PSU Hierarchy 2021 – PC Power Supply Tier List

When building a new PC or upgrading your old one, it’s important to have a good power supply unit, as they are a direct source of energy for your computer.

It’s no use to have a high-performing CPU or GPU if you’re going to saddle it with a lesser PSU. It’s already an understandably hard process to try and match all the PC parts into a cohesive unit, particularly if you’re looking at the mountain of GPU choice.

For this reason, we’ve generated a definitive PSU hierarchy to help you choose what’s best for you.

Related:How To Buy The Right Graphics Card

This hierarchy was thought of based on performance and efficiency. There are also other important things that aren’t among the deciding factors but are worth mentioning and explaining.

Namely, we’re talking about PSU efficiency and the 80 Plus rating. This is a certification created to indicate that a power supply is at least 80% efficient at 20%, 50% and 100% loads. There are six different certificates that point to a PSU’s efficiency and their names are pretty self-explanatory: Regular, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Titanium.

With each tier in the PSU hierarchy, there will be explanations and suggestions for the best use of the PSUs in that tier. In order to avoid clutter, we’ve chosen to only showcase a maximum of 2 models per manufacturer in each tier.

S Tier

Starting from the top, and like in almost any other PC component hierarchy, places here are reserved for what can be called the enthusiast class. PSUs in this range will hold at least an 80 Plus Platinum rating and often an 80 Plus Titanium rating.

There’s also a little bit of an extra classification in this tier in the form of a single-rail/multi-rail option, but with the advancement of power supply technology these are becoming unnecessary.

Here’s a good video showing the difference between them.

These PSUs are reserved for very high-performing systems. Unless you’re running a top-of-the-line CPU and GPU and intend to overclock them, these aren’t for you.

One thing that’s extremely interesting to point out in regards to the future of this tier is that with the increased focus from hardware manufacturers on energy efficiency, there may not be a future at all for these enthusiast-class PSUs. That prediction might seem outlandish, but given Nvidia’s and AMD’s tendencies of one-upmanship in every possible detail for their GPUs (which are considered top power consumers), it’s possible that these strong PSUs may become extinct.

Multi-Rail

Single-Rail

A Tier

This is a more affordable range, but will still cost you a pretty penny. These PSUs aren’t exactly an overkill even when overclocking the GPU and CPU and might, in fact, be the best option in the long run. PSUs in this tier might also be closer to that enthusiast range, and the power they generate might still be too much overhead room for the majority of gamers.

Getting an A tier PSU is still not recommended for people who are building a PC for the first time, as they probably don’t have enough knowledge to take full advantage of these powerful PSUs. Furthermore, if you’re a first-timer, you likely won’t even need a PSU from this tier and could probably save some money and get a better GPU instead.

In this range, it’s safest to stick to the manufacturers that have a good track record, like Thermaltake or Deepcool. This is because a lot of new companies will try to make the best possible PSU and will want to make it high-end, which might not be possible right off the bat.

B Tier

This is probably the best tier for the majority of PC builders for their acceptable price and consistent quality. Of course, you might not be able to overclock your high-end hardware, but if affordable reliability is what you’re looking for, then PSUs in this tier are perfect for you.

Much like in the previous tier, it’s a safe bet to stick to a reliable manufacturer, but in this tier it might be worth your time (and money) to get something from a relatively unproven brand.

Overall, here is where you’ll find the best value for money PSUs in this hierarchy.

C Tier

We’re now in the bottom half of our PSU hierarchy. From here, most power supply units won’t be able to support high-end gaming.

In fact, they might even struggle at mid-level gaming as they’re not exactly best suited for a system with a dedicated GPU; they would probably be better off with an integrated GPU.

D Tier

The second-to-last tier in our list is reserved for PSUs that are only suitable for the lowest budgets and should not be used for gaming.

While PSUs from this tier will technically work, they’re not recommended for anything outside of a work computer that will run Microsoft Office and even that might be stretching it.

This tier will be comprised mostly of older units which are slowly but surely nearing their expiration date.

F Tier

We’ve reached the absolute bottom of the barrel of the PSU hierarchy. Members of this tier are an actual physical risk to your PC. They could easily malfunction and short circuit your board or any other component.

Of course, there are circumstances where that can happen to almost any PSU out there, but these are not recommended for anyone.

Final Words On The PSU Hierarchy

It’s fundamental to accentuate that this isn’t a definitive and final PSU hierarchy list. Just like many things in the technology world, power supply units evolve and their rankings are subject to constant change.

However, where PSUs should be appreciated a lot more is the fact that they’re reliable, long-lasting and relatively cheap, particularly when compared to things like GPUs, which go out of style lightning fast.