I use an inexpensive smart plug rated at 16 amps / 2350 watt, plenty for 2 gaming PCs

hi all,

is there a good program i can install on my pc or a device i can check to see how much power my pc is consuming, ie total cpu/gpu/HDD etc or this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electricity-Monitor-Consumption-Analyzer-Backlight/dp/B0B4R2PPLZ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=12AOV7VSHZU0G&keywords=power+consumption+monitor&qid=1685792541&sprefix=power+consumption%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-6

thanks,

rob

Just curious as to why you need to calculate the energy usage of a computer monitor?

What's the preferred way to measure system or CPU power usage, aside from "at the wall"? HWinfo64? :unsure: Others include, but are not limited to: power consumption meter at the wall (between wall socket and PC power plug). <- Have that (namely MacLean Energy MCE06 230V/16A wattmeter). Bought it prior buying UPS, to know how beefy of an UPS i need. Another option is UPS that has LCD display. So you can look exactly how much power is delivered via UPS to PC. Aka how much power your PC consumes. For added convenience, UPS that connects to PC via USB cable, so you can check the power consumption from software, either dedicated one or from HWinfo64. <- Have that too (CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD). Overall, there is no "preferred" one. Use what you trust.

The meter is probably OK and the wattage figure is likely fairly accurate at the time it was taken - and the computer was most likely not doing much at that point in time.

The figure of 3.5kWh is meaningless without context - ie over what time the measurement is taken but seems unlikely or does not equate with your 80-90 watts. Assuming your system uses 85 watts, that means a draw of 85watts per hour or 2.04kWh per 24 day. Of-course, if you were measuring usage over an extended period, then stopped and looked at your kWh reading and wattage, this makes sense as the computer was using a lot more power (probably 200 watts or so) when active, but very little when you were not working on it and looking at the meter.

There are a few things to take into account -

1. When a computer is idle it uses a fraction of the power that it would use when under load. (Think gaming maxing out CPU and GPU)
2. A PSU needs to be able to handle start-up/inrush currents, when a device is turned on. Very often this sudden surge of power is very high compared to operating current, but still needs to be handled by the PSU.
3. It is unclear what components you compared your system to, however more powerful does not neccessarily mean more power is consumed - particularly in the case of newer generations of hardware compared with older ones, or things like motherboards and disks.

If you think about it, a typical i3 laptop uses less then 45 watts, so 80 watts is entirely reasonable for a system which is not doing heavy GPU and CPU calculations. Your CPU is designed around 65watts UNDER LOAD, and this would likely be the biggest consumer of electricity. When not under load, they use very, very little power.

From another POV - For practical purposes, the amount of energy a computer uses is roughly equivalent to the amount of heat it dissipates. Which is putting out more heat - your hairdryers or computer?