You’ve taken the plunge and decided to build your own gaming rig, but one question remains, what power supply should you get? If you’re coming here looking for how much power you need, then I strongly recommend you use a power usage calculator like Thermaltake’s (http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp) to get a good idea of how much power you think you’ll need.

A good PSU is critical to the longevity and performance of your PC and it’s components. Our recommendation is that you get one that’s 80 plus certified and has high customer ratings.Leave Room for Expansion and ErrorA good rule of thumb is to never load your Power supply to 100% of its capacity so be sure to add at least 50-100 watts for error and future expansion. This should only cost you 10-15 dollars more. Considering the price of a high-end gaming rig it’s well worth aiming high on your PSU. If you plan on adding an additional GPU in the future, then calculate beforehand what that number should be.

Best Gaming Power Supplies/PSU 2011 – 2012

Here are our picks for the top rated power supplies for 2011:

Top Rated 500 Watt Power Supply 2011 – 2012

OCZ ModXStream Pro 500W

The OCZ ModXstream Pro 500W is a fantastic value power supply and with OCZ you know that it’ll be good for a long time.  It’s 80 plus certified (typical 86% efficiency), is cooled by a 135mm fan and has OCZ PowerWhisper Technology so that it’s nice and quiet. Connectors include 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin), 1 x 12V(4 Pin) CPU, 1 x 12V(8 Pin) CPU, 4 x Peripheral, 6 x SATA, 2 x Floppy, and 2 x PCI-E.

Best 550 Watt PSU

Antec BP550

Another great value PSU is the Antec BP550 which is priced right below the featured power supply above. It’s 80 plus certified (85% typical efficiency) and has a long MTBF (mean time before failure) of 100,000 hours. That means you’d have to play every day all day long for 12 years on average before it would give up! Connectors include 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin), 1 x 12V(P4), 1 x 12V(8Pin), 6 x peripheral, 6 x SATA, 1 x Floppy, and 2 x PCI-E. A 3 year parts and labor warranty is included as well.

Top 600 Watt Power Supply 2011 – 2012

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W

Like the 500W version we showed you above OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W is from the same ModXStream Pro series is 80 plus certified with 86% typical efficiency.

650 Watt Power Supplies – 2011 – 2012

Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt

The Corsair 650W Enthusiast series is probably the bestselling PSU for gamers for 2011 and would be the PSU we’d recommend for most single GPU builds. This is because Corsair gives you an awesome 5 year warranty and delivers the ampage on the rail (53 AMP SINGLE +12V RAIL) that you’re looking for. If you use the rebate you can get also get a pretty good deal. Additional specifications include ultra-quiet double ball-bearing fan, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified (up to 85% efficiency), 100k MTBF, over-voltage and over-current protection, under-voltage protection, short circuit protection, 1 x Main connector (20+4Pin), 1 x 4+4 Pin CPU, 8 x Peripheral, 8 x SATA, 2 x Floppy, and 2 x PCI-E.

700 Watt PSU

OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W

750 Watt Power Supply

Corsair Enthusiast Series 750-Watt

800 Watt PSU/Power Supply

Rosewill LIGHTNING Series LIGHTNING-800 800-Watt 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Modular Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i7 and Core i5

Top Rated 850 Watt Power Supply 2011 – 2012

Corsair Professional Series Gold High-Performance 850-Watt Power Supply CMPSU-850AX

900 Watt Power Supplies – 2011 – 2012

PC Power and Cooling Silencer 910W

PC power and cooling sells some of the best and most efficient power supplies available. If you’re building a high-end desktop, then be sure to look their way for your PSU.

950 Watt PSU 2011

Corsair CMPSU-950TX 950-Watt

Best 1000 Watt+ Power Supplies

Corsair Professional Series Gold High-Performance 1200-Watt Power Supply CMPSU-1200AX

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand 1050W TPG-1050M SLI & CrossFire X Ready ATX12V 80PLUS Gold Active PFC ATX 1150 Power Supply TPG-1050M

OCZ ZX Series 1250W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Gold High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

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We hope you’ve enjoyed this review of the best PSU/Power Supplies for gaming in 2011. Be sure to leave a comment below if you feel like we missed the boat or would like to contribute to this post.