What's the actual difference between the capacitors in PSU's?

Revel · June 14, 2015

Currently I am choosing between two power supplies, the Fractal Design Integra 550W and CM V550S 550W. Fractal Design containing taiwanese caps and CM containing japanese. Is it really such a big difference? I have read that the chinese caps are garbage and what else. But what is the real difference? I currently have japanese caps in my PSU but is it ok if I switch to taiwanese since my PSU has been acting weird so I am going to have it in a separate build.

Agazed · June 14, 2015

Nothing but a selling point. Just the quality of the capacitors. You wont see any difference in performance.

samcool55 · June 14, 2015

Well the quality is better so they are less likely to fail, and they perform better. So they just do what they do, only better.

High-quality components give high-efficiency, low ripple and almost no voltage drop when under heavy load.

High-efficiency, don't think that needs any explaining

Ripple, well every psu never delivers 12V solid, it's always a bit more or a bit less, the less ripple you have, the more stable the power supply will be, the better for your components, takes of some load of the VRM components on your motherboard and gpu mostly.

Voltage drop, so cheap psu's tend to drop in voltage a lot when they are under heavy load. For example, you really push the psu to it's limit. Well with cheap psu's the voltage of example the 12V rail can go down to 11V or even lower. You don't want that, seems clear. With good caps, well the chance is small you will have that issue It's also not healthy for VRM and stuff...

June 14, 2015

I'm not a pro in how electrical works, but what I understand is some components are made to be able to run at higher temperatures, making a more quiet PSU (if it's not already passively cooled).

I think Fractal may be using that type of hardware, but again I'm not a pro in this so take what I say with a grain of salt.

June 14, 2015

They do the same thing, obviously, the difference is that japanese caps are of higher quality and that they usually last longer. Taiwanese caps are also rated fairly highly actually. As for the "actual" difference, if both PSUs have a good warranty then you as an end user don't have to worry about it really. Neither of them are going to blow up in your face and if they die in the next few years you just RMA it.

Revel · June 14, 2015

Alright thanks for quck answers. I'll go ahead and buy the Fractal Design because of their allround quality compared to CM.

SkywardKkalox · June 14, 2015

Capacitors are for the current regulation. For AC to be transformed to DC it requires good quality capacitors to be completly regulated.

Aniallation · June 14, 2015

Alright thanks for quck answers. I'll go ahead and buy the Fractal Design because of their allround quality compared to CM.

NO, don't get the Fractal Design. So much misleading information being spread just regarding capacitors. They're not even in the same class of PSUs. Cooler Master VSM is hands down better then Fractal Integra.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Integra_R2_750W/1.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/VSM750/1.html