How can you find out how many Watts your PCs power supply uses?

Question

Let's say in an hour, how many watts have been used...

Answer 1

Hi there:
I looked at the answers above, and only one, CJMT had any inkling of the correct answer - The only way to know is to MEASURE IT!
You can calculate thousands of calculations all day, but until you actually measure YOUR own computer, you are just guessing!

New power supplies now come WITH and actual Wattage power meter, which is on the back or mounted on a front panel with a plug in cable. Some Motherboards, have a power meter built in as well, and, considering these " new and improved" features, it clearly shows that you are among thousands of computer users who are interested in this factor...

In the " old " days, you would just get a power " Clamp on " meter of some sort, and clamp over ONE wire of the AC power cord ( this is a bit difficult with normal computer power cords, so you plug in an extension which has the the wires separated, and clamp the meter over ONE of the wires.)

Now you can purchase easy-to-use plug in-the-wall meters that have digital readouts. Simple.

YOU MUST actually measure your wattage - for example, if you have an 800 WATT power supply, this means nothing, except that the power supply " CAN " supply 800 Watts if it " has to " -- you could actually only be using 289 Watts of the available 800.

In order to really know what your " computer " is costing in terms of power, you should plug in the monitor, the CPU box, the speakers, the printer, the modems, power adapters etc. etc. TO A POWER BAR, and then measure the actual total to the wall plug.

Listed below are links on the web to typical measuring tools that are commonly available. You can check out stores and electronics and computer outlets in your area, once you know what you are looking for. If you know an electronics guy or a hydro guy, he could just let you use a clamp meter in a few seconds to get a reading, and save yourself a few bucks - but the $30 home units would come in handy to measure anything in the whole house -- well worth it !


Power Supplies with WATT METERS
http://www.highpowersupply.com/product-ps-hpc480102df.html
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817171001

Kill a Watt Meter

http://www.gooddeals.com/shopexd.asp_Q_id_E_119

Briggs and Stratton Meter

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/NTEprodprint?productId=200326720&prnbr=1704700&storeId=6970&catalogId=4006970&langId=-1

SAFE HOME 3 products
http://www.safehomeproducts.com/shp2/shpsearch.asp?source=adwords&kw=wattage+meter

Professional Watt meters
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/amprobe/clampmeters/digitalac.htm
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/fluke/currentclamps/330series.htm
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/hioki/clampmeters/3280.htm

There are hundreds of other models and manufacturers available, and since millions of people are interested in actually knowing where the high cost of power is being used in their homes, I expect to see hundreds of more products available
at lower and lower prices as manufacturing gears up.

Hope this helps

robin

Answer 2

If you want to know exactly the power rquirements of your pc you can purchase an adapter that plugs into your mains socket and then your pc plugs into the adapter. It then gives a display of the power consumption. Not sure where you live but in the uk one such company that sells them is Maplins

Answer 3

This should be able to help you:

Power Supply Wattage Calculator
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

If you are trying to determine how much wattage your power supply need to have in order to adequately supply your computer with enough juice, this site will help you to calculate the wattage your system needs.

Power Wattage Calculator For INTEL Systems
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL
Power Wattage Calculator For AMD Systems
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=AMD

For more answers to your computer questions, tips or tweaks, come on down to:
My Computer Headaches Forums
http://s11.invisionfree.com/SpunkyMcSpank/index.php?act=idx
My Computer Headaches Yahoogroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mycomputerheadaches/