# how much power does my desktop draw



## theterminator (Sep 2, 2013)

I have a 600 VA Intex UPS & an iBall Cabinet cum PSU which I think is 350 W , don't remember the exact wattage but it cost me Rs. 1000 (Cabinet + PSU).


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Sep 2, 2013)

you can use this sote: eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

At ideal, your PC my be consuming ~70-80 W excluding monitor.


----------



## ashis_lakra (Sep 3, 2013)

From wall


----------



## ankush28 (Sep 3, 2013)

~100 WATT

btw G2020's IGP intel HD 2500 is better then Geforce 210 so no point in using that(Correct me if i am wrong)
So better sell it it will reduce some load/power consumption


----------



## theterminator (Sep 3, 2013)

ankush28 said:


> ~100 WATT
> 
> btw G2020's IGP intel HD 2500 is better then Geforce 210 so no point in using that(Correct me if i am wrong)
> So better sell it it will reduce some load/power consumption



I'll soon upgrade man ..


----------



## topgear (Sep 4, 2013)

well measuring by the components under load the system will draw around ~130W but most of the cheap psus have 50-60% efficiency so the actual power consumption at wall socket will be around ~200-210w.


----------



## bhvm (Nov 27, 2013)

my measurements with clamp meter says that usual desktop PC draw 250 to 350w watts. cheapest budget PC draws 100 to 250 Watta. high end gaming PC with multiple hdd draws 300 to 600w.


----------



## tubelight (Nov 27, 2013)

bhvm said:


> my measurements with clamp meter says that usual desktop PC draw 250 to 350w watts. cheapest budget PC draws 100 to 250 Watta. high end gaming PC with multiple hdd draws 300 to 600w.



How do you calculate the power usage cost from that?


----------



## rijinpk1 (Nov 27, 2013)

bhvm said:


> my measurements with clamp meter says that usual desktop PC draw 250 to 350w watts. cheapest budget PC draws 100 to 250 Watta. high end gaming PC with multiple hdd draws 300 to 600w.



depends on the configuration buddy.


----------



## bhvm (Nov 28, 2013)

tubelight said:


> How do you calculate the power usage cost from that?



you have to know what rates are charged per Watt-hour by government in your area (which they don't tell easily ). then you can multiply and compute .


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Nov 28, 2013)

tubelight said:


> How do you calculate the power usage cost from that?



> The tariff is applied on number of units consumed.
> One unit = 1 kWh = an appliance rated at 1 kW or 1000 W run for an hour.

> Suppose your PC's average power consumption is '*x' W* and your region's electricity tariff is *Rs. 'y' per unit* and you run the PC for* 'z' hour*s daily, then your monthlr charge for running PC will be : *[((x/1000) * z ) * y]* per day.


----------



## tubelight (Nov 28, 2013)

harshilsharma63 said:


> > The tariff is applied on number of units consumed.
> > One unit = 1 kWh = an appliance rated at 1 kW or 1000 W run for an hour.
> 
> > Suppose your PC's average power consumption is '*x' W* and your region's electricity tariff is *Rs. 'y' per unit* and you run the PC for* 'z' hour*s daily, then your monthlr charge for running PC will be : *[((x/1000) * z ) * y]* per day.



So at 390w usage with 10rs per unit and 12 hours a day comes to 46.8 rs a day. That sounds reasonable enough. I'd probably add 20 rs more for 2 monitors per day.


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Nov 28, 2013)

tubelight said:


> So at 390w usage with 10rs per unit and 12 hours a day comes to 46.8 rs a day. That sounds reasonable enough. I'd probably add 20 rs more for 2 monitors per day.



Correct. 10 rupees per unit is very high. You should verify the tariff.


