy efficiency ratings are not only more efficient under higher loads, but produce much less heat as a result, and that requires the fans on your PC to kick in less frequently and at lower speeds. So if you want lower bills in the long run, making an initial outlay on an 80 Plus Titanium or Platinum-rated PSU will keep your whole PC cooler and ask less of your fans and liquid cooling. 

Renewables

We don't know what energy prices will do over the next few years. But what we do know is that making your PC more energy efficient isn't just good for your finances, but for the environment. Using less electricity means burning less gas and coal to produce it—at least until renewables tip over into becoming our primary electrical fuel source, and hopefully that will be soon. So we've got an opportunity as PC gamers not just to save money, but to be a bit kinder to the planet by making these changes.

The SilverStone SX1000 is the strongest small factor unit we have tested so far, and it has enough connectors to support a strong gaming system. This is why it is out top choice in the best power supply for gaming guide for this category. 

The best part is that with lower than 700W loads, its noise output won’t bother you, unless you are super-sensitive, in which case you should not invest on in a high power density power supply in the first place. 

Since everything small and powerful is usually expensive, especially in the IT world, the SX1000 will empty your wallet. That said, PSUs are inexpensive given the vital role that they have in every system. Not long ago people paid over 1000 dollars to acquire a mid-level graphics card, so a 250-300 dollar power supply doesn’t look that expensive, especially if you consider that you will keep it for many years.

Specifications

SilverStone’s SX PSU line consists of two SFX-L units with 750W and 1000W capacities. The SX1000 has a 969W-per-liter power density, among the highest we have seen so far. 

SilverStone equipped it with two EPS and six PCIe connectors to ensure it can deliver its full power without any problems. Moreover, all cables are modular, making the PSU’s installation a breeze. Because of the small PCB, the temperatures at the internals can go high, so a double ball-bearing fan was used, which can handle hot conditions without any problems. In general, DBB fans are considered of higher quality compared to FDB, but they are more expensive and this is why the latter dominate the high-end market.

The platform's design is clean, despite the high power density. Enhance Electronics, the OEM, used large heat sinks on the primary side, with perforations on the APFC heat sink to allow airflow to the components installed below it. There was no room on the small PCB for a single large main transformer, so Enhance used two smaller ones, installed in parallel. The filtering caps on both primary and secondary sides are of high quality, and the same applies to the Globe Fan DBB fan, which measures 120mm across. 

One of the notable advantages of the SFX-L form factor is that it allows up to 120mm fans, keeping noise output low, while the SFX units are restricted to 92mm fans in the best-case scenario.

The 12V rail can deliver the PSU’s full power, and the minor rails can go up to 125W combined.

With two EPS and six PCIe connectors, the PSU doesn’t have a problem delivering its full power. There is no 12+4 PCIe connector, but hopefully SilverStone will soon update this platform. The cables are short, because this PSU is meant for small chassis, but SilverStone should probably offer a version with longer cables, including an SFX-to-ATX adapter.

Performance

Load regulation is tight enough at 12V but not so tight on the minor rails. Ripple suppression could also be better at 12V. More filtering caps are needed for lower ripple on this rail, but the PCB is not large enough to accommodate them. In-cable caps could offer a performance boost here. With better ripple suppression at 12V, the SX1000 could easily achieve top marks versus all manner of PSU.

The hold-up time exceeds 17ms, which is not as easy in high-power density PSUs because there is restricted space to install large enough bulk caps. Though the inrush currents are at normal levels.

Efficiency is high with normal loads and super-light ones, but it could be higher with light loads. The 5VSB rail also achieves top efficiency scores. Vampire power is low with 115V, but we would like to see below 0.1W with 230V input.

The transient response at 12V is among the best we have ever seen in this form factor category, meeting many normal dimensions PSUs with similar capacity eye-to-eye. The other rails also have good transient response.

It is amazing to see an SFX-L PSU delivering close to 1500W. That said, it would be safer if the +12V OCP and the OPP triggering points were set more conservatively, at around 130%. Lastly, there is over temperature protection, and the other protections operate fine, according to our results.

The average noise output is higher than 35 dBA because of the increased fan noise under high loads. It would be extra tough if not impossible for such a high power density PSU to remain quiet under high loads.

