As remasters grew in popularity, it was inevitable that we would see a return to the Grand Theft Autos of generations past. GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas saw the Grand Theft Auto series fully come into its own. Beloved characters, settings, and stories are back with upgrading graphics and modern controls thanks to the new trilogy release.

While it hasn’t been without its problems – many users reported terrible rain effects and optimization ruining the experience – many people are still interested in reexperiencing games that defined their younger years. Still, the overall experience seems greatly improved, and the trilogy serves as a welcome reason to go back in time.

The system requirements are more demanding than Grand Theft Auto V, which surprised some. While that game did come out all the way back in 2013, it set a landmark for graphical fidelity that many games still strive toward.  Let’s see what they are now and how to best upgrade for the nostalgia trip.

Can I Run Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy?

While the system requirements have seen an upgrade since Grand Theft Auto V, they’re still within reach for most gamers. A dedicated graphics card, 8 GB of RAM, and a decent processor will get you into the game with ease. In fact, most systems still in use today will probably hit the recommended specifications as well.

Despite the slight differences in requirements, Grand Theft Auto V is a good benchmark for running the new trilogy remasters. If your system is truly old – a decade or more – you’ll want to start by upgrading your graphics card, followed by your RAM.

For a good place to start, check out our PC building guide. Along with a full showcase on how to replace and build your computer, you’ll find a great list of parts to consider for different budgets. Or, if you want concrete evidence, just compare your computer to the minimum requirements below.

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy System Requirements

Minimum Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy System Requirements   

Processor: Intel Core i5-6600k or AMD FX-6300

Video Card: Nvidia GTX 760 2 GB or AMD Radeon R9 280 3 GB

Memory (RAM): 8 GB

Storage Space: 45 GB

Operating System: 64-bit Windows 10

Meeting the minimum requirements for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy won’t break the bank. Lenient RAM and Video Card requirements ensure that most people will have no trouble getting a consistent 30 FPS on low settings. If you want slightly better performance, you can check out our $500 build guide. Everything there will put you above and beyond these requirements while keeping costs low. Otherwise, look at our guide on prebuilts under $500. While the performance will be worse, you’ll avoid the hassle of building and still beat the minimum specs.

Recommended Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy System Requirements

Processor: Intel Core i7-2700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600

Video Card: Nvidia GTX 970 4 GB or AMD Radeon RX 570 4 GB

Memory (RAM): 16 GB

Storage Space: 45 GB

Operating System: 64-bit Windows 10

These recommended settings represent a sweet spot in PC building right now. The GTX 970 and RX 570 are some of the last graphics cards that haven’t seen drastic price increases over the past few months. Especially for people just entering the PC gaming space, they are attractive options. Plus, most games will run on medium to medium-high settings using the card. Our $600 PC guide is a perfect launching point for those looking to build an entire system around these specs.

If you want to get the maximum experience for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, consider upgrading even more. Costs are hard to estimate these days, but our $1000 build will get you firmly into 1440p gaming in San Andreas and beyond.

Running Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy

This game’s recommended specifications hit a wonderful balance of achievable and cheap, which is hard to do right now. Especially if you’re building a new computer or upgrading parts, we suggest aiming for more than the minimum. The price difference between builds is small enough to be worth it.

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The RTX 3060 sits as a mid-range GPU champion. Its MSRP of $329 places it perfectly among the rest of NVIDIA’s stock, although getting your hands on any graphics card at the recommended price is still a challenge. This card is not meant to push 4K gaming or anything close. Instead, it serves the 1080p crowd perfectly, and can respectfully manage a few games at 1440p. Perhaps more than any other card from the 3000 series, the rest of your rig will have to pull its weight for the best performance.

With all of that in mind, the question of the best resolution to play it with this card comes up. Note that everything we just said is about the RTX 3060, not the RTX 3060 Ti. If you manage to upgrade to that even more elusive card, your resolution options open up significantly. While this article focuses mostly on the original 3060, we’ll reference the 3060 Ti a few times. And, to put it out there; if you have the choice between the 3060 and the 3060 Ti at MSRP, choose the upgrade. The extra $70 will be worthwhile.

Above all else, the 3060 is a 1080p GPU. You should always look at what games you play and their requirements, as well as the rest of your rig. However, for those looking to future-proof their build or game in high resolutions, you’ll have a better time waiting for an upgrade. Let’s see why and how to optimize this card.

The Champion of 1080p Gaming with RTX

For those looking to play the most modern games at good frame rates on the RTX 3060, there’s only one resolution option. 1080p became the standard monitor resolution years ago, and for good reason. It’s sharp enough to be usable at almost all screen sizes, games can hit ludicrous frame rates on it, and 1080p monitors are relatively cheap.

Compared to other cards in both the 2000 and 3000 series, the RTX 3060 is an exceptional deal for playing at 1080p. This is especially true for those interested in utilizing RTX technology for ray tracing and special effects. At only $329, it’s one of the cheapest ways to access this tech and get great performance. Across benchmarks, its performance is almost equivalent to the 2060 Super while being slightly cheaper.

Techspot’s analysis of modern games such as Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Death Stranding all place this GPU around the middle of the pack at maximum settings. While this might seem like a lackluster result, it’s actually great performance for the price. Most GPUs ranking higher than the RTX 3060 are much more expensive and made for gaming at higher resolutions. Notably, the 3060 Ti breaks this mold. It’s only $70 at MSRP but consistently beats more expensive cards, even outperforming the RTX 2080.

RTX 3060 performance suffers moving up to the 1440p range. In fact, at maximum settings, it rarely even hits 60FPS on the same titles. While many gamers would be fine using the 3060 for 1440p gaming, it will not be useful for monitors with a refresh rate higher than 60Hz.

What Refresh Rate to Aim for While Gaming At 1080p

As we mentioned earlier, the exact performance you’ll get with this card depends heavily on the rest of your setup. However, assuming you don’t have a major bottleneck for your CPU, there are some general guides we can provide. Most people gaming at 1080p on the RTX 3060 will comfortably hit 120 or 144 frames per second using medium settings. If you bump that up to ultra-settings or care more about RTX, you’ll probably be closer to about 60 frames per second.

If you’re looking to upgrade your monitor, a 120 Hz monitor is a safe bet. With that said, it may not be worth upgrading specifically because of this card. Due to how long 1080p monitors have been the standard, many of them at 60 Hz refresh rates, your current setup may be more than enough.

