Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Epic list of total FAIL.

[Dale]

Frank Steinmetzger wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 22, 2015 at 06:28:45PM -0500, Dale wrote:
>
>> Alan Grimes wrote:
>>> The PSU is an Antec EarthWatts 750.
>>>
>>> Biggest hoggs outside the motherboard are the, um, er, well [nvidia 980
>>> gpu] and an aging Western Digital Velociraptor boot drive. There is also
>>> a 3TB drive for all my p***, er kerbals   ( Kerbal Space Program ) .
>> It just means your P/S is running at half power most of the time.
> Which may be a good idea, since then it’d be running at optimum efficiency.


Yep.  I would not buy a P/S that didn't have at least 30 or 40% of
headroom.  If nothing else, as the P/S ages, it wouldn't be so stressed
on those older components.  Also, I would only do that if I know I won't
ever add to that rig.  I usually aim for half load or even a little
less.  I almost always end up adding something or upgrading something
before I retire a system. 


>
>> On my current P/S, it is a 650 watt unit.  According to my UPS, my entire
>> computer system pulls about 150 watts idle and about 160 to 170 when
>> compiling the crap out of something like GCC, Libreoffice etc.  Now that
>> includes my monitor, router, modem and speakers.  If I were to guess, the
>> puter itself only pulls around 100 to 120 watts.
> Getting OT here:
> Didn’t you say (waay back) that you run AMD? Because in that case those
> numbers don’t add up (they also don’t for a medium-range intel). 120 W @
> idle (which in itself is a lot) and then only 30-ish more for full CPU load?
>

I got those numbers from the UPS.  Just for giggles, I disconnected my
A/C, plugged the UPS into that plug and measured them with a clamp on
meter at the breaker box.  Doing the math, I got about the same numbers
as the UPS gives me.  The difference might run a night light, maybe. 
The most I have ever seen this system pull is about 200 watts.  I think
I was printing and doing some updates at the same time.  I remember
thinking about that being the biggest load I ever seen.   Oh, my A/C is
on a dedicated circuit.  Nothing else is on that line.  The plug the UPS
usually plugs into only has my TV and some lights on it. 

From the UPS and confirmed by a clamp on meter just in the past few
minutes. 

Idle:  146 watts
Load, well into a gcc compile with all four cores running at close to
100% and drive activity:  186 watts

Keep in mind, my A/C is off and it's warming up here.  If I listen
close, I can tell the fans are spinning a bit faster.  Of course, it's
hard to hear those huge fans.  That HAF-932 is quiet but still moves a
lot of air.


>> My power supply has some overkill issues
>> for sure.  I could likely easily use a 300 watt unit but would likely
>> replace with a 400 watt since they are more available.  Technically, I
>> could use a 200 watt if the power supply was a well built model.
> If only such models were actually available. The lowest value you can get in
> a reasonable-quality build is 300 W, which is far too much for silent, small
> home PCs for simple usess like office or media centre. Such mini systems
> barely reach 20 W. Even at full load they won’t get past 60 or 70 W. This is
> just at the start of the 80+ efficiency range wich begins at 20%.
>

That was my point.  Most P/Ss that are that size or smaller than that
are either old or junky made.  Basically, something I would not buy or
recommend.  Finding a quality P/S that is 350 or less would be
difficult.  I don't recall seeing any in a long while, not that I have
actually tried to find one tho. 

Keep in mind, I didn't build this system to be green.  When I first
built this thing, I figured it would pull at least double what it
actually does if not much more.  My old rig pulled about 400 watts I
think and it is nothing compared to the speed this rig has.  While
having more processing power, it sure doesn't use more energy. 

Dale

:-)  :-)