Computer Usage Cost?

[CommanderK]

Does anyone know how you can find out much power your computer consumes?

It would be good to know how much of my budget I can spend on my computers power.

Thanks.

[Ragnor]

There have been some really good threads on this topic in the past, they are in here somewhere... some intelligent searching should turn some of them up.

Here's one I just found to start you off:
http://forums.overclockers.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11303

Edit:

Link edited to add the missing "3" of doom

[That_Guy]

I was wondering myself how much power a computer used, as my parents now think, since i installed anotehr 80mm case fan (which they can now hear) the computer is all of a sudden using more power. Logic has it, with the monitor turned off while not in use, it would save alot of PC power, wouldnt it?

[Tiggerz]

just add up the wattage of all the bits that have cables that plug into the mains.. Screen, PSU, printer etc.. divide the result by 1000 to give kW and multiply by your power unit cost. That will give you your max.

[Feliz]

thats a funny link about power usage ragnor!

[_N_]

approximately it's around 100W for a monitor and 100 to 200W for a PC, depending on at how much load you got it running and hardware, but that's nothing compared to a fan heater which uses 2400W at max setting. :rolleyes:

[Siris Le Osiris]

100 watts for a crt 40 for an LCD :P

[KingJackal]

Read my post here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3006&perpage=20&pagenumber=2

One of these days I might go and verify those again. However, the monitor figures are very accurate - I basically went and looked at the consumption figures for every size from most of the manufacturers - so they should be right.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by Feliz
thats a funny link about power usage ragnor!

Whoops the last number in the url got cut off try this link

http://forums.overclockers.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11303

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Ragnor
Whoops the last number in the url got cut off try this link

http://forums.overclockers.co.nz/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11303

Good link that. The problem with that being, people tally up the numbers, get X, then go buy a PSU called 'Yum-cha ATX POWA X+1'.

<TANGENT>
Power supply quality makes a HUGE difference, with a good 350W PSU often able to provide more power than a cheap '500W' PSU :(. So the numbers and the real-world experience/capabilities are often two different things.
</TANGENT>


Perhaps more pertainantly, comparing loaded power usage and actual mean power usage would show that they don't exactly correlate. I mean, if you do the tally and find your PC comes to '380W', and you're using a PowerMax 400W PSU - I will bet bottom dollar your power consumption isn't near 380W. Hell, I'd bet it won't be near 300W - even for a Seti cruncher. For a typical ( non-Seti/other user's ) machine, I'd bet you'd be pushing it to assume half the peak as an average value.

....of course, I'm not really being very helpful by saying this, given everything varies lots, and taking the above view makes life 50x more complex. But I just thought it my duty to mention it, hehe :D. Probably about the only way to make sure is to wait until you're home alone, then measure power usage with most appliances turned off for a few hours, then with your PC alone turned on for a few hours and compare ( then do some math ).

Of course, that means living without your PC for a few hours! :eek: :(

;)

[Ragnor]

I agree with your sentiments, PSU's are particulary shocking for misleading marketing fluff.

When is a standard comparable specification not a standard comparable specification... when product labelling is in the hands of the computer hardware marketing department.

For those who don't religiously research products before they buy them, the best policy is always to buy quality because "you get what you pay for". People always seem to be amazed that the uber cheap no name brand that they bought from the dodgy cheapest on pricespy e-tailer isn't doing the job right.