Corsair Power Supply Survey - Page 2

GWillakers · 12-21-2008, 03:06 PM

Since this could be a wish list....

Hmmm how about a power supply that has a digital readout in the back which would tell us how much power we are drawing from the outlet?

zsaz1029 · 12-21-2008, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GWillakers

Since this could be a wish list....

Hmmm how about a power supply that has a digital readout in the back which would tell us how much power we are drawing from the outlet?

I've always thought something like that would be cool. I'd love to see the real difference between power consumption while idle, web browsing, gaming, folding, etc.

**ctal** · 12-21-2008, 04:09 PM

Although (as I'm sure you both realize, but perhaps some others do not), an indication of how much ac power is being drawn would tell us very little about how much of the power supply's output capacity/wattage rating is being used.

-- Al

PeterT · 12-21-2008, 04:25 PM

I completed it as well.

If what GWillakers was asking for was a real time read out of the wattage being drawn from the outlet, then I would also like that.

Al,
Not sure if I understand the distinction you made.

**ctal** · 12-21-2008, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Al,
Not sure if I understand the distinction you made.

The "headline" wattage number for a computer power supply is how much power it can output to the rest of the system. That differs considerably from how much power is drawn from the ac outlet in the wall. The ratio of the two numbers (output power as the numerator) is the supply's "efficiency." The difference between the two numbers represents how much power is consumed by the supply itself.

That may be a little bit oversimplified, because I'm ignoring what is called "power factor," which comes into play if the voltage and current drawn from the ac line are not completely in phase. That occurs to some degree if the current is being drawn into a load with significant inductance, which may be the case with a power supply.

What is of greatest interest to most users is not how much ac power is drawn from the wall (the main effect of which is on one's electric bill). What is normally of greatest interest is how much of the power supply's output capacity is being drawn by the rest of the computer system, which will vary considerably with cpu utilization, graphics card demands, etc., as Zsaz alluded to.

Regards,
-- Al

ChAsM · 12-21-2008, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctal

...

What is of greatest interest to most users is not how much ac power is drawn from the wall (the main effect of which is on one's electric bill). What is normally of greatest interest is how much of the power supply's output capacity is being drawn by the rest of the computer system, which will vary considerably with cpu utilization, graphics card demands, etc., as Zsaz alluded to.

Regards,
-- Al

Why not include an LCD readout with everything, for S & G's?? Then those green-hearts...er, I mean conservative "folk" can be mindful of their power consumption.

Ford Freak · 12-21-2008, 07:11 PM

Survey is complete. I know that the number of watts going in is different that what is coming out. The number of AC watts being used would be nice to know. That is the part that makes you meter spin faster.

PeterT · 12-21-2008, 09:42 PM

Al,
Thanks for the explanation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford Freak

...The number of AC watts being used would be nice to know that. That is the part that makes you meter spin faster.

This is what I thought would be nice to know.

12-21-2008, 03:06 PM	#16
GWillakers Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 214	Re: Corsair Power Supply Survey Since this could be a wish list.... Hmmm how about a power supply that has a digital readout in the back which would tell us how much power we are drawing from the outlet? __________________ SuperMicro P4DC6+ Dual Pentium XEON 1.7GHz {I was thinking bandwidth, PCI-X, SCSI etc, Turned out to be louder than my electric razor. Taught me to pay attention to heat and noise. Intel D875PBZ-204 - P4/2.53GHz/1536K/533Mhz Rock solid system - the type where Intel makes you a believer - Vista Home Premium SP2 (32-bit) Compaq Presario SR5710FReplacement Toy computer when I dropped a brick of two hard drives on the old ASUS A8N VM/CSM motherboard - Replaced the 200W power supply with a 430W Antec - Added BFG GeForce 8400GS graphics card - Added a cage and 2nd Hard drive Intel D975XBX-305 E6600 SL9S8 2.4GHz/4MBL2/1067FSB/default Voltage Antec P180 case/Antec Phantom 500 PSU/AC cooler 7 Pro. Crucial DDR2 667 ECC 2x512MB SPD 5-5-5-15 / 2x WD 500GB / 1TB Seagate / 1 TB WD /PNY GeForce 7600 GS / Vista Ultimate SP1 (64-bit) installed
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12-21-2008, 04:09 PM	#18
ctal Eschews Obfuscation Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Connecticut, USA Posts: 1,903	Re: Corsair Power Supply Survey Although (as I'm sure you both realize, but perhaps some others do not), an indication of how much ac power is being drawn would tell us very little about how much of the power supply's output capacity/wattage rating is being used. -- Al __________________ "I didn't say I didn't say it. I said that I didn't say that I said it. I want to make that very clear." -- George Romney, in 1968, while campaigning for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
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12-21-2008, 04:25 PM	#19
PeterT CUSL2...GA-EP45-UD3P...? Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Sunny Florida, USA Posts: 2,688	Re: Corsair Power Supply Survey I completed it as well. If what GWillakers was asking for was a real time read out of the wattage being drawn from the outlet, then I would also like that. Al, Not sure if I understand the distinction you made. __________________ Proud Member: Team-CUSL2 - 'The Old School Crew' Asus Eee PC 1000HE, 1x2GB Corsair DDR2 667 GA-EP45-UD3P, Q9550, 4x2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800, EVGA 9800GTX+ 512MB GA-EP45-DS3L, E7200, 4x2GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 800, Asus EAH4850 TOP 512MB GA-EP45-UD3P, E6600, 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1066, EVGA 8800GTS 512MB P5B-D in a box at the moment P4P800-D, P4 2.4C, 4x512MB Mushkin DDR 400, ATI AIW X800XT 256MB TUSL2C, P3-S 1.4, 2x256MB Corsair XMS150, ATI 9800PRO 128MB, TB Santa Cruz CUSL2, P3 1.0, 1x256MB & 2x128MB Corsair PC133, Asus V7700D 32MB, SB Live! * Please join ABXZone and participate *
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12-21-2008, 07:11 PM	#22
Ford Freak warranty voider Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Valdosta, GA Posts: 3,880	Re: Corsair Power Supply Survey Survey is complete. I know that the number of watts going in is different that what is coming out. The number of AC watts being used would be nice to know. That is the part that makes you meter spin faster. __________________ Last edited by Ford Freak; 12-22-2008 at 03:51 AM..
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