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Is it worth buying a gold vs a silver PSU?

cadaveca

My name is Dave
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Sorry cadaveca, you would not save 12% on your electric bill, or even the usage from your PC's by switching to Gold. You can't add the percentages. You can add the watts saved, but not the percentages. Think of it this way, could you really save 100% if you went and got 50 PC's running Gold?

Of course, it's really only a straight 7%, but the actual cost I save means that half of one PCs usage, technically, is "free".

:slap: Reading skills...:roll:

I used the numbers in that fashion to lead up to saving the power consumption, in wattage, to half a pc. Multiply the wattage x $$$ = bigger savings for me. I already covered that my numbres weren't wholely accurate, so I fail to see what you're trying to say...
 
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Yeah...

I say yes. I think all PSUs should be capable of "GOLD" ratings or better, and anything less should be removed from the market.

And I want a toilet made out of solid gold but it is just not in the cards. ;)
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
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And I want a toilet made out of solid gold but it is just not in the cards. ;)

Yeah, I get that, but $30 more for a PSU is no big deal to me. I mean, that's what my Silverstone 750W gold cost over the Corsair TX 750W...

:laugh: Bad example for you, methinks. It's not that excessive, at all. I have 4 kids, and live off of ~50k a year, in one of the most expensive cities in this country. If i can afford it, so can anyone else, in my perspective.

I mean, can you even get half a tank of gas for your car for $30?

Of course, Idon't drive, so that $30 saved in half a tank of gas I never bought weekly, makes it a non-issue for me. It's simply all about priorities.
 

Benetanegia

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Someone feel free to check these numbers, but I'm pretty sure they're correct.

Unfortunately I think i's wrong. I don't even know why the 60/1000 thing.

You pay for kWh so using 1kW during 1 hour costs -> 0.13 $
1W -> 1/1000 * 0.13 $/kWh = 0.00013 $
3W -> 0.00042 $

So in your examples:

0.13 kWh * 8 h * 30 * (200/1000) = $6.24 per month for the entire system (200w used)

3% savings -> 6.24 * 3/100 = $0.18 savings per month.

0.13 kWh * 24 h * 30 * (350/1000) = $32.76 per month for the entire system

3% savings -> 32.76 *3/100 = $0.98 savings per month
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
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Unfortunately I think i's wrong. I don't even know why the 60/1000 thing.

You pay for kWh so using 1kW during 1 hour costs -> 0.13 $
1W -> 1/1000 * 0.13 $/kWh = 0.00013 $
3W -> 0.00042 $

So in your examples:

0.13 kWh * 8 h * 30 * (200/1000) = $6.24 per month for the entire system (200w used)

3% savings -> 6.24 * 3/100 = $0.18 savings per month.

0.13 kWh * 24 h * 30 * (350/1000) = $32.76 per month for the entire system

3% savings -> 32.76 *3/100 = $0.98 savings per month


Those numbers work for me, if I keep PSUs for 3 years. :rockout: 2.5 years is enough to recoup the extra cost, plus I saved $6 per unit, = $36 total over 6 machines. Of course, I use more than 200W in most machines, unfortunately.
 

Benetanegia

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Those numbers work for me, if I keep PSUs for 3 years. :rockout: 2.5 years is enough to recoup the extra cost, plus I saved $6 per unit, = $36 total over 6 machines. Of course, I use more than 200W in most machines, unfortunately.

Yeah depending on usage it does make sense. Using the PCs 24/7 you save roughly $1 per month so 12$ per year per machine is something considerable.

Also in your case efficiency is probably more important due to total wattage at home, how much your grid can handle, etc.

But for most people it does not make sense unless gold only costs $10 more or so (0.18 $ *12 months *5 years = $10.8), and keep in mind that an average of 8 h per day is already excessive for 90% of people. However there's many other considerations attached to gold PSUs other than efficiency.
 

newtekie1

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Looking at the OP's situation, where the PC is going to be on 90% of the time, I don't think it will be worth it. I assume that by being one 90% of the time we are talking about on, but idle. In that case you are looking at power consumption way below the 20% mark that 80+ tests at. We are talking power consumption in the 100w or less range typically. Now the difference between Silver and Gold is only 2%. Yes, some PSUs start to really go crazy below 20% load and efficiency really drops on all of them, but you can assume that for the most part the 2% difference in efficiency stays about the same between a Silver and a Gold PSU.

So assuming your computer is sitting idle almost all the time, and it is on 90% of the time. That means in a 30 day month it is sitting idle about 650 hours. At 100w usage, the difference between Silver and Gold is a whole 2w.

650h x 2W = 1300 Wh

1300Wh / 1000 = 1.3 kWh

So in a given month you are saving 1.3 kWh by going with a Gold over a Silver. At $0.13 per kWh, that is a savings of a whole $0.17 per month, or about $2 per year.

It simply isn't worth it.

Now, the most important part we have to remember is that some Silver PSUs are actually rated as Gold but marketed as Silver. I know, sounds strange, right, but it is true. Corsairs HX850 and HX750(probably the most popular Silver units on the market) are actually rated as 80+ Gold. Corsair markets them as 80+ Silver so that they don't hurt the sales of their AX line, and fit better with the other units in the HX line.

Also, a unit might be 80+ Silver only because the 100% load number didn't meet the mark, or overall it was only .1% below 80+ Gold. It is an assumption that because a unit is 80+ Silver it is 2% less efficient than 80+ Gold. That isn't always case, some Silver units are very very close to 80+ Gold and the difference is only a fraction of a %.
 
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