How much power does my computer consume?

dark_archon06

Honorable
Jul 27, 2013
11
0
10,510
My computer's specs are:
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 18"
CPU: Intel PDC 3220 3.0GHz
Motherboard: ASUS H81M-E
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
Drives: 1TB 7200rpm HDD, 1 optical drive
PSU: 500W
Now my question is how much power(at most) does my computer consume in an hour?
and also how do I measure it?
 
Solution
If you want to measure it, buy something like a Kill-A-Watt meter.

Your PC, excluding the monitor, likely uses less than 100W since you have no discrete GPU.

dark_archon06

Honorable
Jul 27, 2013
11
0
10,510


can I measure it without buying extra hardware? a software maybe?
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator

Unless you have one of those fancy $300-500 PC power supplies with built-in measurement capabilities, no.

Software may be able to tell you how much power the CPU VRM is outputting and maybe the same for the GPU but if you want a total figure for everything including PSU losses, the only way to get a reasonably accurate figure is external measurement.