We tend to assume that the vast majority of HEXUS readers know what they're looking for when shopping for a power supply unit (PSU), and our in-depth reviews are always a great source for information.
If, however, you've only just discovered what a power supply is, you might find Antec's newly-launched mini site to be useful. It's called "Continuous Power vs. Peak Power", and it aims to educate consumers on the different standards of power ratings.
It might be obvious to most, but here's the gist of things. "Continuous Power describes the real power a PSU can output continuously. This means that a PSU with 500 watts of Continuous Power can maintain stable, continuous output within the maximum load of 500 watts. A PSU with 500 watts of Peak Power, however, can only maintain such output for a few seconds," says Antec.
Still struggling to wrap your head around it? Antec's provided graph should clear things up.
Antec reckons "many brands on the market use misleading power efficiency labels or model names to confuse consumers". That might be the case, but it's worth noting that other well-regarded PSU manufacturers such as Corsair and Enermax also accurately depict continuous power ratings.
Nonetheless, it's a useful message for consumers and Antec's mini site can be viewed at antec.com.
