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More in 'Household
• Categorized under Household Equipments,Technology | Difference Equipments'
Between Linear Power Supply and Switched Mode Power Supply
Difference Between Nest
and SimpliSafe
Linear Power Supply vs Switched Mode
Difference Between
Power Supply
Grams and Kilograms
When it comes to electrical and electronic Difference Between LED
and Incandescent
circuits, it is important to have a power supply
Difference Between Led
as it delivers the right amount of voltage and
Light Bulb and Regular
current to make the circuit run without exceeding the correct limits Bulb
and burning or blowing it up. In this regard, there are two very
common types of power supply, the linear and the switched mode. More in 'Technology'
The main difference between the two is the way they operate. Linear Difference Between
power supplies provide a constant voltage at all times while the Pentium and Celeron
power provided by a switched mode power supply constantly varies. Difference Between OOP
A switching power supply operates by constantly switching the source and Functional
Programming
on and off; the rate of which is dictated by the needed voltage at the
Difference Between
output. Arduino and Elegoo
A linear power supply is often used because of its simplicity. Linear Difference Between
Phishing and Pharming
regulators exist in packaged ICs that only need a rectified voltage
source to operate. In comparison, a switched mode power supply is Follow Us
very complex and requires a handful of ICs as well as inductors.

The main advantage of a switched mode power supply over a linear


power supply is efficiency. A linear power supply operates pretty Most Emailed
Comparisons
much like a voltage divider that constantly changes resistance to
regulate the output voltage. The current that goes into it is the same Difference Between
Vitamin D and Vitamin
as the current that goes out of it and the difference between the input
D3 - 118 emails
and output is wasted. A switched mode power supply doesn’t have
Difference Between Goals
much when it comes to resistive elements and the electricity is and Objectives - 102
mainly stored in capacitors. The voltage of a switched mode power emails
supply constantly oscillates at a very minute amount and the circuitry Difference Between LCD
and LED Televisions - 89
uses this oscillation to gauge when to connect and disconnect from emails
the source. Difference Between Islam
and Muslim - 87 emails
The main disadvantage of a switched mode power supply compared
Difference Between
to a linear power supply is noise. The voltage oscillations and the
Objective and Subjective
constant connecting and disconnecting from the source create too - 66 emails
much electrical noise that can interfere with other nearby electronics. Difference Between
To combat this noise, adequate shielding is often needed. Linear Oxycontin and
Oxycodone - 65 emails
power supplies also create some amount of noise but nowhere near as
much as that produced by switched mode power supplies. Editor's Picks
Summary: Difference Between Gen
Z and Millennials
1.A linear power supply supplies constant voltage while a switched
Difference Between Mark
power supply doesn’t Zuckerberg and Bill Gates
2.A linear power supply is much simpler than a switched mode power Difference Between Civil
supply War and Revolution
3.A switched mode power supply is more power efficient than a linear Difference Between
power supply Aperol and Campari
4.A switched mode power supply is more likely to create interference Difference Between
Queen and Full
than a linear power supply

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Cite
Ben Joan. "Difference Between Linear Power Supply and Switched
Mode Power Supply." DifferenceBetween.net. July 27, 2011 <
http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-
linear-power-supply-and-switched-mode-power-supply/ >.

4 Comments

reader
August 6, 2015 • 9:38 am

thanks for text.

Reply

Scotty W
February 12, 2016 • 8:43 am

Good post! Thank you for it! Finally, it became understandable the
difference to me! I want to ask you about Dell power supplies?
Have you ever used it? My friend suggests me this variant
http://hardware.be/power-supply/dell/l321x-psu.html but it is
very expensive and I am not sure that this one supply worth it!
What can you say about it? I will be very greatful if you tell me any
advise in choosing good hardware! Thank you!

Reply

Ron
April 1, 2017 • 1:42 am

One of the major benefits of switch mode power supplies is their


small size when compared to a linear supply. Modern computers
etc would be considerably larger and heavier if they were powered
by linear supplies

Reply

Spartan
October 26, 2017 • 2:51 am

I need brief information about this the concept is not truly cleared
in this post

Reply

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Written by : Ben Joan. and updated on July 27, 2011

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