Is 8-10% efficiency worth it?

[KMFDM]

So I have 2 PSU's here. One is in my HTPC, it's an Antec BP350 which I know is an old FSP unit. It does the job but the efficiency is TERRIBLE. We're talking 65-67% My other unit is my Hipro from a Gateway, it's old (-5V present) but it's efficiency is way better, gets 73-75% I was wondering if it's worth replacing. It can do 192W on the 12V (single rail) the only thing I'm worried about is it has a 20 pin and my mobo (Intel D915GEV) has a 24 pin. It's got a Pentium 4 650 (3.4GHz, 84TDP) and a Radeon HD 4350 so it should be okay right? and when working it should be in that sweet spot at 50% usage. Another consideration is capacitor aging. The Hipro has Elite caps on the primary (ehhhh) but no PFC, secondary are Teapo....The PSU probably has 11,000 hours on it. Think it's worth it? I don't think it has an MOV though. Also I was wondering what part of the PSU mainly determines efficiency. I know transient filtering is for ripple and noise...I'd love to hear someone drop some knowledge

[mariush]

Stick with the BP350.

If you have the computer running for more than 3-4 hours a day, invest in a 40-60$ in a 80+ bronze power supply. You'll recover the money in about 1-1 1/2 years by saving on electricity.

Get or borrow a kill-a-watt type of device. Most power supply don't reach the peak of their efficiency until about 40-60% of load - the hipro power supply may not have 75% efficiency at the low load your system would draw.

[KMFDM]

Originally Posted by mariush

Stick with the BP350.

If you have the computer running for more than 3-4 hours a day, invest in a 40-60$ in a 80+ bronze power supply. You'll recover the money in about 1-1 1/2 years by saving on electricity.

Get or borrow a kill-a-watt type of device. Most power supply don't reach the peak of their efficiency until about 40-60% of load - the hipro power supply may not have 75% efficiency at the low load your system would draw.

It's on 24/7. I actually do have a kill a watt and at around 130W (what the HTPC uses) it's at around 75% efficiency compared to the BP is at 66% at 130W. Didn't really wanna buy a new PSU for it haha

[rafal_iB_PL]

If you already have it and no need to pay for it, then it's a no brainer - swap.

[KMFDM]

Originally Posted by rafal_iB_PL

If you already have it and no need to pay for it, then it's a no brainer - swap.

Only thing I was worried about was the PSU having a 20 pin plugin. Should be adequate since it has a low end graphics card?

[rafal_iB_PL]

Not a problem, as long as it starts (most mobos do).

[allikat]

The extra 4 pins are always optional unless you're overclocking or running lots of graphics cards. For a simple home theatre machine it will cause zero problems. The extra 4 pins are 1 each of ground, +12v, +5v and +3.3v as an additional supply.

If you are at all concerned then you can buy 20 to 24 pin adapters that will pull the extra 4 pins worth of connections from either the 20 pin or a molex.