Something Random

Howell said:
Bunch of Chicago wusses.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-snow2lsd20110202071217,0,2905048.photo
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That's a picture of Lake Shore Drive. There were 5 accidents in quick succession. I blame this on the morons that think they need to drive to work even after everyone in the city talked about how this is going to be the worst blizzard in 30 years. I took the red line and made it home last night in about 40 minutes, 10 minutes longer than normal.

I worked at home today, but will be going in tomorrow. Most of the sidewalks are not cleared, but I will just walk in the street.
 
I think I've found the causes of some instability on the OC of my home computers. Both of them are still running on Antec EarthWatts 380W PSUs. I think this is a testament to what a high-quality sub-400W PSU can achieve; both are rock-solid until I start OCing.
 
ddrueding said:
I think I've found the causes of some instability on the OC of my home computers. Both of them are still running on Antec EarthWatts 380W PSUs. I think this is a testament to what a high-quality sub-400W PSU can achieve; both are rock-solid until I start OCing.
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Running a GTX 580 (240W?) on a 380W PSU is definitely cutting it close.
 
I'm surprised as well, but there you have it. Rock solid, even while folding, gaming, and streaming Pandora at the same time, so long as you don't go crazy with the OC.

Of course, the 1200W Corsair 80 PLUS Gold PSUs I have coming will take care of that ;)
 
AFAIK, the Earthwatts 380 is rated for just 28A @12V.

The GTX 570 requires 18 of those and the GTX 580 more than 20.

Six hard drives takes at least 3A, six RAM modules about another 1A, probably another 1A for the motherboard and I don't know if there's a RAID card in there or not?

Leaves 3A, less 10% regulator overhead = 32W left for your overclocked CPU.

I don't think so. :)

Of course, the GTX 570 probably doesn't draw anything like that in normal use, so you've probably got about 100W for the i5 CPU, but it's definitely at the limit for a relatively cheap PSU.

Probably also worth pointing out that the i5/i7 turbo mode could really stress an already fully loaded PSU.
 
time said:
AFAIK, the Earthwatts 380 is rated for just 28A @12V.

The GTX 570 requires 18 of those and the GTX 580 more than 20.

Six hard drives takes at least 3A, six RAM modules about another 1A, probably another 1A for the motherboard and I don't know if there's a RAID card in there or not?

Leaves 3A, less 10% regulator overhead = 32W left for your overclocked CPU.

I don't think so. :)

Of course, the GTX 570 probably doesn't draw anything like that in normal use, so you've probably got about 100W for the i5 CPU, but it's definitely at the limit for a relatively cheap PSU.

Probably also worth pointing out that the i5/i7 turbo mode could really stress an already fully loaded PSU.
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I don't have the equipment to test what the components are drawing or what the PSU is putting out, but I'm typing on "home1" right now with F@H (GPU only), Pandora, and Battlefield 2 minimized. This system hasn't crashed since I un-OC'd it last weekend.
 
time said:
How did you realize that the instability on two overclocked PCs was attributable to your choice of power supply?
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Eh... That would been the first place I would have looked if I was in his shoes. Of course I wouldn't have put that rig together with that PS in the first place though. :cyclops:
 
These systems haven't put "put away" yet. They are still just a bunch of parts sitting on the desk below the monitor and behind the keyboard. I was just sitting back, looking around, and noticed the spec on the PSU.

The advantage to the new ones I have coming is they are 80%+ efficient at 50% load, which is where I'll be having them.
 
ddrueding said:
The advantage to the new ones I have coming is they are 80%+ efficient at 50% load, which is where I'll be having them.
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Are you sure about that? My i7-2600K @ 4.2gHz with 16GB of 1600MHz of DDR3, one SSD, one 5400RPM HD, GF 7900GS, & 2 optical drives consumes all of ~160W from the wall with the CPU running 100% across all 8 threads with an Antec TruePower New TP-550 powering it.
 
My thoughts are that time's calculations above are about right for a non-OC'd system, so 500W would be about right once I turn this thing up. Adding some more drives and another GPU would make this PSU ideal.
 
Oh really? You have no meters more advanced than that for measurements? :crap:
 
My UPS died and it wasn't the batteries this time so I'm shopping for another. Got a kill-a-watt meter to properly size the next one because I know perfectly well I dint need a 2KVA unit or the illegal 30A to 15A converting extension cord that goes with it.

Baseline, just networking equipment on. Both computers off and stereo unplugged. About four routers and switches plus a phone.
89watt, 116VA, .95A with a bad .75PF.

Above + plugged in the stereo (onkyo HT-RC180) and dune player (both off)
151watt, 197VA, 1.62A with .76 PF. What the hell onkyo? Stereo is always warm with a fan running, even when off.

Networking equipment baseline plus big computer on/idle with big monitor on, stereo equipment unplugged.
338watt, 348VA, .96PF (more like it), 2.86A.

Everything with computer, server, stereo on, projector on etc nets me around 800-900VA/watt with a surprisingly good PF of ~.97. That's a little more than I thought I would be pulling, was thinking I could get a 750VA unit but looks like I need 1KVA minimum. I wish the kill-a-watt had a peak and hold, I think both the stereo and the sub have a bit of an inrush.
 
You may as well get a 1500VA unit, which is near the limit of a standard outlet. I have a couple of the APC 1300 UPS with the digital display. The problem is that if I plug in too many devices to one the run time is very short, so I use two to spread the load. I suppose a single high-end UPS with larger batteries would be fine, but they are probably more than twice as costly.
 
I work at Emerson Network Power, basically I clear a (biggish) shipping charge with the boss and then contact the warehouse that does returns. I asked for a GXT 1000VA unit so it will likely be a GXT3 unit free to me, I guess you could call that a perk.

What I think I will do to reduce the load on the UPS is put the whole entertainment system on a decent protected strip, that doesn't need battery backed power plus it gives me something convenient to turn off most of the time. Suggestions on that? I think I saw something in the audio read, I'll skim that later.
 
I have some 19" rackmount power strips (plugs on the back, one always on plug and a switch on the front) that I've used to separate my stuff into groups. Nothing fancy or expensive, but it does a good job with the distribution and looks clean.
 
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