PSU 101: PC Power Supply Basics

[jonnyGURU]

Well, I think that's the primary problem here.. why not? Costs. Even if the component cost is not higher, R&D costs. Of course, there could be other reasons that we're not thinking of, but if you look at pretty much all of the PC PSU's on the market you will essentially see the same unit over and over again. There are some units out there that are a departure from the old school SMPS topology we're used to seeing, but those units also are not using two transformers.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Originally Posted by cypherpunks

Oh, no doubt, but the question is, once you've decided you need multiple transformers, why not take advantage of them?

Cost. Space. In some cases, incompetance in the engineering staff

[cypherpunks]

Originally Posted by Oklahoma Wolf

Cost. Space. In some cases, incompetance in the engineering staff

Well, we've determined that the power components required are identical, so the per-unit cost is basically the same, and the space is the same.

But indeed, "never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence."

Seriously, there are other costs. Development, testing, reliability risk, time to market. But in the long run the component cost wins.

[Killy]

cypher: If you don't mind me asking, what is your profession and where does all your knowledge come from?