Back To Top

What is Efficiency

“The ability to do something or produce something without wasting materials, time, or energy.”

– Merriam Webster

What is 80 PLUS Efficiency and what level of efficiency do I need?

The 80 PLUS® performance specification requires power supplies to be 80% or greater energy efficient at 10%, 20%, 50% and 100% of rated loads with a true power factor of 0.9 or greater. This makes an 80 PLUS certified power supply substantially more efficient than typical power supplies that offer below 80% efficiency.

The 4 levels of Efficiency

With an EVGA power supply, efficiency ratings provide important characteristics about what you power supply is doing for you and your components.

80 Plus Platinum

Provides the highest efficiency you can achieve from a standard 115v outlet. With a PFC (Power Factor Correction) of .95 @50%, provide more efficient, cleaner power to your components, reduce heat overall, and provide excellent cost savings to you electricity bill. EVGA Platinum rated models offer an ECO Thermal control System, the fan does not spin when not needed. This reduces noise, because heat generated is lower due to the higher efficiency.

80 Plus Gold

This rating can be considered above-average for a user, some may settle for a lower quality, while others want to make sure there system is power efficient. With efficiency ratings of typical loads at 90% EVGA power supplies provide good heat reduction, clean power and don't forget better cost savings overall. Support high end SLI/CrossFire configurations using today's top rated GPU's for ideal performance.

80 Plus Bronze

With price and performance in mind, EVGA bronze rated power supplies bring 85% efficiency under typical loads. Our bronze rated power supplies provide clean, efficient power.

80 Plus

When building on a budget or creating low-cost bulk projects, standard 80 PLUS rated power supplies provide cost savings per unit to provide a valuable solution that supports 80% efficiency. This may be the lowest rating supported; there are still products out there that only offer below 80% efficiency.

How can heat affect my power supply?

Heat affects all components in a system no matter how efficient they can be. The 80 PLUS ratings your power supply supports tells a story of what you get for the money you invested. The higher the rating means your power supply emits less heat exchange. Heat is the biggest enemy when talking efficiency, run a cooler system environment with top rated EVGA 80 PLUS Certified Power Supplies.

Intelligent Automatic Fans

With or without software, have your power supply do its job for you automatically is a nice feature to have. EVGA Power supplies provide intelligent fan speed control to increase RPM only when needed. Reducing heat when needed keeps efficiency at its max and provides a controlled cooling environment for your system components.

Eco Thermal Control System

The EVGA ECO Thermal System available on Platinum rated power supplies provides silent operation at low to mid range loads and longer life span of the fan. Reduce ambient noise and energy costs for your total operation when not needed. This optional feature allows the fan to completely stop providing NO NOISE during low to mid range load applications. This is an optional feature that can be toggled directly on the power supply to provide a convenient adjustment without any need for software.

Selecting your next Power Supply

EVGA provides a series of models to support the right needs for any configuration. Here is a break-down of how each EVGA power supply can work for you so your next choice is the right choice.

EVGA (P2) Series: The EVGA (P2) series offers models that are certified for 80 PLUS PLATINUM ratings. (P2) units provide the highest efficiency you can obtain with a standard house hold outlet (115v). If efficiency is your primary deciding factor on your next purchase, the EVGA (P2) series is the right choice. Supporting a Dual ECO Thermal Control System, expand fan life with no rotation at low to moderate load operation. (P2) models are fully modular and provided the highest efficiency available for standard (115v) power sources.

EVGA (G2) Series: The EVGA (G2) series offers models that are certified for 80 PLUS GOLD ratings and feature top quality components inside to give any gamer many years of use. (G2) models provide a fully modular design and support up to 90% efficiency under typical loads. All (G2) series models support Continuous Power and are available in both multi-rail and single rail designs.

EVGA (G) Series: The EVGA (G) series offers models that are certified for 80 PLUS GOLD ratings. EVGA (G) models offer standard high performance components at the right price and hold their Gold efficiency rating up to 90% under typical loads. Available in both multi-rail and single rail designs, these Continuous Power designed models are available in both multi-rail and single rail designs.

EVGA (B) Series: The EVGA (B) series offers models that are certified for 80 PLUS BRONZE ratings. With price and performance in mind, the EVGA (B) series is the best value power supply for your next build on a budget. Supporting a single high amp rail design, the (B) series models are a great choice for single card performance for any user.

