Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Electrics

  1. #1
    Senior Member Stringent's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Neverland
    Posts
    5,227
    Thanks
    45
    Thanked
    155 times in 117 posts
    • Stringent's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Intel DQ57TM
      • CPU:
      • Intel i5 760
      • Memory:
      • 8GB
      • Storage:
      • 1TB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • NVIDIA Geforce 260GTX
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX620
      • Case:
      • Coolermaster Centurion
      • Operating System:
      • Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dual Iiyama 24"
      • Internet:
      • Patchy

    Electrics

    OK I am looking for ways to save electricity at home. I currently have a lot of network kit, so am going to get a wireless Router instead of a seperate router and WAP, and get 1 16 port switch rather than 2 8 ports, so thats halved the equipment.

    One question I have is the draw of electricity. Forgive me if I dont use proper terms. Say I have my switch and it uses a transformer to go from full electrical power in the socket to 12v or whatever. Does it still draw in the full amount, step it down and the rest is lost in heat? Do these low voltage things actually DO anything? It still draws the full amount then converts it. I think.

    Also I have a 450W PSU in our home server. I'm thinking of getting the HP MediaSmart server when it becomes mainstream over here (yes you can get them, but they are darn hard!) would it use a lower PSU?

    The fact that most CPU's nowadays use less power, but we still use like 400W + PSU's for our PC, surely thats not good for electrical costs?

    Going to get rid of my spot lights and go back to conventional lighting, an energy saver bulb. Got to be cheaper than the 4 halogens I have at the moment. Oh, and I am also turning stuff off I don't use now too.

  2. #2
    Treasure Hunter extraordinaire herulach's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Bolton
    Posts
    5,618
    Thanks
    18
    Thanked
    172 times in 159 posts
    • herulach's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI Z97 MPower
      • CPU:
      • i7 4790K
      • Memory:
      • 8GB Vengeance LP
      • Storage:
      • 1TB WD Blue + 250GB 840 EVo
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 2* Palit GTX 970 Jetstream
      • PSU:
      • EVGA Supernova G2 850W
      • Case:
      • CM HAF Stacker 935, 2*360 Rad WC Loop w/EK blocks.
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1
      • Monitor(s):
      • Crossover 290HD & LG L1980Q
      • Internet:
      • 120mb Virgin Media

    Re: Electrics

    the power ratings on transformers, psus and the like are max ratings, theyll only draw whats required.

    You could move to a more efficient powersupply, these are usually mentioned in the reviews IIRC most are aroun 80, but there anumber available higher.

  3. #3
    Senior Member SilentDeath's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    4,745
    Thanks
    38
    Thanked
    16 times in 11 posts

    Re: Electrics

    There are many types of power supply... but the amount you save from that is not helping anyone... dont bother unless its for other resons...


    Wall power supplys will only use tiny power when the device is off, mostly wasted in the transformer as heat, but it is still a tiny amount with most (probably about 10-20% of the power rating).

    Switch mode PSU's ( = pc PSU) are upto 90% efficent or so when under load, but for many resons that will be less.. Newer/better quality units are also likely to be more efficient and last a lot longer, so any saving is tiny.. Nope these only use a tiny bit of power under no load (wasted in control circuitry).


    Really dont bother.

  4. #4
    Technojunkie
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Up North
    Posts
    2,580
    Thanks
    239
    Thanked
    213 times in 138 posts

    Re: Electrics

    If you want to save electricity (and money) get some low energy light bulbs.
    The saving of those is far more than you'll save on your PC stuff (unless you move to a laptop! )

    That said, I'd recommend getting an individually switched powerstrip, and labelling plugs, so you can switch off as necessary. That's switch off at the plug, as lots of units/chargers etc draw a few watts when not doing anything at all.

    Get one of these maplin power meters so you can see the effect each unit is having on your total current/power draw.

  5. #5
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    /dev/urandom
    Posts
    17,074
    Thanks
    228
    Thanked
    1,027 times in 678 posts
    • directhex's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 64GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Seagate Firecuda 520
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra
      • PSU:
      • EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G3
      • Case:
      • NZXT H210i
      • Operating System:
      • Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 34GN850
      • Internet:
      • FIOS

    Re: Electrics

    consider the environmental impact of disposing of your old psu, if you switch to a new one. and a psu only draws as much as it needs - an efficient 600w supply will draw less power than a crap 300w supply on the same computer

  6. #6
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Milk & Beans
    Posts
    9,286
    Thanks
    271
    Thanked
    479 times in 313 posts
    • tiggerai's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD PhenomII 955BE
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb Corsair XMS DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Lots
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire X1950XT
      • PSU:
      • Hiper Type-R 550w
      • Case:
      • Antec lovely black thing
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x 20" widescreen
      • Internet:
      • Pipexpants

    Re: Electrics

    I've got one of these newfangled PC power strips, which turns off all your peripherals when the PC is powered down... I'm sure that's saving pennies as it's meaning that I don't forget to turn the speakers/monitor/printer off when the PC goes off. (plus, it means I'm less likely to do my back in trying to reach for the sockets.

    I should really put my router on it too, as my PC is the only thing that uses it, so it doesn't really need to be plugged in, but my inet is so wobbly that I'm scared of turning it off when it's stable!

