How much power does a typical PC consume?

[RU482]

Originally posted by: draggoon01

what are your system specs? cpu, ram, hdd, video card, etc...

Dell Dimension 8300 + Dell 17in Monitor (pretty old)

P4 3.0Ghz 800Mhz FSB w/HT enabled (and utilized under full load)
512MB memory
2x 60GB drives
DVD drive
CD-RW drive
GF4 MX400 video
onboard sound and LAN

Don't know much about the brands inside (RAM, HD, ect), never had time to crack it open

 

[brigden]

Thanks guys, especially Redly 1.

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: redly1

Originally posted by: draggoon01

what are your system specs? cpu, ram, hdd, video card, etc...

Dell Dimension 8300 + Dell 17in Monitor (pretty old)

P4 3.0Ghz 800Mhz FSB w/HT enabled (and utilized under full load)
512MB memory
2x 60GB drives
DVD drive
CD-RW drive
GF4 MX400 video
onboard sound and LAN

Don't know much about the brands inside (RAM, HD, ect), never had time to crack it open

thanks for info. other people i've seen posted 200 watt draw for just system, so you have efficient system. (although they have more intense video card, tv tuner, sound card; but you do have a high end intel cpu)

also i think another person using ups to measure showed only 10 watt difference between idle and load whereas your system doubled. interesting. anyone else able to measure their comps?

 

[alkemyst]

I don't have the link handy but I think the EPA or one of the .gov sites has power consumptions....

in general even a loaded machine is not going to be the killer on your bill with all the power-saving stuff being used.

It's usually A/C, cooking and laundry that make up the top 90% of the bill...

 

[brtspears2]

Originally posted by: orion7144

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I did my research on this, using my own computer and comparing power bills. The month where I turned off computer 2/3rds of the day, I saved $15 over the previous month.

That is hardly a good comparison since the temperature outside dictates the electricity costs more than a PC. So in your research every day of the month the temperature would have to be the same as the last month and not just highs and lows but every min. of the day the temp would have to be the same.

The point is that if you turn off your PC, it saves power. It could be very little or very great. If you idle for 16 hours a day, it's a waste I say

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: brtspears2

Originally posted by: orion7144

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I did my research on this, using my own computer and comparing power bills. The month where I turned off computer 2/3rds of the day, I saved $15 over the previous month.

That is hardly a good comparison since the temperature outside dictates the electricity costs more than a PC. So in your research every day of the month the temperature would have to be the same as the last month and not just highs and lows but every min. of the day the temp would have to be the same.

The point is that if you turn off your PC, it saves power. It could be very little or very great. If you idle for 16 hours a day, it's a waste I say

How is it a waste if you are folding or doing something else worthwhile with your cpu time?

 

[Mark R]

The power consumption depends greatly on the system specs:

E.g. My Celeron 766 with integrated video and 1 HD/CD uses about 45W idle (running win2k) and 50W at full load.
My Ath 1000 with GF2 GTS + 2xHD + 1xoptical uses about 90W idle and about 130W at full load.
My Ath 2500+, with 9700 + 2xHD +2xoptical uses about 150W idle (win2k) and about 200W at full load.

Monitors are not included in the above figures.

It's impossible to give a typical figure because PC specs vary greatly. Use of monitors varies as well - and is very difficult to predict if you use power saving features.

However, it is worth pointing out that if you run an idle task (e.g. Seti@Home or similar project), then with modern PCs you significantly increase the power consumption if the PC would otherwise be idle.

 

[Jetblade]

Don't forget to take into accout all the heat the monitor/pc give. All this extra heat keeps the A/C running a bit long which means more electricity. :frown:

 

[lowtech1]

Power Consumtion of Modern Computers

1. You have to look at how efficient your power supply for conversion from AC to DC current.
2. Motherboard consumption & efficiency, how much heat loss + chipsets consumption, integrated components.
3. Graphic, sound, and sound cards.
4. HDD, CDROM & Floppy drives.
5. Monitor
6. Speakers, mouse & keyboard.

Realistically with regular minimal use for email, web serfing, and the occasionall music listening is very likely below $5.00 per month, mild use with some gaming would be somewhere around $7-8:00 per month, heavy use of about 8 hours of gaming per day would cost roughtly $10-12:00 per month (base on 50W speakers system & 100W CTR monitor). Shutting off you computer, monitor & speakers when not in use would save you roughtly $3:00 per month.

I don't think that you would save much money shutting off your computer when not in use, but it is a good habit to get into, because it will lead to a more conservative life style, such as use less hot/cold water, turn off your car when park, lights off when not in use, don't use the dryer as often during summer months.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
How can a PC only draw 60W? If that was the case, we wouldn't need 400W or 300W PSUs.

You don't. That's not 300w on every voltage though - you only get so many watts to each voltage rail, and the higher total wattage of the PSU, the more you get per rail. Therefore your PSU needs an absurdly high rating compared to power consumed since we tend to very heavily load 12vDC nowadays.

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: Mark R
The power consumption depends greatly on the system specs:

E.g. My Celeron 766 with integrated video and 1 HD/CD uses about 45W idle (running win2k) and 50W at full load.
My Ath 1000 with GF2 GTS + 2xHD + 1xoptical uses about 90W idle and about 130W at full load.
My Ath 2500+, with 9700 + 2xHD +2xoptical uses about 150W idle (win2k) and about 200W at full load.

Monitors are not included in the above figures.

It's impossible to give a typical figure because PC specs vary greatly. Use of monitors varies as well - and is very difficult to predict if you use power saving features.

However, it is worth pointing out that if you run an idle task (e.g. Seti@Home or similar project), then with modern PCs you significantly increase the power consumption if the PC would otherwise be idle.

how were you measuring power consumption?

