Calculation of computer energy consumption. How much electricity does a computer consume?

Power supply power- this characteristic is individual for each PC. The power supply is one of the most important elements of a computer. It supplies power to every element of the computer and the stability of all processes depends on it. This is the reason why it is very important to choose the right power supply for your computer.

This is the first thing you need to do in the process of buying/assembling a new power supply. To calculate the power of a computer's power supply, you need to add up the amount of energy consumed by each element of the computer. Naturally for regular user this task is too difficult, especially taking into account the fact that some computer components simply do not indicate power or the values ​​​​are obviously overestimated. Therefore, there are special calculators for calculating the power of the power supply, which standard parameters calculate the required power of the power supply.

After you have received the required power supply power, you need to add “spare watts” to this figure - approximately 10-25% of the total power. This is done to ensure that the power supply does not work to the limit of its capabilities at maximum power. If this is not done, it can cause a number of problems: freezing, independent reboots, clicking of the head hard drive, as well as turning off the computer.

Options for correct calculating the power of the power supply:

1. Processor model and its thermal package (power consumption).
2. Video card model and its thermal package (power consumption).
3. Quantity, type and frequency random access memory.
4. Quantity, type (SATA, IDE) spindle operating speeds - Hard drives.
5. SSD drives from quantity.
6. Coolers, their size, quantity, type (with backlight / without backlight).
7. Processor coolers, their size, quantity, type (with backlight / without backlight).
8. Motherboard, what class it belongs to (simple, medium, high-end).
9. Also, it is necessary to take into account the number of expansion cards that are installed in the computer (sound cards, TV tuners, etc.).
10. Are you planning to overclock your video card, processor, or RAM?
11. DVD-RW drive, their number and type.

What power is the power supply?

What power is the power supply?- this concept will make it possible to choose the right components and characteristics. The first thing you need to know is how much power you need. The power of the power supply directly depends on the components installed on the PC.

Again, we repeat, you don’t need to take a power supply that will only have enough power. It must be taken into account that the actual power of the power supply may be less than that declared by the manufacturer. It is also important to understand that configurations may change over time.

And this is a very simple question, since manufacturers usually indicate the power in large font on the sticker. Power supply wattage is a measure of how much power the power supply can transfer to other components.

As we said above, you can find out it using online calculators for calculating the power of the power supply and add 10-25% of “spare power” to it. But in reality, everything is a little more complicated, since the power supply produces different voltage 12V, 5V, -12V, 3.3V, i.e., each of the voltage lines receives only its required power. But there is 1 transformer installed in the power supply itself, which generates all these voltages for transmission to the computer components. Naturally, there are power supplies with 2 transformers, but they are mainly used for servers. Therefore, it is acceptable that in conventional PCs the power of each voltage line can change - increase if the load on the other lines is weak or decrease if other lines are overloaded. And on the power supplies they write exactly the maximum power for each of the lines, and if you add them up, the resulting power will be higher than the power of the power supply.

It turns out that the manufacturer deliberately increases the rated power of the power supply, which it cannot provide. And all power-hungry computer components (video card and processor) receive power directly from +12 V, so it is very important to pay attention to the current values ​​​​indicated for it. If the power supply is made of high quality, then this data will be indicated on the side sticker in the form of a table or list.

PC power supply power.

PC power supply power- this information is necessary since the power supply is the most important component of the computer. It powers all other components and the correct operation of the entire computer directly depends on it.

Again, we repeat, you don’t need to take a power supply that will only have enough power. It must be taken into account that the actual power of the power supply may be less than that declared by the manufacturer. It is also important to understand that configurations may change over time. This is done to ensure that the power supply does not work to the limit of its capabilities at maximum power. If this is not done, it can cause a number of problems: freezing, self-rebooting, clicking of the hard drive head, and also shutting down the computer.

Hello everyone, friends! Today we continue the topic of saving energy and in today’s article we will try to find out how much electricity a typical home computer consumes.

