Am I using too much power?

[mrchetsteadman]

Okay so I notice that when I keep my computer on ALL day and night my light bill goes through the roof. I was going over my config and I'm wondering is my PSU overkill? Can I get a less powerful PSU and still maintain stability? Here is my set up;

 

Motherboard

 

Processor

 

Power Supply

 

Secondary HDD

 

DVD Drive

 

RAM

 

Primary SSD

 

Video Card

 

I'm probably going to get a 3TB drive in the future, another 2 sticks of RAM and upgrade the video card.

 

Thanks!

 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

You mean electrical bill? Try putting it on standby when you are not using it.

[Phouchg]

That's what you get for using AMD. There's probably a whole church that warns people against doing that purely for the fact that all heat comes from all the electric energy.

 

Less powerful PSU won't do any good. While at 10%, they all suck equally. And even if they don't, the single percent gain would be disproportionate to all the trouble of purchase and rewiring.

 

So, yeah, standby, hibernate even. Or even shut it down, because 990FX POST times kill the whole deal anyway.

[tsupersonic]

Why do you leave your computer on 24/7? Can't you put it in a lower power mode when you're not using it (sleep, hibernate, etc.)?

[Nagisan]

To expand on Phouchg's thoughts, a less powerful PSU will not do anything.....a computer will only draw as much power from the wall as it needs, a less powerful PSU can actually make it worse if it changes the efficiency curve in favor of being less efficient at its standard running load.

 

You best bet, as others have suggested, is use sleep/hibernate/shutdown when not using it.

 

Think of it this way, if you sleep for 8 hours you are saving ~800w of energy per night (assuming your computer runs at 100w while idle) by running your computer in a low power state, that adds up to 24kWh over a month, which while not a lot on its own, can push you into a more costly energy bracket depending on how your power bill is calculated (many companies charge more per kWh when you go over a certain amount, staying under that means lower bills, not including the standard amount saved based on knocking off 24kWh or more per billing cycle).

[ToneKnee]

As others have pointed out, try to put the computer to sleep or turn it off when your not meant to use it.

 

Also, the PSU is fine, just because it has a high rated output doesn't mean it's using that much.  Your system is probably using less than 100watts when idle.  Just make sure your using all the power saving features on the motherboard.  Stuff like settung the system to 'balanced' power management rather than high performance can help as these high performance settings can stop power saving features that could make a noticeable difference.

[mrchetsteadman]

Thanks for the advice guys. That's what I get from staying away from this forum for so long, I ask stupid questions lol. Haven't logged on since December. It's appreciated!