Printable View
HI,
I am buying a new PSU for my computer, someone suggested to go for Corsair brand, I am going for 650 watt unit , while looking for the unit, I found that there are some corsair power supply with ACTIVE PFC. I tried googline but can't get clear idea. It is all explained in very technical language, can anyone explain in simple layman words about PFC thing in SMPS,.
Also, should I go for SMPS with active PFC or with no PFC mention at all ?
In simple words, PFC (Power factor correction) manages current flow to verious components through SMPS. Active PFC is better and efficient than Passive PFC.
I hope that is simple enough :)
And if you find it adventurous to go in details then :
SourceQuote:
Introduction of passive PFC power supply
Passive PFC power supply is consisted of passive components, its PF value is between 70%~80% approximately. The more voltage of power supply, the requirement size of PFC components becomes greater. The input power voltage is required to switch via manual operation. Passive PFC power supply is using a low pass filter to filter the distortion’s high harmonic wave, and only leave the 60 Hz (or 50Hz) basic wave in order to increase the power factor. Passive PFC power supply can only decrease the current wave within the standard and the power factor can not be corrected to 1. This kind of design has the following advantages, simple structure, easy design, low cost, and only require a filter to correct, but will have the following disadvantages, large dimension of filter, heavy and low efficiency resulted from thermal and voltage decrease while current pass through the filter.
Introduction of active PFC power supply
The PF value of Active PFC power supply is over 90 percent. It is even possible to reach 99.99 percent and include the full range special feature. Active PFC power supply can detect the input voltage automatically, supports 110V to 240V alternative current, its dimension and weight is smaller than passive PFC power supply which goes against the traditional view that heavier power supply is better.
Also, corsair is good PSU brand but they have verious series, I will suggest to go for RM or RMX series, eg.
CORSAIR SMPS RM650 650 WATT 80 PLUS GOLD CERTIFICATION FULLY MODULAR PSU WITH ACTIVE PFC
Seasonic is also good though.