Efficiency is one of the most important factors for a PC power supply , since it represents the amount of energy that is wasted in the form of heat – with the problems that this entails – and the cost of more that we will be paying for electricity. In this regard, technology has advanced a lot and the 80 Plus Titanium power supplies exceed 94% efficiency, but will it ever be possible to reach 100% efficiency ?
Currently and although it has been shown that it is more of a marketing strategy than anything else, the efficiency of power supplies is measured with the 80 Plus certification, which serves to catalog them in different tiers (this is 80 Plus, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium for now) depending on how efficient they are. In any case, as we said, the highest category in this regard places the sources with more than 94% efficiency, but no more.
Will we see 100% efficient power supplies?
A power supply serves, as the ultimate goal, to give the PC components the electricity they need to function. However, inside it many more things happen to get there: we have input filters to eliminate electrical noise, we have voltage regulators, AC to DC converters, voltage converters to add the 5V values to the initial 12V. and 3.3V that the PC needs to work, and much more.
Each component through which the electricity passes carries out its own process, and in each of the connections that exist (which are many, both at the level of welding and other types) there is a change in material, wiring section or density. This necessarily implies losses, generally in the form of heat, and for that reason most sources on the market need to have a fan to keep the internal components at a good temperature.
Even assuming all the source’s internal connections were perfect and all its internal components were leak-free and 100% efficient, we would have to add the cabling. We plug the PC into the wall socket with a Schuko connector, and then the cables that we connect inside the PC can be soldered on the normal sources, or with MOLEX-type connectors with more or less pins, but connectors. In these there is also a certain loss of efficiency due to what we have explained before: changes in material, densities, etc.
In short, all this means that with current technology it is literally impossible to achieve 100% efficiency in a power supply, and already achieving values above 94% as happens in the 80 Plus Titanium sources is an incredible achievement if we have in It counts for the number of different components that the electricity passes inside from when we take it from the plug until it reaches the components.
Technology will continue to advance, and the situation could arise that they would invent a voltage converter that is capable of converting the alternating current that reaches 220V directly to the three + 12V, + 5V and + 3.3V rails to which it works. the PC, but really to achieve 100% efficiency it would be necessary that absolutely all the circuitry was integrated so that nothing was wasted in connections, and with everything and with that it is highly likely that part of the energy was wasted in the form of heat due to fluctuations.
It is likely that power supplies will continue to increase their efficiency in the future and, possibly, they will have to obtain a certification higher than 80 Plus Titanium, but that moment is still far away and, of course, we will not be able to reach 100% efficiency.
