PC POWER SUPPLY.

1 ACEC KOMNA

How PC Power Supplies Work

If there is any one component that is absolutely vital to the operation of a computer, it is
the power supply. Without it, a computer is just an inert box full of plastic and metal. The
power supply converts the alternating current (AC) line from your home to the direct
current (DC) needed by the personal computer. In this article, we'll learn how PC power
supplies work and what the wattage ratings mean

PowerSupply
In a personal computer (PC), the power supply is the metal box usually found in a corner
of the case. The power supply is visible from the back of many systems because it contains
the power-cord receptacle and the cooling fan.

This is a power supply removed from its PC case. The

small, red switch at right, above the power-cord
connector, is for changing line voltages in various
countries.

The interior of a power supply.

Power supplies, often referred to as "switching power supplies", use switcher technology to
convert the AC input to lower DC voltages. The typical voltages supplied are:
• 3.3 volts
• 5 volts
• 12 volts
The 3.3- and 5-volts are typically used by digital circuits, while the 12-volt is used to run
motors in disk drives and fans. The main specification of a power supply is in watts. A watt
is the product of the voltage in volts and the current in amperes or amps. If you have been
around PCs for many years, you probably remember that the original PCs had large red
toggle switches that had a good bit of heft to them. When you turned the PC on or off, you
knew you were doing it. These switches actually controlled the flow of 120 volt power to
the power supply.
Today you turn on the power with a little push button, and you turn off the machine with a
menu option. These capabilities were added to standard power supplies several years ago.
The operating system can send a signal to the power supply to tell it to turn off. The push
button sends a 5-volt signal to the power supply to tell it when to turn on. The power
supply also has a circuit that supplies 5 volts, called VSB for "standby voltage" even when
it is officially "off", so that the button will work.

Switcher Technology

Prior to 1980 or so, power supplies tended to be heavy and bulky. They used large, heavy
transformers and huge capacitors (some as large as soda cans) to convert line voltage at
120 volts and 60 hertz into 5 volts and 12 volts DC.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 2 ACEC KOMNA
The switching power supplies used today are much smaller and lighter. They convert the
60-Hertz (Hz, or cycles per second) current to a much higher frequency, meaning more
cycles per second. This conversion enables a small, lightweight transformer in the power
supply to do the actual voltage step-down from 110 volts (or 220 in certain countries) to
the voltage needed by the particular computer component. The higher-frequency AC
current provided by a switcher supply is also easier to rectify and filter compared to the
original 60-Hz AC line voltage, reducing the variances in voltage for the sensitive electronic
components in the computer.

In this photo you can see three small transformers

(yellow) in the center. To the left are two cylindrical
capacitors. The large finned pieces of aluminum are heat
sinks. The left heat sink has transistors attached to it.
These are the transistors in charge of doing the switching
-- they provide high-frequency power to the transformers.
Attached to the right heat sink are diodes that rectify AC
signals and turn them into DC signals.
A switcher power supply draws only the power it needs from the AC line. The typical
voltages and current provided by a power supply are shown on the label on a power
supply.

Personal computer power supply label.

VSB is the standby voltage provided to the
power switch.
Switcher technology is also used to make AC from DC, as found in many of the automobile
power inverters used to run AC appliances in an automobile and in uninterruptible power
supplies. Switcher technology in automotive power inverters changes the direct current
from the auto battery into alternating current. The transformer uses alternating current to
make the transformer in the inverter step the voltage up to that of household appliances
(120 VAC).
PC POWER SUPPLY. 3 ACEC KOMNA

Power Supply Standardization

Over time, there have been at least six different standard power supplies for personal
computers. Recently, the industry has settled on using ATX-based power supplies. ATX is
an industry specification that means the power supply has the physical characteristics to fit
a standard ATX case and the electrical characteristics to work with an ATX motherboard.
PC power-supply cables use standardized, keyed connectors that make it difficult to
connect the wrong ones. Also, fan manufacturers often use the same connectors as the
power cables for disk drives, allowing a fan to easily obtain the 12 volts it needs. Color-
coded wires and industry standard connectors make it possible for the consumer to have
many choices for a replacement power supply.

