Power supplys & running cost

Krieg

Our ESB bill is getting, well.. a bit ridiculous
At the moment im trying to work out what may be causing our high bill using the esb calculator

Im amazed at how little it costs to run some appliances, but Im wondering about the computer. I know a typical computer doesn't cost a huge amount to run. But what about the higher end?

I have a PS thats 850watts. Does anyone know if that means its always using 850watts or dependent on the number of components its powering?

Thanks in advance

KamiKazi

Krieg wrote: »

dependent on the number of components its powering

.

Krieg

KamiKazi wrote: »

.

wow.. 2 mins, your good

Thanks, Ill try and work it out from here

biologikal

Something like these will give you more accurate figures:

http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/kill_a_watt_electric_usage_monitor_review

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=38343&TabID=1&C=SO&U=strat15&doy=search

Once you understand what and how your energy is being used/wasted, you'll be in a better position to do something to minimise wastage.

Shiny

A good estimate (from looking at reviews) is that your machine wouldn't be
drawing more than 400Watts at load.

So it is most likely running at around 250Watts idle + monitor (~50).

So after using the ESB calculator, if you were running this 24/7 at 300Watts
for a month it would cost €40.(80 for 2 months).

During gaming it might go higher than this but that isn't a 24/7 thing.
(Unless you are running a folding@home program....)

In my case I have the watt meter from maplin and my computer takes
in around 160in idle. its about 250 load. (Quad and 7950GX2)
I can only assume yours is higher than this so that is where i got the
300 out of.

How much was your ESB bill btw ?

TerrorFirmer

it would also depend on your psu. If its a 50 euro dabs value 850w versus a toughpower or similar the draw would be hugely different, crap/cheap psu's are always wildly inefficient.

BadCharlie

Using a meter reader, My 2 main machines use around 200 Watt at idle. One machine draw's 310watt at full load the other around the 375watt.

Have one monitor which burns 100watt and the other which is a LCD 65watt.

Also what i think is a big killer in any house is lighting. If you don't use energy saving blubs you will burn up the units very fast.

papu

yeah , try to put computers to sleep when your not at them for a long time , it boots much faster than shutting down and saves more energy than leaving them on 24/7

TerrorFirmer

Shiny wrote: »

In my case I have the watt meter from maplin and my computer takes
in around 160in idle. its about 250 load. (Quad and 7950GX2)
I can only assume yours is higher than this so that is where i got the
300 out of.

How much was your ESB bill btw ?

Are they accurate though? I have a meter built into my PSU, but it's not remotely accurate. Right now for example it's saying 35w idle (E5200, 4gb ram, X1300Pro). I just ask because 250w load for a GX2 and a Quad is....well, not really possible, the GX2 alone would draw about that under load and also draw close to the 160 by itself idle!

Shiny

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Are they accurate though? I have a meter built into my PSU, but it's not remotely accurate. Right now for example it's saying 35w idle (E5200, 4gb ram, X1300Pro). I just ask because 250w load for a GX2 and a Quad is....well, not really possible, the GX2 alone would draw about that under load and also draw close to the 160 by itself idle!

Yeah I think it is fairly accurate, to 10's of watts if not better.

When I check it at the wall when running at full load it hovers above
310ish. When you take the monitor consumption away from this it
leaves it close to 250.

If you look here, they measure the power consumption from the wall
like me. They get nearly exactly what I am getting although a bit lower.

This is probably due to the AMD processor they use in that review which is
only bit lower than the Q6600.

TerrorFirmer

Sorry - I way over-exaggerated the draw of a 7950GX2. :P

Krieg

Thanks for the replys, All were very helpful

How much was your ESB bill btw ?

€410, It was around 250 less than a year ago.
It did occur to me that the esb price hike is a factor, but I still want to find out whats really pushing the bill.

A good estimate (from looking at reviews) is that your machine wouldn't be
drawing more than 400Watts at load.

So it is most likely running at around 250Watts idle + monitor (~50).

So after using the ESB calculator, if you were running this 24/7 at 300Watts
for a month it would cost €40.(80 for 2 months).

I do use the computer a considerable amount. I did a guesstimate of 350watts average, which may be lower than it actually is. But it was something like €35 for the 2 months. I personally don't mind paying that much, I feel like I get good use out of the computer

Also what i think is a big killer in any house is lighting. If you don't use energy saving blubs you will burn up the units very fast.

Yes!
I only found out after using the esb calc. how much the lights were costing us (€100 for 2 months). But the shower was also a major player (€75 for 2 months)

Something like these will give you more accurate figures:

http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/kill...monitor_review

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...t15&doy=search

Once you understand what and how your energy is being used/wasted, you'll be in a better position to do something to minimise wastage.

Cheers for the links and advice. There is a maplin 5 minutes down the road so ill try and pick one up today.



I have estimated the cost for all the household items and it looks like Lights/shower/immersion are hitting us the most. But I still want to gauge how much this computer is using

Thanks again

TerrorFirmer

Are you a gamer? I assume so with an 850w psu but if you're not, it's amazing what you can build with an eye on low draw. One of the Amd LE cpu's, onboard video, and so on...

Shiny

Sorry - I way over-exaggerated the draw of a 7950GX2

You probably mixed up its power consumption with that of total
system consumption. I used to mix them up together for ages.
It's what makes me wonder why people want 1.5KWatt power supplies.
Even with triple SLI, you wouldn't need over 1K.

I will be going for low power for my next build.
Hopefully by that time Nvidia will have perfected that
Hybrid power graphics thingy.

I don't like my graphics card eating 50watts when all
I am doing is surfing the net.

€410 still seems high for an ESB bill though. I'm not happy if
mine is above €150.

Krieg

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Are you a gamer? I assume so with an 850w psu

Yep, Avid gamer here


Got the meter just there

200 watts idle
250 playing WoW
310 playing Crysis

JJJJNR

Just thought I would add something to this, I have a Siemens Esprimo P5925 with a core to quad and its running off a 83w power supply. Not sure if its up to much on the gaming front but its a good PC.