Final thoughts

The SX1000 is the strongest small form factor PSU available on the market today, and in reality, it is way stronger than its paper specs since we pushed it close to 1500W. The main alternative to this PSU is the Corsair SF750, but we'd still opt for the SilverStone in a pinch.

Enhance, the OEM behind this platform delivered a solid unit to SilverStone, with good build quality and top-notch parts. The only downside is that because of the small PCB, not many filtering caps could be installed so ripple at 12V is not that great. Silverstone should probably use in-cable caps to enhance ripple suppression. This type of cables is not preferred by the majority of users, because it makes the installation tougher, but this is a small price to pay if you ask us, for lower ripple, which plays a crucial role in the system’s reliability and longevity.

The AX1600i is the worthy successor of the legendary AX1500i. Both units are made by Flextronics, using cutting-edge technology, while offering the best performance that money can buy today thanks to their digital platform. 

Besides being highly efficient, the AX1600i offers outstanding load regulation, excellent transient response, long hold-up time, and excellent ripple suppression. Despite its high capacity, it retains a quiet operation, thanks to the relaxed fan profile and a high-quality FDB fan. Finally, using the Corsair Link software, you're able to choose between three fan modes: performance, balanced, and quiet, so every user will be able to set the PSU according to their needs. 

You will pay a lot to get your hands on a Corsair AX1600i, but there is nothing else able to meet this PSU eye-to-eye when it comes to overall performance. Quite simply, it's the best PSU for gaming.

Specifications

The Corsair AX1600i is the first desktop PSU to use such a cutting-edge technology, which even several years after its release, very few PSUs utilize. In short, the AX1600i uses a totem-pole PFC converter, utilizing GAN MODFETs, which can offer up to 99% efficiency compared to the 96% efficiency levels that the most advanced conventional APFC converters can deliver.

Besides the totem-pole PFC, the AX1600i has two Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) to control its circuits. A single microcontroller (MCU) is the communications bridge between the system and the PSU, allowing users also to control some vital functions of the PSU (for example, the fan speed profile and the selection between multiple and single +12V rails, setting up the OCP limits, etc.) besides monitoring tasks. Up so far, only Wentai managed to push to the market a totem-pole PSU, but still cannot meet the AX1600i’s performance levels and reliability.

The totem-pole APFC requires a digital controller, and the AX1600i has two of these, to handle the APFC converter, the primary and secondary sides. The 12V rail is digitally controlled, while the minor rails and 5VSB use analog controller, to keep the cost and the design’s complexity in control. The build quality is top-notch, and the cooling fan uses a fluid dynamic bearing, for increased reliability. Given that this PSU is for extreme systems, Corsair could also use a double ball-bearing fan, which is more suitable, than FDB fans, for operation under high operating temperatures.

Some more details about the total-pole APFC that the AX1600i uses and why it offers increased efficiency: In a conventional APFC converter, when the conduction path is on, the signal has to pass through two low-speed diodes (of the bridge rectifiers) and one switch. When the conduction path is off, the signal passes from two low-speed diodes and a high-speed diode (SBR). In a totem-pole PFC, the signal passes through a MOSFET and a MODFET in both cases, so we theoretically have no voltage drops. This is why totem-pole PFCs achieve up to 99% efficiency, while the most efficient APFC circuits top out around 96%.

1600W max power at 12V mean that this PSU will handle everything you throw at it. The max combined power on the minor rails is also high, at 180W. Most PSUs nowadays are restricted to 100 to 120W on the minor rails.

Plenty of cables and connectors are provided, but there is no 12+4 pin PCIe. Hopefully, Corsair will keep the AX1600i on the market and make it compatible with ATX v3.0, adding also the new PCIe connector.

Performance

Looking to performance, and load regulation is super-tight on all rails and ripple suppression is excellent. The bulk caps have enough capacity to provide a long hold-up time, even when the PSU operates at full load, and the inrush currents are super-low.

Efficiency is high under both normal and light loads, especially the 5VSB rail. The AX1600i puts to shame all other platforms regarding average efficiency, thanks to its totem-pole APFC converter. The AX1500i was already a difficult opponent for the competition; the AX1600i is on a different level, not leaving any room for doubt about who is the performance king.

