PSU Buyers's Guide

There’s more to getting the right power supply than just picking the one with the highest number

Power supply units (PSUs) are an essential component of any computer for what should be fairly obvious reasons. Most of us don’t waste a second thought on our power supplies for the majority of the time we use our PCs, but when the time comes to buy a new one, you’ll find that PSUs are as complex and varied as any other computer component and just as deserving of the proper attention.

In case you suddenly find yourself thrust into a potentially confusing world of wattages, efficiencies, amps, volts and rails, we’re here to help. But fair warning: if you’re not building a performance or gaming system, some of this information will be of no practical value. If you are, though, it’s required knowledge. Either way, you might find it useful to know.

Do You Need An Expensive Case?

We take some of the guesswork out of choosing the right chassis

When you’re trying to build a system, finding the best bargains can take a lot of research. You have to compare price and performance, as well as considering the economy of what you need now against what will be cheaper to buy in the future.

Poseidon Z RGB Gaming Keyboard

The best keyboards are the ones that manage to blend style with substance, aesthetics with customization. There is no shortage of mechanical switch-enabled keyboards with RGB backlighting marketed toward gamers these days, but it’s the little things about Thermaltake’s Poseidon Z RGB that make it stand out.

Thermaltake Core P5

Nobody appreciates modded PCs as art better than CPU. Just flip to the Mad Reader Mod in this issue and you’ll see yet another world-class example of a PC that’s pleasing to the eye yet brutal with the benchmarks. But thanks to Thermaltake and the new Core P5, you can concoct a system worth showing off without having to leave your day job and convert your bathroom into an ersatz paint booth.

Supermicro C7H170-M

The tight confines and limited airflow of a small form factor rig often make for a hotter environment than systems in a mid- or full-sized tower. Supermicro’s C7H170-M is a microATX motherboard that’s built with stability and reliability in mind, while still providing support for Intel’s Skylake processors, M.2 storage, and a few expansion card slots. As you might guess by the title, the C7H170-M runs Intel’s H170 chipset, which is quite comparable with Intel’s Z170 chipset. Typically, the H variant of Intel’s chipsets don’t support overclocking, but Supermicro uses a special hardware design and BIOS that lets you adjust the base clock on your Skylake processor. Read on for a deeper look at Supermicro’s C7H170-M.