EVGA (W) Series: The EVGA (W) series offers models that are certified 80 PLUS and support 80% efficiency under typical loads. When building on a budget, the EVGA (W) series is a great choice at a low cost. Save space with the compact design, well-placed power switch and fully sleeved cables. These units offer the connections and protections needed for basic system builds. With a standard 3 year warranty and ultra quiet fan design, these will be a great asset for your next build on a budget.

Safety First with EVGA

EVGA provides a series of total safety protections to keep all components safe during normal to extreme power levels. Trust EVGA to provide a set standard in safety to cover multiple scenarios that can go from bad to worse if you don't have the right protection. These protections not only protect the power supply, but protect all components attached. Gain peace of mind knowing your system is protected from every angle with top-quality, power supplies by EVGA.

EVGA Standard Power Supply Safety Protections include:

  • OPP (Over Power Protection)
    • Protection from when a power supply exceeds its maximum rated capacity.
  • OVP (Over Voltage Protection)
    • Continuously checking the voltages at each rail point and will kick in if they surpass their set limits.
  • UVP (Under Voltage Protection)
    • Continuously checking the voltages at each rail point and will kick in if they surpass their set limits.
  • SCP (Short Circuit Protection)
    • Continuously monitoring the output rails and looks for impedance rates less than 0.1, if detected it immediately shuts down.
  • OCP (Over Current Protection)
    • Protects when the current in the rail goes beyond its limit.
  • OTP (Over Temperature Protection)
    • Added Thermistor's to heat sinks provides real time monitoring for protection and better fan control. When exceeded, the power supply shuts down.

Continuous Power

When looking for a new power supply, the total wattage provided is a big factor based on the components in the system. Keep in mind not everyone supports a continuous power design and it could affect your components performance if it cannot live up to its wattage. When you purchase a 1000W EVGA power supply, you are getting 1000Watts! Peak-rated power supplies may advertise they support 1000W, but this can only be for a few seconds to a few minutes and the unit cannot maintain the wattage it advertises. With an EVGA power supply, know what you purchase without any surprises and buy only continuous rated power supplies!

Continuous Power models:

  • Provide constant power to run at maximum rating and can last a long time.
  • Avoid system crashing or stability issues and have less of a chance to under power your components.
  • Less harm caused to the power supply by not running the risk of shutting down.

Peak Wattage Power Supplies:

  • Can hit maximum wattage, but only sustain for a short period of time lasting only a few seconds to a few minutes.
  • Risk system crashes when under heavy power loads, lose data and even corrupt the operating system due to crashing.
  • Can cause the power supply to be short-lived, reducing the overall usage and requiring replacement sooner.

Cables ... Modular vs Hardlined

Every component needs power. To make sure you get the right power with the right connections and lengths depend on the power supply. If running 4-way SLI is your goal, you are going to need a lot of connections to support that configuration. Here is an overview of what EVGA power supply models have to offer when it comes to cables!

Fully Modular Designs:

Reduce clutter in the case, improve ambient temperatures with better airflow overall and provide a clean look to any system. Fully Modular PSU designs allow the user to disconnect the cable from the power supply side if they are not needed for the specific configuration. This can help free up space inside the case and improve cable management as well as airflow throughout the system. EVGA offers fully modular designs on all 80 PLUS Gold or higher models and include a cable storage bag in case you plan to upgrade or add more components for storage.

Semi-Modular Designs:

The middle grounds when it comes to modularity, a semi-modular power supply provides select connections, when not needed, like extra peripheral cables (Molex, SATA) and PCI-E cables to be removed and stored. This will allow some options on the connections to provide better cooling and less clutter especially when working with a power supply that offers high-end SLI configuration when only running a single VGA card. With the hard wired cables you may need to do some work to get your EPS (CPU) cable up to motherboard or around a fan. Take a look at what you plan to use and get the right power supply for your case and motherboard you plan to use.

Hardlined Designs:

These types of designs are all hard wired to the power supply itself, no cables can be disconnected. When you settle for a high end version with multiple connections, be ready for some extra cables sitting at the bottom of your case. Hardlined or “Hard-wired” models can become a challenge depending on which side the cables are located in regards to fan placement causing the user to purchase an extension or work around if the cable is not long enough to reach. Low budget designs still use this type of layout to keep costs down for the customer, but in today's market you will see semi-modular and even fully modular designs becoming more affordable.

*As of this writing EVGA provides the highest warranty of 10 years on select power supply models.

