Efficiency has always been a main goal in the design of power supplies, as loss during the conversion of power imposes added costs in general.
The Power of Large Numbers
In 2004, the US EPA’s ENERGY STAR programme estimated around 10 billion power supplies in use worldwide — across computers, servers, printers, televisions, phones and more. That predates smartphones and the connected-device era, so the figure today is far higher.
Efficiency back then was poor. The same assessment found many designs converting only 30 to 60% of the power they drew, and the prevailing industry design guide for PC power supplies required just 70% efficiency at 50% load.
Certified designs today are in a different class. 80 PLUS® Titanium requires 94% at 50% load on 115 V, and the newer Ruby tier 95%. Cybenetics Diamond, which averages efficiency across the full load range rather than fixed points, requires 95% or higher on 230 V. Seasonic’s PRIME ENTERPRISE RX-1600 is the first ATX power supply certified 80 PLUS® Ruby at 115 V and 230 V.
At the same 50% load point, that is 70% to 95% in twenty years. Across billions of units, that difference is a substantial amount of electricity no longer lost as heat.
The History of Certifications
Until the early 2000s, power supplies had no efficiency certification, and it was not until 2004 that the first initiative to create an efficiency standard emerged.
The 80 PLUS® program was created in 2004 by Ecos Consulting, an energy efficiency firm, and is today administered by CLEAResult, which acquired the program through Ecos’s successor company.
Sea Sonic partnered with Ecos Consulting at the time to work out uniform efficiency standards, and in 2005 became the first manufacturer to bring the world’s first 80 PLUS® certified PC power supply to market (the Seasonic SS-400HT). Since then, 80 PLUS® certified power supplies have become a de facto component in PC systems.
Understanding Efficiency
Efficiency certification helps consumers know how efficient the power supply is.
The percentage number of efficiency is derived by dividing the output power by the input power; the higher this number, the more efficient the power supply is. The input power lost in the conversion is transformed into heat.
Higher-efficiency power supplies often require more advanced designs and components. However, an 80 PLUS® rating specifically certifies energy efficiency, not overall build quality. During certification, the power supply is tested at several load levels, including 100% of its rated output, to verify its efficiency under the defined test conditions.
Cybenetics
Cybenetics is a PC hardware testing and certification company. It was founded with the intention of revolutionizing the way power supply units are tested and compared in order to give end users a clearer picture of the power products they buy for their systems.
The importance of measurements
The basic test methodology is that Seasonic doesn’t take only three or four measurements to define the efficiency or noise output of a PSU. On the contrary, it is applied more than 1450 different load combinations, starting from a minimal load and up to a full one; we get the average efficiency and noise readings, which define the PSU’s efficiency and noise ratings.
This provides Seasonic with a complete operational map of the PSU, allowing us to evaluate not only efficiency and noise, but also voltage regulation, ripple, and other important performance data.
| Efficiency Levels (115V inputs) | Efficiency (1) (2) | Pf (3) | 5Vsb Efficiency (1) (3) (4) | Vampire Power (3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Diamond | ≥93% overall efficiency | ≥0.985 | >79% | <0.10 W |
 Titanium | ≥91% & <93% overall efficiency | ≥0.980 | >77% | <0.13 W |
 Platinum | ≥89% & <91% overall efficiency | ≥0.975 | >76% | <0.16 W |
 Gold | ≥87% & <89% overall efficiency | ≥0.970 | >75% | <0.19 W |
 Silver | ≥85% & <87% overall efficiency | ≥0.960 | >73% | <0.22 W |
 Bronze | ≥82% & <85% overall efficiency | ≥0.950 | >71% | <0.25 W |
| Efficiency Levels (230V inputs) | Efficiency (1) (2) | Pf (3) | 5Vsb Efficiency (1) (3) (4) | Vampire Power (3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond | ≥95% overall efficiency | ≥0.950 | >78% | <0.12 W |
| Titanium | ≥93% & <95% overall efficiency | ≥0.940 | >76% | <0.15 W |
| Platinum | ≥91% & <93% overall efficiency | ≥0.935 | >75% | <0.18 W |
| Gold | ≥89% & <91% overall efficiency | ≥0.930 | >74% | <0.20 W |
| Silver | ≥87% & <89% overall efficiency | ≥0.920 | >72% | <0.23 W |
| Bronze | ≥84% & <87% overall efficiency | ≥0.910 | >70% | <0.25 W |
Cybenetics uses comprehensive and modern methodology
- An unlimited number of sample measurements
- High ambient temperature
- 5VSB measurements
- Vampire power measurements
- Modern reports of the equipment
- Right efficiency badges
80 PLUS®
80 PLUS® offers seven different efficiency certifications
| 80 PLUS Certification | 115 V Internal Non-Redundant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 PLUS Certification | 5% | 10% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
 80 PLUS | - | - | 80% | 80% | 80% PFC ≥ 0.90 |
 80 PLUS Bronze | - | - | 82% | 85% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 82% |
 80 PLUS Silver | - | - | 85% | 88% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 85% |
 80 PLUS Gold | - | - | 87% | 90% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 87% |
 80 PLUS Platinum | - | - | 90% | 92% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 89% |
 80 PLUS Titanium | - | 90% | 92% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 94% | 90% |
 80 PLUS Ruby | 85% | 91% | 93% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 95% | 91% |
| 80 PLUS Certification | 230 V Internal Non-Redundant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 PLUS Certification | 5% | 10% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
| 80 PLUS | - | - | 82% | 85% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 82% |
| 80 PLUS Bronze | - | - | 85% | 88% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 85% |
| 80 PLUS Silver | - | - | 87% | 90% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 87% |
| 80 PLUS Gold | - | - | 90% | 92% PFC ≥ 0.90 | 89% |
| 80 PLUS Platinum | - | - | 92% | 94% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 90% |
| 80 PLUS Titanium | - | 90% | 93% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 95% | 91% |
| 80 PLUS Ruby | 85% | 91% | 94% PFC ≥ 0.95 | 96% | 92% |