A Power supply is one of the most integral & critical components inside our PC systems, but many users and beginner PC builders want to use two power supplies in their system.
After researching this topic in detail, I have written this article to inform you whether you can use 2 PSU in 1 PC or not.
Yes! It is possible to use 2 PSU in 1 PC system, and support for the multiple power supply units is often found in server machines.
But using 2 Power supplies inside one system is not that easy, and you must do it attentively; otherwise, it can damage your system’s components. Below I explained whether using a dual Power Supply is safe or not.
Table of Contents
Is Dual PSU Safe?
Many users are using dual PSU to distribute the load if a single unit cannot cope by itself, and yes using dual PSU is safe as long as one particular PSU powers any rail.
For example, if you are using a dual Power Supply, you should have to use the second PSU to power the hard drives, but you have to be careful that the hard drives must be disconnected from the other PSU.
But, if you are planning to use two power sources in parallel, then it would be best if you do not use multiple power sources in parallel.
Let’s dive deeper into this generally, PSUs are usually switching; they operate by frequently toggling between full on and full off. Now, the output voltage is regulated by spending more or less time in the on-state. If the load increases, the voltage drops, and the feedback controller reacts accordingly.
When two units are installed in parallel, two controllers are hard at work maintaining a stable voltage, but they are unaware of one another. As a result, they enter a hysteresis loop by consistently overshooting their target. Alternatively, one unit might try to lower the output voltage but fail because the other one is pushing the output in another direction.
But with a few tweaks, these issues can be avoided, and it is highly recommended to do these things just for experiment purposes; otherwise, some dangerous things could happen with your system.
Dangers of Dual PSU
There are plenty of dangers that could happen with your PC systems, and here I have mentioned some dangers that could happen to you if you use dual PSU. So, let’s take a look at those dangers-
Firstly, many peoples use dual setup PSU to provide power to the powerful graphics card. They mix and match 1 power supply to provide power to the CPU, fan, and motherboard, and they use another Power Supply to provide power to the hard drives and GPU.
Now, the issue comes with the GPU because GPU pulls power from the power plug and from the motherboard, and also, in this instance, the graphics are pulling the power from 2 sources. This situation can sometimes cause power surges or other GPU-related issues.
Secondly, if you use 2 Power supplies in 1 system, that means there are 2 ground connections, and mostly it increases the risk of creating ground loops in various circuits of the PSUs. Moreover, the PC circuits need common ground or voltage rail. So, you also have to look out for this issue.
Furthermore, using 2 PSU inside one system in an improper way, then there may be voltage-related issues, and due to voltage issues, there can be different other issues like- Bluescreens, Random Shutdowns, and hard drive-related issues, poor overclocking-related issues, and other issues over time.
So, you can notice that you must be careful before using two power sources; anything wrong can damage your system’s components.
How Do You Use 2 PSU in 1 PC?
Yes! It’s possible to use 2 Power Supply in 1 PC system unless you are not trying to combine them anyway. If you combine the Power supplies, different things could happen with your system. Due to voltage differences, you could see current draw issues; moreover, due to heavy loading, 1 PSU can be damaged.
After knowing both things, you might be wondering how to use 2 PSU? Well, it is absolutely possible to use two PSU, but it is only possible if you use them to power different things.
If you use 1 PSU to power the motherboard, CPU, fan, and other peripherals simultaneously, if you use the other PSU to power the components like the hard drive, it will work.
In short, you have to check that any of your system’s components doesn’t get power from 2 power sources.
How To Connect 2 PSU To 1 Motherboard?
Yes! It is possible to use 2 Power Supplies in 1 motherboard without any splitter; to do this; you will need a metal locking needle. First, open the lock side of the needle and then cut the locking side.
After that, take the 24-pin ATX cable, use the needle, and put it in a 4&5 pin from the upper side. Those two pins will make a circle and get a signal to Power Supply.
Now, start the first Power Supply and next start the 2nd power supply. This is how you will notice that both the PSU will work with your motherboard.
If you have any problems, you can watch this video here.
Separate PSU For Hard Drives
Yes! It is possible to use a separate Power Supply to provide the necessary power for the Hard drive, but it indicates that you are using the dual PSU within your system.
So, when doing this, you have to ensure that any of your system’s components don’t get power from 2 PSUs. If any of your system’s components get power from 2 power sources, then it will be a problem.
Separate PSU For GPU
Yes! You can use a separate power supply to provide the necessary power for your graphics and to do that, you need an adapter. To know how you can use a separate PSU for GPU, read this article.
Final Verdict
In summary, it has to be said that you can use a separate Power Supply to provide the necessary power to the graphics, but you have to supply the required power to all the components only from 1 PSU. For instance, you cant use 2 Power Supply to provide power to 1 GPU. If this happens, then you are going to face lots of problems.
I hope this article is helpful for you and if you want to know more about the Power supply, graphics card, and other PC components, then follow this blog regularly.
