PSU Why the hell does my computer use up so much power?

Probably should have mentioned it was the whole system , but yes it's the whole system draw, that also means that my previous comment about the 8800 GTS was incorrect, I believe your computer should be using half of what I stated.

 

Thanks for the replies! Seems like that getting a Watt Meter may be an idea, since I'm going to Southampton later today so I may as well grab one while I'm there.

As for the graphics card it's has the G92 processor. On top of the computer I have two Dell 2005FPW but when I did the timings on the meter the monitors were off.

I did consider selling the computer but I love it too much, it's fast and great for gaming so selling is a no no! However some power saving is definately going to be something to work on. EnglishLion, putting the computer to sleep would be a good idea, will do that.

wgy, the PSU was replaced in December 2007 (after a system upgrade) so it's only just over a year old and the bios isn't reporting any fluctuations on the rails, nor are the voltages too high.

I shall be reporting back with a Watt Meter

EDIT: Oh, an upgrading/downgrading is a no no, don't really have the money to do that right now (too many holidays ).

 

Power usage :-s

*buries head in sand*

 

They are great - and my server uses 25W @ idle - sweet.

 

I use standby whenever I'm going to be away from my computer for more than 10 minutes

 

That doesn't sound right at all, unless you're using notebook components.

 

yes, they do become a bit less efficient as far as I know. Capacitors degrading and stuff.

Standby can be very dodgy, my current rig will not standby but the exact same stuff and a different motherboard worked fine.

 

I completely forgot to buy a Watt meter yesterday, anyway Maplins were selling them at £9.99 so I got one and I was quite shocked on the results to be honest.

When the computer is OFF it uses 12.5W, rather shocking because if its left off for 24 hours thats using 4.2p of power for doing nothing. 4.2p. Not much but if your computer is off but connected to the mains, over the course of a year it will cost you about £15.


On idle with the monitors off my computer is using 285W (without monitors). My two monitors together uses 110W. My server uses about 155W.

I've yet to check it out on full load (crysis, ooer) but 285W on idle does seem high. I have tried putting the computer to sleep but it doesn't want to wake up... Stubborn I think.

How much power was it using?

 

That sounds fine my dual p3 with 2 hd's only uses about 70w, my p2 router only uses 35w all depends for all you know his server is a P1.

After getting my wall meter i started turning things off at the mains at night for that very reason, its quite an eye opener when you realise how much is wasted doing nowt. 285w is quite high but its probably a combination of your over clock and sli, do you have speed step enabled?

 

MrWillyWonka,

Would it be enough to add up to a ridiculous amount on your leccy bill though? I'm just wondering because my father in law has also had to foot a rather large bill recently, whereas I only pay £11 a month and am £20 in credit atm. I run a normal amount of electricity (includes a fishpond pump that is on during the day, amongst other things like a dishwasher on a couple of times a week, washer, fridgefreezer, telly on every night, etc). I just wonder which supplier you're with?

 

Our bill was £280 for the last quarter so about £95 a month which is double what it was 2 years ago. I know prices have risen but they haven't doubled. Something is sucking up power and my computer does use rather a lot continously compared to other electricals in the house.

Just played Crysis for a bit and I was using a whopping 680W (including the monitor). Ouch. Speed step, what, where, how? I'm going to try and fix standby and see if I can use some power save options.

 

seems very very high does that

making me paranoid now I have a 4870 ffs..... lol

 

only £95 a month?

i live in a student house with 3 other computer nutters. we top-up the electricity meter by rotation, and it rotates about once a month, each of us tops up £50. so that's £150 per month for us.

that's 3 computers, turned on every waking hour. about 12hours a day.
-q6600 @ 2.8Ghz, 8800GTX (my old one), 3 HDD and 22inch screen
-q9450 @ 3.4Ghz, gtx260, 4 HDD and 24inch +19inch screen
-and my sig computer


really, the only way to cut down power is to buy a single low-idle-power GPU. GPU are the most power hungry thing in a computer.

 

Meters tend to have insane rates on them, much higher than those who pay bills by direct debit etc.

 

Yes but the average household does not have 3 powerful computers running for 12 hours each day. £95 IS on the high side for a 3 bedroom house.

Either way I plan on reducing the electricity usage of my computer, especially since it's my computer that is costing my parents!

 

That sounds kinda funny, I <3 standby

 

speed step same as cool and quiet except for intel, if your overclocking you've probably disabled it but i could help during your low usage periods.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpeedStep

 

There is something seriously wrong with you PC. No way it could draw nearly 700W on load, despite an OC'd quad and SLI graphics cards.

Is your PSU a good one? Maybe it has a very low efficiency or something?

 

Yes it is a good one, Hiper but I can't remember what model. May be worth trying out another PSU but that is going to be so much hassle. Also I don't actually have a spare high end PSU either.

 

Such low efficiency woudn't be possible though, if all that power would be disapearing in the psu it would be on very close to dead.

looking at the power consumption of entire computers in various bittech reviews here are some numbers for comparison (power draw of system measured at wall outlet):

I7 940 oc'd (3,7ghz) + 6GB DDR3 + 2x GTX 280 SLI idle = 240W, load 545W
I7 940 oc'd (3,7ghz) + 6GB DDR3 + 2x GTX 260 SLI idle = 230W, load 470W
I7 940 oc'd (3,7ghz) + 6GB DDR3 + 4870x2 idle = 250W, load 470W

and a oc'd I7 does use lots of power, even more so than the C2Q's.