However, for those of you who need an upgrade, consider grabbing a monitor with a higher refresh rate. We recommend splurging for the upgrade for three reasons:

1. You will likely play many games that can reach those higher frame rates
2. The monitor will be better for future upgrades to your build
3. The difference in price between a 60 Hz and 120 or 144 Hz 1080p monitor is minimal

Choosing A Higher Resolution

While the RTX 3060 performs best at a 1080p resolution, gaming at 1440p is certainly a possibility. If you’re considering leaving behind higher frame rates for graphical fidelity, you’re not making an incorrect choice. We recommend upgrading to a 3060 Ti instead if you can find one, however. It simply performs far better while gaming at 1440p than the basic 3060 can.

Consider that RTX features and ray-tracing capabilities will be limited while playing at 1440p on this card. With these effects on at a higher resolution, it’s easy for the 3060 to fall well below 40 FPS, which many people consider unplayable. Think about your personal tolerance and preferences before deciding.

Closing Thoughts

The RTX 3060 is currently one of the easiest graphics cards on the market to place. When found at MSRP, it is a respectable deal that serves all gamers who aren’t interested in upgrading to 1440p resolution just yet. Its graphical prowess will get you through all modern games and likely the next few years with no issues, even on maximum settings.

It’s not the choice for those with enormous budgets or who want to push the very edge of gaming, but it’s not supposed to be. However, there is enough zip in this to carry a few games through nice 1440p performances. As always, consider what games you play and their requirements to make your final decision. If it were us, we’d choose a 1080p resolution with a high frame rate for this card every time.

Relevant Guides

Want to read more about the RTX 3060 and its capabilities? We’ve written plenty about NVIDIA’s 3000 series and have the answers to all your questions. Check out these articles to get a head start:

• RTX 3060 vs RTX 3060 Ti: What Are the Key Differences?
• RTX 3060 Ti vs 3070 vs 3080: Benchmark Comparison (Real World Tests)
• 5 Best Monitors for the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti
• AMD RX 6700 XT vs Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti: Which is Best?

The post What is the Optimal Monitor Resolution for RTX 3060 Builds? appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

Curved monitors seem to be taking over the market. With different screen sizes, curves, and viewing distances available, it can be hard to decide what options are right for you. Luckily, there is a standardized system of measurement which should make things easier.

Most monitor manufacturers measure the curve as a radius. This is usually expressed as “0000R”, where relevant numbers replace the zeroes. So, for example, a 1000R curved monitor means that the monitor has a radius of 1000 millimeters, or one meter.

The larger the number, the bigger the curve on the monitor. This translates to softer curves – to help, imagine the monitor wrapped around a large ball. The radius is half of the imaginary ball.

For consumers, this means that different measurements are better for different things. Let’s explore what the radius of the curve means, go over some of the more common sizes, and then decide what style is best for you.

The Radius of the Curve

As explained, curved monitors are measured as a radius. Most monitors range between 1500R and 4000R in curvature. As you might expect from the previous explanation, the higher the number, the more curved the screen. Generally speaking, larger screens will have a more drastic curve, although this does not have to be the case.

The point of any curved monitor is to provide an experience similar to our peripheral vision. By extending the monitor from a flat view into one with an arc, manufacturers reduce eye strain and make the monitor “match” our eyes.  Different curves are better at this than others, depending on monitor size and viewing distance.

Knowing the monitor’s curve lets us figure out how “aggressive” the curve is and what our viewing experience can look like. If you have ever seen a monitor that seemed too curved, it likely had a low radius, like 1500R, on a screen that was too small to support it.

Maximum viewing distance is intrinsically tied to the curve of the monitor. Whatever the radius of the curve is, you should view the screen from no more than that distance away. Let’s use a real-world example – a 1800R monitor has a radius of 1800 millimeters, or 1.8 meters. That’s roughly six feet. This means that you want to stay within six feet of the monitor whenever you use it. Otherwise, viewing the screen can become difficult due to the curve.

1000R – Matching the Human Eye

1000R screens are rare to find because of how aggressive this curve is. The most popular monitor with this curve is likely Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G9, a massive 49” ultrawide screen. Because the size is so large, getting a reasonable curve requires it to be more aggressive than normal.

Rather than trying to find monitors with a 1000R curve, use this number for reference. The field of view of the human eye is said to have a curvature rating close to 1000R (or an optimal viewing distance of about one meter). This is what our peripheral vision is, and is one of the key reasons why curved monitors can help with immersion while playing games and watching movies.

Usually, to support such a drastic curve in a monitor, you can expect these chasses to be thick and heavy. Especially if the monitor is small – for this curve, likely anything under 40” – it will extend far out onto your desk or look awkward while wall-mounted.

1800R – A Sharp Curve in The Monitor

1800R tends to be the sharpest curve you can find for most monitors on the market. While some 1500R models are available, they tend to be so dramatic that they become unusable at most available sizes. At a 1800R curve, you open up a significant number of possibilities.

Slight differences in curvature are difficult to notice; a 1800R curve compared to a 1900R to a 2000R curve will be incredibly difficult to spot. Instead, consider whether you want your curve to fall into the “sharp” category or the “subtle” category.

Sharp curves like a 1800R tend to be perfect for gaming, watching movies, and other activities where you want immersion. This is because the curve hits more of our peripheral vision, allowing us to see more of the screen and less… everything else.

Most monitors with a sharp curve will be quite large – 27” is the average minimum, but plenty of them start above 30”. This is common across the board for curved monitors, as they can quickly get unwieldy and uncomfortable for small screens.

If you do more productive work or are searching for a monitor for your home office, consider a more subtle curve. How much of an effect they will have depends on your work, but severe curves can alter the appearance of straight lines or video and photo effects. Unless you are looking to get immersed in a fantasy world or racetrack, choosing a radius larger than 1800R is a good idea.

3800R – A Subtle Curve

3800R curves are a subtle step up from flat monitors. They can help with focus and immersion without creating a dramatically different experience than what you’re used to. Notably, they are available at almost all monitor sizes, although they are still most popular above 30”. One example is this monitor from Samsung, a 34” 3800R monitor focused on providing a nice business experience.

Softer curves like a 3800R allow for multiple monitors, a slimmer profile, and easy wall-mounting. The more subtle look and general stability of a longer curve is the biggest difference between this and other curves. They are also more useful for people who need longer viewing distances; with a 1800R curve, it is hard to show others what you are working on and get feedback. A 3800R curve makes it easy.

Of course, this does not mean that a subtle curve makes the monitor worse for gaming. They are still available with all the bells and whistles like low response time, high refresh rate, and great color accuracy.  While competitive players will probably want a more aggressive curve, casual gamers will find a 3800R to be more than enough.

What Style Is Best for You

There is no one style that works best for everyone, regardless of what they do at their computer. You may enjoy a dramatic curve even while working on spreadsheets, while others may find that it is too different an experience to continue with.

In general, however, those looking for a monitor for gaming will benefit from a more aggressive radius. Look for something between 1500R and 2400R and remember that the higher the number, the more subtle the curve.

