Running cost of a 1010W PSU

Yes, infact more than likely, the 1000W PSU would cost slightly less to run, due to not being anywhere near its efficiency limit.
 
paradigm said:
Yes, infact more than likely, the 1000W PSU would cost slightly less to run, due to not being anywhere near its efficiency limit.
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if it has 85% efficentcy it will still only be able to use 85% of the power it draws regardless if its 1000w or 500w, therefore if the efficentcy is the same then they will cost the same.
 
PSU's do become less efficient as they get closer to their limits though.

Also efficiency doesn't have a "t" in it ;)
 
When I was looking to buy and checking out the spec's of power supplies most ran at their most efficient around the 60 to 85% load mark.
 
paradigm said:
PSU's do become less efficient as they get closer to their limits though.

Also efficiency doesn't have a "t" in it ;)
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Many PSU's also become less efficient at the lower extreme of their range, so a 1000w PSU driving a PC with in idle power draw of 50-60W would probably be less efficient than a 500W psu. But the difference is pretty negligable.
 
most psu's, and the general guideline they follow is, to hit 80% and above efficiency above 20% load. which would be 200W on a 1000W psu.

a rig with a dual core c2d 6300, 2gigs mem, x1900xt is drawing over that when idle, little more when downloading. a quad core rig will easily be over 200W idle. theres not that many computers that would be far from 200W idle power draw so its not really an issue. efficiency is a MUCH bigger problem at low loads than high loads in general. most psu's are rated at 20-100% load at 85% ish these days, most of the big decent psu's anyway.
 
drunkenmaster said:
most psu's, and the general guideline they follow is, to hit 80% and above efficiency above 20% load. which would be 200W on a 1000W psu.

a rig with a dual core c2d 6300, 2gigs mem, x1900xt is drawing over that when idle, little more when downloading. a quad core rig will easily be over 200W idle. theres not that many computers that would be far from 200W idle power draw so its not really an issue. efficiency is a MUCH bigger problem at low loads than high loads in general. most psu's are rated at 20-100% load at 85% ish these days, most of the big decent psu's anyway.
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Dunno about that, C2D E6700@3Ghz, 4Gb ram, 2x320Gig 7200rpm disks, Geforce 7900GTX, with 5 cooling fans, and the system still only draws 135W from the mains at idle, and once you factor the 80% efficiency... the systems drawing a shade over 100watts DC idle from the PSU, Even at full load it doesnt go above 200W very often.

A 95W Q6600, running speedstep, and swapping out the 7900 for a 8800GT, and your still well under 200watts, for an upper midrange computer. a lot of misinformation about how much watts a lot of computers are actually using.

Infact, I saw a recent 'power test' of several graphics cards, The base system was a QX6850 (The new penryn will use almost 50% less power), 2Gb of DDR3, Even the power hungry Radeon HD 2900XT only managed to draw 198W idle / 376W full load. 8800GT just 150W idle, and that using intels most power hungry cpu.
 
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Well the best way to test it youself. It's just a meter connected between the plug and the PSU plug and it tells you how much Watts are drawned at a given time. Unaware of the price but it comes handy and i guess you won't need to upgrade it :p
Myself was worried about my PSU being able to run the 3850 being only 1800xl. I mean doesn't the 1800xl draw more power than the 3850?
 
My e6300 @ 2.5Ghz, 2GB RAM, X1950Pro, one optical drive, one hard drive, standard cooling fans draws roughly 165 watts full load.

A lot a people overestimate power draw.
 
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