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Power consumption of computers?

It is pretty much computable. A 300W PS consumes at most .3KWhr of electricy per hour or 7.2KWhr per day. Look at your power to see how much you pay per KWhr, Total $ of the bill divided by number of KWhr. Do some multiplication to get the cost of running your system. You will need to figure in the monitor also, call it 200W (should be high) or 4.8KWhr per day. Add them both to get the total cost.
 
I was wondering if the PSU will run at it's rated wattage all the time?

Example...if I had a 400Watt PSU, would it be running 400Watts all the time? Or would it be running at the point where enough power is need by the pc?

So, say I have a pc running on a 400watt psu, but the pc only needs 200watts to run...how much power is really being drawn, 200 or 400?
 
"Example...if I had a 400Watt PSU, would it be running 400Watts all the time? Or would it be running at the point where enough power is need by the pc?"

The latter, thank god. In fact, my SmartUPS has a "power usage" meter that goes up when I run a CPU-intensive program!
 
The power supply only "supplies" what the system calls for so it's not doing "full bore" all the time. I'd be interested in an actual monthly figure for average PC use costs.
 
Here is my estimate, based on my electric bills (in Maryland):

Running a 400Watt average total usage machine 24/7 runs up ~$16.98 monthly (my rate includes all taxes and surcharges). I have 3 computers, 2 with monitors and other peripherals. I'd roughly estimate the average usage at 80 watts (server/network equipment) + 160 watts (family comp/monitor/etc) + 240 watts (my workstation/monitor/etc). This places these computers within the $20-25/month area.

Keep in mind however, my wattage estimates are rough and depend greatly on how frequently and intensively the computers are used. The monitors shut off unattended, which makes a big difference. My cost could be $50/month if the CPU's worked constantly (hmm, Prime95) and the monitors remained on.

Nonetheless, I'm estimating on average my PC's account for 10-15% of the bill! :Q
 
My heavily configured Athlon system uses 130W and my 17" monitor uses 70W. That is about 200W total.
 
it's OK just turn down your heating a little bit when you have your PC on, your bills will be almost the same... and you'll be just as warm
 
The funny thing is, my computers are already downstairs where it's too cold. Either my heating system sucks, or my computers don't waste enough power!

PS: Is it really true that a 150-watt computer produces exactly as much heat as a 150-watt room heater?
 


<< PS: Is it really true that a 150-watt computer produces exactly as much heat as a 150-watt room heater? >>



No it isn't. If that were the case, you'd have a heater and not a computer!!!

All appliances generate heat as a by product. An electric heater is 100% efficient. All energy used produces heat which goes into the conditioned space. As long as the wiring is sufficient, there is little waste. Electric heaters are costly to operate not because they're inefficient but because gas and oil are cheaper. Of course, in some areas this is no longer the case! :|

Cheers!
 
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