Those looking for a monitor for work may want a less drastic option that allows them to view things without distortion or still use multiple screens.

Regardless of your choice, it is always a better idea to focus on other monitor aspects first. Things like refresh rate, color accuracy, and resolution have a larger impact on your experience. And, of course, monitor size – different curves perform well at different monitor sizes. While not always true, larger monitors can have more aggressive curves without causing issues.

Relevant Guides

Interested in checking out more curved monitors? Take a look at some of our articles comparing different options to see which one is best for you:

• Alienware AW3821DW vs LG 38GN950: Battle of the Ultrawide IPS Monitors
• 6 Best 1440p 240Hz Monitors for 2021
• Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 vs Odyssey G9: What are the Key Differences?
• Dell AW3821DW vs AW3420DW: What are the Key Differences?

The post Comparing Different Monitor Curvatures: 1000R vs 1800R vs 3800R appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

As with learning about any new PC component, you’ll have to pick apart what all of the technobabble means. There are prefixes, suffixes, numbers, and strange terms that don’t make any sense to the uninitiated. Power supplies (PSUs) are no exception. In the early 2000s, PSU manufacturers started using an “80 Plus” rating system that breaks the efficiency of PSUs into different tiers. This system is great for those who know how it works, but it can be confusing for those who are new to PC building or hardware in general. 

The PSU rating system is a bit different from how GPUs and CPUs are rated based on performance power. PSUs are rated by reliability and how efficient they are at the task of delivering power to your system. This guide will go over the basic ratings and tell you how to interpret them.

Power Supply Ratings

To start us off, let’s take at what ratings exist. The following list goes from least efficient to most efficient. 

• 80 PLUS Standard/White
• 80 PLUS Bronze
• 80 PLUS Silver
• 80 PLUS Gold
• 80 PLUS Platinum
• 80 PLUS Titanium 

The latter half of the ratings are pretty intuitive. The grander the metal the better and more efficient the power supply is going to be with “Titanium” being the current best and most expensive option. But the 80 PLUS bit is a tad unclear. Essentially, the PSU is rated to deliver 80 percent of its rated power during 20, 50, and 100 percent power loads. 

After all, you lose a bit of power in the transfer process from your wall socket to your system. If you have a 1,000W 80 PLUS rated PSU then you can expect to deliver 750W consistently to your system. 

Rated Efficiency and Why it Matters

As the list above suggests, there is going to be some variance in the efficiency of each PSU. An 80 PLUS Bronze PSU is going to stick right around that 80 percent mark during operation while an 80 PLUS Titanium PSU will be in the 90% efficiency range. 

The higher the efficiency rating of a PSU the less heat it will produce, which will better the thermals in your case as well as make it run quieter. The lower-rated units will also draw more power since they aren’t processing it as efficiently as a higher-rated PSU. If you can afford a higher-rated PSU then you may actually save money over the long-term as opposed to spending less on a lower-rated unit that draws more power.

How to Determine Which PSU You Need

First, decide on a rating for your build. Generally, an 80 PLUS Gold PSU will be plenty efficient for the vast majority of builds with a bit of diminishing returns the higher you go. An 80 PLUS Bronze PSU will be fine if you are on a budget, but do not go lower than Bronze. 80 PLUS standard/white models are rarely sold anymore since they simply are not efficient enough to keep up with modern systems.

As for wattage, you will need to calculate the total power draw from the components in your system. Each component you purchase will have a number listing in its specifications for how much power it draws. You don’t want to cut it too close either, as many systems can experience spikes that take it over the rated total power draw. For example, you shouldn’t get a 750W PSU if it looks like you are going to be using 740W of power. 

A general rule of thumb is to have half of your PSUs rating as headroom. If your system draws 500W then you should aim for a 750W PSU.

Summary

Picking out the right PSU may seem daunting at first, but I hope this guide gave you the tools you needed to narrow your selection down. Just remember that rating determines how efficient your PSU is and that you should have a little bit of headroom when it comes to the wattage of your PSU and the total power draw of your system.

The post Power Supply Ratings Explained: What Do They Mean? appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

One of the most prominent specifications of a Power supply is its ‘wattage’, normally quoted as 500W, 600W and so on. Calculating how much wattage you need vs how much the power supply can provide can become a headache. This article will help you work out the best option for your PC build.

How much power can a Power Supply (PSU) deliver?

The rated power for a power supply is the power it can deliver for an extended period of time. It takes into account efficiency losses of the power supply itself – so there is no need to multiply the PSU power by the nominal efficiency rating of the power supply. If a Power Supply is rated at 600W, it can sustain a 600W load and likely a little more.

Efficiency ratings do not directly correlate to the quality of a power supply. A Gold rated 600W power supply and a Bronze rated 600W power supply will both deliver 600W to the system components but the Gold-rated supply will convert the voltages more efficiently, losing less energy to heat, and drawing less power from the wall.

When components, particularly power-hungry GPUs, experience a demanding workload they draw a significant amount of power for a very short period of time. This power demand has to be met by the power supply – and this normally occurs by drawing power from capacitors in the power supply which exist to smooth power delivery and supply these transient spikes in power. This is where lower quality power supplies often fail to deliver: they use cheaper, lower quality and lower capacity capacitors. They may also have ‘over current protection’ set at lower limits to protect a less robust design or to keep within limits of parts with a lower specification. If you demand too much of these power supplies, they will shut the system down to protect themselves. If you encounter a situation where your PC shuts down when loading a game, or after an extended period when things have heated up, the power supply is a likely culprit. This is why GPU manufacturers tend to ‘over quote’ recommended power supply wattages, to account for there is no guarantee of the quality of the power supply the end-user has in their system. 

Working out how much power your system can draw

The power your PC draws depends on the components you choose. The most power-hungry components are the GPU(s), the CPU and then items like the Chipset itself, RAM, SSDs or Hard drives, and fans and any water pumps themselves also consume in the order of 10 Watts maximum each. Inefficiencies are inherent in all components causing energy to be wasted as heat, but these are accounted for in the total power draw given for any component. 

Components come with a nominal power draw, which can be equated to ‘TDP’. This is a less than perfect analogy because it’s really about the thermal design of the components, and also because the manufacturers sometimes misrepresent the actual power draw of components to appear more efficient. 

Allowing a 200W buffer gives you enough headroom to add multiple drives, more complex cooling solutions, or a more powerful CPU or GPU in future upgrades without having to replace the power supply as well. More powerful PSUs also tend to offer more PCIe and CPU power connectors, allowing you to run devices that require those connectors – two separate runs from power supply to the GPU for example, or an additional 4pin CPU EPS power connector to support CPU overclocking.

