How to measure the real load on the power supply?

Question

Electronics

I assembled two computers on Core i5.
In one seller he persuaded me to put a 600-watt power supply, in the second there was a regular 200-watt unit.
Both computers are working properly. What is the easiest way to understand: is 200 watts enough, or is this an unnecessary reserve?
Stick a multimeter into the cut of the 220 volt network?

Answer 1

Oleg Artamonov from the Fcenter measured. And even soldered a special load device. It's worth reading his articles. Like this one: www.fcenter.ru/online.shtml?articles/hardware/tower/6484

Answer 2

What's the point of saving like that? You can put a good kilowatt PSU (as I did with my file washer - 16 dB of noise), and it will consume as much as the machine needs.
There is no point in saving on a PSU at all, especially if it is possible to buy a PSU with detachable cables.

Answer 3

How I test the PSU on overclockers.ru
ixbt.com
I think just sticking it with a multimeter will not work. PSUs operate in a pulsed mode and can have different efficiency.

Answer 4

The power supply must be selected commensurate with the load.
Because the block operation scheme is pulsed - then the efficiency at a small load will be very low - around 50%, for example, and at a load of about 40-50% - it will already rise to 75-80%, i.e. without load, most of the energy received will be spent on heating the components of the PSU itself -) + if the load is small on the base 12V bus, and more on 5V, for example, the efficiency may also decrease.
For the computer described above (provided there is no external video card, 10 15000 Seagate hard drives and a miniature welding machine) - 350 W (“real”) is enough for the eyes. Such a computer at the peak of the load revs up around 200W, which we divide by 0.75 efficiency = 270W. And another 80 left in reserve, in case of dry capacitors / operation in hot weather.
An interesting article - www.fcenter.ru/online.shtml?articles/hardware/tower/26716
In general, I highly recommend

Answer 5

1. I stuck an ammeter into the cut, effectively and clearly.
My config:
Inel Quad Core [email protected],
2xSeagate Barracuda Raid0
4Gb DDR2 [email protected]
Radeon [email protected] 1000Mhz.
In the load, it showed 1.2 amperes, which in the end is about 275 watts. And in idle time 0.3 Amperes ~ 70 Watts.
2. You can use the power calculator , he has never let me down.

Answer 6

This is probably not your case, but ... some uninterruptibles can show the power consumed by the load.

Answer 7

> Stick a multimeter into the cut of the 220 volt network?
As an option. True, I have repeatedly met with the fact that instead of the effective value of the alternating current, the multimeter shows anything.
You can determine the degree of workload of the PSU indirectly, by the level of its heating. Many units have a fan speed control depending on the load. If the fan plows at maximum speed, then there is almost no power reserve left.
We should also not forget that the power consumption of a computer is very uneven. The big peak goes at the moment of inclusion.
If I were you, I would not save money, and put the power supply unit with a margin.

Answer 8

Yes, probably.

Answer 9

Core i5 (2000 series) + GTX460 + 1 HDD 7200rpm already requires 450 at about peak.

Answer 10

You don't need to poke anywhere. There is such a device - current-collecting clamps ( for example ) - when the case is disassembled, take readings from each of the lines (12 / 5V), add it up and get the power consumption.
From a real miscalculation Quad + 2xWD 1Tb + 1Sams 250Gb + 4Gb mem + Video (int DQ45) work with a 180W PSU and it's enough, I plan to expand it by another 2xWD 1Tb