Program for displaying current power consumption?

[redsquirrel0249]

Before considering new parts to put in my system, I'd like to know my current power consumption. I know I can find the estimated consumption for a given CPU or graphics card, but is there a program available that shows current wattage in or wattage used? Thanks in advance.

[minibois]

1 minute ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Before considering new parts to put in my system, I'd like to know my current power consumption. I know I can find the estimated consumption for a given CPU or graphics card, but is there a program available that shows current wattage in or wattage used? Thanks in advance.

HWMonitor mentions power usage on certain CPU's and GPU's, but that cannot be seen as very accurate.

The best way to measure power use is directly from the wall, using a device like a kill-a-watt.

 

Alternatively, you could kind of guess the current power use, by looking at review for your CPU/GPU and seeing how much they would use in 100% usage scenarios.

[Ankerson]

14 minutes ago, minibois said:

The best way to measure power use is directly from the wall, using a device like a kill-a-watt.

 

They give a good general idea, but don't show everything like the power spikes etc...

 

Takes better equipment that if one wats to be accurate...

 

Corsairs PSU link software used with the RMI, HXI and AXI is much better in that respect.

[svmlegacy]

17 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Before considering new parts to put in my system, I'd like to know my current power consumption. I know I can find the estimated consumption for a given CPU or graphics card, but is there a program available that shows current wattage in or wattage used? Thanks in advance.

Where are you concerned about the power usage? At the wall, or by the components themselves? VRM's and PSU's aren't 100% efficient, and things like drives and fans can make a big different to idle consumption.

[redsquirrel0249]

11 minutes ago, minibois said:

using a device like a kill-a-watt

I'll consider that on that end. I suppose I could use that stat and factor in the theoretical efficiency of my power supply to calculate my system's power usage.

Just now, Ankerson said:

power spikes etc

That's not really what I'm looking for, because under a consistent load/benchmark, I don't need a second to second analysis. Would just like to know on average how much power my PSU is converting in a scenario where my hardware is under a heavy load

 

[redsquirrel0249]

Just now, svmlegacy said:

At the wall, or by the components themselves

Definitely by the components, or in other words, how much my power supply is generating when my components are being mostly fully utilized. Though it seems the solution would be to measure wall wattage and multiply that by the efficiency of the power supply.

[Ankerson]

1 minute ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

I'll consider that on that end. I suppose I could use that stat and factor in the theoretical efficiency of my power supply to calculate my system's power usage.

That's not really what I'm looking for, because under a consistent load/benchmark, I don't need a second to second analysis. Would just like to know on average how much power my PSU is converting in a scenario where my hardware is under a heavy load

 

 

But you can't get an average without looking at the spikes etc.

 

 

[Ankerson]

4 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Definitely by the components, or in other words, how much my power supply is generating when my components are being mostly fully utilized. Though it seems the solution would be to measure wall wattage and multiply that by the efficiency of the power supply.

 

Explain the purpose of what you want exactly.... And how you are going to use it and what for exactly.

[redsquirrel0249]

1 minute ago, Ankerson said:

can't get an average without looking at the spikes

Technically, but if a wattage meter pings say every 2 seconds, that's more than sufficient for determining an average system load ±10 watts in my estimation. I just want to estimate (key word estimate) my current system load to compare to the listed hardware TDP to then make that comparison to the TDP of parts I'd like to buy. This way, I get a more realistic estimate of how TDP stacks up to real use-case power consumption.

[Ankerson]

2 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Technically, but if a wattage meter pings say every 2 seconds, that's more than sufficient for determining an average system load ±10 watts in my estimation. I just want to estimate (key word estimate) my current system load to compare to the listed hardware TDP to then make that comparison to the TDP of parts I'd like to buy. This way, I get a more realistic estimate of how TDP stacks up to real use-case power consumption.

 

OK...

 

I can tell you it's not even remotely close... 

 

That why people tend to add in a buffer wattage wise...

 

But carry on.

 

 

[svmlegacy]

23 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Definitely by the components, or in other words, how much my power supply is generating when my components are being mostly fully utilized. Though it seems the solution would be to measure wall wattage and multiply that by the efficiency of the power supply.

Even that solution is only a ballpark figure. It'll get you within maybe 50% error or so, but low end gets really hairy. Definitely not within 10 watts. The efficiency is related to power draw, and quite significantly so. Realistically the power estimations are going to be a better calculation.

[Guest]

48 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

Before considering new parts to put in my system, I'd like to know my current power consumption. I know I can find the estimated consumption for a given CPU or graphics card, but is there a program available that shows current wattage in or wattage used? Thanks in advance.

Because that would require communication with the PSU itself, the answer is "no"... unless you have a Corsair "i" enabled PSU.

 

Curious... if you're buying new parts, why do you want to know what your power consumption is NOW?

 

[redsquirrel0249]

4 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

Definitely not within 10 watts

Good to know.

4 minutes ago, svmlegacy said:

efficiency is related to power draw

Yes, there are curves for certain power supplies, so this could be used if you could measure wattage accurately. But since you can't, seems like that's out of the question.

 

2 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

the answer is "no"... unless you have a Corsair "i" enabled PSU

That's an easy answer, didn't know about those.

 

7 minutes ago, jonnyGURU said:

why do you want to know what your power consumption is NOW

That just seemed like a simple way to determine whether or not I'd need to budget for a new power supply if the requirements are close before actually getting all the parts installed and having crashes. Seems simpler to just plan on always having ample headroom, though.

[Ankerson]

6 minutes ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

That just seemed like a simple way to determine whether or not I'd need to budget for a new power supply if the requirements are close before actually getting all the parts installed and having crashes. Seems simpler to just plan on always having ample headroom, though.

 

There are PSU calculators, Seasonic is one of the best ones.... You can even add in overclocking...

 

They build in a buffer....  And they really aren't as bad as some make them out to be...

[redsquirrel0249]

2 hours ago, Ankerson said:

PSU calculators

I know. They're a perfectly reasonable option, I was just curious about an alternative, now I know there isn't one.

[Ankerson]

1 hour ago, redsquirrel0249 said:

I know. They're a perfectly reasonable option, I was just curious about an alternative, now I know there isn't one.

 

It's almost impossible to narrow it all down without lab equipment really.