Transient response is excellent on all rails, especially the minor ones where the AX1600i smokes the competition. At 12V, only the Super Flower Leadex platform has a small lead, without using any digital circuits.

The digital platform allows for OCP adjustments at 12V. The minor rails are super strong, with OCP set at 130 to 136% of their nominal power levels, and the over power protection is at a normal level, allowing the PSU to deliver more than 1900W before shut down.

The high efficiency levels allow for a relaxed fan speed profile, which can be custom tuned through the iCUE software, making the AX1600i one of the quitest high-capacity PSUs.

Final thoughts

We hope that Corsair will be able to work things out with Flextronics and update the AX1600i to meet all new ATX v3.0 requirements. This won’t be as hard as in other analogue platforms, because through firmware changes the PSU’s performance and protection features can be adjusted, but it won’t be an easy task, too. Once the new GPUs come out, we will know for sure if the PCIe 5.0 connectors will be the new default or the legacy PCIe connector (6+2 pin) will get a life extension. Still, the fact is that eventually the PCIe 12+4 pin connectors will dominate the market, so all PSUs with 450W and more capacity should have them.

The Corsair AX1600i is the highest performance PSU available on today’s market, even several years after its release. Corsair did well to be the first to adopt GaN MODFETs and the totem-pole APFC converter in a desktop PSU and this gamble paid off. If there were a PSU to get close, it'd be the Be quiet! Dark Power Pro 1500W, but Corsair takes the top spot here.

The Seasonic TX-1000 has top-notch build quality. Besides great soldering work, it also uses Japanese caps everywhere, including many polymer caps besides electrolytic ones and a fluid dynamic bearing fan. Seasonic engineers did their best to offer sky-high efficiency under all load regions and silent operation, at the same time, along with increased reliability. 

Performance-wise, this PSU belongs to the top league since it achieves tight load regulation on all rails, it has terrific ripple suppression without using the annoying in-line caps, and its hold-up time is sky-high. On top of that, the 5VSB rail's efficiency is high, and at light loads, the PSU achieves some of the highest efficiency readings we have seen.

So if you're looking for the best PSU for gaming at 1000W, this is it.

Specifications

Seasonic hit the jackpot with its Prime platform, starting from Gold efficiency and going up to Titanium. Several high-impact brands have already included this platform into their portinos, including Asus (Rog Thor 1200W), Corsair (AX line), and Antec in its legendary Signature line. 

If Seasonic could make more of these units, more brands would likely get in line to get them, despite their high prices. But the majority of buyers prefer low-efficiency and more affordable power supplies, unfortunately. Still, when an OEM is confident enough to provide a platform with a twelve-year warranty, you know that this a bullet-proof product.

Speaking of which, the build quality is top, and Seasonic used the best parts available to make this platform. Japanese manufacturers provide all caps and the cooling fan uses a fluid dynamic bearing. Hong Hua, the maker of the fan, has proved so far to be a reliable manufacturer, and this is why it is popular in high-end PSUs.

The single 12V rail can deliver almost the unit’s full power alone, while the minor rails can go up to 125W, combined.

A significant asset of the TX-1000 is that it has six PCIe connectors on dedicated cables. You won't have a problem powering energy-hungry graphics cards where the use of a single cable with two PCIe connectors should be avoided. The only thing missing now is a 12+4 PCIe connector, which will be added in the future revisions of this platform.

Performance

The Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000 is the performance king in this wattage category.

Load regulation is tight on all rails and ripple suppression is good. The hold-up time is over 20ms, the power ok signal is accurate, and its hold-up time exceeds 16ms. The inrush current is at average to low levels.

Efficiency is sky-high in all load ranges, though we expected higher efficiency in the 5VSB rail, to be on par with the rest circuits on the PSU. Yet only the SilverStone Titanium unit manages to take the lead in this regard, and thankfully the TX-1000's vampire power is low. The transient response is also good on all rails.

The OCP triggering point at 12V is correctly set, but it is too high on the other rails, especially at 5VSB, where ripple goes out of control when this rail is overloaded. The OPP is also high, but the platform can take the load. Nonetheless, it is not wise to overload your PSU for prolonged periods. You should get a stronger PSU if the current one cannot meet your power requirements.