To determine the consumption of the computer as a whole, you need to add up all the separately connected devices, for example, as a rule, this is the system unit - the heart of the computer, or as some mistakenly call the processor, and it is worth taking into account the consumption of the computer monitor.

To determine consumption, they usually look at the power of the power supply; in computers it is from 350 watts, most often from 450 watts in modern computers. Out of ignorance, to determine the power consumption of a computer, they take and consider the consumption equal to the power of the power supply system unit, But it's not right. Electricity consumption depends directly on the load on the processor by applications.

During work
If you are just working on a computer, for example browsing the Internet, or typing or viewing photos, then the approximate electricity consumption will be from 120 to 160 watts on average, or from 0.14 kilowatts (kW).

During games
If you use energy-intensive applications that require powerful, coordinated operation of all parts of the computer, for example, video games, or working with graphics, power consumption in this case can reach values ​​from 300 to 340 watts per hour, or 0.3 kW.

Old computers
Old computers with an age of 7-10 years consume much less electricity than modern ones; these are computers usually with installed Windows system Xp, electricity consumption will average 70 W/hour.

In turn, the thermal power that is released when heating the power supply element will directly depend on the strength of the current that passes through all consumers.

It should be remembered that the sum of all powers consumed by the components should not exceed the output power of the power source.

How to correctly calculate the power of a computer?

When calculating PC power, it is important to take into account that the system consumes power unevenly. The maximum takes the moment you turn on the computer or separate device, reading/writing disks, transferring information from/to HDD, simultaneous launch of many programs, etc. For devices that, due to their specific nature, consume a large number of energy, manufacturers often indicate the peak power value. It follows that the maximum that the system as a whole will consume can be calculated by simply adding the powers of all devices that are connected to the power supply.

Next, we will offer you an approximate diagram of power consumption by various computer components:

• The central processor consumes on average from 50 to 120 W. Moreover, the more clock frequency, the more power it consumes.
• The motherboard consumes an average of 15 to 30 watts. Moreover, if the board has integrated devices, for example, a sound card, then, accordingly, such a board requires more power.
• power consumption graphic editor– from 60 to 130 W. And if the video card has additional power, it consumes more than those that do not. Accordingly: 50-70 W – without additional food and 100-130 with him. In moments maximum load(for example, during demanding games) power consumption modern video cards can increase to 300-400 W.
• RAM modules consume from 5 to 20 W. Consumption directly depends on the module capacity. In addition, if there are various “attachments” on the memory module, such as filter capacitors, power consumption increases.
• hard disks consume from 15 to 60 W. Moreover, when the hard drive is actively working (searching for files, copying or recording information), power consumption is reduced to a maximum. It also happens when the computer is turned on, when the hard drive undergoes diagnostics, which is necessary to identify critical errors.
• CD/DVD drives consume from 10 to 25 W. The meaning itself depends on maximum speed rotation of disks, as well as from real mode work. Moreover, if the disc is scratched or simply poorly recorded, much more power is consumed, since the drive constantly has to change the rotation speed. The record holders for power consumption are the so-called Combo drives, which combine the capabilities of reading CDs and DVDs and writing CD-RW.
• Floppy drives consume between 5 and 7 watts. IN in this case, power consumption depends mainly on the manufacturer. Since the speed of their operation remains the same in any mode.
• The sound card consumes 5-10 W. Here, the higher the class sound device, the higher the power consumption. Thus, Hi-Fi devices require an order of magnitude more power than mid-range sound cards.
• Cooling system fans consume 1-2 W on average. However, it should be remembered that there can be five, six, or even more fans in a computer: on the processor, video card, hard drive, in the power supply itself, etc.
• input/output ports consume 8-10 watts. IN modern computer There are usually six such ports: one COM port, 4 USB and one LPT. In addition, on sound card Line input/output and a microphone input are also added.
• Network cards consume 3-5 W on average.

Here are some more factors that you should pay attention to when we consider such an issue as computer power. Having calculated the approximate power indicators, before purchasing a power supply, you should take into account that it is necessary to leave some reserve due to the upcoming possibilities of upgrading the system and installing additional devices.

