Power supply usage

[Pinchy]

What I want to know is what a power supply actually uses.

For example, if I have a 200W power supply that is powering a system that uses 50W...would 50W be used from the PSU or would 200W be used?

This is with either 0% efficiency or 90% efficiency. (Just rough levels, lol)

See im building a server but dont want it to use much power, as its always on. I got a 200W PSU and a 210W PSU (10A and 12A)...but the server im planning to build can easily run on something like an 80W PSU. So I am thinking...is it worth spending like $40 on an 80W PSU when I already have a 200W?

I dont know the efficiency of the 200W, its probably pretty crap. But, I am willing to spend $40 on a small 80W PSU *if* the 200W PSU is constantly going to be using 200W of power, even when the system only uses <80

Thx in adv

 

[MKmods]

To my understanding the efficiency is the rating of converting power from AC (house voltage) to DC (Computer voltage). The waste is heat.
If you had a 200 watt PS and your comp needed 50 watts the PS would only supply 50 watts top the comp.
Another thing to consider is just because a PS says 200 watts(or 400 or 500 or whatever) dosent necessarily mean its so. That is the reason for a GOOD quality PS.
The more efficient the PS the less that is wasted as heat.

as long as the PS you have is stable than use it. (the more you force a PS the more unstable it becomes) An example is if you have a 200 watt PS and your comp draws 200 watts that PS is gonna be stressed. But if your comp only draws 50 watts that 200 watt PS should just breeze along.

 

[Nitro-Max]

Some high end psu's actually tell you whats been used with a digital read out.

 

[Pinchy]

Awesome . Lol thanks for the quick replies.

No excess power for the win

BTW thanks for all the PM help Mark . I asked that site you sent me how much it would be to ship that $50 combo (with the DC board plus the AC adapter and some cables)....the actual product was $50 and shipping was $120 LOL.

And its a damn shame we cant get those DC converter boards under $150 here in Oz :shadedshu.

Oh well, the benefits of custom made cases is that you can choose how big the PSU will be lol.

 

[AsRock]

Might help to check were the peak efficiency is too. Places like here http://www.hardocp.com/ do good reviews that show a PSU best efficiency.

EDIT: Like if you needed a 200w PSU and you were using 170w it might be past it's peak and a 400w might be better due to not being stressed as much

 

[MKmods]

Pinchy I have sent my cases to Aus and the shipping is not that much. I would be happy to send you off what you need.

 

[Pinchy]

Thanks for that Asrock but im almost 100% sure it wont pass its peak.

The server im building will have a 1Ghz VIA CPU, 512mb PC2100RAM, a gigabit lan card and a hard drive.

There will also be 4 USB devices attached, but thats barely anything .


Anywho, the 200W PSU I will use was powering my 2.6 P4 @ 3.2ghz, 2gb pc3200 ram, 2x hard drive, disk drive, x800xt pe graphics (overclocked to like 550/600) and a tv tuner card .

Pinchy I have sent my cases to Aus and the shipping is not that much. I would be happy to send you off what you need.

Out of interest, how much do you charge for a case? We can go to PM's if you want

Lol as much as I would want one of your awesome jobs (and thats not a sarcastic comment) as opposed to my (what I think) will be a "dodgy" job ...I gotta keep the cost of the entire system minus the hard drive sub $120 .

Cheapest mini-ITX case I found around here is $150, with a DC - AC PSU.






EDIT Btw, this was the package I wanted from ITX depot:

http://www.itxdepot.com/xcart/product.php?productid=1244&cat=0&page=1


And this was the email reply:

If it is one set, the shipping cost is the following:

UPS Worldwide ExpeditedSM $118.88
UPS Worldwide SaverSM $124.54