A PC power supply removed from its PC case. Cables and

connectors at right supply DC voltages.
Advanced Power Management
Advanced Power Management (APM) offers a set of five different states that your system
can be in. It was developed by Microsoft and Intel for PC users who wish to conserve
power. Each system component, including the operating system, basic input/output system
(BIOS), motherboard and attached devices all need to be APM-compliant to be able to use
this feature. Should you wish to disable APM because you suspect it is using up system
resources or causing a conflict, the best way to do this is in the BIOS. That way, the
operating system won't try to reinstall it, which could happen if it were disabled only in the
software.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 4 ACEC KOMNA

Power Supply Wattage

A 400-watt switching power supply will not necessarily use more
power than a 250-watt supply. A larger supply may be needed if you
use every available slot on the motherboard or every available drive
bay in the personal computer case. It is not a good idea to have a
250-watt supply if you have 250 watts total in devices, since the
supply should not be loaded to 100 percent of its capacity.
According to PC Power & Cooling, Inc., some power consumption
values (in watts) for common items in a personal computer are:
PC Item Watts
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) card 20 to 30W
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card 5W
small computer system interface (SCSI) PCI card 20 to 25W
floppy disk drive 5W
network interface card 4W
50X CD-ROM drive 10 to 25W
10W per
RAM
128M
5200 RPM Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) hard
5 to 11W
disk drive
7200 RPM IDE hard disk drive 5 to 15W
Motherboard (without CPU or RAM) 20 to 30W
550 MHz Pentium III 30W
733 MHz Pentium III 23.5W
300 MHz Celeron 18W
600 MHz Athlon 45W

Power supplies of the same form factor ("form factor" refers to the
actual shape of the motherboard) are typically differentiated by the
wattage they supply and the length of the warranty.
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Power Supply Problems

The PC power supply is probably the most failure-prone item in a
personal computer. It heats and cools each time it is used and
receives the first in-rush of AC current when the PC is switched on.
Typically, a stalled cooling fan is a predictor of a power supply failure
due to subsequent overheated components. All devices in a PC
receive their DC power via the power supply.
A typical failure of a PC power supply is often noticed as a burning
smell just before the computer shuts down. Another problem could be
the failure of the vital cooling fan, which allows components in the
power supply to overheat. Failure symptoms include random
rebooting or failure in Windows for no apparent reason.
For any problems you suspect to be the fault of the power supply, use
the documentation that came with your computer. If you have ever
removed the case from your personal computer to add an adapter
card or memory, you can change a power supply. Make sure you
remove the power cord first, since voltages are present even though
your computer is off.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 6 ACEC KOMNA

Power Supply Improvements

Recent motherboard and chipset improvements permit the user to
monitor the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the power supply fan via
BIOS and a Windows application supplied by the motherboard
manufacturer. New designs offer fan control so that the fan only runs
the speed needed, depending on cooling needs.
Recent designs in Web servers include power supplies that offer a
spare supply that can be exchanged while the other power supply is
in use. Some new computers, particularly those designed for use as
servers, provide redundant power supplies. This means that there are
two or more power supplies in the system, with one providing power
and the other acting as a backup. The backup supply immediately
takes over in the event of a failure by the primary supply. Then, the
primary supply can be exchanged while the other power supply is in
use.

Power Supply Improvements

Recent motherboard and chipset improvements permit the user to
monitor the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the power supply fan via
BIOS and a Windows application supplied by the motherboard
manufacturer. New designs offer fan control so that the fan only runs
the speed needed, depending on cooling needs.
Recent designs in Web servers include power supplies that offer a
spare supply that can be exchanged while the other power supply is
in use. Some new computers, particularly those designed for use as
servers, provide redundant power supplies. This means that there are
two or more power supplies in the system, with one providing power
and the other acting as a backup. The backup supply immediately
takes over in the event of a failure by the primary supply. Then, the
primary supply can be exchanged while the other power supply is in
use.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 7 ACEC KOMNA

Power
Power is supplied to your computer in two stages. First, power is conveyed to the case from
your electrical utility to your wall, and through the black power cord to the PC. Then, the
internal power supply transforms this standard household electricity into the forms that your
computer needs. Most people take electrical power for granted and don't think too much about
it. This is also true of the internal power supply, which is usually just considered part of the case
and given little attention. (The power supply is not part of the case!) The power from the utility
itself is taken for granted and rarely given a second thought--that is, until disaster strikes. It is
my hope that by taking the time to explain in more detail how electricity works and how it
powers your PC, this subject will be given more attention in the future.

How important is the quality of power you supply to your PC? This graph, which
shows the leading causes of data loss by category, gives you a pretty good idea.
(Source: Contingency Planning, via American Power Conversion)
If you are going to use your PC lightly, it is fine not to pay too much attention to power.
However, as the old computer saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out". If your motherboard and
components are being supplied poor-quality power, you will have problems that you wouldn't
have if they received proper, high-quality power. If you plan on using your PC heavily, or if
your data is important, or if you are looking for upgradeability in the future, you must pay
attention to power! Power issues are responsible for more PC problems than probably any other
single source, even though most people don't realize that the power is responsible. This chapter
takes a look at power, both internal and external to the PC.