Importantly, the TX-1000 is one of the quietest PSUs available in the market. The high-efficiency levels help in that.

Final thoughts

Seasonic’s Prime platform still keeps the performance crown several years after its development. Given the new requirements of the ATX 3.0 specification, Seasonic will have to tune it and include 12+4 pin connectors, to make it compatible with the upcoming GPU generations. But thanks to its high performance and good transient response, this won’t be a magnificent headache, but it will require time and money, of course, since no change in a product is easy. 

The TX-1000 easily copes with the competition and its sibling, the Corsair AX1000, was its main competitor but since the latter is pulled from the market, the TX-1000 remains alone at the top of the charts. If there were an alternative to this worth buying it would be the Super Flower Leadex Titanium 1000. But with the twelve-year warranty that Seasonic provides, there is no doubt that this platform is reliable, and its future buyers will have a long peace of mind.

The newest version, introduced in 2021, of the Corsair RM750x unit, managed to improve an already outstanding product. Corsair’s RMx line is among the best in the PSU market, combining high performance and reasonable prices, and the RM750x is clear proof of this. The competition is tough, but Corsair’s R&D manager, Jon Gerow (aka famed PSU reviewer Jonnyguru), and his team of engineers manage to create products that set the bar higher and higher. 

You simply cannot go wrong with an RMx unit and this is why our pick for the best PSU for gaming in the 750W category is the RM750x.

Specifications

The new Corsair RMx (2021) line consists of five models with capacities ranging from 550W to 1000W, and the main differences with the previous models are depicted below.

• Magnetic levitation fan for an increased lifetime under high operating temperatures
• Modern standby compatibility for fast wake from sleep times
• High efficiency under very light and light loads
• Three EPS connectors with the 1000 W and 850 W units
• Cybenetics and 80 PLUS certifications

The fan upgrade is a highly welcome feature. It boosts reliability, even under harsh conditions where most rifle and fluid dynamic bearing fans would have issues in the long run.

The build quality is also outstanding in this CWT platform, which is only available to Corsair. The caps on both primary and secondary sides are Japanese and the FETs, along with the magnetic levitation fan, won’t have a problem outliving the ten-year warranty.

The 12V rail can deliver up to 750W, while the minor rails are powerful with 150W max combined power.

With two EPS and four PCIe connectors in two cables, this PSU can handle a powerful gaming system. All cables are long enough, so there won’t be any issues in large chassis. The only problem could be the short distance between the peripheral connectors, especially the 4-pin Molex ones, since the parts requiring these connectors, e.g. case fans, are usually installed far from each other.

Performance

The 12V rail’s voltage increases at light loads, affecting load regulation. Something similar happens to the other rails. Nonetheless, in real life conditions the load regulation on all rails is much tighter than what is shown in the graphs.

On the other hand, ripple suppression is ground-breaking! The combination of the platform’s design and the in-cable caps bring these outstanding results. 

The hold-up time is extra long and the same goes for the power ok signal’s hold-up time, and inrush current is low with both voltage inputs.

Efficiency is at good levels with normal loads and sky-high with light and super-light loads, but the 5VSB rail doesn’t stay behind in efficiency compared to the main PSU’s circuit. Vampire power is low, nonetheless. 

There is room for efficiency improvements, especially at higher loads.

The transient response is good on the minor rails, but there is room for improvement at 12V, which is the most important rail.

The OCP triggering points at 12V and OPP are set correctly under hot and cold conditions. There is no need for such high OCP triggering points, though, for the minor rails, especially 3.3V which are only lightly used in today’s systems.

Though when it comes to relative performance, the RM750x (2021) easily takes the lead in this category. It is worth noting this is not a noisy unit, but the difference from the previous model is vast. The ML fan is partially responsible for the increase in noise output.

Final thoughts

This is the first time that we see an ML fan in a PSU and this is great, because these fans are super reliable. Although the output noise has increased compared to the previous model, with the rifle bearing fan, still we fully support Corsair’s decision to proceed with this type of fan. The cooling fan is the crucial part of every PSU, highly affecting its reliability, so it is important to use the best fan possible. If the fan fails, everything else will do within a short period and there is even the danger of a fire hazard, if the over-temperature protection is missing. This is why the cooling fan and the filtering caps are two of the most important parts of a power supply.

