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Real power draw of a PC, results from my own PC

Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

Big.Wayne

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Joined
11 Sep 2003
Posts
14,716
Location
London
Hey guys, I'm a bit confused? :o

Can someone explain what the Zalman does differently from the standard energy-brick thingie? :D

I didn't really factor in the PSU's efficiency when looking at my results. I suppose if I swap out PSU's without changing any other hardware it may become more apparent . . i.e If I change for a more efficient PSU my wattage readings should drop.

I mentioned in the past that there is space in the market now for more low powered PSU's. Most of the big brands don't offer much choice at the lower wattage end, the best choice I could find was the Antec Earthwatts 380. I wouldn't mind trying those newer Enermax Modu units either, in the end I let my wallet decide and paid roughly £31 which is a novel amount to pay for a new PSU that is overkill for your needs!

One last question, in theory what is the maximum efficiency a PSU can obtain?
 

pastymuncher

pastymuncher

pastymuncher

Man of Honour
Joined
12 Jul 2005
Posts
20,570
Location
Aberlour, NE Scotland
Big.Wayne said:
Hey guys, I'm a bit confused? :o

Can someone explain what the Zalman does differently from the standard energy-brick thingie? :D

I didn't really factor in the PSU's efficiency when looking at my results. I suppose if I swap out PSU's without changing any other hardware it may become more apparent . . i.e If I change for a more efficient PSU my wattage readings should drop.

I mentioned in the past that there is space in the market now for more low powered PSU's. Most of the big brands don't offer much choice at the lower wattage end, the best choice I could find was the Antec Earthwatts 380. I wouldn't mind trying those newer Enermax Modu units either, in the end I let my wallet decide and paid roughly £31 which is a novel amount to pay for a new PSU that is overkill for your needs!

One last question, in theory what is the maximum efficiency a PSU can obtain?
Click to expand...

Yes it does. I went from a crappy old 500w Winpower, somewhere around 70% efficiency if i was lucky, to a 385w Enermax Pro 82+ which is up to 90% at 50% load and has a low of 84%. These are the same as the Modu 82+ but the cables are hardwired. According to the Zalman, the Winpower was drawing 104w idle and 187w while gaming. This dropped to 85w idle and 158w while gaming. This is in my second rig not the one in siggy. These new Enermax units are fantastic. Good quality, quiet, efficient, excellent selection of cables and reasonably cheap. I only paid £36 for mine so was well pleased. I completely agree with you about the low end psu market. A lot of it is down to the retailer and what they stock. I have found several retailers that has a 650w psu as the lowest one that they sell. This is ridiculous as this thread has proven that even 500w psu's are rarely needed.

Wayne, any chance you could have a look in this thread please? The poor chap is new and wants to know about the Asus m-atx boards. You seem to be clued up on them so can you point him in the right direction please? ;)
 

coupe69

coupe69

coupe69

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20 Feb 2007
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4,506
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‎ツ
sithlord said:
i7 920 @ 3.8 Ghz 1.32v
ASUS P6T Deluxe Palm Edition.
6 GB Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz RAM.
GTX 260 - 216 eVGA.
1 x 300GB Raptor
1 x 1TB WD Black
1 x 1TB Samsung F1
2 Case fans
Wirless mouse + Wifi Card.

PSU Enermax MODU82+ 625 Watts.

Idle = 150 Watts.
Load = 250 Watts (Prime 95 - 8 cores)

Busting the myth of 1000 watts PSUs !
Click to expand...

But your Video card is not being stressed at all running just prime 95, in fact it will be running in 2d mode at a much reduced clock, memory and shader speed. :confused: Admittedly you still won't be needing a 1000 watt psu, but I don't think I'd like to be running it on much less than you have already.
 
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lunarwolf

lunarwolf

lunarwolf

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27 Dec 2006
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3,092
Location
Dark Forest
interesting read.

always known that 1kw were complete overkill, but I got my 1kw Corsair new for £140 - I just couldn't let that deal pass me by ;) eventhough i was looking for a 750w to allow me room for a second 4870x2 and the newer 8pin PCI-E connectors. Anyway the PSU only use the pwr required so doesn't waste any more energy than a lower wattage PSU would

PS i do waste more energy lifting my case
 
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pastymuncher

pastymuncher

pastymuncher

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20,570
Location
Aberlour, NE Scotland
lunarwolf said:
interesting read.

always known that 1kw were complete overkill, but I got my 1kw Corsair new for £140 - I just couldn't let that deal pass me by ;) eventhough i was looking for a 750w to allow me room for a second 4870x2 and the newer 8pin PCI-E connectors. Anyway the PSU only use the pwr required so doesn't waste any more energy than a lower wattage PSU would

PS i do waste more energy lifting my case
Click to expand...

But the efficiency won't be as good. Mine's pretty good whatever the loading as it has a minimum efficiency of 82% with 100w load. I am only using around a third of the psu's capacity so efficiency is around 86%. It has a peak efficiency of 88% at 400w. Other psu's may not be as good. Especially if they are a couple of years old when 75% was the norm.
 

muppetkiller

muppetkiller

muppetkiller

Associate
Joined
6 Oct 2008
Posts
343
Have another machine.
Intel E2200 At stock
4x8800GS
2 TB Hdd's
DvD drive
Antect 1200 with 6 Fans + 1 more fan i added.
CPU has a fan on it.

Under full load it uses 500Watts. Thats all 4 cards and CPU maxed.
Using a Seasonic 650watt.
 

sithlord

sithlord

sithlord

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Joined
1 Jun 2007
Posts
818
coupe69 said:
But your Video card is not being stressed at all running just prime 95, in fact it will be running in 2d mode at a much reduced clock, memory and shader speed. :confused: Admittedly you still won't be needing a 1000 watt psu, but I don't think I'd like to be running it on much less than you have already.
Click to expand...

Well I just did another test this time I had BOTH Prime 95 with 8 cores/threads in blend AND 3DMark2k1 going at the same time. It peaked at 399w.

Unlikely someone would be doing both tasks at the same time, still well within a 625w PSUs ability.
 

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

Stonedofmoo

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OP
Joined
24 Oct 2002
Posts
6,242
Location
Portsmouth
Well I've ordered a Geforce 9800 GTX+. £130 new and it's the 55nm model. I'll see how it compares to my year old 8800GT on idle and under load. I expect it will draw more at idle, but it could be quite similar under load despite the extra performance.
 

Antx777

Antx777

Antx777

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Joined
23 May 2004
Posts
1,902
muppetkiller said:
Yes
3 of them are Asus 8800GS TOP.
1 is an XfX 8800GS which is a great card. Clocks more then the Asus.

Just google this board. Its old now but works.
MSI P6N Diamond, nForce-680i SLI, ATX,S-775,X-Fi Xtreme7.1,4xPCI-Ex16.
Click to expand...


ah I see now >>>>>;)
13-130-080-14.jpg



Will this take 4 GTX295's? (j/k - sort of)! OCT SLI!!
 
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muppetkiller

muppetkiller

muppetkiller

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Posts
343
Mine motherboard is fanless. Dont have that black fan just beside the CPU socket.

No idea if you could fit 4xGTX295.
I would say yeah they will fit into the board. But will they all work... i dont know.
Is their a limit on the amount of GPU's a video card can have ?
In this case it would be like 8.
 

pastymuncher

pastymuncher

pastymuncher

Man of Honour
Joined
12 Jul 2005
Posts
20,570
Location
Aberlour, NE Scotland
muppetkiller said:
Have another machine.
Intel E2200 At stock
4x8800GS
2 TB Hdd's
DvD drive
Antect 1200 with 6 Fans + 1 more fan i added.
CPU has a fan on it.

Under full load it uses 500Watts. Thats all 4 cards and CPU maxed.
Using a Seasonic 650watt.
Click to expand...

The cpu is way under powered for quad sli isnt it? 680i mobo and four 8800GS with a E2200. It's even at stock!! :eek:
 
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