High Wattage PSUs - Do they consume more power?

[nicklmg]

Amazon: http://geni.us/4Cxo

NCIX: http://bit.ly/1bd3ZTx

 

If the number on the sticker is bigger, will the number from your wall be as well? Let's find out!

 

 

 

[Imakuni]

Is it really supposed to be unlisted?

[Marinatall_Ironside]

I really liked this video. Many people, including my parents, think that the bigger number on the PSU = more power consumed (I have an AX1200i right now, does it consume 1.2 KW?). Hell no. I even knew this and this video really backs up my claims as Luke demonstrated in the video

 

Thanks and thanks again for the high-quality videos.

[Shakaza]

1 minute ago, Imakuni said:

Is it really supposed to be unlisted?

For the moment, yes. They post them to LTT before making them public. How long that lasts, I don't know, however.

[nicklmg]

2 minutes ago, Imakuni said:

Is it really supposed to be unlisted?

Yes?

We post at ~12am PST. Videos (almost) always go to the forum a couple hours early.

[Imakuni]

Just now, nicklmg said:

Yes?

We post at ~12am PST. Videos (almost) always go to the forum a couple hours early.

Ah okay. I've never really been awake at those times to actually know.

[nicklmg]

1 minute ago, Imakuni said:

Ah okay. I've never really been awake at those times to actually know.

Well now you know

[QueenDemetria]

I could have sworn that using a PSU with X amount of wat's is wat is used. /s

 

I do like this new show though, only kinda interests me(been there done that I know everything blah blah blah), but I can see it being helpful and informative to a lot of viewers. I hope to see some cool mythbusting in the future .

[Marinatall_Ironside]

1 minute ago, QueenDemetria said:

I could have sworn that using a PSU with X amount of wat's is wat is used. /s

 

I do like this new show though, only kinda interests me(been there done that I know everything blah blah blah), but I can see it being helpful and informative to a lot of viewers. I hope to see some cool mythbusting in the future .

Yeah I hope so too! This is one that really busted a myth and I started a (failed) thread that compiles PSU myths, and one of the myths was that the bigger number on the PSU = more power drawn from the wall.

[Enderman]

Here is the problem with this video, maybe someone from LMG will read this:

 

The PSUs used had different efficiency rating.

That means that the tests have multiple variables in them, both the efficiency and % load.

You cannot properly test one variable if you have another variable interfering with your test results

 

The proper way to test "Higher wattage PSUs: Do they consume more power?" would be to use the same efficiency across all PSUs, then compare them all at the same load and idle.

 

At idle you will see lower wattage PSUs consume less power, due to the power usage of the PC being closer to the peak efficiency (usually around 50%)

Compared to the higher power PSUs which have a lower efficiency at very low % loads

 

On the other hand, at load a PSU which is approx. 2x as powerful as the load PC power consumption will be more efficient than a lower wattage PSU which is working past its 50% load.

 

So basically this test needs to be done with only one variable, which is % load, and not multiple variables including efficiency ratings (which basically change the entire efficiency curve).

[nicklmg]

19 minutes ago, Enderman said:

-snip-

Luke like... super addressed this in the video lol. I'm not saying you're wrong, just saying that anyone watching this video should be well aware of the difference in efficiency ratings.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

Just now, nicklmg said:

Luke like... super addressed this in the video lol. I'm not saying you're wrong, just saying that anyone watching this video should be well aware of the difference in efficiency ratings.

Agreed. I watched the video all the way through and he made that disclaimer very clearly

[LoreBeast]

Very informative it dispelled my believes on psu draw. Continue with this new series its good 

[iPolymer]

I was led to believe that the closer the PSU wattage is to the system wattage the better. 

[N.tony]

So, couldn't the "weird" placement of the 1200W PSU be attributed to the fact that it's THE workbench PSU, meaning it's in constant use compared to the rest? I would like a follow-up, where Luke takes same PSUs, that have worked a different amount of time, to see how the efficiency degrades over time.

 

When I was shopping for a PSU last time, the rule of thumb I read somewhere is that every year of use the safe maximal power is decreased by ~5-10%, which makes me think the efficiency would drop about the same.

[linuxfan66]

It should be noted that 230v power has a superior efficiency rating across the board...

[captain cactus]

Ok, now then.

 

Test the difference in power drawn from the wall with the same wattage of PSU, now with different 80+ ratings. In other words, take out one of the two variables in this video, which is the different wattages of the tested PSUs.

[thexzenon]

Great video, learnt something new today. I like the idea of the series, can't wait to see more.

 

54 minutes ago, linuxfan66 said:

It should be noted that 230v power has a superior efficiency rating across the board...

Can you explain a bit more? Sounds really interesting. 

 

 

[linuxfan66]

21 minutes ago, crisro996 said:

 

22 minutes ago, crisro996 said:

Great video, learnt something new today. I like the idea of the series, can't wait to see more.

 

Can you explain a bit more? Sounds really interesting. 

 

 

according to this and other research combined in my head.  240v has less resistance to deal with due to half the current per voltage. Second 240v conversion is apparently designed more efficient by requirement. But i could be wrong

[dom1310df]

@nicklmg The links in the description of the video on YouTube are broken; I just get a forum error page

[nicklmg]

24 minutes ago, dom1310df said:

@nicklmg The links in the description of the video on YouTube are broken; I just get a forum error page

Bah, YouTube is so finnicky sometimes...

If you make an edit within the video viewing page (not the creator studio) to the description, it screws up all of your links with ellipses. So frustrating.

Thanks for letting me know, it's fixed now

[aw_]

C19 is not proprietary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C19.2FC20_coupler

[WillG]

32 minutes ago, aw_ said:

C19 is not proprietary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C19.2FC20_coupler

I don't think Luke has worked in a data center or with blade chassis. 

[derpyapple]

Hello, Luke I thought your video was nice anyway. You should do is Ethernet better than Wi-Fi

EDIT- @Slick

Edited February 15, 2016 by derpyapple
I wanted to Tag Luke

[Enderman]

9 hours ago, nicklmg said:

Luke like... super addressed this in the video lol. I'm not saying you're wrong, just saying that anyone watching this video should be well aware of the difference in efficiency ratings.

He did, but that completely made all the tests irrelevant since they dont answer the question of "high wattage PSUs do they consume more power"

Because if you compare a 600W PSU with a 1200W PSU with the same efficiency, at idle the larger PSU will consume more power

Also if you compare those two PSUs with a PC that only uses 300W at load, then the larger PSU will still use more power

 

SO basically the video was "here are these tests which dont show any pattern at all" and "bigger PSUs may or may not consume more power" and "go learn about efficiency curves yourself"

 

And I'm pretty sure that a lot of the people on youtube are not going to bother to research how efficiency curves and % load affects the power consumption of a PSU