re: How much power does my PC use?

John A Thomson — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:12:20 GMT

Nice find. Video was very interesting with some useful stats and observations.

Maplins do a very good power and energy monitor for £10. Check it out readers in the UK who'd like to do something similar:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=38343&doy=15m2

I've had one for ages and they are very cool! It is a real revelation when you look down and actually see the power a computer or other appliance is actually using.

p.s. Are you sure that isn't a Linux geek that sneeked in to torture test Windows boxes? He's got the hair style to be one :-D.

re: How much power does my PC use?

Nik — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:53:29 GMT

The Maplins gizmo is superb; most illuminating.

For example, my old eMac (before it died) drew 9W on standby... and 9W when "switched off".

On PCs, enabling S3 standby (rather than S1) in the BIOS can reduce standby power significantly.

There are also some similar devices that measure the overall power usage for the house, using a clamp sensor on the mains feed.