Jason Holt wrote:
On Mon, 7 Nov 2005, Shane Hathaway wrote:
However, note that seemingly minor hardware differences change power
consumption significantly. The computer I built for my dad has an
Athlon XP 3000. It draws 120W most of the time and 160W when it's
busy, so it needs much more airflow than mine. (But his cost less
than mine and he uses it less, so it all works out.) His originally
had a 300W PSU, but the PSU died soon after I burned a DVD!
Apparently, burning a disc takes enough power to push some PSUs over
the edge.
Fascinating. Does your meter take into account power factor? Your
Dad's power supply could be more inductive than your own. Apparently,
in some countries you have to pay extra for inductive loads.
The meter provides both VA and wattage readouts, but I forgot to look at
the VA measurement, so I don't know whether the inductance differs much.
That would be important for choosing a UPS or connecting a lot of
computers.
(For readers who want some background: see
http://www.dansdata.com/gz028.htm )
Shane
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