External Power

The matter of power begins with a look at the power delivered to the case. The power that
comes into your home is normally quite reliable, but it can be surprising how many quality
problems it often has. Spikes, surges, blackouts, brownouts, line noise—all are common
power problems that you don't generally notice (well, you notice a blackout :^) ). Usually,
the electrical devices you use manage to deal with them (at least, most of them.) Your
computer's power supply has some tolerance to these problems as well; the more
expensive the system, the more the power supply can tolerate without failure. If your
power supply is inexpensive, however (and too many of them these days are) then poor
power can lead directly to system troubles that manifest themselves in ways that would
never lead you to suspect power as the cause. Taking some steps to improve the quality of
the power going into the system can help prevent problems no matter what PC you use.

What Is Electricity?
PC POWER SUPPLY. 8 ACEC KOMNA
You use it every day, but what exactly is electricity? To understand it, we must go
down to the very building blocks of matter itself: the atom. Without getting too
complicated (and going down to the level of quantum mechanics), matter is comprised of
atoms. Atoms are made up of three basic particles: protons, which are positively-charged
particles; electrons, which are negatively-charged particles; and neutrons, which have no
charge. An atom has its neutrons and protons clustered together at its center, called the
nucleus, while the electrons orbit around the nucleus.

Electrons are negatively-charged, and protons positively-charged. In a stable substance,

therefore, the charges balance out and the item comprised of that substance will have no
net charge. This is why an item at rest will not spontaneously generate electricity: it is
stable. Neutrons and protons normally remain static within the nucleus of most (non-
radioactive) substances. Electrons, on the other hand, can easily be removed from atoms
and can move between those atoms and adjacent ones. This is most readily observable
through the phenomenon of static electricity. In the classic experiment that you can do at
home, a balloon is is rubbed on a child's head. When this is done, electrons are stripped
from atoms in the hair, and moved to the balloon (or is it the other way around? :^) ).
Once the two are separated, one is left with a positive charge and the other with a
negative charge. Iif the balloon is then moved near that child's head again, the hair will
stick up as the remaining, charged atoms are attracted to those in the balloon.

What causes electrons to move? It is two things: first, the attraction of the negatively-
charged electrons towards a positive charge; and second, a means of allowing the
electrons to flow. Electricity is then at its heart, a flow of electrons. Whether it is the
powerful discharge of a lightning bolt, or the flow of electricity in an appliance, or even the
small flow of electricity in a battery-powered wristwatch, they are all at their core the
same.

Electricity flows readily in some materials but not in others. What differentiates materials is
primarily the atomic structure of the matter that comprises them. Some conduct electricity
readily; they are of course called conductors. Typical good electrical conductors include
copper, aluminum, gold and other metals, and water. Materials that do not conduct
electricity are called insulators. Common insulators include wood, glass, plastic, and air
(though many people don't think of air as an insulator, it is actually one of the best.) Some
materials conduct electricity better than others because some atoms hold on more tightly
to their electrons than others. However, any substance, even one that normally insulates
so well as to stop the flow of electricity, will conduct electricity if the charge is strong
enough--even the air.

This brings us to the concept of a circuit. A circuit is any combination of objects that allows
electricity to flow. A battery by itself is not a circuit; there is no flow of electricity (this is
sometimes called an open circuit. Attach a wire from one end of the battery to the other
though, and you have a closed circuit and electricity will immediately flow.