Let's remember simple truth- To prevent the power supply from breaking down or burning out, you should not overload it. In addition, you should monitor cleanliness, since simple dust can contribute to critical overheating of the power supply and its failure.

Some power supply manufacturers provide these “Online calculators for calculating the power of a power supply”, where you can make a fairly accurate calculation.

Thus, having summarized the information presented above, having become acquainted with the principle of operation of the power supply, as well as with the indicators of power consumption of all the main devices of the computer, we hope that now the question “how to calculate the power supply for a computer” and choose the optimal power supply for it will not seem to you solvable. After all, to do this you just need to make simple mathematical calculations.

If you have any questions about how to calculate the power of your computer and choose a suitable power supply, you can always contact the center computer help website, our engineers will advise you on all issues of interest. In addition, you can order installation of a new power supply in your system unit from us.

When choosing a system unit, we usually look only at its performance and memory capacity. And we only think about how much light the computer generates a little later.

To its credit, manufacturers are trying their best to reduce computer power consumption, and they are doing quite well. If you compare the “dinosaurs” of ten years ago with modern “cars”, the difference will be impressive. Hence the first conclusion: the newer the computer, the less money it takes from your pocket.

How much electricity does a computer consume?

It is clear that everyone’s configuration is different, so we will look at the three most typical cases as an example.

Medium power computer with moderate use. Let's say he works on average 5 hours a day, mainly for Internet surfing, communication and simple games. Approximate consumption – 180 watts, plus the monitor, another 40 watts. It turns out that the entire system consumes 220 watts per hour. 220 Watt x 5 hours = 1.1 kW. Let’s add to this the consumption in standby mode (after all, you don’t unplug the computer from the outlet, right?). 4 Watts x 19 hours = 0.076 kW. Total, 1,176 kW per day, 35 kW per month.

Gaming computer. A configuration with a powerful processor and a good video card draws approximately 400 W. Plus monitor, 40 W. In total, the average computer electricity consumption per hour is 440 watts. Let's say our gamer plays 6 hours a day. 440 W x 6 hours = 2.64 kW per day. Standby mode will add another 0.072 kW (4 W x 18). Total, 2.71 kW per day, 81 kW per month.

Server mode, 24x7. The PC is a media server in home network, it stores photo and video files. The monitor, in most cases, is not used; the “filling” is a hard drive of several terabytes. Such a system consumes, on average, 40 W per hour. 40 W x 24 hours = 0.96 kW per day, 29 kW per month.

How to find out how much electricity your computer consumes

When buying a 100-watt light bulb, we know in advance how much it costs per hour. With a computer, as can be seen from the examples above, everything is somewhat more complicated. Consumption depends on your system configuration, schedule, and even what you do.

Even looking at a PC out of the box, it is not always possible to understand its power. What can we say about those assembled to order, where there are no identification marks on the body at all. You won’t disassemble it and look for disk data, video cards... How, in this case, can you find out how much electricity the computer consumes per hour? There are at least two ways.

Accurate. Exist special devices to calculate energy consumption. A very useful device can be bought both in our stores and in foreign ones. A simple wattmeter will cost $15, more sophisticated models – from $30. Plug it into a socket near the device you are interested in, and get its consumption data online.

Exemplary. We turn off all the electricity in the house and leave one 100-watt light bulb on. We count the number of revolutions of the counter, say, in 30 seconds. We turn off the light bulb, turn on the computer, launch Diablo (or any “heavy” application), count the revolutions again, and compare. If it is much more, you can repeat the experiment with a 200-watt light bulb.

Computer power consumption in sleep mode

Modern computers are distinguished not only by low consumption, but also by a variety of modes. Many people confuse them, so let's clarify.

Sleep mode: turns off hard drives, applications remain in RAM, and work resumes almost instantly. Consumes 7-10% of the total system power.

