desktop power supplies

CPUs (Central processing units) in their various incarnations consume some amount of electric power. This power is dissipated both by the action of the switching devices contained in the CPU (such as transistors or vacuum tubes) as well as energy lost in the form of heat due to the resistivity of the electrical circuits. This is a major consideration in the design of CPUs and the computers they are used in.

Some implementations of CPUs use very little power. For example, the CPUs in mobile phones and pacemakers often use just a few microwatts. On the other hand, CPUs in general purpose microcomputers dissipate significantly more power because of their higher complexity and speed. Shop For Power Supplies!. These microelectronic CPUs may consume power in the order of several watts. Historically, early CPUs implemented with vacuum tubes consumed power in the order of many kilowatts (103 watts).

CPUs for desktop computers typically use more power than any other component inside the computer, except perhaps recent technology video cards which contain special purpose CPUs themselves. The steady trend in CPU power supplies over the past decade has been towards using lower voltages and having considerably higher currents. While energy-saving features have been instituted in PCs for when they are idle, the overall consumption of today's high-drain CPUs is considerable.