Upgrade Power Supply Guide

Why would you need to upgrade your PC's power supply? After upgrades are made to a PC or new components are added, your power supply may not provide enough wattage to power all the components in your computer. To test your power supply, simply power on and use as many devices in your PC possible at the same time. If everything works fine and no errors occur, your current power supply is fine. If you encounter any problems with multiple devices running, this means it may be time for a power supply upgrade. If you would like to be precise, you can add up the total wattage the components of your PC require and compare that to the wattage rating of your power supply. If the wattage your power supply provides is not enough or barely enough it would be safe to purchase and install a new power supply that can handle the wattage required. If you encounter any problems with a power supply the easiest fix is to simply replace it. It could be dangerous to try and fix a problemed power supply and they are relatively inexpensive.

Remove Old Power Supply

First, before you do anything else, turn of the power to the PC and remove the power cord. After the power has been cut, remove the PC case. Once the power supply has been located, remove all power cables and connections from the components of the PC. You may need to first remove other devices before the power supply can safely be removed. For example, you may need to remove hard drives, expansion cards or even the whole motherboard. Once you have access to the power supply, all connections severed and all other devices are out of the way, procede to remove the screws on the back of the PC that hold the power supply to the case and remove the power supply unit.

Install New Power Supply

After the old power supply has been disposed of, place the new power supply in position and slide it into place. Screw the power supply in place and replace any other devices that were removed. Connect the motherboard power connector and all power connections to the appropriate devices. Power on the PC to verify the new power supply is working properly. Lastly, turn off the PC and replace the case. You now have a power supply installed to meet your voltage requirements.

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When purchasing a power supply, focus more on getting a quality PSU with enough wattage to meet your power consumption needs. Many cheap power supplies offer a high wattage rating, but this can be misleading as they are often measured for peak output and could be of lower quality than another power supply with a lesser wattage rating. If you plan on overclocking, you will need a high quality power supply with more wattage than the individual devices specify as components draw more power with higher clock cycles.

For more information, see our page on power supplies.