More generally, the Corsair RM750x (2021) takes the performance lead over the competition thanks to its excellent platform and top-notch build quality. But if we had to pick an alternative, in case this isn't around your area, it'd be XPG's Core Reactor 750W.

Be quiet! developed a unique platform along with Channel Well Technology for its Pure Power 11 FM line, and the results are fantastic. The Pure Power 11 FM with 550W capacity is our top choice for this wattage category, hence why it's one of the best power supplies for gaming, and it is ideal for not demanding systems where users require a top-quality PSU under $100.

Specifications

The PSU is 80 PLUS Gold and Cybenetics Gold certified in efficiency and has a Cybenetics A noise rating, proving it is quiet. The dimensions are standard, with 160mm depth, and the cooling fan uses a rifle bearing for increased reliability. The five-year warranty is half than what the competition provides (e.g., the Corsair, RM550x). Still, you cannot call it short.

The CWT platform has good soldering quality in general. Our main objection is the 85C bulk caps when the competition uses 105C caps. The Elite caps on the secondary side are the best alternatives to Japanese caps, which are hard to find nowadays and super expensive. Lastly, the low speed uses a rifle bearing, so it won’t have a problem outliving the warranty (and even more).

There are two 12V rails that can deliver up to 550W combined, while the minor rails can go up to 120W. The standby rail is also strong enough, with 3A max current output.

The ATX cable could be a bit longer. The same applies to the single EPS cable. It would also be nice to have one EPS and one ATX12V connector instead of a single EPS. The two PCIe connectors are on dedicated cables, so everything is fine there, the distance between all peripheral connectors is adequate, and the FDD connector could be replaced with a 4-pin Molex to increase their number to three.

Performance

The load regulation at 12V is satisfactory and tight on the other rails, and ripple suppression is excellent!

The hold-up time is notably longer than 17ms, which is what the ATX spec requires, and the power ok signal’s hold-up time is close to 16ms. The inrush current is low with 115V, and on the high side with 230V.

It must be said this is a highly efficient platform: The 5VSB rail has decent efficiency, and vampire power is low. The average efficiency is high, even for a Gold rated unit.

The transient response voltage deviations are kept low on all rails, and the PWR_OK delay is within the 100-150ms region, so the PSU supports the alternative low power modes recommended by the ATX spec.

The OCP triggering point on the first 12V rail is high and sky-high on the second one. Having highly set OCP is logical in low capacity PSUs to avoid issues with power spikes, given that the platform can handle such high power loads. The over power protection, on the other hand, is conservatively set. In general, it is not ideal to overstress your power supply. If you need more power, get a stronger PSU.

As for noise, the Be quiet! unit honors the name of its brand, remaining quiet, but the Corsair RM550x (2021) is even better here. 

Final thoughts

Be quiet! has a long history in making silent products and power supplies, among others. This brand might not be so popular in the US market, which is among the key players, but it is trendy in Germany, its country of origin and with products like the Pure Power 11 FM 550, it won’t be hard to gain worldwide popularity, soon.

The Pure Power 11 FM 550 showed that it has no problem facing intense competition from Corsair, Seasonic, EVGA, Cooler Master, and others. Perhaps its best competition is the Seasonic Focus Plus Platinum 550W, but this is still the outright winner.

XPG entered the affordable PSU market with the Pylon series. The smallest member of the line has 450W capacity and is our peak for this category, from when Corsair decided to withdraw the CX450 model, which used a modern but expensive platform, making it hard to keep its price low. From the moment the CX450 is out of the equation, the road is open for the XPG Pylon 450 to shine.

At just $50, it's also one of the cheaper PSUs worth your cash today, hence why it's one of the best power supplies for gaming today.

Specifications

From 2022, XPG upgraded the warranty on all Pylon models to five years to keep up with the competition. Given the fluid dynamic bearing fan and the reliable platform provided by Channel Well Technology, the warranty upgrade makes sense. The significant compromise that had to be made to keep the cost down was the use of an outdated platform, which, however, has DC-DC converters for the generation of the minor rails and the non-modular cables.

