What is Cybenetics and what do they do?

(Last edited 5/30/2026)

Cybenetics is an independent PSU certification system that, while similar to 80 PLUS, is far more comprehensive and granular, particularly from an engineering and testing standpoint. Their certification programs evaluate power supplies across the entire operating range, not just a few fixed points, rating them for both efficiency (ETA) and acoustic noise (LAMBDA).

Where Cybenetics goes further than 80 PLUS: it measures power factor, provides efficiency numbers at a greater number of measurement points, and also accounts for +5VSB-only loads as well as vampire power draw.

A complete run down of what Cybenetics does for testing efficiciency is laid out on their page here.

The below table shows what criteria needs to be met to obtain any Cybenetics ETA badge. If any one criteria is not met, the badge given to the PSU is bumped down one certification. For example: Even if a PSU is 93% efficient, if the power factor is only 0.97 overall, it can only get a Gold badge.

ETA 115V Efficiency Level Certifications
	Bronze	Silver	Gold	Platinum	Titanium	Diamond
Overall Efficiency	<85%	<87%	<89%	<91%	<93%	≥93%
Overall P.F.	≥0.95	≥0.96	≥0.97	≥0.975	≥0.98	≥0.985
Overall 5VSB Eff.	>71%	>73%	>75%	>76%	>77%	>79%
Vampire Power	<0.25W	<0.22W	<0.19W	<0.16W	<0.13W	<0.10W
5VSB Eff w/ ≤0.225W load (2013 ErP Lot 6)	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤0.45W load (2010 ErP Lot 6)	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤2.75W load (CEC & 2014 ErP Lot 3)	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤7.5W load (CEC & 2014 ErP Lot 3)	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%

Efficiency requirements are different between 115V mains input and 230V mains input. Below are the efficiency requirements to obtain certifications for 230V mains input:

ETA 230V Efficiency Level Certifications
	Bronze	Silver	Gold	Platinum	Titanium	Diamond
Overall Efficiency	<87%	<89%	<91%	<93%	<95%	≥95%
Overall P.F.	≥0.91	≥0.92	≥0.93	≥0.935	≥0.94	≥0.95
Overall 5VSB Eff.	>70%	>72%	>74%	>75%	>76%	>78%
Vampire Power	<0.25W	<0.23W	<0.20W	<0.18W	<0.15W	<0.12W
5VSB Eff w/ ≤0.225W load (2013 ErP Lot 6)	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤0.45W load (2010 ErP Lot 6)	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%	>45%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤2.75W load (CEC & 2014 ErP Lot 3)	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%
5VSB Eff w/ ≤7.5W load (CEC & 2014 ErP Lot 3)	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%	>75%

To obtain a particular LAMBDA badge from Cybenetics, the average noise from the PSU has to fall within a certain range.

Badge	Standard	Standard+	Standard++	A-	A	A+	A++
Noise Range	40 db(A) to 45 db(A)	35 db(A) to 40 db(A)	30 db(A) to 35 db(A)	25 db(A) to 30 db(A)	20 db(A) to 25 db(A)	15 db(A) to 20 db(A)	<15 db(A)

Cybenetics also offers lab services to manufacturers that want additional beta testing for their products. As I like to call it: "A second set of eyes". In my years, I've learned that you cannot trust the OEM alone to carry our your design, and one project engineer alone cannot catch every single corner case issue. The more eyes you have on any project before its released to the public, the better.

For example: When the Gigabyte GP-P750GM and GP-P850GM power supplies were exploding, it was not due to a quality issue, but a design issue. Had Gigabyte had more eyes on the project outside of just the MEIC (aka Minwa Electronics Industrial Co) engineers, the problem likely would have been found before it reached customer's hands.