Making Waves in Electrical Efficiency

As technology advances, the demand for more efficient devices also increases. We at CORSAIR have always prided ourselves with our highly efficient and reliable power supply units, from the most budget friendly CX models to our top of the line AX series. However, there will always be new specifications that emerge to further drive the industry toward a greener tomorrow.  

We continually strive to be on the leading edge, working closely with Intel to ensure we meet and exceed the power efficiency requirements in their Power Supply Design Guides. The newest iteration of this design guide introduces a host of changes that CORSAIR is planning on supporting.  

We understand that a lot of the detailed technical information might make some of your eyes glass over, so let’s talk about what’s most likely to affect you. But, for the sake of brevity, here’s a shortlist of what CORSAIR is focusing on. 

• Support for Microsoft’s “Modern Standby Mode” 
• Update for Low Load Efficiency requirements 
  • Some regions have added restrictions on efficiency both minimum and low load efficiency 
  • In CA, the CA Energy Commission (CEC) has introduced new restrictions on built systems
    • In 2019 – at 10% load, efficiency of at least 60%
    • In 2020 – at 10% load, efficiency of at least 70%
    • Finished PCs from system integrators (e.g. CyberpowerPC) cannot be shipped to CA unless the PSU is at least 80 PLUS Gold certified with the aforementioned low load efficiency 

Modern Standby Mode 

Microsoft and Intel have introduced a new low power state, aptly named “Modern Standby.” Modern Standby is being introduced as a replacement for the current S3 sleep state, aiming to offer people a better user experience for their desktop or laptop PCs while maintaining power savings that benefit the environment.  

Systems using S3 sleep state are either asleep or in the working state. With Modern Standby, your PC is never always 100% asleep and is designed to mimic smartphone operation with your PC residing in a low power idle state that periodically, every 20 seconds or so, checks for emails or notifications until awakened. After waking it would nearly immediately shift to a full-power, working state with all your relevant data (e.g. emails, notifications, or Windows updates) at your fingertips.  

Ultimately, the goals are to maintain energy efficiency of computer systems, allow your computer to be connected during sleep, and decrease the amount of time a user waits before they may use their system to its fullest. Currently, it takes between 7 to 15 seconds to awaken a computer from the S3 sleep state, where Modern Standby aims to reduce that to <5 seconds, even faster in most cases. 

What is CORSAIR doing to meet these requirements? 

CORSAIR is always looking to improve the PC experience for our users, and that includes creating more efficient, reliable, and more responsive components. To achieve this, we updated component choices to enable faster timing communication from the PSU to the motherboard and CPU which will significantly decrease the amount of time a system boots from power button press to its active state. We extensively reviewed reliability and PSU designs to ensure that adding tens of thousands more power cycles would not any cause problems. We also worked closely with Intel and system integrator partners to hone the specification, further ensuring our compliance.  

When and where will Modern Standby be available? 

Modern Standby will be available with next generation Intel CPUs and chipsets for PCs running the newest version of Windows 10.

Check back regularly for news on the newest up and coming tech from CORSAIR! Thanks for reading!