Voltage, Current, and Resistance

In order to talk meaningfully about electricity, and especially how we can use electricity, we
need to be able to measure its fundamental properties. There are three primarily characteristics
that describe the nature of electrical flows.
The first is voltage, usually abbreviated "V" and measured in volts (also abbreviated "V".)
Voltage, also sometimes called potential difference or electromotive force (EMF), refers to the
amount of potential energy the electrons have in an object or circuit. In some ways, you can
think of this as the amount of "push" the electrons are making to try to get towards a positive
charge. The more energy the electrons have, the stronger the voltage. If we draw an analogy to a
waterfall, the voltage would represent the height of the waterfall: the higher it is, the more
potential energy the water has by virtue of its distance from the bottom of the falls, and the
more energy it will possess as it hits the bottom.
The second primary characteristic of electricity is current, usually abbreviated "I" ("C" is
reserved for the principle of charge, the most fundamental building block of electricity.)
PC POWER SUPPLY. 9 ACEC KOMNA
Current is measured in amperes or amps, abbreviation "A". Current refers to how much
electricity is flowing--how many electrons are moving through a circuit in a unit of time. If we
think about our waterfall example, the current would represent how much water was going over
the edge of the falls each second.
The third primary characteristic of electricity is resistance, normally abbreviated "R" and
measured in ohms, abbreviated using the Greek letter omega ( ). Resistance refers to how
much the material that is conducting electricity opposes the flow of electrons. The higher the
resistance, the harder it is for the electrons to push through. In the waterfall analogy, resistance
would refer to any obstacles that slowed down the flow of water over the edge of the falls.
Perhaps there are many rocks in the river before the edge, to slow the water down. Or maybe a
dam is being used to hold back most of the water and let only a small amount of it through.
These three characteristics are directly related through a mathematical principle known as
Ohm's Law. Its usual formulation is:
V=I*R
meaning that the voltage of a circuit is equal to the current through the circuit times its
resistance. Another way of stating Ohm's Law, that is often easier to understand, is:
I=V/R
which means that the current through a circuit is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance.
This makes sense, if you think about our waterfall example: the higher the waterfall, the more
water will want to rush through, but it can only do so to the extent that it is able to as a result of
any opposing forces. If you tried to fit Niagara Falls through a garden hose, you'd only get so
much water every second, no matter how high the falls, and no matter how much water was
waiting to get through! And if you replace that hose with one that is of a larger diameter, you
will get more water in the same amount of time.
Getting back to electrical circuits, what does resistance mean in practical terms? First,
conductors have relatively low resistance; that's what makes them conductive. Insulators have
high resistance. Let's consider a D-cell battery. This is a device that chemically creates a charge
differential; one end of the battery is positively charged, and the other is negatively charged, so
it has a voltage (typically 1.5V for alkaline cells). What prevents the electrons from jumping
straight to the positive charge and neutralizing the battery? It is the conductor that separates
them: the air itself. Air is one of the best insulators around. Now if you attach a wire from one
terminal to the other, you have replaced the high resistance of the air with the low resistance of
the wire, and you will get a very high current as a result through the wire. How high? Well,
directly short-circuiting a battery in this manner can cause burns!
How can electricity cause burns? Some of the electrical energy is converted to heat. How much
heat is created depends on the current through the circuit, and the resistance of the conductor. In
fact, this is all that an incandescent lightbulb is: a closed circuit is made to the bulb. Inside the
bulb is a filament made of a special material with a fairly high resistance. When electricity
flows through it, some of it is converted to heat, which causes the filament to glow and,
combined with the gases in the bulb, produce light. When you turn off the switch, you open the
circuit by replacing part of the wire in the circuit with air, and the electrical flow stops.
There's one final thing to note about current: even though it is comprised of negatively-charge
particles (electrons) moving towards a positive charge, by convention current is considered to
be the opposite: positive charges moving towards a negative charge. I believe that this is the
case because in the early days of research into electricity, scientists believed the positive
charges are what moved in the circuit, and not the negative ones. It doesn't really matter too
much actually, except that you will normally see, for example, battery voltages referred to as
positive and not negative. All voltages are measured in reference to a common zero point,
normally called ground potential because it is usually connected to the ground of the earth,
directly or indirectly.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 10 ACEC KOMNA
Direct and Alternating Current
There are two different ways that electricity is produced, and they are used in most cases for
very different purposes. They can also be converted from one form to another, as discussed in
this section.
The first and simpler type of electricity is called direct current, abbreviated "DC". This is the
type of electricity that is produced by batteries, static, and lightning. A voltage is created, and
possibly stored, until a circuit is completed. When it is, the current flows directly, in one
direction. In the circuit, the current flows at a specific, constant voltage (this is oversimplified
somewhat but good enough for our needs.) When you use a flashlight, pocket radio, portable
CD player or virtually any other type of portable or battery-powered device, you are using
direct current. Most DC circuits are relatively low in voltage; for example, your car's battery is
approximately 12 V, and that's about as high a DC voltage as most people ever use.

An idealized 12 V DC current. The voltage is considered positive because its potential is

