80 PLUS® Certified Power Supplies

A PSU (Power Supply Unit) for a computer converts AC power from your wallsocket into DC power. The 80 PLUS performance specification requires multi-output power supplies in computers and servers to be 80% or greater energy efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load with a true power factor of 0.9 or greater. This makes an 80 PLUS certified power supply substantially more efficient than typical lower quality computer power supplies.

What is 80 PLUS certified:

80 PLUS Certification **115V Internal Non-Redundant **  ** 230V Internal Redundant ** 
% of Rated Load 10% 20% 50% 100% 10% 20% 50% 100%
80 PLUS --- 80% 80% 80% N/A
80 PLUS Bronze --- 82% 85% 82% --- 81% 85% 81%
80 PLUS Silver --- 85% 88% 85% --- 85% 89% 85%
80 PLUS Gold --- 87% 90% 87% --- 88% 92% 88%
80 PLUS Platinum --- 90% 92% 89% --- 90% 94% 91%
80 PLUS Titanium --- --- --- --- 90% 94% 96% 91%

There are several reasons for utilizing a higher efficiency power supply. For one they are usually higher quality which means that (statistically at least) your computer should be more reliable. Also higher efficiency means that your PSU puts out less heat which is good if you are building either a quiet or a completely silent computer. The reason being that the more heat produced inside the computer the harder it is to cool it without using noisy fans. In addition higher efficiency means using less electricity which is good environmentally as well as lowering your electrical bill.

For more information here is a link: