Switch the PSU to a lower one?

[P0rny]

Hi!
I got a bitcoin miner that pulls about 450w, it came with a 1000w Seasonic pre installed.

I was wondering if I switch the PSU to a 650w that I already have, will my electricity bill go lower?

(As a related question: I've always wondered if PSUs pull "only what they need" or they pull more than what they need?)

Thanks!
P

 

[_Rick_]

This only makes sense if you can sell the Seasonic for good money - significantly more than the outlay for a new PSU.
At 40% use, the Seasonic should be pretty efficient, no less so than a good 650W PSU.

 

[P0rny]

This only makes sense if you can sell the Seasonic for good money - significantly more than the outlay for a new PSU.
At 40% use, the Seasonic should be pretty efficient, no less so than a good 650W PSU.

Thanks for replying!

I am not looking to sell the PSU, just looking to reduce my electric bill... will that help by much or just leave it in as the bill will be around the same?

 

[Deders]

Pretty much the same, it only draws as much as it needs, the 1000W figure is the maximum it can handle.

 

[lehtv]

The 1000W Seasonic is presumably rated 80Plus Gold for efficiency. The only way you'd noticeably improve efficiency is with a Platinum rated unit, but even so the difference would be so small that it wouldn't be anywhere near worth the price of a new unit.

 

[TemjinGold]

You guys should probably pay attention to the part where the OP says he already owns the 650w.

 

[lehtv]

You guys should probably pay attention to the part where the OP says he already owns the 650w.

I did, and it doesn't say how efficient it is. Presumably it is not Platinum. Therefore it's not worth the price a new Platinum unit just to get a slight bump in efficiency. As for the other posters, they didn't seem to miss that bit either

 

[coffeejunkee]

I thought mining bitcoins with gpu's is completely unprofitable nowadays?

Anyway, you seem to have a voltcraft or similar so switch psu's and test yourself. Or at least tell us which specific 650W model you have. Also take into account you can sell the Seasonic for good money and how long it will take for the 650W unit (assuming it's less efficient) to lose that money again.

 

[Deders]

Even if it's gold, the difference is going to be pennies (or cents)

 

[PhIlLy ChEeSe]

Ditto!
Assuming the Bit coin miner is a prebuilt, they put a 1000Watt in there for a reason. Maybe Chinese checkers is you game...............Snake oil seems to be on the decline!

 

[Deders]

I've taken that into account, we still need to know what model it is exactly.

 

[ElFenix]

given that 1000 watt seasonics are usually really good supplies;

given that we have no idea what this 650 is, could be 80 plus, could be bronze, could be gold, probably not platinum because why would you leave a $100 power supply sitting around?;

therefore, it's probably not worth the half an hour it'd take to remove the old one, scrape your knuckles, and put in the 650.

 

[Atreidin]

My guess is that it won't be worth bothering with. However if you have efficiency curves for both power supplies you can check them to predict which one would give better results. Or even better, you could use a Killawatt and compare both.