Good vs. Bad Power Supply Differences Explained by PSU Expert Jonny Guru

In this video, we're tearing into the differences between good and bad power supplies, talking PSU design, topologies, and what determines quality in a PSU. Learn about computer PSUs!

In this video, we're talking with Jon Gerow from Corsair (formerly Jonny Guru) about power supplies, reviews, and markers of quality. We'll cover basics, like the flow of power, then intermediate topics like components, and get into some more advanced overviews of topologies. This information will help you make better decisions when buying power supplies for your PC build or gaming PC.



TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Jonny Guru Joins Again
01:55 - Flow of Power
04:03 - AC to DC & Back
06:23 - Power Supply Topology Overview
10:14 - GPU Power Overload
12:16 - LLC Topology
15:40 - EMI Filtering & Input
16:39 - Certifications
17:32 - New Safety Features
19:40 - Bridge Rectifiers & Diodes
23:55 - Wrap-Up

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Hosts: Steve Burke, Patrick Stone
Guest: Jon Gerow, R&D at Corsair and formerly JonnyGuru
Video: Andrew Coleman
Video Production: Keegan Gallick, Andrew Coleman

[dualbeardedtech]

I really like Patrick's enthusiasm for learning more about the different components. You can hear it in his voice!

[kidman]

I actually deal with EMI noise in my field of work. In Controlled Environment Agriculture (indoor gardening) lighting is obviously important. 1000 watt electronic ballasts were the mainstay in the industry for a long time. And as it got more popular and Amazon brands popped up, there was also a HUGE uptick in EMI issues. Usually Cable service would get terrible for anyone in the area, and it came down to cheap lighting ballasts just BROADCASTING massive interference.
Usually this was discovered by someone else and they would call their Cable company and they'd send someone out who would at some point end up at the address, because the interference was so great, that their meters led them directly there.
Crazy important part of an electronic device.

[runningfox]

I legit felt like I was back in my electronics 101 class haha. Gotta love teardowns and "how it works" deep down in my engineering soul!!

[theodiscusgaming]

I think this is going to be one of the most useful videos, i'm tired of people thinking efficiency rating = quality

[dwigtschrude]

last vid left me wanting more Johnny, and now we get more with Patrick too? Hell yeah

[Drinkyoghurt]

I miss JonnyGuru's website. I know that text based reviews don't get much traffic in this clickbait driven youtube landscape, but I grew up preferring text based reviews since I could read it at my pace and they could cram in a lot of info that doesn't work in a video. I learned A LOT from JonnyGuru and similar pages.

[NegativeROG]

Steve, this should be a series. Interview the ultimate knowledge source in every field. Love your content, please post 4x a day.

[tomkavulic]

You guys should do more general electrical engineering stuff with experts, I think it's foundational material that a lot of PC enthusiasts lack and the rest tend to take for granted.

[charleshughes]

As a computer engineer who didn't absorb nearly enough of my EE courses, this was a really great video for getting into some of the thought behind PSU design decisions. I really appreciate your and Jon's work on this and look forward to more PSU content.

[UniCrafter]

Fun fact also about power supplies I don't think was mentioned, the MOSFETs used for switching often have drain connected to the body, so in some cases the heatsink can be live, once blew up a PSU when a screw fell in right between two heatsinks.
Also, regarding the MOSFET full bridge rectifier, really handy for high current/low voltage applications. I made my own for 12v/200A, diode based rectifiers commonly have a 0.6v drop across them, which is 120 watts of loss before resistance is considered, so I gained a solid 5-10% efficiency bonus going with an active solution.

[bubbaattack]

I think listening to Patric get excited was the best part of this. When you love what you do, it shows and is fun to watch.

[richard-davies]

Always love watching Jonny Guru content, could watch hours of this content as it's really interesting on how PSUs are built and work 🙂

[SSTC.]

3:10 470v volts, yeah...;
4:12 it is regulated;
4:30 wrong mosfets shown;
4:45 ...output caps... *points at standby smps*;
5:10 ...5volt standby... *points at PFC inductor*;
13:02 a gate drive transformer.
I understand that it could be a bunch of silly mistakes on camera, but at least, fix it in b-rolls and captions. Do not release bad quality info.

[wpelfeta]

This makes me want a Corsair PSU. Other psu manufacturers probably have their own Jonnys, but *knowing* Corsair has Jonny makes me want to buy a Corsair PSU. I feel like if I buy a Corsair product, it has Jonny's blessing and should be capable and of good quality.

[OwenWithAHammer]

loved watching a hardware engineer be honest and direct, great video, thank you for making it.

[NeoDaOne]

Love how enthusiastic Stone was getting with each explanation. Its fun to see folks get excited about stuff majority of folks dont think to realize.

Jonny - "Your bridge rectifier is not always your bridge diode, you also have a thing called a mosfet bridge on some of the higher end products"

Stone - "Oooohhhh!"

Good stuff GN

[redrock]

Had two AX750, Seasonic manufactured, very good and zero issues. Now running a. Seasonic Prime 750W Titanium bought on sale. Very cool and quiet.

[Kevin-pslf]

Nice to see inside my own PSU being the RM850x. Nice video!

[MaximusPrimusKay]

John is a wonderful teacher and Patrick's enthusiasm makes it all the more engaging.
Please do more of these expert breakdowns if you can.

[mattsmechanicalssi]

Great that Stone is getting some lessons from the Master Guru! I hope you guys at GN know how much we appreciate what you do, and the lengths you all go through to bring us this knowledge. You are the standard that everyone should aspire to achieve. o7