Is there anyway to find out how many Watts my computer is using?

A

alexjb

Member
Hello, my computer specifications are

3rd Generation Intel Core i5 3570K 3.40GHz Socket LGA1155

MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard

Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

Samsung S222BB 22x DVD+/-RW

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply

PNY NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Graphics Card

120GB OCZ Agility 3 2.5" Solid State Drive

Windows 7 64 bit

Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler

New Seagate 320 GB 2.5" 7200 RPM Sata Hard Drive Momentus Thin

New 500GB Seagate Barracuda 3.5" Desktop Internal 7200RPM Hard Drive ST500DM002

and I also have Razer Lycosa keyboard, Madcatz Cyborg RAT 7 mouse and a Xbox 360 controller plugged in

And my PSU is only 600W? I have seen a lot higher PSUnits and I am wondering, can I install any more hard drives?

And also I can run my CPU at overclock with built in MSI thing, what happens if I go over my power supply unit please?

Thanks :)
 
kill-a-watt meter (http://www.amazon.co.uk/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU) will show you how much you are drawing.

As for what happens if you go over your PSU power abilities, it can cause a couple of things. Some will just cut out to prevent damage. Some will cause issues with CPU and GPU power delivery (causing BSODs or driver crashes). Some will just blow up. And there is always the change that it will just keep chuggung along till it overheats and shuts down from that.
Really, your PSU is plenty for a good OC on both the CPU and GPU.
 
wolfeking said:
kill-a-watt meter (http://www.amazon.co.uk/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU) will show you how much you are drawing.

As for what happens if you go over your PSU power abilities, it can cause a couple of things. Some will just cut out to prevent damage. Some will cause issues with CPU and GPU power delivery (causing BSODs or driver crashes). Some will just blow up. And there is always the change that it will just keep chuggung along till it overheats and shuts down from that.
Really, your PSU is plenty for a good OC on both the CPU and GPU.
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thanks for all the info :) the thing I've noticed is that on YouTube, quite a few people post there PC Specs and mine are higher than there's, yet they have 750W + PSU, do you think it will be safe to install a few more hard drives and another 8gb RAM sometime? thanks :)

I think my dad might have one of them meter's somewhere :)
 
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RAM takes up very little power. on average a max of about 4 watts per stick (that is assuming about 1.7V).
Hard drives don't use a lot of power either. You should be safe.

and as for your supply, a high quality 500 will put out more power than a low quality 700 watt in most cases, and will do it safer too. You have to look at the specs and not just the watts.
 
wolfeking said:
RAM takes up very little power. on average a max of about 4 watts per stick (that is assuming about 1.7V).
Hard drives don't use a lot of power either. You should be safe.

and as for your supply, a high quality 500 will put out more power than a low quality 700 watt in most cases, and will do it safer too. You have to look at the specs and not just the watts.
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thank you :) I thought that they wouldn't use much power but wasn't too sure :) that explains a lot, I hope that my PSU is a good one, thank you :)
 
alexjb said:
thank you :) I thought that they wouldn't use much power but wasn't too sure :) that explains a lot, I hope that my PSU is a good one, thank you :)
Click to expand...

it is a good one and would be safe to pull up to 550w, about 600w peak, and a normal GTX670 system in benches won't even hit 325, so you'll be plenty safe, and that's the power coming from the wall, not the output power
 
jonnyp11 said:
it is a good one and would be safe to pull up to 550w, about 600w peak, and a normal GTX670 system in benches won't even hit 325, so you'll be plenty safe, and that's the power coming from the wall, not the output power
Click to expand...

fantastic thanks! :) I installed everything today and it powered on :) and is working great :)
 
FuryRosewood said:
id say the desktop is probably going to be about 300 watts, but thats a guess
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Thanks :) Do you think it will be safe to put another 2 x 4GB RAM in my desktop someday?

I am a bit confused, because I think that my computer is powerful as it runs all latest games on maximum, and it cost loads (still in debt:() and it seems that the PSU is a lot lower than others and I don't really know why people would need crazy big power supplies when I pretty much got all you can get I think? :)
 
alexjb said:
Thanks :) Do you think it will be safe to put another 2 x 4GB RAM in my desktop someday?

I am a bit confused, because I think that my computer is powerful as it runs all latest games on maximum, and it cost loads (still in debt:() and it seems that the PSU is a lot lower than others and I don't really know why people would need crazy big power supplies when I pretty much got all you can get I think? :)
Click to expand...

You cam put another 64 GB of ram in. Ram uses very low power, so yes. Well, things get more power efficient. I am having a brain fart, so can't say more.
 
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