If you intend on Overclocking the CPU or GPU you will want to calculate significant headroom and consider the peak power draw of your components when overclocked, and this can be significantly higher than those run at standard settings – as much as double in some instances. High-end cooling solutions can also demand more power than a more basic PC set-up. 

A rule of thumb to calculate your Power Supply needs:

Maximum CPU Draw + Maximum GPU Draw + 200W = Recommended Power Supply Wattage. 

You can find the maximum power draw by searching for reputable reviews that indicate peak power draw during testing. As a rule, GPUs tend to closely follow their TDP power limits unless overclocked, and so do AMD CPUs. Intel CPUs frequently misrepresent their TDP and have a significantly higher peak power draw under demanding loads, so it’s wise to look at tests that demonstrate actual power use. Whilst an i9-10900K is nominally a 125W CPU for example, it can draw over 220W under all-core load and more when overclocked. An intel i5-11400 has a ‘TDP’ or 65W but will draw just over 100W under a demanding all core load.

To Summarize

• For most Gaming PCs with an i5, Ryzen 5 or 7 CPU, and a ~250W GPU a 650W Power Supply is adequate.
• For PCs including an RTX 3080, RX 6800 or Intel i9 or Ryzen 9 CPU, a 750W PSU is sensible.
• For PC’s including an RTX 3080 Ti, RTX 3090, RX 6900XT, and an Intel i9 or Ryzen 9 CPU, 850W or more is sensible.
• A more powerful power supply cannot harm your system the only downside is cost. An under-specified power supply may cause system instability or limit upgrade options in future. Therefore it makes sense to err on the side of a larger power supply but do not over-spend. 
• Quality is as important as power, and ‘efficiency rating’ cannot be directly related to quality. Search for hands on reviews to gauge the quality of a power supply you are considering.

The post How Much PSU Wattage Do I Need? How To Calculate PSU Wattage appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

The answer is ‘usually two’ but read on to find out why!

On most consumer platforms you have the choice of motherboards with two or four slots for RAM, and RAM is sold in single sticks, kits of two or matched sets for four ‘DIMMS’ or memory modules. In this article, we’ll describe how these configurations can influence performance and point out the best options for general use and gaming. 

RAM Sticks and kits: One, two or four

RAM is sold either as individual sticks, pairs, or sets of four sticks. These sticks consist of tested and matched chips: just like a processor’s, the silicon quality and production methods vary from chip to chip and batch to batch. After testing them manufacturers construct RAM modules that will perform to advertised standards in speed and latency. Single sticks simply need to meet a quality specification, but kits will be matched to ensure stable performance: from the systems perspective they must behave identically. This is why a pair of sticks costs slightly more than a single stick in some cases, and a kit of four matched sticks are significantly more expensive than buying two paired kits. 

In order to understand why you need to know a little about how the Processor accesses memory. The Processor has an inbuilt memory controller, and in all consumer processors these are ‘dual channel’. The memory controller has two separate channels to access the memory and each of these channels is connected to one of two or a pair of four memory slots. 

Motherboard configuration

The motherboard itself has copper traces that directly connect the CPU to RAM. In most consumer motherboards these are configured in a ‘daisy chain’ arrangement, first connecting with one socket, then continuing on to the second. Each memory channel uses its own traces, one to each pair of RAM sockets. When using just two ram sticks, they go in the slots that are at the end of the trace and furthest from the CPU: This properly terminates the connection at the end of the trace and prevents signal ‘reflections’ and interference from an unterminated trace that can lead to system instability and poor RAM performance. This is why we see the ‘second and fourth slot’ configuration in most PC’s with four slots but only 2 sticks of RAM installed. When you have two sticks on the same channel RAM sticks, the signal also hits the stick at the intermediate point and can access both sticks simultaneously. With both channels active this allows you to use all four RAM slots at the same time.

Some motherboards have ‘T Topology’ where the traces split prior to the slots and then interface both slots at the same signal distance from the CPU. These are designed to be used with all slots fully populated with matched RAM, so that the RAM chips themselves are equidistant from the memory controller for identical performance. 

‘Dual Rank’ RAM moves this topology inside the stick of RAM itself, with two sets of Memory chips connected to appear in parallel to the memory controller as if they were in their own separate slots on the motherboard and connected with ‘T’ Topology. 

Peak performance and memory controller limitations:

From this you can probably conclude that when you’ve heard about ‘dual rank ram’ or ‘four stick kits’ offering maximum performance, the reason is actually the same: Both configurations allow maximal bandwidth from the memory controller to RAM. But actually, performance is a little more nuanced than that, and this configuration isn’t always optimal. 

Performance impact of Different configurations

In terms of performance, the above information should demonstrate why a single RAM stick should only ever be a last resort: A single RAM stick, even dual rank, will only ever occupy one channel of the memory controller. You are only using half of the potential bandwidth to communicate with your RAM, and this can be seriously detrimental to performance. Whilst it can be acceptable in an office or basic use PC, when on an extreme budget, or if you intend to upgrade as soon as funds allow, you can expect gaming performance to be negatively impacted by as much as 10%.  Of course, it’s possible to install a pair of ram sticks ‘incorrectly’ by placing them in adjacent slots on a 4 slots motherboard, and this introduces the same problem – only half of the potential memory controller bandwidth is utilised. Be sure you read the motherboard manual and configure your RAM as recommended for optimal performance.

In all other cases, you should seek a base configuration of two RAM sticks with matched specifications, preferably sold as a kit. Placed in the correct slots on the motherboard this will enable ‘dual channel mode’ and allow you to use the full potential of your memory controller. The very fastest RAM overclocks tend to be in this configuration as it provides the most stable configuration without subjecting the memory controller to the added stress of accessing four sticks simultaneously. Some specialist overclocking motherboards are sold with just 2 RAM slots for this reason, whilst others prefer mITX boards owing to the shorter signal path from CPU to RAM slot. 

Bridging the gap is ‘dual rank’ RAM, and this allows wide bandwidth access to four ‘ranks’ of memory modules in just two sticks. This configuration can be considered optimal for RAM performance but does impose a higher load on the memory controller which can limit the ultimate speed of the RAM. In most cases this is a moot point as the highest speeds will not be necessary for daily use, nor beneficial to a gaming system. RAM in this configuration may show a 2-5% performance uplift in benchmarks designed to highlight RAM variance, vs identical single rank RAM. However, these gains are hard to realise in actual use, where you will likely be GPU limited.