The platform uses a mix of older and newer design techniques. The double-forward topology on the primary side is outdated; the same goes for the SBRs used for the 12V rectification on the secondary side. The modern touch is the DC-DC converters for generating the minor rails, which boosts efficiency. The bulk cap is of high quality, but its voltage rating ideally should be higher, at 420V. The electrolytic caps on the secondary side are of Elite, so they are of good quality, and the same applies to the Hong Hua FDB cooling fan.

The 12V rail can deliver the unit’s full power, while the minor rails can deliver up to 100W combined.

All cables are fixed for a lower cost. The ATX and EPS cables are long; the same goes for the PCIe and peripheral cables. Lastly, the distance between the latter is adequate at 150mm.

Performance

The load regulation is tight on all rails and the ripple suppression is excellent. 

The hold-up time isn’t long enough to meet the ATX spec’s requirements, but this is common in the budget PSU category because the bulk caps are among the most expensive parts in a PSU. That said, the hold-up time is only 0.1 ms away from the goal, with the power ok signal’s hold-up time being 1.3ms lower than the limit.

Typically, the inrush current is way higher with 230V input.

The double forward topology on the primary side doesn’t allow for higher efficiency levels. The PSU cannot exceed 60% efficiency with a two-percent load, which is required by the ATX spec.

From the graphs it's clear the 5VSB rail is highly efficient, and the PSU’s energy needs on standby are minimized.

The transient response is mediocre at 12V, decent at 5V, good at 5VSB, and terrible at 3.3V, where most PSUs of the same category don’t achieve good results.

On to protections and the Over Current Protection’s triggering points at 12V are correctly set, and the same goes for Over Power Protection (OPP). On the other hand, the 3.3V rail’s OCP point could be lower.

The relative performance is high, losing only to the Corsair CX450 and the Asus TUF-450B, which use the same platform provided by Great Wall. The CX450 also used a CWT platform since Corsair decided to proceed with two OEMs for the CX line with similar spec platforms. 

The average efficiency is in about the middle of this category, yet this is not a noisy PSU.

Final thoughts

With the (more expensive) Corsair CX450 out of the game, the XPG Pylon 450 is one of the best choices in the low-capacity category, offering good performance and increased reliability thanks to the proven CWT platform that it uses and compact dimensions.

The non-modular cable design won’t please most users, but modular cables would notably affect the final price, so they had to go to. Given the not-so-high number of cables in this PSU, because of its low capacity, the non-modular design won’t be a significant issue. Lastly, the five-year warranty that XPG provides is the cherry on top of this product.

If you can't pick up this PSU in your area, you might want to look out for the Asus TUF-450B-Gaming instead. This PSU also performs very well in testing.

This PSU is absolutely tiny. You could actually run a gaming desktop off this miniscule power supply; it comes with all the cables and connectors required to boot a regular motherboard, CPU, GPU, and SATA drive in a form factor not much bigger than an iPhone.

The HDPlex 250W GaN ATX PSU is just 170 x 50 x 25mm in size, and is a completely passive unit—no doubt why it popped up on our friends at FanlessTech's radar. That's sure to be the key to its compact size: there's no 120/80mm fan to force a more square shape or take up precious room.

HDPlex call it "the world's smallest ATX PSU" though I'm not sure what makes it an ATX PSU rather than something else entirely. It offers many of the features you'd expect from a larger ATX PSU, including a few key ones to make sure it doesn't go boom (UVP, OVP, SCP, OPP, OTP).

You're not going to build the most powerful PC with one of these PSUs inside it. With a max output of 250W for a single unit, you'd be hard pressed to actually build a gaming PC with a discrete GPU that wouldn't push it over the limit. It does have a trick up its sleeve to make it that much more worthwhile, however. It is possible to combine two of these PSUs for greater power delivery, up to 500W. That's still some ways off many of the best PSUs for PC, but high-end GPU demands really are extreme nowadays Lower-end GPUs, like the 130W RTX 3050, demand much less power.

