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Thread ID: 79585 2007-05-25 04:17:00 PC’s actual power consumption mejobloggs (264) Press F1
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552936 2007-05-25 04:17:00 www.behardware.com

Very interesting I though. Basically shows that 600watt+ psu's are pointless, and that most people could get by on 250watts
mejobloggs (264)
552937 2007-05-25 04:29:00 Dell sure can - my Dell has a 250 watt PSU. pcuser42 (130)
552938 2007-05-25 04:38:00 The PSU should be sized on the steady current drain. Disk drives need extra current to start them spinning, but that's a transient load, and should normally not bother the supply to the extent of shutting it down.

Some users do need to provide for future expansion of a system, but they are a small, if very vocal, minority.

Some like saying "Mine is faster, has more memory, has a bigger power supply, than yours." I suppose that's more generally socially acceptable than bringing out a ruler to compare bodily parts.
Graham L (2)
552939 2007-05-25 04:40:00 Aw...ya spoiled it for me Graham..rats

I can heat a small apartment building from my 1Tb server in my closet and then there's the two desktops I packed with just a few 250gig hdds each...and...well..I figger I need all that wattage.

I can actually dim the lights in the neighborhood when I want to see a dvd...good think I am on a set rate for electricity.

Unghh! More POWER!
SurferJoe46 (51)
552940 2007-05-25 05:40:00 Read it properly and a high end system required 600 odd. Howwever, the main reason for getting more than a 250w or 300w PSU is sufficient amps on the +12v.

Which is important.
pctek (84)
552941 2007-05-25 05:40:00 I think those tests where done at max load.

And come on, that high end system was insane! Hardly anyone is going to have that
mejobloggs (264)
552942 2007-05-25 05:55:00 Read it properly and a high end system required 600 odd. Howwever, the main reason for getting more than a 250w or 300w PSU is sufficient amps on the +12v.

Which is important. Of course, "sufficient amps" is required on all of the rails. You get a supply with the correct rating. More is unnecessary. It does require a careful reading of the specifications ... the mix of 5V and 3.3V can be very important, because there is often a limit on the total power from the two rails.

A sensibly designed supply will handle the brief surge on the 12V supply while disks start without being overloaded.
Graham L (2)
552943 2007-05-25 05:59:00 Hmm, most of this conversation seems to go *wheee* over my head mejobloggs (264)
552944 2007-05-25 07:02:00 And come on, that high end system was insane! Hardly anyone is going to have that

But those people are the sort that buy these PSUs in the first place .

. silentpcreview . com/article28-page2 . html" target="_blank">www . silentpcreview . com
HIGH 12V LINE RELIANCE

The high reliance of current systems on the 12V is dramatic compared to even just a couple of years ago, and the evolution of the ATX12V spec reflects this change . Almost any system assembled from current components will draw the vast majority of current from 12V, in some cases, as much as 90% at load .

We recently studied the power distribution in half a dozen systems of varied configuration to confirm the high 12V reliance first hand and reported our finding in the article, Power Distribution within Six PCs . In all the systems the current draw on the 5V and 3 . 3V lines was a maximum of just 5A!
pctek (84)
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