Finding out how much power your PC is using.

Stuart · 30-11-2006, 20:20

I don't know how accurate it is, but a company called "Local Cooling" has released an application that tells you how much power your PC is currently using.

Also, it enhances XP's own power saving features, giving you more control..

http://www.localcooling.com

dragon · 30-11-2006, 20:28

its worth noting on the deafult settings it shuts down your pc after 4 hours of not being used...

I installed to take a look at it, then removed it again as i tend to shutdown my pc when im not gonna be using it anyway.

jrhnewark · 30-11-2006, 23:01

Looks like a clever little idea, if just to get people thinking.

dragon · 30-11-2006, 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrhnewark

Looks like a clever little idea, if just to get people thinking.

i have a feeling it takes the typical estimate for a harddrive, graphics card.etc etc and therefore isnt all that accurate.

Gareth · 30-11-2006, 23:43

I know some tree-hugging hippies at work that would cream themselves knowing how many bushes they could save by not having their PCs switched on.

greencreeper · 01-12-2006, 00:33

Doesn't thermal expansion/compression shorten the life span of components? So yeah you save electricity, but on the down side, you end up filling landfill sites with your PCs that have not had a full life.

Druchii · 01-12-2006, 00:35

Ah, my overclocked machine wouldn't be much fun to calculate then really...

squirrel1970 · 01-12-2006, 00:46

My six year old PC would like to laugh at this point... ok, so it doesn't do games, but then again neither do I.. I do on the other comp

I thought ctrl + alt + del was the way to find out how much power (assuming you mean CPU) you're using...?
Progs vary... so, your cpu usage will go up and down....

How much memory do you have? more ram is better than a little... I've got 384Mb of ram in this comp and it takes a fair whack before it starts crawling............ (700mhz celeron processor)

And most modern computers tend to go a little bit mental when they're overheated for whatever reason... but, if you look after stuff, it lasts a bit longer.

Depends on your specifications too.. generally, you don't need an external application to tell you about your pc.. just ctrl + alt + del = there's a couple of screens, one of them tells you how much CPU you're using...

and from start, you can stop some apps running by typing in 'msconfig' and if you want to know your specs, type in 'dxdiag'

Druchii · 01-12-2006, 00:48

He means power draw.

Delta Whiskey · 01-12-2006, 10:55

If you really want to find out how much power you're using you need one of these:

Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor (L61AQ)
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...rce=1&doy=1m12

I bought one a few months ago. My system (tower, modem, router, monitor etc) uses 750-800 watts.

DW

AbyssUnderground · 01-12-2006, 17:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta Whiskey

If you really want to find out how much power you're using you need one of these:

Plug-In Mains Power & Energy Monitor (L61AQ)
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...rce=1&doy=1m12

I bought one a few months ago. My system (tower, modem, router, monitor etc) uses 750-800 watts.

DW

Ive also got one of those. My PC and monitor uses 130w combined.

You can use http://www.abyssunderground.co.uk/ca...nningcosts.php along with one of those meters to find out how much it is costing you to run too.

Skatoony · 02-12-2006, 09:47

Well it's rather pointless for me since I take part in distributed computing, so the only thing that'll be turning off is my monitor (which already did in the first place).

EDIT: It is badly incorrect with the graphics card usage. It says my 7800 GTX uses 20 watts - if it did, it wouldn't need the extra PCI-E power (the PCI-E port provides up to 60W, a 7800 GTX underload uses 100W)