If you are seeking larger RAM capacities (64GB+) or simply want the aesthetics of four RAM sticks, then you can consider a four stick kit. You will find that the complexities of matching these kits, as well as the additional load they place on the memory controller in large capacities means that they are more expensive and rated for lower speeds. Nevertheless, overclocks approaching or exceeding 4MT/s with tight timings should be possible on high-quality kits although you will pay a hefty premium for them. In this scenario, you will be balancing your need for RAM capacity with the ultimate speed of RAM the system can sustain. Ultimately, it’s likely that CPU performance or GPU capability is the limiting factor of the system long before RAM speed holds it back.

Summary: For most people, a two-stick kit is the right option.

For most users, most of the time, 16GB of DDR4 RAM in a 2x8GB kit is optimal for gaming and general use. Speed ratings of 3600MHz at around CL16 are affordable and easy to find and should be the focus of your search for most high-performance gaming systems. Ensure you install it correctly to take advantage of dual-channel mode!

If you need 32GB for productivity or more demanding tasks, again a 2 stick kit will offer the best balance of price, stability and performance. Whilst there are some small differences between dual and single rank, they’re small and specific enough not to matter unless you’re looking specifically to overclock and maximise RAM performance.

If you seek out faster RAM or four stick kits, be aware of the limitations of the memory controller and don’t fall into the trap of overpaying. Unless you’re specifically seeking out RAM to overclock, you should aim for Ram at 3200-3600MHz rating CL16 as that’s most likely to run XMP on the latest Ryzen Zen 3 and Intel 10^th and 11^th Gen CPUs.

The post Best RAM Configurations for Gaming, Workstations & General Use?: One vs Two vs Four Sticks appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

SSD (Solid State Drive) caching is a term that has been popping up everywhere in recent months, but what exactly is it? It’s a method of using a partition from your lightning-fast SSD to act as a short-term memory module, or cache, for a slower storage solution like an HDD (Hard Disc Drive). This guide will go into detail and break down what a cache is, how SSD caching works, and take a look at if it will improve your gaming performance.

Caches Explained

To make sure you understand SSD caching, it’s best to start with the basic building blocks of how a cache works in your system. Usually, you’ll see small caches on CPUs. These caches are used to store frequently-used data that your CPU needs to be able to retrieve in an instant. It doesn’t get much faster or more efficient than having data stored with the CPU, but other forms of cached data are still very useful in eking out more performance. 

What this short-form data storage does is cut down on the amount of time needed to access that data. This can result in decreased loading times, faster boot times, and better performance across all of your frequently-used programs. If you’ve ever accidentally closed out a browser full of tabs and re-launched them all with a single click then you’ve experienced the benefits of a cache. That data was stored in a cache for quick retrieval.

SSD Caches Explained

Now, SSDs aren’t usually used as caches. An SS is a storage solution that is fast, but these drives aren’t nearly as fast as direct CPU caches. So, what is an SSD cache and why would anyone go about using one? 

This method is often called “Flash Caching” since SSDs make use of a form of memory storage called NAND flash memory. You can configure an entire SSD or a small partition of one to function as a cache for storing temporary data. Using SSDs to speed things up is no novel idea. Low-capacity SSDs have been popular as stand-alone boot drives to accompany HDDs in recent years. 

Now, this solution is best for those that currently have an HDD as their main storage solution. If you’re running a system entirely on SSDs already then you won’t gain much from flash caching. But getting a low-capacity SSD to act as a cache while using an HDD as your main storage can result in significant performance and load times across the board.

How Does SSD Caching Work?

The way that your PC accesses data goes from fastest to slowest. Your RAM and CPU cache are going to be the fastest modules in your system. From there, your computer works down the list, essentially, and arrives at the HDD last. When you use SSD caching, your SSD jumps between the RAM and the HDD. So, data will get pulled from the SSD cache before reaching your slower HDD storage. This results in quicker speeds as that slower physical storage doesn’t have to be pulled from as frequently. 

If you’re using HDDs as your main storage, you likely want to keep budget in mind when configuring your system. Thankfully, lower-capacity SSDs have gotten incredibly affordable. You don’t need to pay for a multi-terabyte SSD just to reap the benefits of SSD caching. In fact, you can get one as low as 250GB since this drive won’t be used as your primary file storage.

How to Configure SSD Caching

Configuring SSD Caching on an Intel System

To start with, you’re going to need to go into your system’s BIOS and configure the SATA mode to RAID. This will enable you to configure part of or your whole SSD for caching in a later step. Keep in mind that you must have a separate HDD for this as well. You won’t be able to enable RAID and benefit from caching with just an HDD or an SSD. 

1. Restart your system and click the correct BIOS key for your system. This should pop up in the bottom right corner of the screen during startup. Don’t worry if this takes multiple attempts.
   
2. Go into the BIOS and find the “Configure SATA Drives” option
   
3. In this menu, you will see an option for “Chipset SATA Mode.” Click on that and change the value to “RAID”
   
4. Save your settings and exit the BIOS.
   
5. You can then restart your system. 

Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT)

Once you’ve completed the above steps, you’ll need to go into what’s called Intel SRT and configure the SSD. You can find all of the drivers and the SRT software on Intel’s website. Ensure that all up-to-date drivers are installed prior to doing this. 

1. Download and launch the SRT software
   
2. Click on the SSD you want to configure
   
3. Decide how much storage you want to dedicate as a cache. This can be the entire SSD or as little as ~18GB. The rest will be used as regular SSD storage.
   
4. Now that the drive is partitioned, click on the section you want to use as a cache.
   
5. You can either choose “Enhanced Mode*” or “Maximized Mode*”
   
6. Click “OK” in the bottom corner of the window. Once that is done, you have successfully configured a cache for your SSD. 

*Note regarding modes: For ease of understanding, “Enhanced Mode’ optimizes for data protection while “Maximized Mode” is optimized for speed. If you’re worried about data loss or just want to be extra cautious, I recommend using the former. 

Configuring SSD Caching on an Intel System

First off, you’ll need to go into your BIOS and configure it just as you would for an Intel system. The only difference is that you’ll want to set your SATA Chipset to “AHCI” instead of RAID. The next thing you’ll need to do is ensure your drivers are up to date and install AMD StoreMI directly from AMD’s site. Then follow these steps:

1. Click “Create Bootable StoreMI” once you’ve launched the application

2. Follow the steps for creating a “StoreMI Tiered Drive”
   
3. Click create and follow the instructions. Don’t worry if you need to restart your system.
   
4. Verify that the new drive was successfully configured by accessing your disk manager. This can be done by typing “diskmgmt.msc” into the command prompt”
   
5. Optionally, expand the volume of the drive to your desired cache. This can be done in the disk manager by selecting “extend volume.”
   
6. You now have an SSD cache for your AMD system!

Summary

SSD caching can seem daunting, but the results will be well worth the time spent configuring a cache in your system. Following the steps above should make things a bit less intimidating. Once you have a cache configured, you can reap the benefits of fast load times, quicker boots, and faster performance all around.

