eXtreme Power Supply Calculator update

mnemonik23 · Post by **mnemonik23** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:04 am

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Update: ATI R600 and GeForce 8800 GTX, Intel Quad CPUs and latest processors from AMD and Intel!

The following changes were made:

Graphics Cards:

- added GeForce 8800GTX - power consumption data is based on a few online sources (wattage value is proximal, not final)
- added ATI R600 - power consumption data is based on a few online sources (wattage value is proximal, not final)
- added ATI Radeon X1300 XT
- added ATI Radeon X1650 Pro
- added Radeon X1900XT (R580+ 256MB)
- added ATI Radeon X1950 Pro

Processors:

- added AMD Opteron 165 1800 MHz Denmark 1.30v
- added AMD Opteron 165 1800 MHz Denmark 1.35v
- added AMD Opteron 170 2000 MHz Denmark 1.30v
- added AMD Opteron 170 2000 MHz Denmark 1.35v
- added AMD Opteron 175 2200 MHz Denmark 1.30v
- added AMD Opteron 175 2200 MHz Denmark 1.35v
- added AMD Opteron 180 2400 MHz Denmark 1.30v
- added AMD Opteron 180 2400 MHz Denmark 1.35v
- added AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2800 MHz AM2 Windsor
- added AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2800 MHz AM2 Windsor
- added AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3000 MHz AM2 Windsor
- added Opteron 1210 1800 MHz Santa Ana
- added Opteron 1212 2000 MHz Santa Ana
- added Opteron 1214 2200 MHz Santa Ana
- added Opteron 1216 2400 MHz Santa Ana
- added Opteron 1218 2600 MHz Santa Ana
- added Opteron 1220 SE 2800 MHz Santa Ana

- added Socket F AMD

- added AMD Athlon 64 FX-70 2600 MHz Windsor
- added AMD Athlon 64 FX-72 2800 MHz Windsor
- added AMD Athlon 64 FX-74 3000 MHz Windsor
- added Opteron 2210 1800 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2210 HE 1800 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2212 2000 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2212 HE 2000 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2214 2200 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2214 HE 2200 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2216 2400 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2216 HE 2400 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2218 2600 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 2220 SE 2800 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8212 2000 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8212 HE 2000 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8214 2200 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8214 HE 2200 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8216 2400 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8216 HE 2400 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8218 2600 MHz Santa Rosa
- added Opteron 8220 SE 2800 MHz Santa Rosa

- added Intel Xeon 7150N 3500 MHz Tulsa
- added Intel Xeon 5148 2330 MHz Woodcrest
- added Intel Xeon 5310 1600 MHz Clovertown
- added Intel Xeon 5320 1860 MHz Clovertown
- added Intel Xeon 5345 2330 MHz Clovertown
- added Intel Xeon 5355 2660 MHz Clovertown

- added Intel Core 2 Quadro Q6600 2400 MHz Conroe
- added Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2660 MHz Conroe
- added Intel Xeon 3040 1860 MHz Allendale
- added Intel Xeon 3050 2130 MHz Allendale
- added Intel Xeon 3060 2400 MHz Conroe
- added Intel Xeon 3070 2660 MHz Conroe
- added Intel Xeon 3110 2130 MHz Kentsfield
- added Intel Xeon 3120 2400 MHz Kentsfield

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:07 pm

I'm not a big fan of these calculators, in general, but this one surprised me.

I was prepared to write a "This Calculator Sucks Just Like All the Other Ones" post, and to prove my point I went to the site and built two configurations, one low power, and one high power that I have actual power draw figures for. I was planning on using it's over-inflated recommendations as evidence for how useless it was....

Only problem was, it nailed the max system wattage almost exactly.

The calculator's estimate for the "high power" system, built around a P-D 915, came in at 3% over what the actual, tested draw is. And the low-powered Geode system's estimate was off by only 1 1/2%.

I think the next useful upgrade would be to have it produce estimated line draws. The math is obviously already in the database. The line draw numbers are actually more useful in sizing a PSU than total wattage typically is.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:26 pm

thanks for testing it rusty, ive always wrote off all of those calculator sites as crap also. Its nice to see someone finally got it right and isnt just being paid off by some PSU maker to hype the need for over inflated wattage psu's so they can make more money.

i put in my new low power system i made. it told me my recommended PSU wattage was 173w. Now i assume this is the wattage PSU i need, not my actuall PSU power draw. is there a way to figure out from the recommended psu wattage what the max power draw of the system is?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:34 pm

just put in probably the fastest system i would ever personally build.

Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4ghz
Geforce 7900gt
2x sticks of ddr2 memory
1x sata hard drive
1x optical drive
2x USB devices (keyboard/mouse and iPod)
fan controller
3x 120mm fans (included the one in the PSU, not sure if i should)

i put 100% both for cpu utilization and power supply utilization.

only recommends a 250w PSU for me.

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:48 pm

Code: Select all

System Type:                      Single Processor 
CPU:                              AMD Sempron 2600+ 1600 MHz Palermo 
Overclocked:                      1600 MHz, 1.05 V 
CPU Utilization (TDP):            100% TDP 
   
RAM:                              1 Stick DDR SDRAM 
Video Card:                       NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 
Video Type:                       Single Card 
   
SATA HDD:                         1 HDD 
   
DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive:              1 Drive 
   
Sound Blaster w/ Front Bay:       Yes 
Additional PCI Card (avg):        1 Card 
Fan Controller:                   Yes 
   
Fans   
Regular:                          1 Fan 80mm;  1 Fan 92mm;  1 Fan 120mm;   
   
Cold Cathodes:                    1 Cathode 
   
Motherboard, keyboard and mouse:  Yes 
   
PSU Utilization:                  100 % 
   
Total:                            203 Watts

I don't have anything to measure my systems real power draw. But this seems high to me. Even removing the video card only dropped it by about 10W. The SB Live! Drive appears to add 20W??? That seems high.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:33 pm

The DVD-RW is rated for 25 watts, which I think is slightly excessive. IIRC, the "basic" 32 MB video card is rated for 15 watts, which is also not necessarily the case.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:09 pm

i think the "Power Supply Utilization" is broken.

mabey i'm just readint it wrong, but the way i think about it is, if i put it at 80%, it will calculate my "recommended wattage PSU" for the system i input'd to have my PSU run at 80% of its maximum power output capabilities.

So.. if my system requires 250watts, and i want to find out my recommended PSU if i want it to run at 80% of its max power output, then it SHOULD recommend me a 312w PSU, but instead it says 200watts.

so either you should reword it from "recommended psu wattage" to "total system power draw" or change the "power supply utilization" so that it "recommends" a psu based on what % of the max power output of a psu you would buy will run the system at.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:55 pm

It's not too hot for my rig.. It measured draw at over 500w. It's a single video card, 3 hard drives, and an amd opteron. Actual draw is under 300w.

Please, please, please, use amps on the +12v next time. please. Anyone can buy a 700w power supply with 16a on +12v and have problems, while others may buy a 400w supply with 34a.

please?

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:35 am

BB, the real draw of that Sempron rig would be under 100W. No PSU calculator is going to get it 100% right 100% of the time, so you're better off using your own judgement and all the info that is accumulated on SPCR; well-informed humans are better than computers in this case.

Devonavar · Post by **Devonavar** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:35 pm

Ryan wrote:Anyone can buy a 700w power supply with 16a on +12v and have problems

They can? Where can they buy it? It's been a long time since I've encountered a power supply that didn't have ample +12V current available. Individual rail loads were more relevant a year ago during that transition to ATX12V 2.x IMO. These days, the assumption that a PSU can deliver most of its rated capacity on the +12V lines seems to be almost universally valid. These days, the only systems where you need to pay attention to load balance are older systems that draw most of their power from the +5V lines.

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:56 pm

Devonavar wrote:
Ryan wrote:Anyone can buy a 700w power supply with 16a on +12v and have problems
They can? Where can they buy it?

Well, I think 16A is exaggerated.... (too low) but in the SPCR lab, we never see junk PSUs. People know better than to send such things to us for review. We tend to see only higher quality brands and products.

There are weird elcheapo PSUs like this Linkworld 530W model, $23.99 at Newegg, rated for "+3.3@35A, +5V@46A, +12@26A, [email protected], -5@1A, +5VSB@2A" Of course, I don't believe the +12@26A either...

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:51 pm

MikeC wrote:There are weird elcheapo PSUs like this Linkworld 530W model, $23.99 at Newegg, rated for "+3.3@35A, +5V@46A, +12@26A, [email protected], -5@1A, +5VSB@2A" Of course, I don't believe the +12@26A either...

