Amps, Watts and the PSU

[aussiewannabe]

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[Mushroom_Farmer]

I really don't know why you're confused. Just look at the specs on the 600 watt model. It's input current is 10 amps, same as your 400 watt ATX. It's the components used inside the PSU that make up the output wattage.

[aussiewannabe]

Thanks for the input.

The confusion is that my knowledge on "electronic language" (ie amps, watts) is limited. I am, however, willing to learn. After all, knowledge is power!!

[Nick N]

I am not sure either what you are after.

Today

[aussiewannabe]

You get what you pay for with PC Power and Cooling and that is why I specifed that PSU

Nick,

The last thing I would do is question your knowledge about the PSU you recommended. That was not the intention of my question. As I stated, my knowledge is limited in this area. I just want to learn more about video cards, watts, amps, etc., and it's relationship with the CPU. The Internet has way too many hits on the subject and it gives me a headache. If I've learned anything from this forum is that you just can't go to the computer store and buy whatever you think might be a good buy for your system (ie ATI 1650X v. card)only to see the CPU choke, smoke, or fry in a micro-second after pressing the on-switch.

At the very least, I should pat myself on the back for taking the time to see what kind of power unit was in my system. I was rather surprised to see that it was a 400W one. The 7250 model only has a 300W unit.

Your response is well appreciated. And yes, I will save it as a document for future use.

[Nick N]

You get what you pay for with PC Power and Cooling and that is why I specifed that PSU

Nick,

The last thing I would do is question your knowledge about the PSU you recommended. That was not the intention of my question. As I stated, my knowledge is limited in this area. I just want to learn more about video cards, watts, amps, etc., and it's relationship with the CPU. The Internet has way too many hits on the subject and it gives me a headache. If I've learned anything from this forum is that you just can't go to the computer store and buy whatever you think might be a good buy for your system (ie ATI 1650X v. card)only to see the CPU choke, smoke, or fry in a micro-second after pressing the on-switch.

At the very least, I should pat myself on the back for taking the time to see what kind of power unit was in my system. I was rather surprised to see that it was a 400W one. The 7250 model only has a 300W unit.

Your response is well appreciated. And yes, I will save it as a document for future use.

I did not think you were questioning me. I just stated the reason why I specified that unit in case you may be wondering

You are only running a x300 ati video slug. very low power consumption and usually HP and Dell put the lowest rated PSU in their tower that will just barely run the system. Thats how they make money.

As for figuring out system needs, you can use this calculator to play: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psuc ... orlite.jsp

Its not perfect, as none of them are, and you will need to ID your components, ie the right processor and motherboard model and prospective video card, to get close matches in the selections.

Use this program to ID the CPU and motherboard, and memory: http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-140.zip

unzip and run CPUz.exe. It will display the CPU, motherboard, memory, their speeds and timings

[aussiewannabe]

As for figuring out system needs, you can use this calculator to play: http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psuc ... orlite.jsp

Use this program to ID the CPU and motherboard, and memory: http://www.cpuid.com/download/cpu-z-140.zip

These are very helpful, thank you. I especially like the second one.

[Mushroom_Farmer]

In a nutshell voltage is the pressure that pushes the current (Amperage) along the conductor. It's the current that does the actual work. Doubling the voltage will generally halve the amperage necessary to do the same work.
Wattage is a measure of elictrical power used in one hour, measured in joules. 1 watt equals 3600 joules.
Electrical resistance is measured in Ohms. Ohm's law states that the direct current flowing in a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference between its ends. 1 Ohm is unit of electrical resistance equal to that of a conductor in which a current of one ampere is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals. V = IR, where V is the potential difference, or voltage, I is the current, and R is the resistance of the conductor.
At least that's what they tought me in nuke school.

[aussiewannabe]

[quote] At least that's what they tought me in nuke school.

[Nick N]

[quote] In a nutshell voltage is the pressure that pushes the current (Amperage) along the conductor. It's the current that does the actual work. Doubling the voltage will generally halve the amperage necessary to do the same work.
Wattage is a measure of elictrical power used in one hour, measured in joules. 1 watt equals 3600 joules.
Electrical resistance is measured in Ohms. Ohm's law states that the direct current flowing in a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference between its ends. 1 Ohm is unit of electrical resistance equal to that of a conductor in which a current of one ampere is produced by a potential of one volt across its terminals. V = IR, where V is the potential difference, or voltage, I is the current, and R is the resistance of the conductor.
At least that's what they tought me in nuke school.

[Brett_Henderson]

Go extra big on your power supply. Not only for the reasons mentioned, but for the obvious. When a power supply is pushed to its limit, voltages can even get unstable, causing lock-ups and crashes. And the worst case scenario is if the power-supply fails. Gawd awful voltage spikes can get sent to CPUs, RAM and GPUs as the regulating circuits fry... cooking them, too.

[richardd43]

Hey Nick, can I date myself and say I still use the PIE formula (P=IxE).  :)

[justpassingthrough]

Voltage (E) = Current (I) * Resistance (R)
Power (watts) = Current Squared (I^2) * Resistance (R)
Power = I*E = E^2 / R

My head hurts  [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

[Nick N]

[quote]Hey Nick, can I date myself and say I still use the PIE formula (P=IxE).