The post SSD Caching: What Is It & How Does it Work? appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

Redundant Array of Independent Disks, more commonly referred to as RAID, is a method (or methods) of storing data that ensures its survival in case of failure. You can set up RAID storage in quite a few ways, although it usually involves storing the same data on multiple storage drives to protect them from unexpected malfunctions.

How it works

A RAID system can often be found with two or more drives—these are usually hard drives, but SSDs are now becoming more and more common. These drives are working in parallel in order to prevent a catastrophic loss of data if a drive ever fails.

Basically, the way that you arrange RAID drives is by storing data on more than one disk. And this lets the I/O (input/output) operations happen simultaneously in a way such that it vastly improves performance. However, to the operating system, a RAID array will appear as a single drive.

RAID mainly uses two methods of achieving data redundancy; disk mirroring and disk striping.

Disk mirroring is a technique where each and every bit of data is copied into multiple areas of the RAID setup. Doing this is a great way to increase the fault tolerance, as well as the performance of the data.

In contrast, disk striping is where the total set of data is chipped off into blocks and written onto the Raid array one after the other. This mainly affects the performance of the drives.

It is also important to note that both disks mirroring and disk striping can be implemented simultaneously on the same RAID array.

The Different RAID Levels

When RAID was initially established as a method of data redundancy and fault protection, it was split into multiple levels of 0 through 5. However, modern implementations of RAID have expanded and separated RAID levels into different categories to better identify amongst them. These are known as standard, nested, and non-standard RAID levels.

RAID 0

This level is essentially the process of disk striping. The entirety of the system’s data is split off into different blocks and stored among each and every drive in the array (unlike traditional storage methods that store all data on one drive first). This drastically enhances the I/O performance of the drives but does little in terms of fault tolerance. Moreover, data redundancy is not the priority when setting up a storage array in RAID 0.

Benefits of RAID 0:

• Splitting and storing chunks of data all across the RAID array dramatically improves read and write performance, as well as longevity of the drives.
• Its relatively easy to set up a RAID 0 array
• When the array is using the whole storage system, so this leaves no room for any overhead.

Drawbacks of RAID 0:

• RAID 0 is not set up to be fault tolerant. In fact, if one drive fails, the entire RAID array will be lost.

RAID 1

RAID level 1 is known as mirroring. As mentioned earlier, disk mirroring is done by duplicating the set of data and storing them once on the main data drive and once on the mirror drive.

Benefits of RAID 1:

• Complete fault tolerance, if one drive fails, the data can be read from the other drive.
• Improves read and write performance as the data can be read from both drives simultaneously.
• Very easy to implement

Drawbacks of RAID 1:

• The obvious main disadvantage when using a RAID 1 system is that the total available storage is effectively halved. This can be very costly for users who mean to set up very large storage systems.
• Most, if not all RAID 1 solutions require you to power down the entire system in case of a drive failure in order to replace the faulty drive. This usually ends up being detrimental to many time-sensitive users.

RAID 5

This is by far the most secure out of all RAID levels. RAID 6 uses disk striping along with parity in order to store data. It requires a minimum of three separate disks in order to establish a RAID 5 array. This is because the parity data is spread out on three separate disks, with a third of the striped blocks having their parity data stored on the second disk.

Once the disks are striped and allocated into blocks, a parity spread applies to each drive. This then acts as a failsafe in case of a drive failure.

In a nutshell, parity is a method of checking whether the data has remained intact after a transfer or transmission. It adds checksums prior to the sending of data and compares it with the data that is on the other end of the transaction to detect any irregularities.

RAID takes this concept a step further by using parity information to rebuild data in the case of data loss or drive failure. This means that a RAID 5 array is able to withstand an entire drive failure without ever losing the data nor access to it. The specific feature set that RAID 5 has makes it ideal for systems that need secure, efficient, and adequately fast storage—such as file servers.

Benefits of RAID 5:

• Extremely fault tolerant
• Continuous and consistent access to all of the data on the system 
• Very fast read transactions

Drawbacks of RAID 5:

• Similar to RAID 1, you can only use half of your total storage.
• The larger the drive size, the longer it takes to build the data from the parity.
• Due to the sheer overhead of the parity, the write performance suffers heavily.

RAID 6

Raid 6 is very similar to RAID 5, with the main difference being that it has a secondary parity that is used to protect data. This means that a RAID 6 array requires a minimum of 4 drives to function. However, the upside to this is that it can handle two separate storage drives failing simultaneously. In comparison, RAID 5 only handles one, if another drive fails while the parity is rebuilding the lost data of the first drive, you will end up losing all your data anyway. Even though the odds of two different drives failing together are slim, it adds an extra layer of security that many users will appreciate.

Benefits of RAID 6:

• As with RAID 5, read transactions can be very fast.
• Users have easy and consistent accessibility to the data
• An added level of redundancy due to the secondary parity layer which protects a second disk.

Drawbacks of RAID 6:

• Very slow write speeds due to the double parity implementation
• Rebuilding lost data takes even longer due to the sheer complexity of the array.

RAID 10

RAID 10 essentially combines the features of both RAID 1 and Raid 0. This is known as a nested (hybrid) configuration. Mirroring applies to two storage disks. After which striping is also applied. While this drastically increases the overall cost, it also increases redundancy while also benefitting from RAID 0’s high performance.  RAID 10 is perfect for scenarios that require high data security as well as fast information transactions.

Benefits of RAID 10:

• The combined powers of mirroring and striping make the RAID 10 array fast and highly fault tolerant.
• It is a very secure method due to the use of mirroring.

Drawbacks of RAID 10:

• Vastly more expensive than other alternative RAID levels
• Only half the storage is available for use.

Conclusion

These are the different levels of RAID that are commonly used. However, it is very important to know that no RAID array is a substitute for old-school backups. While you get data redundancy and security, to fully protect your data, one must always have backups of the data stored in RAID at hand.

Most general users would gravitate towards either RAID 1, 0, or RAID 10 due to their ease of implementation and high fault tolerance. Those with NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems commonly opt to set up their storage in RAID 10 due to its high performance and security.

The post What is RAID? RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 Explained appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

Everyone interested in PC gaming has heard about how important a good graphics card is. As the avenue that lets you experience the newest titles, you want to be sure that your card is up to the task. VRAM is a major factor in that decision. It’s an important statistic in determining the power of your graphics card, but how much do you actually need?

Modern cards range from 4GB all the way to over 12GB of VRAM. While more VRAM is never a bad thing, prices can quickly get out of hand, so setting a target range is a good idea. Plus, VRAM isn’t the only thing that affects game performance. Let’s explore what VRAM is and the biggest things that affect how much you need before diving into specific numbers.