I can top that:

Echo Star 550 Watt PSU, rated for "+3.3@14A, +5V@21A, +12@10A, -12V @0.8A, -5 @0.5A, +5VSB@2A" (Unless my calculator is broken, that only adds up to <275watts) And this piece of engineering genius can be your's for the low, low price of $9.99

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:29 pm

Hey, it's got "High efficiency output" too!

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 4:13 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Echo Star 550 Watt PSU, rated for "+3.3@14A, +5V@21A, +12@10A, -12V @0.8A, -5 @0.5A, +5VSB@2A" (Unless my calculator is broken, that only adds up to <275watts) And this piece of engineering genius can be your's for the low, low price of $9.99

I get it to 293.3W, that's 20W over what you stated

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 6:53 am

Rusty075 wrote:I'm not a big fan of these calculators, in general, but this one surprised me.

I was prepared to write a "This Calculator Sucks Just Like All the Other Ones" post, and to prove my point I went to the site and built two configurations, one low power, and one high power that I have actual power draw figures for. I was planning on using it's over-inflated recommendations as evidence for how useless it was....

Only problem was, it nailed the max system wattage almost exactly.

Funny, I did the exact same thing the day this was posted, but I didn't have the balls to come back here and post about it.

So now that you broke the ice, I'll say that I too, was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of this one. To save face though, I'll say that I still prefer to use a Kill-a-watt or Power Angel though.

Devonavar · Post by **Devonavar** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 8:17 am

I guess I stand corrected then.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:08 am

It still overestimates the power consumption of my rig by ~100W (reporting 260W compared to 165W in actuality), but its an improvement from what it used to say (it was out by around a factor two).

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:00 am

nutball wrote:It still overestimates the power consumption of my rig by ~100W (reporting 260W compared to 165W in actuality), but its an improvement from what it used to say (it was out by around a factor two).

Confirm. It's better but still more than 100W over actual powerdraw of my system.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 6:01 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:
Rusty075 wrote:I'm not a big fan of these calculators, in general, but this one surprised me.

I was prepared to write a "This Calculator Sucks Just Like All the Other Ones" post, and to prove my point I went to the site and built two configurations, one low power, and one high power that I have actual power draw figures for. I was planning on using it's over-inflated recommendations as evidence for how useless it was....

Only problem was, it nailed the max system wattage almost exactly.
Funny, I did the exact same thing the day this was posted, but I didn't have the balls to come back here and post about it.

So now that you broke the ice, I'll say that I too, was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of this one. To save face though, I'll say that I still prefer to use a Kill-a-watt or Power Angel though.

A kill-a-watt or power angel are fine, when you already have the system built, but a calculator like this is nice to get a ballpark figure of what a future system your thinking about buying will require, and how much heat it will output. Its alot easier than running down all those power consumption charts strewd out all over the web.

I can input a system i'm thinking about, then read the reviews on this website and find out about how loud my PSU will be with it, all before i spend a dime. Saves me alot of time too.

Me wanting the best FPS in games possible, ive come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is get a good, current, cpu with the lowest power consumption possible, then get a fast video card. Keeps total power consumption down so the PSU stays quiet under load.

Right now i think the sweet spots are a merom core 2 duo with either a 7600gs, 7900gt, or 7950gt.

Bar81 wrote:
nutball wrote:It still overestimates the power consumption of my rig by ~100W (reporting 260W compared to 165W in actuality), but its an improvement from what it used to say (it was out by around a factor two).
Confirm. It's better but still more than 100W over actual powerdraw of my system.

Remember, the wattage it gives is the "recommended" amount, not the actual amount of power used. You dont want a PSU running at max capacity. So the reason its slightly high may be so that the psu isnt running at max capacity.

Every configuration ive put into it seems to match up fairly close when i run down power consumption charts from other websites and add them up myself.

mnemonik23 · Post by **mnemonik23** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:26 am

Thanks to everybody for kind words and suggestions! They are much appreciated!

Because of folks like you eXtreme Power Supply Calculator became of what it is now - our goal is to have it as much accurate as possible.

