Frank Steinmetzger wrote: > On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 06:28:45PM -0500, Dale wrote: > >> Alan Grimes wrote: >>> The PSU is an Antec EarthWatts 750. >>> >>> Biggest hoggs outside the motherboard are the, um, er, well [nvidia 980 >>> gpu] and an aging Western Digital Velociraptor boot drive. There is also >>> a 3TB drive for all my p***, er kerbals ( Kerbal Space Program ) . >> It just means your P/S is running at half power most of the time. > Which may be a good idea, since then it’d be running at optimum efficiency.
Yep. I would not buy a P/S that didn't have at least 30 or 40% of headroom. If nothing else, as the P/S ages, it wouldn't be so stressed on those older components. Also, I would only do that if I know I won't ever add to that rig. I usually aim for half load or even a little less. I almost always end up adding something or upgrading something before I retire a system. > >> On my current P/S, it is a 650 watt unit. According to my UPS, my entire >> computer system pulls about 150 watts idle and about 160 to 170 when >> compiling the crap out of something like GCC, Libreoffice etc. Now that >> includes my monitor, router, modem and speakers. If I were to guess, the >> puter itself only pulls around 100 to 120 watts. > Getting OT here: > Didn’t you say (waay back) that you run AMD? Because in that case those > numbers don’t add up (they also don’t for a medium-range intel). 120 W @ > idle (which in itself is a lot) and then only 30-ish more for full CPU load? > I got those numbers from the UPS. Just for giggles, I disconnected my A/C, plugged the UPS into that plug and measured them with a clamp on meter at the breaker box. Doing the math, I got about the same numbers as the UPS gives me. The difference might run a night light, maybe. The most I have ever seen this system pull is about 200 watts. I think I was printing and doing some updates at the same time. I remember thinking about that being the biggest load I ever seen. Oh, my A/C is on a dedicated circuit. Nothing else is on that line. The plug the UPS usually plugs into only has my TV and some lights on it. From the UPS and confirmed by a clamp on meter just in the past few minutes. Idle: 146 watts Load, well into a gcc compile with all four cores running at close to 100% and drive activity: 186 watts Keep in mind, my A/C is off and it's warming up here. If I listen close, I can tell the fans are spinning a bit faster. Of course, it's hard to hear those huge fans. That HAF-932 is quiet but still moves a lot of air. >> My power supply has some overkill issues >> for sure. I could likely easily use a 300 watt unit but would likely >> replace with a 400 watt since they are more available. Technically, I >> could use a 200 watt if the power supply was a well built model. > If only such models were actually available. The lowest value you can get in > a reasonable-quality build is 300 W, which is far too much for silent, small > home PCs for simple usess like office or media centre. Such mini systems > barely reach 20 W. Even at full load they won’t get past 60 or 70 W. This is > just at the start of the 80+ efficiency range wich begins at 20%. > That was my point. Most P/Ss that are that size or smaller than that are either old or junky made. Basically, something I would not buy or recommend. Finding a quality P/S that is 350 or less would be difficult. I don't recall seeing any in a long while, not that I have actually tried to find one tho. Keep in mind, I didn't build this system to be green. When I first built this thing, I figured it would pull at least double what it actually does if not much more. My old rig pulled about 400 watts I think and it is nothing compared to the speed this rig has. While having more processing power, it sure doesn't use more energy. Dale :-) :-)
