How much power am I REALLY using?

[XtraSmiley]

OK, I'm posting my system specs and questions under this question, but that's just to give you an idea of what I'm putting together. What I really want to know is, how much power am I really using as far as cost. I mean, I have read places that leaving your computer on 24/7 will give you a power bill that is about $15 higher a YEAR, but other places say that it can bump your power bill up $28 a month! What a big difference! What is the real answer? Also, does getting a 550 over a 480 use more power or just allow you to use more power? Thanks for the answers guys!

My original post... note I could still use answers on these questions too.

Hi everyone, I'm new to overclocking and new to these forums and hope someone can help me out with these questions.

I just bought a Vapochill PE and here's what I'm buying next:

1. Abit IC7 Mobo $120 USD
2. P4c 2.8 $265
3. ENERMAX EG651P-VE(FMA). 550W $150
4. CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series,
Platinum Series (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) PC-3700 With Heat Spreaders.
Specifications:
Speed 466 MHz
Organization 2 x 64M x 64
Part number: TWINX1024-3700PT $280

Here's my questions since you guys know waaaaay more than me I'm sure!

1. Is there a better mobo near the same price range that OCs well? Is it worth it to get the (g) version of this Mobo? I don't really have a LAN and I think that's the only difference right?

2. A P4c 2.4 is only $175, that's $90 cheaper than the 2.8, the 2.6 is $210. Is the headroom for OCing the same on these three? What's the better buy with price considerations?

3. The ENERMAX EG465AX-VE (W)FCA. 433W is only $100, a $50 savings. Do I need the 550 or will this work?

4. First, is this the correct BRAND/SPEED for what I'm getting? I've never OCed before and I'm not sure what RAM I need. Also for $70 more I can get this:
CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series,
(Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) TWINX1024-4000PT
Speed 500 MHz
Organization 2X64MX6
CAS Latency: 3-4-4-8
Memory type DDR NON-ECC
Part number: TWINX1024-4000PT Platinum Series

Is there a big difference? Should I pay the extra $70?

I'm looking to try and get a 700-800hz OC that runs games stable. Any advice about my parts before I buy them?

Thanks to everyone who takes the time to answer my questions.

[Deathknight]

Just as an FYI there is probably a better place to post this than i nthe Cases and Power Supplies forum. You would get better advice if you either put it in general hardware or broke up the questions and put them in their corresponding forums.

Anyways I will at least address the power supply question. As for the ENERMAX EG651P-VE(FMA). 550W $150 my only response to that is don't do it. If you are going to shell out $150 for a PSU there is better brands to pick from. Enermax has a rep that is not 100% grounded in reality. They are not "bad' but not worth the price that goes with the name. PC Power & cooling, Fortron and Antec True Power are the 3 brands that I suggest you stick with. The fortron 530W is an excellent PSU and costs $75. An antec true 550 is about $115-$120. PC Power & cooling is costly but unlike Enermax I think the premium that goes with their name is much more deserving.

I would opt for either of those 2 PSUs over the enermax any day. I assume since you bought a vapochill you are going to do some heavy duty ocing. You are going to want a very reliable and very powerful PSU that has heaps of power on the 12v rail. If you don't think the 530W fortron has enough on the 12v rail (which personally i think it will) there is a 530W AOpen PSU that is really a rebranded Fortron that has a higher 12v rail rating.

EDIT: WHOOPS! Almost forgot:

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!! :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Welcome from me too :)

I second the advice to go with Fortron, Antec, and PC P&C... the Enermax units I have seen are not really worth the money though they are not bad units at all. In particular, I would go with the Antec 480 or 550 (also Channel Well 480 or 550 if you're in Canada or the UK); or that Fortron 530.

I've never had a PC P&C in my posession, but the build quality of them seems impressively better than any Enermax I've seen. The price is just too high on them for me though when Antec or Fortron will do just as well for most cases.

[cmcquistion]

My advice is to get a Fortron. They are fantastic, quiet, and cheap.

Fortron 350 will power ANYTHING you throw at it.

[XtraSmiley]

Hey guys thanks for answering so quickly! Let me restate my main question in this post...

Originally posted by XtraSmiley
OK, I'm posting my system specs and questions under this question, but that's just to give you an idea of what I'm putting together. What I really want to know is, how much power am I really using as far as cost. I mean, I have read places that leaving your computer on 24/7 will give you a power bill that is about $15 higher a YEAR, but other places say that it can bump your power bill up $28 a month! What a big difference! What is the real answer? Also, does getting a 550 over a 480 use more power or just allow you to use more power? Thanks for the answers guys!


I'm asking about costs of running 24/7. Thanks again!

[squirtle632]

I am running my Antec 500 24/7 and the electric bill wnet up by $4/mo BUT I am not running a Vapochill. I would estimate about $8/mo on the high side.

Welcome to the forums and enjoy

[cmcquistion]

Originally posted by XtraSmiley
Hey guys thanks for answering so quickly! Let me restate my main question in this post...



I'm asking about costs of running 24/7. Thanks again!

I recently bought a Kill-A-Watt device, which measures how much power my computer is using. (It is capable of measuring volts, amps, watts, VA, Hz, PF, KWH, and time.)

I'm running an AMD dually, packed with peripherals. This machine uses more juice than single-CPU computers. I used the Kill-A-Watt to determine that I am using 136 KWH a month. At the rates charged where I live (about 5.9 cents/KWH), this comes out to $8.13/month to run this computer. This is only the computer. I did not measure or include the monitor, but it is on standby 99% of the time, anyway, so I don't think it's power usage is very high.

[Deathknight]

The wild card in your situation is the vapochill. I have heard they are not effecient on power than the prometia but either way its going to consume alot of power to run :eek:

[XtraSmiley]

Now that's what I call answers! Thanks guys, nothing beats real world results. Anyway, the Vapo is better than the Promi and more efficient. Also, it's only like having a second CPU b/c it draws it's power off the 12v line and it's about the same as the processor, so I guess I should figure a dual cpu set up to figure out the price. Thanks again guys. X