Pc Power Usage

[Kira]

Got curious and started looking for some semblance of "how much power do I use?".  Without a KillAWatt, I'm using Microsoft's "JouleMeter" software, knowing full well that not being hardware, it's yet another educated guess.  So far, interesting results, all of which are pretty much in line with what my research (as per buying this new PC) has indicated.

 

Rough guesstimate shows 122W at idle, 150W at startup for Skyrim, 140-145 for CLoD.  Shows my monitor as pulling 50W, plus a "base" pull of 65W (whatever that means), both constant. Not sure weather to believe that or not.

 

In any case, the power supply of 450W total capacity means I'm running roughly 33% under load, which sounds like the guys who built it (I had it speced and built by a shop back ten years ago) seemed to know what they were doing so far as power supply was concerned.  Well, at least so far as "how much is needed".  We won't go into "how it was mounted".  That's a sore subject.

 

Idle, it's at 27% capacity, well within the 20-85% maximum efficiency window for computer power supplies.

[Jabo]

Joulemeter eh? I'm intrigued but I don't see how a piece of software running on your computer would have the foggiest about the power usage of the monitor which doesn't run off your PSU in any case..

People tend to overestimate how much power they need but that said I'd probably say that something in the 650-750w range would be about right.

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[Jabo]

I've done a bit of reading and it appears that unless you're using a laptop, the software requires the use of an additional piece of equipment in order calibrate itself correctly. If you haven't done that, I would take any indications from the software with a hefty pinch of salt because any conclusion arrived at via potentially flawed data is itself highly suspect.

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[Kira]

Oh absolutely.  I saw the "calibration" (ha!) sector, and tried to get it to do so with no luck.  That's why I said "knowing full well that not being hardware, it's yet another educated guess".

 

In other news, went into a local PC place, looking for an anti-static "grounding" wristband sorta thing.  After informing me that they didn't have such a thing, nobody did, and all I had to do was X, Y and/or Z, (bascially take an old extension cord, strip the ends and ground yourself to a 220 wall outlet via the grounding screw in the center.  I smiled and nodded, and went on to other subjects.  I've no interest in getting anywhere near 220, grounded or not!),  I got into a long involved conversation on the subject of what I was building with the old man (literally).  When the conversation got around to power supply, (this was after basic stats, including the I-7, though I didn't go into the specifics of graphics card) he asked what I had.  My response of "850W" brought an "Oh, you'll be fine then."  Interesting results with regards to CPU.  When I mentioned that this computer was an AMD with an ASUS board, he all but cringed.  "Well, I was going to say you could use your old computer for running something else , but AMDs are junk.  The board's worthwhile, though."  He then proceeded to tell me about how much trouble AMDs were for him.  Getting grumpy with the boss about "You get mad when I only get four computers done a day, yet you only give me AMDs!  Come on, this is ridiculous.  Spread the fun! (And give me some Intels for a change!)"

 

When I mentioned my Thermaltake Shark and how it dumps hot air from the power source down into the case, he suggested just replacing it.  Cases are cheap these days.  Yeah, but, but, but...  Right now I'm trying to find out if I can flip the PSU over and mount it with the exhaust fan up instead of down.  If it worked, the next step would be cutting a hole in the top of my case for all that hot air from the PSU to go right out the top.  A great plan, but would require some sort of dust cover when not in use, not to mention filing/sanding the edges of the hole so they weren't so sharp.

[DD_Arthur]

Kira have you ordered any parts yet?

[Kira]

All ordered and on the way.  Hopefully Monday or Tuesday arrival.  Looking at having it up and running by Wednesday night.  Got my 8GB (2x4) RAM yesterday, but I ordered that a few days before the rest, when I knew I would need DDR3 regardless of motherboard, and didn't know when the price would go up to something more along the lines of what everyone else seemed to be charging.

 

By the way, I had a thought about cooling, and mounting a smaller 80-90mm fan on the side grill... I happened to find a picture of someone who'd done exactly that.  Looks like it'll work like a charm, and help keep temps down.  Yippie!

[Jabo]

Good, good. Incidentally that big fan under your PSU will an intake not an exhaust (unless it's different to 99.99% of the other psu's on the market). Seriously - do not worry about this and don't start cutting holes in your case.

As far as anti-static protection is concerned, it's not not really too much of an issue these days. A really simple way to ground yourself is to touch the case chassis before touching the board or components, Simple and effective (or at least, it's what I do and I've yet to destroy anything via esd - I built my first PC 20-odd years ago). If you really want a strap I can send you one (I keep two in my computer toolbox in case a customer gets funny about it - lol)

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[Kira]

"(unless it's different to 99.99% of the other psu's on the market)" Bingo!

 

I tested it the same way I test my other fans: Start it up and put a hand next to it.  Might not be the coolest, most accepted practice for finding out which way the thing's running, but it'll tell me without a doubt which way the fan's blowing the air.

 

Incidentally, it's some no-name brand that they most likely were "required" to throw into custom builds by somebody or other.  I looked it up the other day when I had the other side of the case off and could see the label, but can't think of it at the moment.  It's entirely possible that the new Thermaltake PS-TPD-0850MPCGUS-1 will run the other direction.  That'll mean no need for cutting and also that it won't be dragging warm air into the PSU from the exhaust fan which is right below the PSU intake currently.  Silly setup, for sure.

 

Yep, I thought just touching the case was enough to ground self/components.  Thanks for the confirmation.