How to measure PC power consumption

With the power of the processor more and more, the demand for power is more and more high, "to find the object of matching", in fact, the purchase of power is not so? However, it is believed that most of our friends are not sure about the power supply until they enter the installation shop, because while the power consumption of the processor can be found from the official Intel and AMD websites, there are not many people who can actually find the Web site, not to mention the power consumption of other parts. In fact, we can use the following two methods to calculate the power consumption of various parts online.

Software calculation method

Here you may wish to use the Pcapex website Pcapex PSU calculator software to help, this software can be selected according to the user's accessories automatically "calculate" the relevant accessories power consumption value, but also more accurate.

Currently the latest version of Pcapex PSU Calculator is 1.2, the download page is http://files.pcapex.com/download.php?file=19, click the "I Agree" button at the bottom of the page, After downloading, you need to install to run the program. What you need to know here is that you need to reboot your system after installation to display the interface properly (Figure 1), otherwise you will only see an interface without a drop-down list box.

Pc/apex PSU Calculator Although it is a pure English interface, but it is very simple to use, the entire interface is a variety of accessories icon, we can follow the following steps to simulate the calculation.

1th Step, select Accessories

The left from top to bottom is the processor, memory, video card, optical storage devices, the right from top to bottom is the system fan, card reader, floppy drive, hard disk, sound card, etc., you only need to choose the appropriate accessories and quantity from the Drop-down list box, select Accessories in the process, the lower right corner of the "esimated wattage" The power value of the selected accessory will be displayed immediately.

Selection of ① processors

It should be noted that although "Processor" offers the option of Athlon X2 Toledo, Athlon, X2 Manchester, there is no Intel Pentium D processor Choice, so you need to select "2" after "X" Only (Figure 2). Some friends may feel that the processor's power consumption is so high that this is because the processor and the motherboard are put together for calculation.

Selection of ⑵ memory

Believe that most friends will choose dual-channel memory, the proposed choice of "DDR2 SDRAM", As for "X" after the number, of course, should be 2 or 4.

Selection of ⑶ graphics card

If you need to assemble SLI or Crossfire, select "2" or "4" in the Drop-down list box after "X", unfortunately the video card provided here seems to be less, for example, ATI X1600 is not found here.

Selection of ④ optical memory

If you plan to match two optical storage devices, then select "Optical#1" on the right side of "optical#2" to choose, if not this plan, of course, is set to "None".

2nd step, set up the onboard equipment

Now the motherboard functions more and more powerful, many have the corresponding accessories, please according to their own requirements in the "on-board or add-on Devices" section of the set, as long as the check can be. Of course, do not forget the USB and FireWire settings, although these devices do not require too high power consumption, but can not be omitted.

3rd Step, overclocking prediction

For those who like overclocking, you should also check the bottom right corner of the "overclocking" checkbox, where you can manually specify the processor, memory, video card overclocking amplitude, set up here can be predicted after overclocking may bring a power boost (Figure 3). Of course, if you're not going to be overclocking, don't worry about it.

All kinds of accessories are finally assembled and finished, but the lower right corner of the power consumption is also high, although the data here for security considerations, there may be some conservative, but the 500W power and powerful radiator is still necessary, in addition to the calculation of the power consumption value, here will also indicate whether the need to choose to comply with the ATX 12v 2.0 specification of the power supply.

On-line side algorithm

Pcapex PSU Calculator Although the use of the look is not complicated, but the latest hardware support is not very timely, but also download, install the trouble, why not try to try extreme online measurement method?

Visit http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp, which is a Web site that provides online side-test power (Figure 4), and extreme PSU Calculator's operation is really quite simple, As long as you make the relevant selections in each Drop-down list box and check box, the corresponding power values are automatically displayed after the "Your recommended PSU wattage:".

The use of online measurement of this site and Pcapex PSU calculator The software is similar, we can choose according to their own needs, and then fill in the list of accessories, you can get the results shown in Figure 5, here to introduce a few more interesting places:

The initial bit is not o: If you look at Figure 4, you will find that "Your recommended PSU Wattage:" The power consumption initial value shown later is not 0, why? Originally, before the beginning of the matching hardware, EXtreme PSU Calculator has the motherboard, keyboard, mouse, the power of the three accessories automatically given, of course, this initial value will not be too big access.

Overclock my CPU: overclocking option. After the check can be set the processor's initial frequency and voltage values, respectively, MHz, v Unit for manual overclocking power prediction.

As for the Water cooling section of the right-hand page, Water pumps, Water cooling kit, Pumprelay is a very expensive water-cooled kit that friends don't need to think about.

Of course, if the above calculation is still trouble, then simply go to buy brand machine, which is unnecessary to spend the brain, of course, pay the money will also increase a lot ...