Now you could build a decent gaming PC with the 500W power budget provided by two of these PSUs. They're so small that two of them wouldn't take up a massive amount of space, either. Perhaps it defeats the purpose a little, as finding a case to fit their strange elongated shape might be a hassle with a single unit, let alone two, but I'm sure some passive PC builders are already eyeing them up for their next projects. It will definitely fit inside HDPlex's Fanless PC Chassis, anyways.

The PSU isn't rated with the usual 80 Plus specification we're used to seeing, but it is hella efficient. It's reportedly able to achieve 94% efficiency at full load, which puts it right up there with 80 Plus Titanium PSUs.

That efficiency will be extra important for a passive design such as this: greater efficiency means less energy wasted as heat, and less heat means less need for heat dissipation. All of which makes for a more compact PSU.

You can actually see the neat design of the HDPlex above, from the company's product page, and there is a lot of componentry stuffed onto a relatively slim PCB.

The HDPlex 250W costs $145, but it's not available to purchase until sometime in June. You're paying for convenience and its compact shell there, obviously, as otherwise that would be a lot of money for a 250W PSU. More so if you plan to pick up two of them.

When I talk about how the PC is the most customisable gaming platform, this wasn't what I had in mind. Though in many ways being able to put a gif of tub Geralt on a tiny screen on my PSU is perhaps the best way imaginable of proving my point.

I'm using Gigabyte's Aorus P1200W power supply and you may have already noticed its party trick: Besides being an 80+ Platinum rated GPU able to deliver enough power to keep the lights on in a small town—at least one of Nvidia's next-gen GPUs—it has a full-colour LCD display built into the side of it. Gigabyte's taking a PC's least flattering component and putting it centre of attention.

A compact LCD panel on the side of your PSU is anything but sensible, but it is out-of-the-box set up to be a somewhat handy PSU monitoring screen. I'm talking key PSU speeds and feeds displayed on the side of the PSU itself, including: power draw, info on each rail, currents, power on time, fan RPM, and temperature.

Of course, you'll need a windowed PC case and a cutout on the side of the PSU shroud to take advantage of such a ludicrous concept, but that includes plenty of modern cases. 

Though the true glory of this PSU can only be exposed through the RGB Fusion 2.0 software. Within this app, you can navigate into the PSU's display options and select either 'Custom GIF' or 'Custom Video'. 

Both gifs and video do have to be on the small side in terms of file size in order to work as intended on the compact panel—a seven-minute long goat compilation I found online was swiftly rejected, sadly. Still, most gifs I found online worked just fine without any tinkering whatsoever.

The built-in screen is a bit of an odd size, which isn't much of an issue unless, like me, you try to upload a gif with some writing at the bottom.

If you can look beyond the screen for a second, the P1200W is also a mighty power supply. Most of all for its small size: It's a rather compact design at 160 x 150 x 86mm, which is actually 20mm shorter than the generic 850W EVGA unit I swapped it in for. With a whole lot more power under its belt, and greater overall efficiency, it's not style over substance with this PSU.

Most 1200W PSUs sit around $200–$300, though, so you are looking at a price premium for the Aorus P1200W. It will set you back around $310. That's not a huge chunk of change more for a flashy PSU, but it is enough to make you think 'do I need a tiny screen on my PSU?'

Let's be honest, most of the time your answer to that will be 'no'. And it doesn't come with fancy new PCIe connectors for next-gen GPUs to help win anyone over, either. But I can think of a few good reasons for picking this PSU up: Perhaps alongside those Evangelion or Gundam components for some sort of mecha or cyberpunk-themed style build. Or simply if you're really extra and want customisable screens everywhere a customisable screen can technically go.

Generating renewable power has got to be one of the coolest things we do as a species. Finding ways to draw endless power from what's already going on naturally around us is the biggest of big-brain stuff. Solar is one of the more common ways of generating renewable power, especially for regular consumers. Many residential houses have solar panels of their own, and you can even buy panels for camping and other activities relatively cheap nowadays. 

Living in Australia, I'm endlessly in awe of my own solar panels and gleefully watch them diminish and sometimes completely obliterate my power bill in summer. Still, solar power has come under criticism by some, and one of the complaints I often hear is that it doesn't work at night. It can be a moot point with batteries and other renewable sources working in tandem, but is still technically true.