What Is VRAM?

VRAM is an acronym for Video Random Access Memory. It’s built and optimized for the graphics card, making it exceptional at certain tasks like texture loading and frame buffering. You can think of it as a specialized version of the RAM that already exists in your computer, although there are a few key differences.

To start, VRAM cannot be upgraded or swapped out later. It is soldered directly into the graphics card, so you will have to replace the whole unit to see better performance. This makes future-proofing during your initial purchase a good idea, as game requirements see constant updates. The more demanding the game, the more VRAM you need, with some exceptions based on other metrics.

Like normal RAM, VRAM serves to speed up common tasks or parts of computing. The VRAM on your graphics card is used to temporarily store various graphics-based tasks, making your graphics card far faster. The more VRAM you have, the more can be stored in the quick-access state. If your graphics card must retrieve something that cannot be stored in the VRAM, it has to go to your SSD or HDD and grab it from there. This causes significant slowdowns.

Finally, know that VRAM is not the only important part of a graphics card. Cards with 6GB of VRAM can sometimes outperform cards with 8GB due to better optimization and more power elsewhere. Be sure to research other parts of the graphics card and look for how many teraflops of power it has before making a final purchase decision.

Resolution Greatly Affects VRAM Usage

The first and biggest factor in how much VRAM you need is resolution. Higher resolutions need significantly more VRAM to achieve the same performance. This is because the number of pixels on the screen increases exponentially between resolutions; a 4K resolution has twice as many pixels to capture as a 1080p resolution. For the purposes of VRAM, this drastically increases the memory each frame takes on the card. If you have ever lagged in a game and lowered your resolution before, you probably noticed immediate performance gains.

Every frame while gaming has to be processed and pushed out at the set resolution. Most monitors have resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, or 4k. If you are interested in gaming at these high resolutions, you need enough VRAM to support the same number of frames. 8GB of VRAM quickly becomes the minimum for AAA gaming in 4k while stepping up to 12GB for higher FPS.

The Games You Play Decide How Much VRAM You Need

This is a well-known rule of graphics; the more advanced the game’s graphics, the more powerful the graphics card needs to be. While there are other factors that determine the power of a GPU, VRAM is a decent starting point.

How much VRAM a game requires depends on how well optimized it is, the style of the game, and its graphical prowess. As expected, running Red Dead Redemption 2 is quite a bit more taxing than Team Fortress 2. In general terms, more modern games require more VRAM to play. While you can adjust in-game settings to improve performance – we’ll talk about that in the next section – all games have a base VRAM floor that must be met. Otherwise, you will always lag and see poor performance.

While new games can require a daunting amount of VRAM, this may be a blessing in disguise. Even the cheapest card on the market can likely run games through 2014 flawlessly. Plus, there are games that rely more heavily on the CPU or don’t need much at all, like Minecraft or Risk of Rain. If you mainly play indie games or older titles, you can get a great graphics card for cheap. You can (and should) check the system requirements for your favorite games to get an idea of what you need. Be sure to add an extra 2-4GB of VRAM for high-resolution gaming.

In-Game Settings Affect Performance

Finally, in-game settings can be tweaked to your heart’s content. For those of you looking to save on VRAM, you can turn down most settings and see major performance jumps. Those of us lucky to have a top-of-the-line graphics card can do the opposite, launching VRAM usage through the roof in the name of graphical fidelity.

Some modern games, like Warzone, show you how much VRAM the game uses vs. what is available. This is a nice feature to have while tweaking settings but is not necessary. While some settings have a stronger effect on VRAM usage than others, you’ll want to lower most settings for the best performance.

One of the key settings to keep an eye on is anti-aliasing. This is the setting that smooths out the edges of 3D models in the game, providing a nice, polished look. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most intensive settings due to how it works. In the simplest terms, anti-aliasing multiplies the images around certain objects and copies them to smooth the edges. For reasons similar to the resolution effect above, this can quickly get out of hand. Try lowering or even turning off anti-aliasing to lower VRAM usage.

Other areas like texture quality and particle effects are also notoriously draining. For most intensive games, you can find guides online to optimize the settings. There is almost always a good balance to be struck between performance and looks to help you out.

How Much VRAM Do You Need?

We’ve touched upon the numbers throughout the article, but here is a definitive list of what you need. While we’ve listed these by resolution, you should remember that other factors also play a role. You probably don’t need 8GB of VRAM to play Minesweeper, even in 4K. Use your best judgement and look up other systems and the FPS they get in your favorite games.

• 1080p – 2GB-4GB of VRAM
• 1440p – 4GB-8GB of VRAM
• 4K – 8GB+ of VRAM

A final quick note: these are recommendations for modern games. If you find yourself returning to classics like Portal 2 or Dark Souls, you will not need as much power under the hood.

Summary

The amount of VRAM you need depends on several factors. While shopping around for a new card or checking if your system is up to snuff, always assume that more is better. You can still be reasonable, however – if you are comfortably gaming in 1080p, you do not need to splurge on an RTX 3080.

Refer to our list above to find the resolution that will best suit your gaming needs. Keep in mind that resolution, game, and in-game settings all have dramatic effects on how much VRAM you’ll need. If your budget allows for it, go higher.

Future-proofing your expensive hardware like the GPU and CPU is a good idea, especially given how quickly game requirements can advance. Given their price in the current market, we recommend starting with at least 4GB of VRAM and going from there. 8GB of VRAM is ideal for new builders. This will let you play modern games at max settings – a performance that will likely carry into the next generation of titles too.

Relevant Guides

Interested in exploring the newest graphics cards and seeing how they compare? We’ve got you covered with plenty of guides here:

• Best RTX 3090 Aftermarket Cards for 2021
• Nvidia RTX 3080 vs AMD RX 6800 XT: Benchmark Comparison (Real World Tests)
• RTX 3060 Ti Vs RTX 3070 Benchmark Comparison: Which is Best for You?
• AMD RX 6700 XT vs Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti: Which is Best?

The post How Much VRAM Do I Need for Gaming? appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

A power supply is the hidden heart of a computer. While it’s often a boring task for first-time builders – putting the money toward a killer graphics card or new CPU is always more fun – it’s one of the most important parts to get right. Otherwise, you run the risk of damaging the rest of your system, ruining your aesthetics, or not even being able to get the build on.

One of the biggest decisions to make for this part comes in the field of modularity. Modular designs have all the wires separate from the power supply brick, allowing for customization and convenience. Non-modular designs all come pre-connected, meaning there are more wires to deal with, but setup may be easier. Semi-modular designs lie somewhere in between.

