Our 5 Best Power Supplies in 2023
Picking out the perfect power supply for your build can be confusing. With power supply ratings, most users get confused and can’t really make sense of all the information that’s available to them. The naming scheme is unintuitive and points towards build quality, when in reality, the certification and rating only indicate the PSUs efficiency capabilities.
While it might be confusing at first, once you get the hang of it, you’ll notice that these ratings are easy to follow and provide you with a lot of useful information that’s going to further help you in picking out the ideal power supply for your build.
Products at a Glance
How we picked
Rather than looking at a specific power supply, we’ll be looking at different product lines from different manufacturers, so you can pick a quality unit for your specific power requirements. All of the power supply models have at least 80+ Bronze certification, giving you good energy efficiency in a well-built package.
Product Reviews
- Better value
- High efficiency
- Semi-modular design
- Smaller fan, more noise
The Seasonic product line also deserved better representation, and their Focus Gold power supply series really speaks for the masses. With an almost insignificant 2-4% drop in efficiency, the Focus Gold series reigns supreme when it comes to accessibility.
The Seasonic Focus Gold line-up comes in a semi-modular form, with the 24 and 8 pin cables permanently attached to the PSU cage. Unlike the higher tier, Platinum power supplies, this one only rocks a two-step smart fan control feature, which keeps the fan running silently while running loads smaller than 50% of the maximum capacity.
The overall size is more compact, leaving room for a 120mm fan. It’s still plenty big to provide adequate cooling and the hydraulic bearing will make it run silently even at full load.
- Beautiful steel finish
- Fully modular
- Thermally-controlled fan with dynamic bearings operates silently at high loads and idles below the 140-watt mark
- Surge protection
- Lowest wattage starts at 750, which is still pretty high
Corsair is another reputable name in the component industry. Their HXI Platinum power supplies are ideal for people who are on the market for high-wattage, highly-efficient power supplies. The clean, industrial design and metallic finish make for a beautiful unit, a great choice if you’re planning on building a beautiful system.
In terms of utility, the Corsair HXi Platinum series brings a lot of extra features to their power supplies. For starters, the 92-94% efficiency means that your entire system runs cooler and draws less power from the outlet.
- Good value pick
- Fully-modular
- Comes in versions that match any type of build
- Older model, there are better, more relevant power supplies
While the first EVGA featured product was intended to be used in high-end systems, we’ve decided that the PSU kings should be represented by a product that can sit comfortably in any sort of system. That’s where the EVGA Supernova PSU lineup comes in.
With wattages varying between 450 and 1600 watts, anyone can take advantage of the build quality and safety features that are present in the Supernova Bronze lineup. It’s designed to be silent, efficient, and versatile. While the Supernova Platinum featured cutting-edge PSU technology, this one compensates with a solid, time-tested design.
With a 130mm fan that’s equipped with hydraulic dynamic bearings, UVP, OCP, OPP, SCP and OVP heavy-duty protections, and a 7-year manufacturer guarantee, it’s clear to see that this isn’t much of a hard sell.
- Premium quality
- Fully modular
- Big fan ensuring lower temperatures and silent operation
- 10-year warranty
- Pretty overkill for most people
EVGA are well-renowned for their power supplies, being one of the leading manufacturers in this particular segment of the PC component market. Their Supernova Platinum product line features Japanese-brand capacitors that make this power supply reliable in the long-term. With a 10-year warranty, EVGA signs off on the superior quality of their SuperNOVA Platinum power supplies, giving you the comfort of knowing that your power supply is going to outlast most of your relationships. *sad trombone*
Jokes aside, the build quality of the power supplies in this particular lineup is stellar. From braided cables to a double-bearing 140mm fan, everything is premium and well-designed to deliver stable current in silence.
EVGA continues to impress with the quality of their power supplies and the efficiency of their designs. The EVGA SuperNOVA Platinum power supplies are built to power high-end gaming battle stations or productivity powerhouses.
With wattages that vary between 650-1600 watts, you can find one for almost any type of build. The higher the wattage, the more cables you’re getting, ensuring compatibility with multi-GPU builds.
The fully-modular design is welcome for any build, as it ensures good cable management and makes cable-routing effortless, but the fact that EVGA chose to go with cable sleeves instead of going with individually-braided cables is disappointing, especially for this tier of product. You’re also getting over and under-voltage protection, short circuit and overpower protection, the best quality that money can buy.
The double-bearing 140mm fan ensures that the unit stays cool and quiet, the 80+ Platinum efficiency rating also adding to the low temperatures. Overall, we strongly recommend this power supply for any mid to high-end system. If you’re running a powerful GPU+CPU combo, then power efficiency is important.
- Value-oriented
- Three-year warranty
- Not as efficient or durable as the other PSUs
The Corsair CX Bronze series is designed to offer people who’re looking to build a PC on a budget, a high-quality durable power supply. The units in this lineup come in modular and non-modular versions, giving the user more control over how they want to price and build their PC.
With that in mind, the Corsair CX Bronze series does have its faults. It is the least-efficient power supply on our list. It also has the shortest warranty, with only 3 years covered by the manufacturer/vendor. Even though it’s not a premium power supply, it still managed to run cool and silent, and somewhat efficient, since it’s still an 80+ Bronze rating power supply.
Our Verdict
While it’s hard to determine which power supply series is best since a lot of you have very different needs when it comes to your builds, it’s pretty easy to spot out the one that brings the most value, and that clearly is the Seasonic Focus Gold series for its overall great design and amazing feature set.
The Seasonic Gold power supplies come in a semi-modular form, giving you good cable management while cutting down on production cost, providing you with a more affordable product without affecting the performance. Moreover, the 80+ Gold rating will save you money on your electricity bills, and the 7-year warranty will ensure that your system will stay powered for a long, long time.