    I got this one: Energy Saving IntelliPanel for your Desktop - Tesco.Direct

    Wow - i didn't realise they did one for TV's too... Energy Saving IntelliPanel for your Televison - Tesco.Direct

    Might get one tonight... not that I have anything other than my TV and Sky running in there anyway.

  7. #7
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    17,164
    Thanks
    803
    Thanked
    2,152 times in 1,408 posts

    Re: Electrics

    I made using an old low power for a mini-itx PSU my 'bench power supply' .

    Most things like the mobile phone, use 5v. So i've a 5V rail, plenty of things also use 12v, so theres the 12v rail, a regulator provides 9v for that silly dynamo printer.

    Makes life on the desk easyer, and is more efficent. (you don't have 12 transformers for things).
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

  8. #8
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Posts
    19,874
    Thanks
    630
    Thanked
    965 times in 816 posts
    • Funkstar's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz)
      • Memory:
      • 8GB OCZ PC2-6400C5 800MHz Quad Channel
      • Storage:
      • 650GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 512MB ATI Radeon HD4550
      • PSU:
      • Antec 350W 80+ Efficient PSU
      • Case:
      • Antec NSK1480 Slim Mini Desktop Case
      • Operating System:
      • Vista Ultimate 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407 + 2408 monitors
      • Internet:
      • Zen 8mb

    Re: Electrics

    Thats exactly what i'm planning on doing Animus, just not quite got round to it yet.

  9. #9
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Milk & Beans
    Posts
    9,286
    Thanks
    271
    Thanked
    479 times in 313 posts
    • tiggerai's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD PhenomII 955BE
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb Corsair XMS DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Lots
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire X1950XT
      • PSU:
      • Hiper Type-R 550w
      • Case:
      • Antec lovely black thing
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x 20" widescreen
      • Internet:
      • Pipexpants

    Re: Electrics

    ^ That's much too geeky for the likes of me... Electronics is a black art.

  10. #10
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Posts
    19,874
    Thanks
    630
    Thanked
    965 times in 816 posts
    • Funkstar's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz)
      • Memory:
      • 8GB OCZ PC2-6400C5 800MHz Quad Channel
      • Storage:
      • 650GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 512MB ATI Radeon HD4550
      • PSU:
      • Antec 350W 80+ Efficient PSU
      • Case:
      • Antec NSK1480 Slim Mini Desktop Case
      • Operating System:
      • Vista Ultimate 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407 + 2408 monitors
      • Internet:
      • Zen 8mb

    Re: Electrics

    It's the magic blue smoke you have to watch for, once you release that from components, you can't get it back in again.

    They don't work without the magic blue smoke
    Last edited by Funkstar; 14-01-2008 at 01:58 PM. Reason: spelling blah blah blah

  11. #11
    Don't feed the trolls... tiggerai's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Milk & Beans
    Posts
    9,286
    Thanks
    271
    Thanked
    479 times in 313 posts
    • tiggerai's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD PhenomII 955BE
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb Corsair XMS DDR3
      • Storage:
      • Lots
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire X1950XT
      • PSU:
      • Hiper Type-R 550w
      • Case:
      • Antec lovely black thing
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • 2x 20" widescreen
      • Internet:
      • Pipexpants

    Re: Electrics

    Quote Originally Posted by Funkstar View Post
    It's the magic blue smore you have to watch for, once you release that from components, you can get it back in again.

    They don't work without the magic blue smoke

    let me translate...

    "It's the magic blue smoke you have to watch for, once you release that from components you can't get it back in again.

    They don't work without the magic blue smoke."


    That now makes sense to me - although I've found components also need a popping sound in them too, as once that's gone... well they're a gonner too.

  12. #12
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Aberdeen
    Posts
    19,874
    Thanks
    630
    Thanked
    965 times in 816 posts
    • Funkstar's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte EG45M-DS2H
      • CPU:
      • Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz)
      • Memory:
      • 8GB OCZ PC2-6400C5 800MHz Quad Channel
      • Storage:
      • 650GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 512MB ATI Radeon HD4550
      • PSU:
      • Antec 350W 80+ Efficient PSU
      • Case:
      • Antec NSK1480 Slim Mini Desktop Case
      • Operating System:
      • Vista Ultimate 64bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407 + 2408 monitors
      • Internet:
      • Zen 8mb

    Re: Electrics

    Quote Originally Posted by tiggerai View Post
    let me translate...
    meh. byte me

    (see what i did there? heehee)

  13. #13
    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    /dev/urandom
    Posts
    17,074
    Thanks
    228
    Thanked
    1,027 times in 678 posts
    • directhex's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus ROG Strix B550-I Gaming
      • CPU:
      • Ryzen 5900x
      • Memory:
      • 64GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
      • Storage:
      • 2TB Seagate Firecuda 520
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3 Ultra
      • PSU:
      • EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G3
      • Case:
      • NZXT H210i
      • Operating System:
      • Ubuntu 20.04, Windows 10
      • Monitor(s):
      • LG 34GN850
      • Internet:
      • FIOS

    Re: Electrics

    Quote Originally Posted by tiggerai View Post
    let me translate...

    "It's the magic blue smoke you have to watch for, once you release that from components you can't get it back in again.

    They don't work without the magic blue smoke."


    That now makes sense to me - although I've found components also need a popping sound in them too, as once that's gone... well they're a gonner too.
    the pop is the smoke escaping. small components only have a tiny bit, so you can't always see it. sometimes you can smell it though

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •