How much Electric does a PC use?

Infam0us

Infam0us

Infam0us

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Joined
16 Oct 2008
Posts
3,427
Location
Birmingham
Hey guys, wondering how much this PC would use in an electric bill per month if it was turned on from 9AM-1AM everyday roughly? Thanks :)


Processor:
AMD Dual Core 6400+ (3.3Ghz) Black Edition

Memory:
2GB Corsair XMS2

Hard Drive:
1x 500GB, 1x 150GB

Video Card:
ATI Radeon HD 4870 Sapphire 512MB

Monitor:
19" Widescreen HD, 17inch 2nd Monitor

Sound Card:
SB X-Fi

Motherboard:
ABIT FATAL1TY AN9 32X nForce 590

Computer Case:
Lancool K58

PSU - Corsair 550W Modular
 
Infam0us said:
What does that translate to in terms of an electric bill each month? :)
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I'll give a rough example - it will vary depending on usage an tariff.

Using these assumptions:

i) Your PC uses an average of 250W, taking into account some gaming, some browsing.

ii) You use it for an average of 5 hours per day.

iii) You're paying 12p per KWh.

That would be (((250*5)/1000)*12) = 15p per day. Roughly £4.50 per month.
 
So basically not that much! Flatmate is trying to say because I've recently been unemployed I'm using the PC more and the electric bill has gone up loads, I personally think she's full of it :)
 
Infam0us said:
So basically not that much! Flatmate is trying to say because I've recently been unemployed I'm using the PC more and the electric bill has gone up loads, I personally think she's full of it :)
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There's the problem right there, get a male flatmate, so much friendlier on the electricity bill :p
 
It probably has gone up a bit cos of you, but punch her in the stomach, she will fold like any other....then tell her to make a sandwich and not to concern her self with mens things like electric, computers and money.
 
Infam0us said:
Aye your right there mate :) I'm not going to go that far though, was just wondering for an estimate.
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I purchased a little power monitor from an online tat bazaar for £10, complete with "FREE SHIP BEST VALUE". (I'm fairly sure I've identified where it came from now.)

It's accurate enough, it measures my rig to use around 100 watts idle, 200-ish under load. That's a 3ghz C2D E6700, 4gig ram, one 7200rpm hdd, nVid 8800GTS.

Of course, if you've got a plasma telly plugged in too, that'll guzzle power.
 
blueacid said:
I purchased a little power monitor from an online tat bazaar for £10, complete with "FREE SHIP BEST VALUE". (I'm fairly sure I've identified where it came from now.)

It's accurate enough, it measures my rig to use around 100 watts idle, 200-ish under load. That's a 3ghz C2D E6700, 4gig ram, one 7200rpm hdd, nVid 8800GTS.

Of course, if you've got a plasma telly plugged in too, that'll guzzle power.
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Any idea how much that equals in a bill per month? Also a 19 and 17 inch monitor is hardly a plasma telly :p
 
Infam0us said:
Any idea how much that equals in a bill per month?
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You've already been told, twice, how to work out cost per month. You can't work it out just from how much a PC uses at any specific instant.

No-one else can tell you how much you use your PC or how much you're paying per KWh for electricity.

Another person's figures won't be the same as yours. They may be on a different tariff. Their PC might have a higher or lower power use. They might use their PC for a different amount of time. They might use their PC more at different times of the day (it matters on some tariffs).
 
Infam0us said:
Any idea how much that equals in a bill per month? Also a 19 and 17 inch monitor is hardly a plasma telly :p
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I think for those screen sizes you're looking at about 20-30W each but you'll have to look up your exact monitor to get the right power draw and it's dependent upon how bright you set you're screen, lower brightness levels obviously results in less power consumption.

As for calculating the cost, electricity charges are based on the kWh unit which is the kilo-Watt/hour. If you consume 1000W for one hour then you will have used one unit and be charged a stated amount, normally around the 10p mark but it can vary on time of day (consult your monthly bill, suppliers website or landlord). To work out how many units you've used calculate how many kW you consume and for how many hours you would have the devices on for.

If you're using a pre-pay device to pay for your electricity then make sure it is charging the correct amount for a unit of electricity. Our last landlord "accidentally" had it set to charge us twice as much as it should have cost for a unit.
 
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tell her to provide the statement of the last 3 months before you where unemployed then the unemployed statement. Give or take 5% and give her the difference :D

If your on a pay as you go tell her she's talking nonsense get back the kitchen and tell her as your decent you shall give her £5 extra.

Sorted.
 
Antar Bolaeisk said:
I think for those screen sizes you're looking at about 20-30W each but you'll have to look up your exact monitor to get the right power draw and it's dependent upon how bright you set you're screen, lower brightness levels obviously results in less power consumption
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You may be surprised but my bog standard 19" lcd is 75watts (on label on back)
 
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There is no substitution for measuring yourself and nearly all the pc power calculators I have seen over estimate (reading the rating on the back doesn't count, that is usually maximum).

An old pc I use as a server consists of a amd 3800x2, 2gb of ram, an 8400gs, 2 hard drives, a dvd rewriter and 5 fans, it uses 77W at idle from the wall (using a plug power meter) and 130W at max (using occt power supply test).

My main pc, am E8400 at 3.6GHz, 285gtx, 4gb of ram, 3 hdds, 10 fans etc uses 150W at idle and 350 under maximum load (idle used to be higher with a 4870).

I have a 24" IPS panel (known for using a 'lots' of power), it uses ~85W with the brightness at 18%.

Computers use much less power than people think. 1W generally equates to £1 a year if you have it on continuously, ie if you use something that uses 100W 12 hours a day it will cost £50 a year to run.
 
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