Of course there will be some overhead in watts because many wattage numbers are gathered from manufacturerâ€™s data, which usually is the maximum power consumption for that particular component or group of components.

btw, we are working on amps per rail and it should be available soon

mnemonik23 · Post by **mnemonik23** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:27 am

November 15, 2006

The following changes were made:

Graphics Cards:

- added ATI X1650 XT
- updated NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
- updated NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT
- updated NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT

Motherboards:

- added new motherboards field with ability to select the following types:
Regular - Desktop
High End - Desktop
Regular - Server
High End - Server

PCI-e Crads:

- added PCI-e x1 card
- added PCI-e x4 card
- added PCI-e x8 card
- added PCI-e x16 card

Pumps:

- added Danger Den MAG II Limited Edition
- added Swiftech MCP355
- added Thermaltake Aquabay M5

Water Cooling Kits:

- added Thermaltake Symphony CL-W0040
- added Thermaltake Symphony Mini CL-W0077
- added Zalman Reserator 2

Fans:

- added 250mm LED fan

Print Page:

- updated print page with above components

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:35 am

System Type: Single Processor
Motherboard: Regular - Desktop
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2000 MHz 1.35v
CPU Utilization (TDP): 75% TDP

RAM: 2 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Video Type: Single Card

IDE HDD 7200 rpm: 1 HDD

DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 1 Drive
Floppy Drive: 1 Drive

PCI Network Interface Card: Yes

Fans
Regular: 1 Fan 120mm;

Motherboard, keyboard and mouse: Yes

PSU Utilization: 65 %

Total: 139 Watts

This in my exact power draw from the wall, in full-load, measured by a Kill-A-Watt device.
But I don't understand what it means PSU Utilization 65%.

If I put 100% I have a Total 214W which is way too much.
So, if someone is kindly enough to tell me what PSU Utilization means, I'll be grateful.

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 4:22 pm

Hmm... it says I need 182W for a system that has been living on a 142W PSU for over a year.

But when I set PSU utilization to 70% I get 134W which is more belivable.

burebista wrote: This in my exact power draw from the wall, in full-load, measured by a Kill-A-Watt device.

That means the power drawn by the components is lower, by 20-25% after accounting for efficiency.

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:39 pm

I agree -- the PSU Utilization feature is confusing & poorly explained. I think it seems to be marked in reverse: If you set for 100% utilization, does that mean you want the system to equal the max capacity of the PSU when it's going full blast? That's what makes sense to me, conceptually. So when you dial in 65% utilization, that would mean that you want 35% extra headroom.

This is not the way the calculator is set up, tho.

mnemonik23 -- can you please explain?

burebista · Post by **burebista** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:59 pm

wwenze wrote:That means the power drawn by the components is lower, by 20-25% after accounting for efficiency.

Agree. M-12 500 at ~20% load->80% efficiency->110W from PSU.
Is pretty close this PSU Calculator, only if I know how to set it properly.

stretch · Post by **stretch** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 2:29 pm

(according to kill-a-watt this exact system is pulling 410 watts under load, so that's some indication...)

System Type: Single Processor
Motherboard: High End - Desktop
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2660 MHz Conroe
Overclocked: 2990 MHz, 1.32 V
CPU Utilization (TDP): 85% TDP

RAM: 4 Sticks DDR2 SDRAM
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Video Type: Single Card

SATA HDD: 2 HDDs

DVD-RW/DVD+RW Drive: 2 Drives

USB: 2 Devices

Fans
Regular: 3 Fans 120mm;

Keyboard and mouse: Yes

PSU Utilization: 100 %

Total: 490 Watts

mnemonik23 · Post by **mnemonik23** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:24 am

May 2, 2007

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Update

The following changes were made:

Pro version:

Added recommended Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) rating.

Lite and Pro versions:

- added NVIDIA 8600 GTS graphics card
- added Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 2930 MHz Kentsfield
- added Ultra ChillTec Thermo Electric CPU Cooler

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:43 am

It said my E4300 overclocked to 2.4 GHz at 1.28V uses 99W... That can't be right.

When starting the calculator, it has the load listed at 38W. If I add just the CPU, I get 93W total, so the E4300 is supposed to use 55W (I think the figures are lower, around 45W on stock). For fun, I "overclocked" the CPU from 1800 to 1800 MHz on the same voltage, and the little Overclock button said "hey, that's 65W for you". I think there are some issues with overclocked processors' power calculation.

Overall, it states slightly over 300W max for my computer, which seems a little bit off, but generally correct. Nice tool!

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Thu May 03, 2007 9:02 am

There seems to be a slight error or omission in the CPU choices: It lists the A64 x2 4000+ "Brisbane" as 2GHz, but mine definitely runs at 2.1GHz, so either there are two different 4000+ versions, or the speed is wrong.

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Thu May 03, 2007 10:10 am

The capacitor ageing thing was/is very funny... or scary.....

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator update

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator update

Thanks!

eXtreme Power Suplly Calculator update

Not too far off..

May 2, 2007 - eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Update