Everyone has a preference, and there’s no wrong answer. Let’s get into the specific differences between the three and the benefits they all hold.

Fully Modular Power Supplies

Fully modular power supplies have gained steadily in popularity since hitting the mainstream in the mid-to-late 2000s. Every single cable on the power supply is individually seated, meaning that you have total control over what connections exist in your computer. This comes with a host of benefits and few drawbacks; as such, fully modular power supplies are often considered the top of the line (though there are plenty of other factors to consider for power supplies, too).

To start, airflow tends to be much better while using a fully modular PSU. While the other options almost inevitably have some wires that get in the way of air, fully modular ones don’t. You know that pile of unused connections that you try to find a corner of your case to hide in? With a fully modular option, you just take them out and put them in a nice little bag.

They’re a great step up that really feels more professional. It also helps with the aesthetics of your build; every wire has a purpose, and you often have more control over what route they’ll take. Plus, if custom sleeving is your thing, a fully modular option will make that a lot easier.

Now for the common downsides. First, you must plug in every wire. Even though every computer in existence will use, for example, the main 24-pin connector, you need to put the manpower in to connect it. While it’s a small note, it can get somewhat frustrating if you have a lot of connections to work through. They also tend to be slightly larger than non-modular options, although they still follow the normal forms for power supplies. This is mostly something to note if you’re going for a space-constricted build.

Finally, the price; for all the extra convenience you get with these, you’ll end up paying more. High wattage and high-efficiency models can easily run for almost double their non-modular counterparts.

Semi-Modular Power Supplies

Semi-modular power supplies are a great middle-ground for most users. They work exactly as the name implies; some of the wires are fully removable, while others are rigidly connected like in a non-modular option. Normally, the consistently used cables like the 24-pin connector, 8-pin CPU connector, and one or two more are the non-removable options, but this varies between models.

These are meant to give users the basic benefits of fully modular options while being cheaper and offering a slightly easier setup. In exchange, you lose out on the custom cabling options and may need to deal with an extra wire or two.

 You still retain the option to take all those unused connections and store them outside of the build, improving airflow and reducing dust collection. For builders looking to strike a nice balance between usability and value, semi-modular options are hard to beat.

Non-Modular Power Supplies

Non-modular power supplies have every wire soldered to a single circuit board, making removing them impossible. These are cheaper to produce and extremely common; anyone using a pre-built PC from a major manufacturer like HP or Lenovo is almost certainly running one of these. Until just a decade or so ago, they were also the only option on the market.

The unfortunate downside of non-modular power supplies is that, inevitably, you’ll be left with extra wires. Rather than removing them from the case – like you can with semi-modular or fully modular options – you have to bundle them up somewhere inside. Hopefully, your case has a space to hide them away, but that may not be an option if the case is small or you have lots of extras.

This nest of wires easily collects dust, prevents customization, and often interrupts airflow. Plus, if your case doesn’t have a hide-away hole, it plain doesn’t look good. With the negatives out of the way, it’s important to note that most builds will still be fine with a non-modular option. Especially for people on a tight budget, you’ll find the best bang for your buck here. You may have to do a bit more upkeep on your PC to reduce temperatures – you can check out our guide on doing that here – but it’s hard to beat the price.

Comparing The Three Styles

Non-modular, semi-modular, and fully modular options are all still power supplies. There are plenty of similarities between the three, meaning that there aren’t that many categories where the differences are noticeable. If, for example, you’re most interested in energy efficiency, you can find highly rated models across any of them. Wattage, form factor, and extra features like self-testers all follow this trend as well.

So, what are the categories where you can notice the most differences between the three? Let’s take a look.

Price

As alluded to earlier, there can be drastic price differences between the three options for power supplies. Generally speaking, fully modular options are the most expensive, followed by semi-modular, then non-modular. This is largely due to manufacturing costs rising as more modular options are added.

Semi-modular options tend to offer the most value for their price. They perfectly balance a lot of the drawbacks and benefits of fully modular power supplies while meeting most builder’s needs for a cheaper cost.

It’s important to note that there’s not a notable difference in quality between the three options. A non-modular power supply is cheaper than a fully modular one because of circuit boards and connections, not because it’s made from lower-quality materials. Differences like that largely come down to the manufacturer. For a quick recap:

• Non-modular: Cheapest
• Semi-modular: Great Value
• Fully modular: Most Customization

Aesthetics

Aesthetically, fully modular power supplies take a clear win. The ability to take away extra wires instead of just hiding them is a game-changer for case space. However, semi-modular options can also do this. What really sets fully modular options apart here are cable sleeves.

While browsing the web, you’ve likely seen pictures of beautiful builds featuring custom-colored wires that match perfectly. This is only possible with a fully modular power supply, as it allows the wires to be removed and re-sleeved.

Especially if you’re trying to match everything in your build, or even if you just have a case with a window, consider upgrading to a modular option.

Temperature Control

This category technically pulls double duty, as it focuses heavily on airflow. Put simply, the better air can flow through a PC case, the cooler it will stay. You can read about more specifics in the thermal throttling part of this article, but that’s really all you need to know while choosing a power supply.

Non-modular power supplies have more physical objects getting in the way of airflow. The amalgamation of wires is particularly bad for airflow because it traps dust and hot air, too. While it won’t have the largest effect on your PC temperatures, it can be noticeable.

Instead, semi-modular and fully modular power supplies deal with this problem by just removing the wires. This allows for more empty space in the chassis, leading to better airflow and lower temperatures.

It’s important to note that the heat creation of each type of power supply does not change. That relies mostly on its efficiency, not how the wires are connected. If you’re going to use all or the majority of the available wires, go ahead and save your money with a non-modular option.

Summary

There are plenty of factors that go into choosing a power supply, and some are arguably more important than modularity. However, the differences between the three can have long-lasting effects on multiple parts of your system, so it’s a good idea to devote some time to it.

For most consumers, a semi-modular power supply is likely the best option. They retain a host of options, allow for just enough customization, and hit a sweet spot in price that’s hard for fully modular ones to meet. Of course, there are specific use cases for either side that can change that recommendation.

Consider your budget, the size of the computer, and what connections you need before finalizing any decision. Finally, be sure to take into account wattage and efficiency, too. They’ll have a much bigger impact on performance than wire connections.

Relevant Guides

Looking for more information on choosing a power supply? We’ve got you covered with a host of guides to find the best choice for you:

• 5 Best 750W Power Supplies for 2021
• The 5 Best Power Supplies (PSUs) for Gaming in 2020
• 5 Best Power Supplies for RTX 3060 Ti Builds

The post Full vs Semi vs Non-Modular Power Supplies: Which Is Best For You? appeared first on PremiumBuilds.