measured relative to ground or the zero-potential default state of the earth.
(This diagram drawn to the same scale as the AC diagram below.)
The other type of electricity is called alternating current, or "AC". This is the electricity that
you get from your house's wall and that you use to power most of your electrical appliances.
Alternating current is harder to explain than direct current. The electricity is not provided as a
single, constant voltage, but rather as a sinusoidal (sine) wave that over time starts at zero,
increases to a maximum value, then decreases to a minimum value, and repeats. A
representation of an alternating current's voltage over time is shown in the diagram below.
While simple direct current circuits are generally described only by their voltage, alternating
current circuits require more detail. First of all, if the voltage goes from a positive value to a
negative value and back again, what do we say is the voltage? Is it zero, because it averages out
to zero? That would seem to imply that there is no energy there at all. But imagine, if you will,
a wave of water flowing across the surface of the sea. The peaks and troughs of the wave seem
to "cancel each other out", but the wave clearly exists and has energy. The same is true of
alternating current.
The way the science world measures the energy in an AC signal is to compute what is called the
root mean square (RMS) average of the voltage. In simple terms, the RMS value of an electrical
current is the number which represents the same energy that a DC current at that voltage would
produce; it is in essence an average of the alternating current waveform. Whenever you see an
AC voltage specification, they are giving you the RMS number unless they say otherwise
specifically. So for example, in North America, most homes have 115 VAC electricity. This is
AC electricity equivalent in energy to a 115 V DC circuit. (This is an approximate number, and
standard household electricity in North America is also sometimes called 110VAC or 120VAC;
it's the same thing.) Other parts of the world use different voltages ranging from 100VAC to
240VAC, and of course, heavy equipment anywhere can use much higher voltages.
The other key characteristic of AC is its frequency, measured in cycles per second (cps) or,
more commonly, Hertz (Hz). This number describes how many times in a second the voltage
alternates from positive to negative and back again, completing one cycle. In North America,
 PC POWER SUPPLY. 11 ACEC KOMNA
the standard is 60 Hz, meaning 60 cycles from positive to negative and back again in one
second. In other parts of the world the standard is 50 Hz.

Three cycles of an idealized North American 115 VAC, 60 Hz alternating current signal (black
curve).
Note that each cycle represents 16.67 milliseconds of time, because that is 1/60th of a second. The
curve actually goes from -170 V to +170 V in order to provide the average (RMS) value of 115 V.
The RMS equivalent is shown as a green horizontal line. To demonstrate what RMS means, look
at
the blue shaded area, which shows the total energy in the signal for one cycle. The green shading
is
the area between the RMS line and the zero line for one cycle, and represents the energy in an
equivalent
115 V DC signal. The definition of the RMS value is that which makes the green and blue areas
equal.
(This diagram drawn to the same scale as the DC diagram above.)
Why does standard electricity come only in the form of alternating current? There are a number
of reasons, but one of the most important is that a characteristic of AC is that it is relatively easy
to change voltages from one level to another using a transformer, while transformers do not
work for DC. This capability allows the companies that generate and distribute electricity to do
it in a more efficient manner, by transmitting it at high voltage for long lengths, which reduces
energy loss due to the resistance in the transmission wires. Another reason is that it may be
easier to mechanically generate alternating current electricity than direct current.
PCs use only direct current, which means that the alternating current provided by your utility
must be converted to direct current before use. This is the primary function of your power
supply.

Work, Power and Apparent Power

If we have electricity, what can we do with it? Well, we can do work, which in physics is
defined as transferring energy from one object or another through the application of force.
Essentially, any time you have a circuit with electricity flowing in it and you are doing
PC POWER SUPPLY. 12 ACEC KOMNA
something with it, you are accomplishing work. The basic unit of work (or energy) is a joule
("J").
Now, finally, we get to where we wanted to go in our discussion of electricity: the definition of
power. Power is simply the rate at which work is done. The more power you have in a system,
the more work you can get done in the same period of time. In terms of electricity, increasing
power means the ability to do more electrical work (for example, running more appliances, or
spinning a motor faster, or running a faster CPU, etc.) in the same number of seconds. Power is
measured in watts ("W"). Since power is the rate at which work is done, one watt equals one
joule of energy expended in one second:
Power (W) = Work (J) / Time (seconds)
Conversely, the amount of energy used by a device can be computed as the amount of power it
uses multiplied by the length of time over which that power is applied:
Work (J) = Power (W) * Time (seconds)
Computing electrical power can be very simple or very complicated, depending on the type of
electricity you are looking at. Let's start with direct current. Here, power (in watts) is just the
product of the voltage (in volts) and the current (in amps) of the circuit:
P (W) = V (V) * I (A)
Fairly simple stuff, and it makes sense: you do more work when you have electrons pushing
with more force (higher voltage) and also when you have more of them per period of time
(higher current). Since P = V*I, and I = V/R, another way to express power is:
P = V² / R
For example, if you have a simple 5 V circuit running through a 20 ohm simple resistance, you
will have 250 mA of current, and the total power is 5*0.250=1.25 W. Double the voltage to 10
V, and the power doesn't double; it increases by a factor of four, because doubling the voltage
while leaving the resistance the same will also double the current. The new power is 5 W.
Unsurprisingly, with alternating current the answer is more complicated. To understand it, it is
necessary to introduce the concept of phase, which I will try to do without overcomplicating
things (not an easy task! :^) ). As illustrated on this page, alternating current is a wave of
voltage that swings between a large positive and negative value. The current also makes this
sinusoidal trip the same number of times per second. However, sometimes the current and
voltage don't peak at the exact same time. The timing relationship between current and voltage
of a flow is called its phase, and is expressed in degrees. Why degrees? Well, a cycle of a sine
wave is analogous to a circle. 360 degrees is a full cycle, 180 degree half a cycle, and so on.
Now, what determines the phasing between the current and voltage? Primarily, it depends on
the kinds of loads being powered. Simple loads, such as light bulbs, heater elements and the
like, are said to be primarily resistive. These loads will cause the phase between the current and
voltage to be close to zero. When the phase angle is zero, the voltage and current applied to the
load is equal to the voltage and current used by the load.
PC POWER SUPPLY. 13 ACEC KOMNA