 

[neonerd]

anybody kno how much i'm consuming...here are my specs:

P4 @ 2.76ghz
Antec 480W PS
18" Dell LCD
ABIT IS7 Mobo

any other info needed lmk

 

[Mark R]

how were you measuring power consumption?

With an AC power meter.

 

[Pepsi90919]

I=E/R. figure it out.

 

[Mark R]

I=E/R

I presume you meant P = VI.

Sadly this is not generalisable to AC power, particularly where the device under test may have a power factor of substantially less than unity (e.g. PC PSUs).

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Mark R

I=E/R

I presume you meant P = VI.

Sadly this is not generalisable to AC power, particularly where the device under test may have a power factor of substantially less than unity (e.g. PC PSUs).

What do you mean?

If you added up all the watts for all your components, that would be correct, wouldn't it?

 

[Mark R]

If you added up all the watts for all your components, that would be correct, wouldn't it?

Yup - but how do you know how much power each component uses? The ratings on the box are usually maximums and are often substantially different to 'idle' or 'normal' operation.

What about devices like the CPU or AGP, which are frequently powered via a voltage regulator which may be of uncertain efficiency?

How efficient is your PSU? The manufacturer may claim 70% at 75% load, but many PCs (particularly enthusiast PCs) run their PSUs at well below 50% load.

What do you mean?

I meant that measuring AC power is a bit more tricky than people may first think. Trying to measure a PC's power consumption by connecting an ammeter (and voltmeter) to the mains input may give a wildly inaccurate answer for technical reasons.

 

[Parrotheader]

Originally posted by: moonshinemadness
My parents electricty bill went up £25 a month since i started leaving 2 systems on 24/7 crunching seti

I had 4 machines (most of them fairly low-power systems) crunching UD 24/7 last summer and kept wondering why our power bill seemed so abnormally high compared to the previous year (considering all other major variables like temp and the temp we keep the thermostat at were roughly the same.) I finally realized it was my PCs (which had the monitor shut off after only 5 minutes of non-use, but the systems themselves were obviously still crunching away at UD) so I switched all but one off and our power bill dropped close to $40 the next month, which was actually hotter than the previous. Obviously that's not very scientific, but if you have enough of them on they can start to add up quickly. My PC in the basement will be doubling as a space heater this winter.

 

[brtspears2]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: brtspears2

Originally posted by: orion7144

Originally posted by: brtspears2
I did my research on this, using my own computer and comparing power bills. The month where I turned off computer 2/3rds of the day, I saved $15 over the previous month.

That is hardly a good comparison since the temperature outside dictates the electricity costs more than a PC. So in your research every day of the month the temperature would have to be the same as the last month and not just highs and lows but every min. of the day the temp would have to be the same.

The point is that if you turn off your PC, it saves power. It could be very little or very great. If you idle for 16 hours a day, it's a waste I say

How is it a waste if you are folding or doing something else worthwhile with your cpu time?

Crappy answer: No true returns on investment of increased power consumtion.

Better answer: Since I don't fold or crunch or seti, it benifits me more to leave it off during the day. I'm just a cheap bastard ok. Leave me alone.

 

[Ornery]

how much does it cost to run a basic computer 24/7 - OS 09/27/2003 2:52 PM

How do I find out how much electricity something uses?

• 150 watts - Desktop Computer & Monitor
  
  15-30 watts - Desktop Computer & Monitor (in sleep mode)

Computer use in particular

• I work for a company that has over 100 computers in it's offices and production areas. One of our MIS people tells me that is is not a good idea to turn our computers off during the night and on weekends because it puts extra stress on them to turn them off and on, that you are shortening the life of a computer and monitor by repeatedly starting it. Do you know if this is actually true? -- Janet Smith, April 2003
  
  Your MIS people are wrong. You're not going to wear out your computers prematurely by cycling them off/on overnight and on weekends.
  Yes, you might wear out a computer by turning it on and off all the time, but doing it once a day is nothing. (By the way, I did technical support at Apple Computer for five years, so I have a background in troubleshooting computer hardware.)
  
  And as you know, all devices eventually wear out after running for a long period of time. Keeping your computer on constantly means it's running three times longer than normal. This extra running time is at least as likely to wear out your computer as turning it off at night. For the monitor, it'll definitely wear out quicker by keeping it on rather than turning it off.
  
  Even if turning a computer off once a day shortened its overall life by a few days, it wouldn't pay to keep it on all the time. Your hundred computers are costing your company several hundred to several thousand dollars a year in energy costs if they're not being turned off at night.
  
  If a computer is used from 8:00 to 5:00 on weekdays, then it's not being used for 16 hours a day during the work week, and 48 hours for the weekend. That's a total of 64 hours a week, or 3328 hours a year. At an estimated 25 watts/hr. in sleep mode, that's 3328 x 25 = 83,200 watts/year, or 83 kilowatts. At $0.10 a kilowatt, that's $8.32/year.
  
  That's for just one computer. For a hundred computers it would be $832/year. If the computers aren't in sleep mode, then at 150 watts/hr. it's more like $4,992/year.
  
  And then there are the hidden costs. Computers generate heat, and your company is paying a pretty penny for air conditioning to remove all the heat generated by computers that should be off when they're not being used. And if the AC doesn't run overnight and on weekends, running the computers in a hot environment will do more to shorten their lives than turning them off once a day.
  
  Bottom line: Turn your computers off at night, and don't worry about it.
  
  Here are some articles with more detailed information on this topic:
  • How Stuff Works: Whether to turn off?
  • Mean Time Between Failure vs. Mean Cycles Between Failure
  • MonitorWorld: How can I maximize the life of my monitor?

 

[dcdomain]

Thanks for the information guys, some of my brothers at the house asked the same question yesterday. Time to forward them the thread.