[Warm] Kill A Watt P4400 = $17.29 FS

That's actually a really decent price.

These usually go for $21 or more on NewEgg, PLUS shipping.
I got mine on sale from NewEgg for $19 shipped and haven't seen it that cheap again.
 
Why isn't there a $10 chinese clone of the kill-a-watt yet?
They have been $20 for half a decade now.
 
Thanks for the deal, I wanted one of these but I only found them for $40 or so at the B&M hardware stores, not willing to drop that much on them. Until now.

So I ordered one and also a couple toothpaste tube rollers.
 
I bought mine to try and isolate the "power hogs" in my home, as my monthly electric bill was WAY out of control.

Since then, I still use it quite frequently... especially on newly built PC's, just to document the power consumption at idle and under heavy load.

It's a geek toy that just never gets old! :D
 
I tried to order one, but their shitty website returned a timeout error after submitting my order. I tried to send it through again and it said I can only use the coupon once. My order history shows nothing, so I'm guessing the first one didn't go through. Without the coupon Newegg is only $2 more, and I would rather go with them.
 
Strange, I had no problems with the website, I do understand the frustrations when a website just times out when you are trying to order something though. Has this deal reached the 500 order limit?
 
I registered with a different email address and was able to use the code again. Was able to get my order through without issue this time. I've wanted one for a little bit, but just couldn't pull the trigger above the $20 price point.
 
Well, just damn. :p I was so busy checking out the link, I got engrossed in picking one up and forgot to come back to the thread to get the code. Emailed and added it in :cool:

Yeah, great geek toy. My RV is now all electric and I'm curious to know what the heating units are pulling along with the washer/dryer and the full sized fridge to I can estimate what power will cost me.

delvryboy said:
Gotta use the coupon code. ;)
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It's cool the codes work once per visit. I also picked up an insulated lunch bag for 1.99 shipped.
 
always wanted one of these.....not a super hot deal ($20.00 shipped at newegg), but WTH. It's time for me to find out what my server uses and how much I can save by under-clocking it.
 
wjogert said:
ISince then, I still use it quite frequently... especially on newly built PC's, just to document the power consumption at idle and under heavy load.
Click to expand...

You know, one thing that is a real eye-opener... is when you build up a screamin' gaming rig and toss in a nice 850W PSU...

only to find out that it draws less than 500W under intense stress testing... :p
 
Haha yea... I've been interested in seeing how much power my stuff is really using... my UPS's have little bars that show 20-40-60-80-100% but that's not very accurate... I notice it jumps when you put the system under load but not accurate.

Not that the Kill-a-Watt is very accurate either, better then nothing and I've been waiting to pick one up for a while.
 
wjogert said:
You know, one thing that is a real eye-opener... is when you build up a screamin' gaming rig and toss in a nice 850W PSU...

only to find out that it draws less than 500W under intense stress testing... :p
Click to expand...

Which means it's drawing less than 450w from the PSU (assuming 90% efficiency). This is why I always jump on the anti-giant PSU bandwagon. I suspect when I test my system, it'll average well under 300w when gaming....I suspect the systems I had back when everyone told me I needed a 500W PSU drew less than 200W (5 years ago). Lots of people, including a ton of reviewers seem to buy into marketing hype of PSU manufacturers. We've basically gone from over buy, because the nonname brands are overstating their specs, to overbuy quality PSUs that accurately state specs.

I just look for something that's decent quality efficient and quiet. and, as I recall, most PSUs are not efficient if they're using less than 20% - 30% of their max and don't reach peak efficiency until something like 50%-60%.

So the plus side for me is I can find out what the server actually uses and possibly find a small, quiet PSU to replace the 500w OCZ that I tossed in it.....oh wait, I already replaced it....damn. Crap...now I'm just going to find out I bought the wrong PSU to replace the other wrong PSU ;)
 
While it is certainly true that many gaming systems - particularly those with single video cards - draw less power than many people think they do, there is also more to the equation than pure wattage drawn from the wall.

Check out this video I made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbalRIA-VP8

That is an i7 920 system with three GTX275 powered by a BFG 800W PSU, a good unit which [H] liked a lot in their review. Notice during the dragon test power draw from the wall spikes to 760W, which if the calculation above is correct, means the PSU is actually only powering around 600W (I'm not entirely sure that method of calculation is legit, but whatever...I'll let a PSU expert handle that topic).