115 VAC current and voltage driving a purely resistive load. The phase angle between voltage and
current
is about 0 degrees. Note that the voltage and current peak together.
Other loads, particularly items such as motors, are said to be reactive. Reactive loads are caused
by more complex opposition to the flow of alternating current such as that produced by
capacitors and inductors. They can cause the current and voltage to be out of phase, in theory by
as much as 90 degrees.

115 VAC current and voltage driving a (theoretical) purely reactive load. The current is lagging
behind
the voltage by about 90 degrees. (It is possible for the current to be leading by 90 degrees also.)
PC POWER SUPPLY. 14 ACEC KOMNA
Note that whenever one of voltage or current hits a peak, the other one is at zero!
If the phase angle between current and voltage is 90 degrees, then whenever voltage is at its
peak (either positive or negative), current is zero, and vice-versa. This is a "worst-case"
situation that doesn't normally arise in the real world because real loads aren't purely reactive. A
more typical situation is where the phase angle is about 45 degrees.

115 VAC current and voltage driving a partly resistive and partly reactive
load. The current is lagging behind the voltage by about 45 degrees, making
this an inductive load. If the load were capacitive, the current would be
leading the voltage. See here for more on inductors and capacitors.
"Alright, alright," you are saying. "Why do I care about all of this?" Well, here's one important
reason: PC power supplies are partly reactive loads, and often exhibit a phase difference
between voltage and current of about 45 degrees. This means that the voltage and current
applied to the load do not equal the voltage and current used by the load, and you cannot
compute the power used by the supply by simply multiplying the current and voltage. OK, now
here's where it gets interesting. :^) The voltage and current applied to the load can be multiplied
together to yield what is called apparent power, measured in Volt-Amps (VA):
Apparent Power (VA) = V (V) * I (A)
Apparent power represents the voltage and current being sent to the device, and is used to
measure draw from the utility, for determining heat generation by equipment under use, and for
sizing wires and circuit breakers. The actual power used by the load is called "true" power, or
just power, and is measured in Watts. (Even though Watts = Volts * Amps, apparent power is
measured in VA to differentiate it from true power.) The relationship between power and
apparent power is expressed using this formula:
P (W) = cosine(phase) * Apparent Power (VA)
where "cosine" is the trigonometric function. "cosine(phase)" is also called the power factor of
the load. Let's try an example. Let's suppose we are trying to run a power supply and the power
supplied is 115V voltage and 2A of current. The apparent power is 115 * 2 = 230 VA. If the
nature of the power supply is that its voltage and current are out of phase by 50 degrees, then
the power factor is cosine(50º) = 0.642 (sometimes expressed as 64.2%) and the power used by
the load is 148 W.
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There's a particular place where all of this comes into play, and that is in the capacity and sizing
of uninterruptible power supplies. UPSes are normally specified in terms of apparent power
(VA), whereas PC power supplies are specified in terms of true power (W). Many people use
the numbers interchangeably, when they most definitely are not the same! Now that you
understand the difference between the two, and you know what a power factor is, you are light
years ahead of 95% of the population when it comes to figuring out how to purchase a properly-
sized UPS or similar device.

