How much electricity am I using??

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: CJP

Originally posted by: BD2003

That being said, you probably should worry more about leaving your monitor running all night rather than the PC, unless you have an LCD.

I leave my computer on all day (shut off at night) and my crt is on all day as well. However it goes into a power saving mode after about 20 minutes where the screen goes blank and the on light changes colour. I assumed that it was ok to leave it in this state all day so I've haven't been shutting it off. Is this ok or should I shut off the monitor when I'm away from it for awhile?

your monitor consumes like 3W maximum when in sleep mode. I usually just shut mine off when i leave for more than 1 hr.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: cy7878

Originally posted by: whatever
dunno what you think about it, but one way to save power is to clock your cpu down when you leave it on but are not really using it. i have an xpm 2500+ that i clock at 2.6GHz @2.0v, using about 120W of power. when i clock it at 1.3GHz @1.1v, it uses less than 15W of power. although this is for the cpu only, it may have a noticeable difference. it should also extend the life of the cpu a bit, as it should do fine at lower voltage and put out less heat.

I think your math is wrong. 2.0V can't consume 120W if at 1.1V it only eats up 15W. The formula is W=V*I

For a *static* circuit, this is correct. For switching CMOS chips, you're ignoring the dynamic power dissipation.

To charge and discharge a capacitor (and gates have non-negligible capacitance), W = C * V^2. So the power required to charge and discharge a capacitor at frequency f is W = C * V^2 * f. This tends to dominate the power usage of modern high-speed chips (although leakage is also important, which is basically a function of the process, current draw, and voltage).

The power draw for most large CMOS chips (like CPUs) tends to be proportional to (V^2 * f) + (V * I) (that is, dynamic draw plus leakage). Halving the voltage would tend to drop your power draw by more like 70+%, not 50%, and doubling it could easily triple your draw (especially since the leakage increases with temperature).

 

[trinketsummoner]

Originally posted by: vegetation

Originally posted by: cy7878
general rule. A computer CPU consumes about 100w, less when the HD spins down when not active. Optical drives, if not spinning, consumes 1-2W, so it's insignificant.

A modern fast cpu only consumes 100w+ when pegged to its limit. At idling state with such as an A64/P4 would use far far less power than that. So unless you're running some distributive program, you'll probably be on the lower edge of the cpu power curve if running 24x7. HINT: Turn those silly background number crunching programs OFF to gain immediate savings in power costs.

Those "silly number crunching programs" like folding@home may just save your life one day. Its not a trivial program, maybe you should read up on such things before you make comments like that. Thank you

 

[Anonemous]

uhoh get READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!

anyways, just measure the power consumption of the PC (with some device, alittle help here? I remember it was from newegg...) or use a gigabit router (even though they might be expensive) or a regular 100 mbit router (unless you streaming HDTV or 10 gig files from your computer 24/7, a 100 mbit router should suffice, unless you xferring 24/7 between 3+ computers).

 

[L00PY]

I bought my Kill-A-Watt through Amazon and immediately ran through my house getting measurements on everything. My monitor in sleep mode eats much more than 3W. Running my computer at full load 24/7 raises my electricty bill by $10-$15 -- which is of course heavily dependent on your $/kwh.

The most surprising numbers I saw were that rechargable items (e.g., razor, toothbrush, dustbuster, etc. . .) cost me next to nothing despite the constant trickle charge -- which makes sense in retrospect seeing how it's such a low voltage; and my mini-stereo costs me a fair amount event when turned "off" (a buck or two a month). OTOH, it only costs me $0.50 a month to leave my amp turned on 24/7 so I just leave it on now and pay for the convenience of having one less thing to switch on.

 

[Steve Guilliot]

Got a real problem here and need help.

Ok, I've got a via eden @1Ghz running Win2k3 so that I can display a picture of a bowl of nuts to my squirrel running in a wheel connected to a generator supplying power to my home. How much power would I need to supplement this setup? If I upgrade my power supply to a TP911, can my setup handle the extra load of adding a clapper for my bed-ridden grandma? How much would this cost per month, and should I disengage the squirrel wheel's clutch at night to save the tree in my backyard?