----------



## kARTechnology (Nov 28, 2013)

i got myself a clamp meter and measured the conpumtion in watts of my pc(uintel g620+gigabyte mobo and all other accessories with tvs printer)
it was 0.2A
means
240V x 0.2A=48W


----------



## bhvm (Nov 29, 2013)

kARTechnology said:


> i got myself a clamp meter and measured the conpumtion in watts of my pc(uintel g620+gigabyte mobo and all other accessories with tvs printer)
> it was 0.2A
> means
> 240V x 0.2A=48W



what method have you used? 
also you forgot to multiply the value by 1.4. that's the rms value. 
some experts will be able to explain you more. 
also don't forget to add in 30% extra cost as government meters are bogus and are set to overcharge you. (verified news )


----------



## whitestar_999 (Nov 29, 2013)

^^voltage in home is RMS(220/240v) so no need to convert it to absolute/peak values & assuming sine wave(should be true for govt power) even cheap/typical multimeter show correct rms voltage value only for ac voltage.bill is determined by energy consumed & this in turn is decided by V(rms)*I(rms)*time.since psu in pc convert ac to dc with efficiency ranging from 50-90%(depending on psu & load) there shouldn't be much difference between I & I(rms) so above calculation should give close approximation of power consumed.


----------



## kARTechnology (Nov 29, 2013)

whitestar_999 said:


> ^^voltage in home is RMS(220/240v) so no need to convert it to absolute/peak values & assuming sine wave(should be true for govt power) even cheap/typical multimeter show correct rms voltage value only for ac voltage.bill is determined by energy consumed & this in turn is decided by V(rms)*I(rms)*time.since psu in pc convert ac to dc with efficiency ranging from 50-90%(depending on psu & load) there shouldn't be much difference between I & I(rms) so above calculation should give close approximation of power consumed.



this clamp meter method is  used to install MCB's in houses or any other place in distribution boards because it gives accurate value

for example i have installed a new 10A C-Curve MCB ( will trip if load exceeds 10A, continously, not for milli seconds )
and my lightning load with fans and pc was 11.5A, and it tripped, so i canged it to 16A C curve MCB

this method gives really a very close approximate of the current running through the wire....

clamp meter costs 350 rupees here in local shop, no name brand


----------



## bhvm (Nov 30, 2013)

whitestar_999 said:


> ^^voltage in home is RMS(220/240v) so no need to convert it to absolute/peak values & assuming sine wave(should be true for govt power) even cheap/typical multimeter show correct rms voltage value only for ac voltage.bill is determined by energy consumed & this in turn is decided by V(rms)*I(rms)*time.since psu in pc convert ac to dc with efficiency ranging from 50-90%(depending on psu & load) there shouldn't be much difference between I & I(rms) so above calculation should give close approximation of power consumed.



thanks for the enlightenment. my clamp is sanwa pro series which costed 4k and measures both ac and dc amp. it's a 'hall effect' meter, you can google about this. however I've always had to multiply the value by 1.4 for AC power. suppose I'm measuring a fan that says 400w in user manual. , I've had to multiply my reading by 1.4 to get spec values. 
more knowledge shall Help bro.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Nov 30, 2013)

i am not familiar with settings of "hall effect" power sensors but it seems like it measures instantaneous power or in other words it acts more like an accurate conversion of AC to DC power so it shows actual power being consumed at that instant which would be less than AC rms value since it fluctuates continuously.maybe your meter is set as too accurate & to get rms value instead of accurate instantaneous value it will need a settings change.


----------



## kARTechnology (Nov 30, 2013)

whitestar_999 said:


> i am not familiar with settings of "hall effect" power sensors but it seems like it measures instantaneous power or in other words it acts more like an accurate conversion of AC to DC power so it shows actual power being consumed at that instant which would be less than AC rms value since it fluctuates continuously.maybe your meter is set as too accurate & to get rms value instead of accurate instantaneous value it will need a settings change.



so what should i do with my meter? a 300 rs one with only ac amp measuring and voltage....
should i just multiply Amps x 230 = Watts ? am i correct


----------



## whitestar_999 (Dec 1, 2013)

^^yes,your meter is fine.in fact all cheap meters only measure approx. rms voltage value.to accurately measure instantaneous power consumption of ac voltage you need costly thousands of rupees meter & probably why such meters need multiplication factor to get correct consumption of power because billing takes into account rms voltage & current not instantaneous voltage & current.


----------