In any case, the PSU fails the test. I later upgraded to an enermax 1050W unit and have experienced no stability issues whatsoever.

Again, I'm not saying every gaming system needs a monster PSU, I suppose what I'm saying is, leave yourself some headroom. After all, most PSUs hit their peak efficiency at around 50-60% load, as mentioned above.
 
I'm certainly not against headroom. And with 3 Video cards, you clearly need a lot of power (though I'm a bit surprised that an 800W PSU couldn't handle it...makes me wonder if it was defective), my point is that there are a lot of people on enthusiast sites that tell others they need your PSU to run a machine that's a single card solution. I've even seen people claim you need a good 500W PSU for a non-gaming rig, when a decent 300w PSU would more than suffice.

With that said, killawatt isn't fast enough to tell you exactly what you're using...it's really to measure energy usage. WE'd need far better equipment to get the exact number when the machine died...and perhaps a measurement on each rail, since it's possible you had enough on 12v but ran out of 5v (just an example)....just speculating...i still like the idea that it was defective.
 
Anyone able to have any shockers that made them change habits enough to pay for these things?
It's just Fridge, Oven, Microwave, A/C, TV, Xbox, all that kind of stuff: you run it either constantly or when you're using it.

So in reality, what can you save money on my using this?
 
TechieSooner said:
So in reality, what can you save money on my using this?
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I've used it mostly with my PCs. The differences when over/under clocking are significant enough to think about. I'm a 24/7 folder, so it helps me make intelligent choices about when to fold, how far to overclock when folding, and when to turn the PC off, for example.

Other than that, I can't say I've found any concrete usage for it.
 
TechieSooner said:
Anyone able to have any shockers that made them change habits enough to pay for these things?
It's just Fridge, Oven, Microwave, A/C, TV, Xbox, all that kind of stuff: you run it either constantly or when you're using it.

So in reality, what can you save money on my using this?
Click to expand...

I plan on using it for computer builds. I usually go a little over needs on the psu selections for customer builds but with this I can get a gauge for what I really need catered to the specific build. Like was said before, psu's reach their peak efficiency when run at certain load so if I overkill the psu selection then I am wasting money for the customer and not using the psu at its peak efficiency. Also, I will know if I am overloading a build after the fact so I am not giving a customer something where the psu will pop smoke after 6 months. That is what I plan on using it for. That and just seeing what draws power around the house. :cool:
 
I only use laptops anymore, which sip power compared to desktops to start with...
Like I was saying, I don't see much benefit from one. It'd just tell me the obvious. Putting a computer to sleep saves electricity. REALLY?
 
Got mine, and I can tell you it didn't make me think people are going to overkill on psus.

Fired up Furmark and Prime95, 785 watts! I don't expect much lower in games.

I have a pretty nice comp, but if you asked me to guess I'd have underestimated the power usage. It's an OC'd i7 920 @3.8Hz rig with 2 GTX 280's, 6 GB ram, one mechanical & one SSD drive. Powered by a Corsair 850W TX.
 
texuspete00 said:
Got mine, and I can tell you it didn't make me think people are going to overkill on psus.

Fired up Furmark and Prime95, 785 watts! I don't expect much lower in games.

I have a pretty nice comp, but if you asked me to guess I'd have underestimated the power usage. It's an OC'd i7 920 @3.8Hz rig with 2 GTX 280's, 6 GB ram, one mechanical & one SSD drive. Powered by a Corsair 850W TX.
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Did you honestly think that setup was only pulling like 500 watts?
 
Well I got mine in today guys. I am running 3 LCD monitors, two 20'' squares and one 22'' wide in landscape for a future eyefinity setup. I have two rigs, one is an i7 930 with a 620watt psu, the other is a core2duo w/ 520watt psu. Both overclocked. Oh and an INTEL ATOM single core as a router, cable modems, switches, etc. I am drawing about 500 watts when all monitors are on and both rigs running fairly idle. Run prime on the i7 rig and it jumps by 130 watts... which is the TDP of the i7 am I right?

Pretty interesting. If I power off my i7 gaming rig then I only idle at 170 watts or so w/ the remaining monitors on.
 
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