page_title: Buck converter
section_title: Application
hierarchical_section_title: Buck converter / Application
caption_attribution_description: English: Three small commodity DC voltage converter modules. Clockwise from top; LM2596 based buck converter, MP1584 based buck converter, and SDB628 based boost converter.
context_page_description: A buck converter is a DC-to-DC power converter which steps down voltage from its input to its output. It is a class of switched-mode power supply typically containing at least two semiconductors and at least one energy storage element, a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination. To reduce voltage ripple, filters made of capacitors are normally added to such a converter's output and input.
  Switching converters provide much greater power efficiency as DC-to-DC converters than linear regulators, which are simpler circuits that lower voltages by dissipating power as heat, but do not step up output current.
  Buck converters can be highly efficient, making them useful for tasks such as converting a computer's main supply voltage down to lower voltages needed by USB, DRAM and the CPU.
context_section_description: The buck is widely used in low power consumption small electronics to step-down from 24/12V down to 5V.  They are sold as a small finish product chip for well less than US$1 having about 95% efficiency.
caption: Low-cost converter modules: two buck and one boost.
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