Plz help.

 

[cy7878]

Originally posted by: Steve Guilliot
Got a real problem here and need help.

Ok, I've got a via eden @1Ghz running Win2k3 so that I can display a picture of a bowl of nuts to my squirrel running in a wheel connected to a generator supplying power to my home. How much power would I need to supplement this setup? If I upgrade my power supply to a TP911, can my setup handle the extra load of adding a clapper for my bed-ridden grandma? How much would this cost per month, and should I disengage the squirrel wheel's clutch at night to save the tree in my backyard?

Plz help.

only if you crap into a bowl, bury it under a tree, harvest the leaves, dry them and light a fire to heat up some water to make steam. Have the steam it a turbine hooked up to the wheel turned by the over-worked little squirrel. Now assuming you planted your own food, you may come out on top.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=187887

has stuff on oc and power usage

 

[vegetation]

Those "silly number crunching programs" like folding@home may just save your life one day. Its not a trivial program, maybe you should read up on such things before you make comments like that. Thank you

I call it "silly number cruching programs" because of the enormous increase in heat production by a modern cpu, causing one's power draw to increase 2-4x over idle state. The result is an electric bill that is larger than expected. Since most people here wish to save money, it's a cost cutting measure.

And if you feel so inclined to advance science, then donate that money you saved on electricity to the cause. I can guarantee you the funds you send to cause allowing them to share time on a real supercomputer will generate far better useful research results. Maybe you should read the thread in its entirety before making an attack on me didn't contribute anything to the discussion.

 

[Jeff7]

And if you feel so inclined to advance science, then donate that money you saved on electricity to the cause. I can guarantee you the funds you send to cause allowing them to share time on a real supercomputer will generate far better useful research results. Maybe you should read the thread in its entirety before making an attack on me didn't contribute anything to the discussion.

To my knowledge, supercomputers also need electricity.
And they need an expensive support staff to run, maintain, and upgrade. Us users have already absorbed the cost of running, maintaining, and upgrading the PC's, and for the most part, the support.
Wish I had one of those Kill-A-Watt things. My non-technical test - my UPS monitoring software - reports a 1% increase in load with or without Folding@Home running. The biggest jump it gives is from my monitor - 29% vs 46%.

The most surprising numbers I saw were that rechargable items (e.g., razor, toothbrush, dustbuster, etc. . .) cost me next to nothing despite the constant trickle charge -- which makes sense in retrospect seeing how it's such a low voltage; and my mini-stereo costs me a fair amount event when turned "off" (a buck or two a month). OTOH, it only costs me $0.50 a month to leave my amp turned on 24/7 so I just leave it on now and pay for the convenience of having one less thing to switch on.

Some of that stuff does annoy me - everything is in "standby mode" now. Even my speakers for my PC - Logitech Z-640's - seem to draw power, even when switched off. The subwoofer makes a very quiet hum, so some power is being used. My USB scanner has no power switch. The green LED on it is always on; I don't know that any of the other circuitry is on though. Wall warts are also power drainers - they're always warm, even when they're not doing anything.

 

[Anonemous]

Originally posted by: cy7878

Originally posted by: Steve Guilliot
Got a real problem here and need help.

Ok, I've got a via eden @1Ghz running Win2k3 so that I can display a picture of a bowl of nuts to my squirrel running in a wheel connected to a generator supplying power to my home. How much power would I need to supplement this setup? If I upgrade my power supply to a TP911, can my setup handle the extra load of adding a clapper for my bed-ridden grandma? How much would this cost per month, and should I disengage the squirrel wheel's clutch at night to save the tree in my backyard?

Plz help.

only if you crap into a bowl, bury it under a tree, harvest the leaves, dry them and light a fire to heat up some water to make steam. Have the steam it a turbine hooked up to the wheel turned by the over-worked little squirrel. Now assuming you planted your own food, you may come out on top.

naw you need to feed it candy and use that hyperactivity to power a drill to bore a hole into hell.. and unleash demons to run that wheel ....