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questions about power usage

C

cannondale06

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
16,180
I was running the Crysis GPU benchmark today and noticed that my ups software reported 142-151 watts(without monitor) during the loops. is this really an accurate indicator of how much power my system is using? also does this means its pulling 145-156 watts at the wall or from the actuall psu?

the reason I ask this is because I only have the stock 300watt psu with 19amps on the 12V and I was thinking about a slight video card upgrade. I know that my psu is weak but even with a 9600gt my whole system wouldnt pull over 185-190 watts under full load. so would this actually be risky?
 
It's how much power it's drawing at the wall. You have to subtract PSU efficiency, which is usually in the range 80-85% on 120V (PSU efficiency is usually higher on 240V).

So let's say best case scenario 85% efficiency, that means you multiply the wattage measured by the UPS with .85, which gives about 120-127W drawn from the PSU. Not an accurate figure, but a pointer.
 
thanks. if thats true then I dont see how adding a 9600gt would be much of problem then since I wouldnt be using much more than half the watts of my psu. as for as amps go does it mean that 19amps on the 12V can provide 228 watts? if so I dont think I would even be risking it as for as amps go either.
 
no other advice? I may just get an ATI 4670 since it seems to use only about 15 watts more than the 8600gt that I currently have. I have a crt so I dont mind playing at 1024x768 or 1280x960 so the 4670 should be an okay card until I buy or build a new comp in about 6 months. I can get the 9600gt for less money but if it requires a new psu than its not worth it.
 
A 4870 would definitely use a lot more than 15W over what your current video card pulls. I wouldn't risk running one on a cheapo 300W PSU that came with a case. The 9600GT should work, but don't expect any miracles with that PSU.

Also, just because the power supply's label says it can supply 19A on the 12v rail, doesn't mean it actually can. Most cheap PSUs are severely overrated and aren't actually capable of outputting anywhere near what they're rated for. Theoretically your unit should be able to handle 228W of load on the 12v line, but in reality I highly doubt it would be able to sustain anywhere near that load.
 
also going over the 50% load on the psu will degrade the efficiency and on a chepo psu i bet it can't pull that full load.

 
Zero82z said:
A 4870 would definitely use a lot more than 15W over what your current video card pulls. I wouldn't risk running one on a cheapo 300W PSU that came with a case. The 9600GT should work, but don't expect any miracles with that PSU.

Also, just because the power supply's label says it can supply 19A on the 12v rail, doesn't mean it actually can. Most cheap PSUs are severely overrated and aren't actually capable of outputting anywhere near what they're rated for. Theoretically your unit should be able to handle 228W of load on the 12v line, but in reality I highly doubt it would be able to sustain anywhere near that load.
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sorry I meant 4670 not 4870. the 4870 would melt my psu if it booted at all. lol
 
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