Well, I'd like to introduce you all to these weird solar panels, which actually do work at night.

As told by New Atlas, a team at the University of New South Wales has been able to generate power from what is essentially an inverted solar cell, at night. The way it works is by using the infrared light that the Earth radiates at night, after a hard day of absorbing all that sweet, sweet solar energy.

The researchers used a device called a thermoradiative diode, which absorbs the energy radiating out of a heat source, like the Earth, to somewhere colder, like the cool night air, and turns the difference between the two into potential electricity.

In theory, these inverted solar panels can be used to gather energy from basically anything that emits light. Any time heat transfers from a warm place to a cold one, which is basically all the time according to thermodynamics. The downside is it really isn't a lot of power—yet.

This is the first time energy absorbed this way has even made its way up to measurable amounts, and that measurement is very small, though the team believes it will be possible to generate around 1/10th the power a solar cell gets from the sun in time. That doesn't sound like much, but given it could be generating power from just about anything, could really add up. 

Thinking about all the ways this could idly be generating power is proof of the possibilities. Harnessing the heat given off by industrial waste, mass transport, or even just for devices powered by your own body heat. It may even power your computer with enough of these Windows 11 updates to help your PC prioritise renewable energy, or you could always go with an algae-powered PC instead. While the tech may be a while coming, it's still an exciting proposition for the future of renewable energy.

Update: We've since received confirmation that Gigabyte's UD1000GM PG5 PSU does, in fact, support the full ATX 3.0 specification, as per its specifications page.

Original story: Intel has published the final ATX 3.0 power supply specification, and it’s the biggest PSU spec change in almost 20 years. PC hardware has changed a lot since then, particularly the power requirements of GPUs. ATX 3.0 PSUs will come to market throughout 2022.

The new standard formally introduces PCIe 5.0 graphics card support with a new 12-pin 12VHPWR connector that can deliver up to 600W. We’ve seen Nvidia release Founders Edition cards with 12-pin connectors, but they aren’t the same as an official PCIe 5.0 connector which include four additional sideband signals. The new connector is set to debut with Nvidia RTX-40 and AMD RDNA 3 cards.

The fact that cards can receive up to 600W from a single connector doesn't bode well for future GPU power requirements. It adds weight to some rather silly power consumption rumours doing the rounds on the internet. Some cards may require two connectors!

If nothing else it will appeal to fans of clean builds. Getting rid of several 8-pin power connectors in favour of a single 12-pin connector will certainly make it easier to manage your cables.

Those extra signalling pins mean that it's not clear if next gen GPUs can receive the full 600W from current power supplies via 8-pin to 12-pin adapters. Three 8-pin connectors will deliver 450W plus another 75W from the slot for a total of 525W. With that in mind, it’s advisable to hold off on purchasing a high-end PSU for now. What’s the alternative? A four 8-pin to a 12-pin adapter? That's a bit over the top.

We previously wrote about Gigabyte’s UD1000GM power supply. It includes a 12-pin connector with the extra four signalling pins, but we note that it supports ATX 2.31 only. We can expect clarification on 8-pin to 12-pin support as we get closer to the launch of PCIe 5.0 cards.

In addition to PCIe 5.0 support, there's the new ATX12VO 2.0 spec which introduces some other features aimed at providing better reliability. It brings some welcome changes to low load efficiency, which is a weakness of even the most efficient of today’s PSUs. Low load efficiency improvements are designed to help the PC industry meet ever stricter governmental energy regulations. Efficiency above 60% is required for 10W or 2% of maximum capacity, while above 70% is recommended.

ATX 3.0 PSUs will introduce a second certification standard by Cybernetics alongside the existing 80 Plus ratings. Cybernetics certifications aren’t just for efficiency. There’s also a noise level certification and a related chassis soundproofing certification that will definitely assist users that want a quiet build.

MSI has already launched its the Creator P100A and the MPG Trident AS ATX12VO systems. Both come with an ATX12VO 2.0 compliant PSU.  

Considering these new changes, buying a high-end power supply makes no sense right now unless you're not planning to upgrade for some time to come. If you want to upgrade to a Zen 4 or 13th Gen system with an RTX-40 or RDNA 3 GPU, holding off for now would be a good call.