"Eco mode" and efficiency

[Goldman]

Hello, been looking to get a new PSU and while researching i found this site, seems like a nice place so i registered to ask something:

i read somewhere that with new fan auto-on features (like EVGA's eco-mode) the PSU works more efficiently even if the wattage is higher than it should be. While it sound kinda strange, I've been wondering what are the chances of it being true. Is efficiency tied to how "hard" the PSU is working or to how much voltage is it working with at the moment? or, to rephrase it, making the PSU work hotter will make it more efficient?

 

Sorry for the very much possible crappy English, and thanks

[GDRRiley]

efficiency is tide to how hard it is working 

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

8 minutes ago, goldman said:

Hello, been looking to get a new PSU and while researching i found this site, seems like a nice place so i registered to ask something:

i read somewhere that with new fan auto-on features (like EVGA's eco-mode) the PSU works more efficiently even if the wattage is higher than it should be. While it sound kinda strange, I've been wondering what are the chances of it being true. Is efficiency tied to how "hard" the PSU is working or to how much voltage is it working with at the moment? or, to rephrase it, making the PSU work hotter will make it more efficient?

 

Sorry for the very much possible crappy English, and thanks

To a certain point. Different PSUs have different sweet spots in terms of peak efficiency. It's the same with other things like car engines. A car with a larger engine is more efficient that one with a smaller engine at high speeds.

[STRMfrmXMN]

9 hours ago, goldman said:

Hello, been looking to get a new PSU and while researching i found this site, seems like a nice place so i registered to ask something:

i read somewhere that with new fan auto-on features (like EVGA's eco-mode) the PSU works more efficiently even if the wattage is higher than it should be. While it sound kinda strange, I've been wondering what are the chances of it being true. Is efficiency tied to how "hard" the PSU is working or to how much voltage is it working with at the moment? or, to rephrase it, making the PSU work hotter will make it more efficient?

 

Sorry for the very much possible crappy English, and thanks

Well the ECO mode doesn't do much for efficiency. All it does is judge whether the PSU is hot enough to warrant turning the fan on. The fan uses a little bit of power (not a lot, but whatever) and thus, when the fan is not running, EVGA brands that as the feature of the ECO branding. It doesn't make your power bill even noticeably better.

[Goldman]

4 hours ago, STRMfrmXMN said:

Well the ECO mode doesn't do much for efficiency. All it does is judge whether the PSU is hot enough to warrant turning the fan on. The fan uses a little bit of power (not a lot, but whatever) and thus, when the fan is not running, EVGA brands that as the feature of the ECO branding. It doesn't make your power bill even noticeably better.

of course, but I meant if the fact that the PSU will run hotter while not under load(because the fan wont be running) would affect efficiency at all

[STRMfrmXMN]

8 minutes ago, goldman said:

of course, but I meant if the fact that the PSU will run hotter while not under load(because the fan wont be running) would affect efficiency at all

It would be negligible. The fan will come on if the heat matters at all.