Power Supply Test Tool

[irenealan]

Hi everyone, is there a tool I can use to test if the components of my PC are pushing to the limit of my power supply... I am worry that I am adding new components to the rag and the PS won't sustain...

Thanks very much for the help!

 

[hjo3]

Mm... not that I know of. But you can get general wattage figures for each component and add them up -- should give you a rough idea. Here's one (kinda out-of-date) PSU calculator:
http://journeysystems.com/power_supply_calculator.php

 

[rise]

check your rails with a DMM, like this

heres aq basic guide though i test it with the power on and the system warmed up.

 

[Zepper]

You can get a close estimate of actual power usage by using a P3 International, model P4400 Kill A Watt meter. See my review of it here: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ in the Power Supply section. you can measure the watts drawn from the wall and multiply that by 0.75 (75% = efficiency factor) to see approx. what is being drawn from the PSU by the system. That's assuming you have an above average efficiency PSU. If you have a low efficiency unit and/or aren't drawing much from it, then use 70%. While if you have a high efficiency PSU and/or are drawing near the top of its range, use 80% for your factor. Or you could just use a +/- 10% fudge factor.

.bh.

 

[irenealan]

Thanks everyone, however, based on Rise and Zepper's suggestion, it seem that this take alot more technical work then I thought...

I though at the very beginning that there could be some tool to tell if my current rag, after loaded up to windows, is utilizing certain amount of power. I was in an idea that if the system has not enough power, then it would not even boot up. But if it boots up to windows, I would like to know if it's already pushing the line of power supply limit.

 

[Zepper]

Sorry, no easy way. You can just add up the power draw of each of your hardware items - that's the easiest, but not particularly accurate.

.bh.