M0nk3m4n

I have a measly 500watt Rosewill Power supply that cost me $44.99.
10 amp is the rating on the damn PSU! How crazy is that!? Seriously!
That's the same as a gall danged AIR CONDITIONER! A LARGE ONE!

I mean, come on I have an old PC (150MHz/64Mb ram) with a 300w
PSU that is rated like 1.8 amp or 2.2 or something like that...
See that's efficient!! What happened to that kinda product?
That PC woulda been one bad mutha the year it was built.(1995)

My point here is, instead of making things more efficient, they're out
there building things that use so much energy thatcha ain't gonna be
able to use your brand new system cause it's tripping the breaker!!

Who agrees that the companies need to work on making new stuff
more efficient!? Cause they sure as hell aren't trying right now!

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mkk

I'm guessing that you are measuring the power draw with some metering tool there, and if so then yes todays PC's typically draw much more power than the ones from 10 years back. Fortunately they are also much, much, much faster.

The power conversion efficiency of a powersupply can certainly make a difference and as long as we avoid the very low cost supplies of today the overall efficiency has in fact improved too. Today it's good too look for PSU's labeled with 80Plus certification. I don't think there has yet been a 80Plus certified product that is of poor component quality and they aren't too expensive anymore either. For instance the Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400W is currently $59.99(49.99 with rebate) on Newegg and has more than enough capacity for most single-GPU high performance systems.

Matth

On the chart, 115/230V, 10A/6A. With a selector switch, that means it's passive or no PFC.

The Antec Earthwatts 500W (80Plus certified): 100-240V, ~ 9A (and this is active PFC).


The current rating given for main input is presumably a surge figure or fuse rating.

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Tyrsonswood

Like matth said, it's a fuse rating...... that 10 amps is how much the PSU can draw before it cooks something. (hopefully a fuse cooks first) This doesn't mean it draws 10 amps all the time. How much it draws depends on how much stuff you have in there (drives, mem, video cards, etc.) the more stuff, the closer to max you would get.

chances are if you were drawing 9-10 amps it would make a great space heater.... I doubt you have it that loaded down. You would have to use a power meter of some sort to know what you are drawing from the wall outlet, but it's nowhere near max.

Things are more efficient these days, a 10 amp PSU from back in the day would not fit in the same enclosure..... it would be huge, and a computer capable of what your system does now, used to fill a whole room. Said room would have used much more than 10 amps, more like 100 amps, and needed to be air conditioned which was additional wattage above what the system used.

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M0nk3m4n

Hmm...I'll hafta grab my meter and test the current, but from what I understand that is (unless otherwise noted)
the place where the companies are "supposed" to label the constant energy draw, dunno if that's still how it works.
I'm probly living in the past too much to know the current standards 'n shit for how they label all of that crap.
But I have some electric pump/watercooler motors which have a max current (starting current) labelled separately.
I'm at least pretty sure that there are standards which would have them show both max & average current draws.

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OldBuzzard

With AMP RATINGS, you have to understand that what they normally list is the maximum that the component is capable of supplying, or demanding.

Ampherage is variable. Kind of like MPG rating for the engine in your car. If you are asking for a lot of performance from an engine it uses more fuel (amps). If you are idling or just crusing down the highway it needs less fuel (amps). That would be for what a component like a video card would need.

For a PSU's output, it's more like the HP rating for the engine. It may be capable of producing 200HP, but it normally produces less, since you aren't always running it at it's maximum.

So for VOLTAGE, think engine SIZE. For AMPS, think HP or MPG,

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Mac Daddy

I like your analogy man and think you have it about covered

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M0nk3m4n

I agree with Mac Daddy, very good analogy there.

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