Intel 4th Generation Ready Power Supplies

With the introduction of Intel's 4th Gen Core Processors “Haswell”, the new C6/C7 sleep modes have made some changes that can be affected by your power supply. This affects the power supplies +12V rail minimum load rating which would require 0.05 Amps (4th Gen Intel) from the previous 0.5 Amps (3rd Gen Intel) processors. The other scenario combined with the lower +12V is keeping the load on the +3.3V/+5V rails as well. In order to prevent safety protections from kicking in like UVP/OVP (Under Voltage Protection/Over Voltage Protection), the power supply can be tested to become Intel 4th Generation CPU Ready which prevents it from shutting down due to protections as well as be able to maintain lower amp draw and not become unstable.

Ready your next system build by purchasing one of EVGA's Intel 4th Generation CPU Ready Power Supplies listed below:

Part Number Description Warranty Intel 4th Generation CPU Ready
120-PG-1500-XR EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified Power Supply 10yr Yes
120-G2-1300-XR EVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 Power Supply Yes
120-P2-1000-XR EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 Power Supply Yes
120-G2-1000-XR EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G2 Power Supply Yes
220-G2-0850-XR EVGA SuperNOVA SuperNOVA 850 G2 Power Supply Yes
220-G2-0750-XR EVGA SuperNOVA SuperNOVA 750 G2 Power Supply Yes
120-PG-0750-GR EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750G Gold Power Supply Yes
120-PG-0650-GR EVGA SuperNOVA NEX650G Gold Power Supply Yes
 
120-PG-1500-VR EVGA SuperNOVA NEX1500 Classified Power Supply 5yr Yes
120-PB-0750-KR EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B Bronze Power Supply Yes
 
100-B1-0600-KR EVGA 600B Bronze Power Supply 3yr Yes
100-B1-0500-KR EVGA 500B Bronze Power Supply Yes
100-W1-0500-KR EVGA 500W 80 PLUS Power Supply Yes
100-W1-0430-KR EVGA 430W 80 PLUS Power Supply Yes

Features

Single Rail

Single +12V Rail

A single +12V rail has all connections combined and monitored together. Total amps provided will be available from any connection. There is no advantage over a multi-rail design, just the design itself and how the power is distributed.

Multiple +12V rails designs provide separate monitoring of each rail. This provides a spread of the total amps available across more than one connection. There is no advantage over a multi-rail design, just the design itself and how the power is distributed.

LLC Resonant Circuit Layout

LLC Resonant Circuit Layout

LLC resonant converters are designed for DC-DC conversion for high end, high power applications with high efficiency. This layout provides easy ON/OFF control and helps with a series of safety protections to assure each unit is providing high efficiency, safely.

Fully Modular

Fully Modular

Fully modular designs allow every single cable to be removed from the power supply for ease of installation and removal. Save on space and reduce heat from unnecessary clutter by using fully modular or semi-modular power supply designs. EVGA offers fully modular designs on all 80 PLUS Gold or higher models.

NVIDIA SLI Ready

NVIDIA SLI Ready

NVIDIA SLI features an intelligent communication protocol embedded in the GPU, a high-speed digital interface to facilitate data flow between the two graphics cards or more, and a complete software suite providing dynamic load balancing, advanced rendering, and compositing to ensure maximum compatibility and performance in today's latest games.

AMD Crossfire Ready

AMD CrossFire Ready

Provide multi-GPU performance to two or more graphics cards to dramatically improve gaming performance.

Japanese Solid State Capacitors

Highest Quality Japanese Nippon Chemi-Con Solid State Capacitors

Get the most reliability and greatest performance with the use of the highest possible quality Japanese solid state capacitors.

Double Ball Bearing Fan

Double Ball Bearing Fan

A high-quality double-ball bearing fan provides excellent thermal and acoustic profiles, and its high reliability ensures a longer PSU lifetime.

Individually Sleeved Cables

Individually Sleeved Cables

EVGA delivers the highest quality sleeved cables possible; with individually sleeved cables, provide clean enthusiast grade quality for your system.

Continuous Power

Continuous Power

Trust EVGA to label all of our power supplies with Continuous Power, the steady power a power supply can output, rather than the amount delivered at its short-lived peak.

Mean Time Between Failure

MTBF: (Mean Time Between Failure)

EVGA Power Supplies offer a MTBF rating of 100,000 Hours. This predicted elapsed time rating provides the user with the average lifespan they can expect from their product.