I'm trying to figure out how much power my computer uses. I have looked at a couple of online calculators and I am getting about 600 watts. It is an Alienware gaming computer, but I don't play any games. The only reason I have such a high performance PC is for voice recognition. However, when I run my voice recognition program and other programs, the CPU usage in task manager rarely goes above 20%. It's usually 5 to 10%. So, what I'm not sure about is if the 600 watt figure I got from the online calculator is average power usage, or the amount of power being used when playing a game or some other program that really taxes the processor and video card. It seems hard to believe that I would be averaging 600 watts when the system seems so quiet and doesn't seem to be working that hard.
In case these details are relevant, here are some of the main components:
i7 920 processor
nvidia gtx 580
12 gb ddr3 6 dimms
7200 RPM hard drive
about 4 PCI express cards
about 5 USB devices, none relying upon external power
not sure about fan size: might be 120 mm
does have some kind of liquid cooling system, not exactly sure what it is
In case these details are relevant, here are some of the main components:
i7 920 processor
nvidia gtx 580
12 gb ddr3 6 dimms
7200 RPM hard drive
about 4 PCI express cards
about 5 USB devices, none relying upon external power
not sure about fan size: might be 120 mm
does have some kind of liquid cooling system, not exactly sure what it is