How much power does a PC consume

[Scorpio69]

I know this has been asked and answered before. But how much juice (roughly) is consumed by a PC of each vintage?

I am going to be throwing together some Petium era, and possibly even 486's to run various distributed computing projects.

I'd like to think they are worth running, but electricity is mighty expensive in these parts lately.

[jig-miester]

I heard it wasn't any more than what a tv uses. besides the computers are what heat my house in the winter. :D
-Jig-

[viztech]

I did some extensive tests on this issue when the McOwen thing hit the fan.

The machines that I checked ran 80-100 watts with the CPU, fans and hard drive spun up, cracking RC5 or OGR. These were P2 400 and K6 200 machines that I measured. A 100 watt machine running 24/7 will cost about 19 cents/day or $5.76/month.

Don't be mis-lead by the power supply wattage. Remember that power supplies also need to run all the peripherals like CD Roms, multiple hard drives, extra fans etc. The wattage rating of the supply must take into account peak loads like hard drive/CD spin-up, which is about 3-4 times the normal draw.

It's interesting to note that many of the smaller desktop cases with a floppy, single hard drive, CD Rom and perhaps one open bay, only have 145 watt supplies, simply because you can't physically add any more load.

The monitors are a big extra draw, so I normally set all of my machines to power off the monitor after 15-30 minutes of inactivity. :)

I have been cracking for about 2 years now, normally running 6-10 machines 24/7 in my basement. I used to use an electric space heater in my office/shop area during the winter, and needed to run a dehumidifier in the summer. I haven't needed either of them in the last 2 years, so I don't think the power consumption is that much greater for me.

I hope that I answered your question in this diatribe.

viz

[edit] Here are some useful links that mention the power consumption of various CPUs. Cooling needs will be in proportion to the CPU wattage BTW, so I bookmarked them for reference purposes. ;)
P3 specs (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sspec/p3p.htm)
P2 specs (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sspec/p2p.htm)
Celeron specs (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/sspec/icp.htm)
Intel CPU links. (http://support.intel.com/support/processors/)

[Scorpio69]

Yes, this was exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks.

[Axel]

I'd say you need to look at it in a different way -

leave the monitor off when you aren't there and your system uses a lot less than it would with the monitor on -

Another thing to consider - recycle - recycling the glass beverage containers you use in a week more than makes up the energy you expend on a TV and a computer running 24*7 over the same period - It isn't money in your pocket - but makes good sense -

[Scorpio69]

Thanks, Axel. I do try to recycle as much as possible. While I am concerned about the environment, I must confess my motives are partly selfish. Being in San Diego, my energy rates are probably close to the highest anywhere. I rent a large house with only one roommate. While my rent is fairly low, I try to keep the bills at a tolerable level. Besides, a dollar saved today can be used for a shiny new box tomorrow, right?