Voltage Conversion and Inversion

As discussed here, there are two types of electricity: direct current and alternating current. Each
has its advantages and disadvantages, and most types of devices will only run on one or the
other. Therefore, it would be useful to be able to change electricity from one form to the other.
Fortunately, devices have been created that enable us to do exactly that.
The process of changing AC into DC is called conversion (actually, this is an imprecise term
because "conversion" also refers to changing one DC voltage to another, and other things as
well, but it will do for our purposes.) Devices that perform this process are called converters,
but are also sometimes called adapters, and if being used for charging batteries, they are often
just called chargers. Changing DC into AC is the opposite process and is called inversion. A
device that does this is, of course, called an inverter.
Most people use converters on a daily basis even if they don't realize it, while inverters are used
only for special applications. The reason for this is pretty simple: most people have AC power
in their houses and therefore have little need for a device that creates AC from a DC source.
However, inverters are useful for a wide range of applications, including letting you run small
115 VAC household appliances from your car's battery or electrical system, which is DC. In the
PC world, inverters are a major component in uninterruptible power supplies, changing stored
battery energy into a form your AC-powered PC power supply can use.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that every time you convert or invert electricity,
there is some loss of energy due to waste heat in the components. The very best inverters are
only about 90% efficient, meaning 10% of the energy is lost during the inversion; cheaper ones
are less efficient. Converters can be as efficient as inverters, but are often much worse, often
being no better than 50% efficient--half the power input to them is radiated as heat.

Uninterruptible Power Supplies

While there are many less-expensive methods you can employ to provide some degree of
protection for your PC from power problems, none of them can insulate your system from
power troubles as well as a good uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The idea behind a UPS is
pretty obvious from the name. In addition to filtering, enhancing or modifying the utility power,
special circuitry and batteries are used to prevent the PC from losing power during a disruption
(blackout) or voltage sag (brownout). These units are called different names depending on their
exact design, but all fit into the general category of backup power.
Once considered an expensive luxury, UPSes are now available quite inexpensively. While once
I would have recommended a UPS to only those whose systems really needed them, I can say
now that anyone who uses their PC for any work purpose should be thinking seriously about
getting one. If you consider your time valuable, a UPS can pay for itself the first time the power
flickers or goes out.
Note: Some people pronounce "UPS" using the three letters sounded out (like the name of a
famous parcel delivery company) while others pronounce them as a word ("ups"). I do the
former, so you will see "a UPS" and not "an UPS" on this web site.

Warning: I have received information that warns about possible equipment failure and even
safety hazards as a result of plugging surge suppressors into the output jacks of a UPS. You
PC POWER SUPPLY. 16 ACEC KOMNA
should never do this, as they are not designed to be used this way (there is no need to anyway)
and a hazardous situation could result.

Uninterruptible Power Supply Overview

Before delving into the details of how an uninterruptible power supply works, let's take a quick
look at the basics of this type of equipment. The fundamental purpose of a UPS is to provide an
uninterruptible source of power for the equipment it protects. How exactly is this done? An
electric device plugged into the wall (or into a surge suppressor plugged into the wall) has only
one source of power. If there is a blackout, the electricity is cut and the device obviously goes
off immediately. A UPS changes this equation by providing its equipment two sources of power.
UPSes are designed so that there is one source of power that is normally used, called the
primary power source, and another source that kicks in if the primary is disrupted, called the
secondary power source. The power from the wall is always one of these sources, and the
battery contained within the UPS is the other. A switch is used to control which of these sources
powers the equipment at any given time. The switch changes from the primary source to the
secondary when it detects that the primary power has gone out. It switches back from the
secondary power source to the primary when it detects that the primary power source has
returned.

Very basic block diagram of a UPS, showing the basic design:

two power sources, controlled by a switch.
Contrary to what you might think, the wall AC power is not always the primary power source
and the battery the secondary. Which source is primary and which is secondary depends on the
type of UPS.
Of course, the power that comes from the wall is AC, and your PC uses AC power as well. All
batteries, however, provide DC power. Therefore, circuitry is provided within all UPSes to
convert AC power to DC to charge the battery. A device called an inverter is also provided to
change the battery's stored DC electricity to AC to run your equipment. These components of
the UPS, and others, are discussed in detail in the section covering the various parts of the UPS.
UPSes come in many different sizes and shapes. The size of the UPS is primarily dictated by
the size of the battery; the larger the battery, the more time your equipment can run on battery
power before shutting down. Larger units not only can power equipment for more time, they
can also handle a larger total demand for power. Different UPSes have various other additional
PC POWER SUPPLY. 17 ACEC KOMNA
features, including warning signals, PC control software, and conditioning circuitry for the AC
power source. Most newer UPSes also include a feature to shut down your PC in the event that
both of its power sources fail, to avoid possible operating system problems caused by the power
going out suddenly to the PC. UPS features are discussed in this section.