Hibernation Mode: Shuts down the computer completely, data is saved in separate file, work resumes more slowly than after sleep. Consumes 5-10 watts.

Complete shutdown or standby mode, as it is sometimes called, by analogy with household appliances. The system is completely logged out and all unsaved data is lost. The work begins with a new system boot. Consumes 4-5 watts.

How to reduce your computer's power consumption

As you can see, in any of the modes the PC continues, albeit slightly, to consume electricity. Therefore, if possible, try to disconnect it from the network. And a few more tips for saving money when using a computer.

• Buy energy efficient models;
• If it’s not important for you, give preference to a desktop PC;
• Do not turn up the brightness on the monitor “all the way”;
• Set aside for work or play certain time, after which turn off the computer. This is much more economical than multiple “sessions” of several minutes.
• Set up a power plan. Install optimal modes, depending on your schedule and duration of work.

The power supply is one of the most important parts of a modern PC, especially gaming.
But many devote very little time to choosing it, believing that if it fits into the box and starts the system, then it means it fits and everything is chosen perfectly. Many people manage to look at only two things when choosing it.

1. Low price.(Not more 1000 rub)
2. The number of watts in the power supply.(Of course, the number on the sticker should be higher.) The Chinese love to throw such goodies when in reality the power BP not even close to the number they wrote.

To help you avoid wasting money, I’ll write roughly what you need to look for so as not to make a mistake in your choice. After all, buying cheap Chinese BP can lead to breakdown of all components of a not cheap computer.
http://i036.radikal.ru/1304/90/254cdb4e6c47.jpg

Clause 1.1
1. Don't skimp on the power supply.
2. Choose a manufacturer that has proven itself in the market and in this segment.
For example: Seasonic, Chieftec, HighPower, FSP, CoolerMaster, Zalman

3. Calculate the power consumption of all computer components. (You can find components on the manufacturer’s website, where all the characteristics are usually listed. Or simply by entering it into a search engine.) However, there are many options, the main thing is the desire to find it.
4. After the calculation, add a power reserve to the resulting amount to be sure (in case of errors, etc.). Point 3 can generally be left if you intend to buy a watt right away 800-900 ++.

1. Modular type.

With modular units, you can add and remove cables as desired. I realized how convenient this is after purchasing such a power supply: you can easily remove unused wires until they are needed. And you don’t have to worry about where to screw or wrap these wires so that they don’t interfere. Although this type has a higher price.

2. Standard type.
Cheaper, all wires are soldered directly into the block and cannot be removed.

In principle, if your budget allows, it is better to buy a modular option because of its convenience, although you can also choose a standard option. To your taste. :-)

Clause 1.3
There are also differences in the Power Factor Correction - Power Factor Correction (PFC): active, passive.
1. Passive PFC
In passive PFC a conventional choke is used to smooth out voltage ripple. The efficiency of this option is low; it is often used in units of the low price segment.

2. Active PFC
In active PFC An additional board is used, which represents another switching power supply, and increases the voltage. Which helps to achieve a power factor that is close to ideal, also helps in stabilizing the voltage.
Used in delusional blocks.

Clause 1.4
Standard ATX. The standard indicates the presence of the wires necessary for connection. It's better to take no lower ATX 2.3 since they install additional connectors for video cards 6+6 pin - 6+8 pin, motherboard 24+4+4

Clause 1.5

1. You should always pay attention to the specified block data.
Extremely important! Pay attention to the rated power BP, not peak.
Nominal power is the power that is constantly supplied. Whereas the peak one is issued for a short time.

2. Power BP on the channel should be +12V.
The more there are, the better. There are also several channels: +12V1, +12V2, +12V3, +12V4, +12V5.

Example:
1. Power supply from ZALMAN.

It has one +12V line, a total of 18A and only 216 W.
Active PFC is used, which is a big plus.

There are already 2 lines +12V (15A and 16A). Although the manufacturer indicated on the sticker 500 Watt, in "face value" only 460 Watt.
Quite a high-quality block in the budget segment.

3. Another one from ZALMAN.