Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
No adding required, just go here, or to any other the other power calculators on the net, googlable with the phrase "pc power supply calculator". |
A perfect example of why computer assemblers need 600+ watt power supplies for a system that only consumes 200+ watts.
We know that IDE disk drives can be powered from a USB port. That means a drive cannot draw more than 2.5 watts maximum. I added one IDE disk drive to the calculator. Not even an IDE interface card. Wattage increased from 88 to 105 watts. Had I added the interface card, it might have added another 14 watts. It says my disk drive consumes 17 watts? A 5400 RPM disk must not even consume 2.5 watt? How can this be if the calculator is so responsible and useful?
A disk drive interface card does not consumer 14 watts. It does not even consume half that.
The calculator also says these are continuously available - not maximum - numbers. So a disk drive that at maximum can only consume 2.5 watts may (according to the calculator) consume more than 17 watts? And its interface also is a toasty 15 watts? Yes. That is what the calculator says. Overly excessive numbers so that the power supply will be grossly more than required.
Thermaltake is selling power supplies to computer assemblers whose eyes glaze over with numbers. Your calculator says a less than 2.5 watt drive consumes more than 17 watts. Another example of why computer assemblers recommend 800 watt supplies for systems that barely consume 200 watts.
But again, wattage is useless for defining power requirements. Current draw for each voltage is relevant. Since consumers and that calculator cannot do that, then all simply provides a wattage numbers that is twice (or six times) more than required.
How many watts does the gaming video card consume? Telling us that the number is big is classic junk science. What exactly are the numbers for video cards in the past five years? As I say often and bluntly, useless claims have no numbers. Informed claims also provide perspective. How much current for each voltage was and is now required for video cards?
Demonstrated by the power supply is why so many recommendations for computers are often uninformed. How to separate the useful recommendations from hearsay: subjective and bogus claims provide no numbers. Or hype numbers from hearsay without any reasons to believe those numbers. Due to so much knowledge from hearsay, the same computer using a 200+ supply provided by engineers is also found with an 800 watt supply recommended by computer assemblers informed by a Thermaltake calculator. A majority will recommend an 800 watt supply. And other unnecessary components.