Uninterruptible Power Supply Types

Most people know that UPSes exist, but many seem to think that there is just one kind of device
that goes by that name. In fact, there are several different major designs in use for UPS models.
Those who sell these devices share much of the blame for this situation, because too often, the
different kinds of UPS are all called the same, generic name. (Although it is usually possible to
determine which type of UPS a given model is, if you do your homework.)
This section takes a look at the different UPS types, discusses their basic design principles, and
attempts to draw comparisons between them to help you understand them better.
Note: In addition to the types I cover here, there are some other, esoteric designs, some of
which are hybrids of the units described in this section. I don't cover every variant here, just the
most common architectures.

Standby UPS / Standby Power Supply

The standby UPS is the simplest and least expensive UPS design. In fact, some don't even
consider a standby UPS to really be a UPS, calling it instead a standby power supply (SPS).
However, many of the most common consumer-grade devices marketed as UPSes, particularly
on the lower end of the budget scale, in fact use this general design. They are sometimes also
called offline UPSes to distinguish them from online UPSes.
In this type of UPS, the primary power source is line power from the utility, and the secondary
power source is the battery. It is called a standby UPS because the battery and inverter are
normally not supplying power to the equipment. The battery charger is using line power to
charge the battery, and the battery and inverter are waiting "on standby" until they are needed.
When the AC power goes out, the transfer switch changes to the secondary power source. When
line power is restored, the UPS switches back.

Block schematic of a standby UPS. The primary power source is filtered and surge-suppressed
to protect against line noise and other problems that would not cause a switch to battery power.
Image © American Power Conversion Corp.
Image used with permission.
While the least desirable type of UPS, a standby unit is still a UPS and will serve well for most
users. After all, if standby UPSes didn't work, they wouldn't sell. For a very critical function,
however, such as an important server, they are not generally used. The issue with a standby
UPS is that when the line power goes out, the switch to battery power happens very quickly, but
not instantly. There is a delay of a fraction of a second while the switch occurs, which is called
the switch time or transfer time of the UPS. While rare, it is possible for the UPS to not make
the switch fast enough for the PC's power supply to continue operation uninterrupted. Again, in
practice this does not normally occur or nobody would bother to buy these units. Still, you
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should compare the unit's transfer time to the hold (or holdup) time of your power supply unit,
which tells you how much time the power supply can handle having its input cut off before
being interrupted. If the transfer time is much less than the hold time, the UPS will probably
work for you.
Standby UPSes are usually available in a size range of up to about 1000 VA.
Warning: If you use a standby UPS, make sure it incorporates surge suppression and filtering
features for when the machine is running off standard power, as shown in the block diagram
above. Otherwise, under normal cases (i.e., any time you aren't experiencing a blackout) your
system is, in essence, plugged directly into the wall.

Electric power is defined as the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric
circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.

Electrical power is distributed via cables and electricity pylons like these in Brisbane,
Australia.When electric current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work. Devices
convert this work into many useful forms, such as heat (electric heaters), light (light
bulbs), motion (electric motors) and sound (loudspeaker). Electricity can be produced by
generation or from storage such as batteries.

Mathematics of electric power

[edit] In circuits

Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations. The
term wattage is used colloquially to mean 'electric power in watts'.
In direct current resistive circuits, instantaneous electrical power is calculated using Joule's
Law, which is named after the British physicist James Joule, who first showed that electrical
and mechanical energy were interchangeable.
where
P is the power (watt or W)
I is the current (ampere or A)
V is the potential difference (volt or V)
For example:
.
Joule's law can be combined with Ohm's law to produce two more equations:
where
R is the resistance (Ohm or Ω).
For example:
and
In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductance and capacitance may
result in periodic reversals of the direction of energy flow. The portion of power flow that,
averaged over a complete cycle of the AC waveform, results in net transfer of energy in one
direction is known as real power (also referred to as active power). That portion of power flow
due to stored energy, that returns to the source in each cycle, is known as reactive power.

Power triangle The components of AC power

The relationship between real power, reactive power and apparent power can be expressed by
representing the quantities as vectors. Real power is represented as a horizontal vector and
reactive power is represented as a vertical vector. The apparent power vector is the hypotenuse
PC POWER SUPPLY. 19 ACEC KOMNA
of a right triangle formed by connecting the real and reactive power vectors. This representation
is often called the power triangle. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, the relationship among real,
reactive and apparent power is:
(apparent power)2 = (real power)2 + (reactive power)2
The ratio of real power to apparent power is called power factor and is a number always
between 0 and 1.

[edit] In space

Electrical power flows wherever electric and magnetic fields exist in the same place. The
simplest example of this is in electrical circuits, as the preceding section showed. In the general
case, however, the simple equation P = IV must be replaced by a more complex calculation, the
integral of the vector cross-product of the electrical and magnetic fields over a specified area,
thus:
The result is a scalar since it is the surface integral of the Poynting vector.