Electrical Costs

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spazzychalk
Posts: 174
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:41 am

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by spazzychalk »

oddman wrote:Thanks for the great info, Karamiekos. Yes, I must have the newer, 65 nm one. Got it around March '08. I have heard people toss around figures like 200W, 220W, etc., and it certainly doesn't get anywhere close to that.

I don't see anything on the box indicating either way. You'd think they'd put "NOW with state-of-the-art low power 65 nm fabrication of sub-wavelength featuring special imaging technologies, such as optical proximity correction and phase-shifting masks" (from Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65_nanometer ). Maybe the entire graphics on the box were different before - I wouldn't know.
the 200w and 120w figures are just the power supply ratings not the usage.
elpablo
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:36 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by elpablo »

Hi all :)
Hoping to give all an exact idea about the question, I report here the power consumption while idle and while folding, measured with a professional ammeter on the pc-line.
The difference between folding@100% and no-folding is less than a KWatt-a-day... really cheaper than a coffe... ;)
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Good New Computing Year to all :biggrin:
bruce
Posts: 20824
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:13 pm
Location: So. Cal.

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by bruce »

An ammeter may not provide accurate measurements of AC power, depending on the power factor. It's better to get a device that measures true watts. Personally, I purchased a "Kill-a-Watt" and have been very happy I did. Mine fits the US outlets and voltages, but there's a version for european voltages and plugs.
elpablo
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:36 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by elpablo »

Thanks to bruce :ewink: , I've modified my chart to show technically correct values and unit.
So this is my new chart:
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Now it's ok, and the meaning is always the same: my PC running folding@home for 24 hours uses 0,80 KWh more than the same PC on-line for 24 hours only to navigate or similar... intelligenti pauca...
Karamiekos
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:27 am

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by Karamiekos »

Little update just for grins.

Custom built Server: 4 AMD 8356s @ 2.3 GHz, 8 gigs RAM, ubuntu server 9.10
-power usage while folding on 16 cores ~425 watts
-bout 40,000 ppd depending on work unit
- so about 94 points per watt efficiency
-costs me $44.37 a month in electricity at 14.5 cents per KWH

Custom built Desktop: AMD 9950 @ 3.2GHz 2 gigs RAM, ubuntu 9.10
-power usage while folding on 4 cores ~319 watts
-bout 5,500 ppd depending on work unit
- so about 17 points per watt efficiency
-costs me $33.30 a month in electricity at 14.5 cents per KWH

Lots of juice, spendy project.
Zakk Wylde, "Then you start firing back some cocktails."
Rigs
Phenom II 965 With 2 4850s Running BOINC
Quad 8356s Running BOINC
Nathan_P
Posts: 1164
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:22 pm
Hardware configuration: Asus Z8NA D6C, 2 x5670@3.2 Ghz, , 12gb Ram, GTX 980ti, AX650 PSU, win 10 (daily use)

Asus Z87 WS, Xeon E3-1230L v3, 8gb ram, KFA GTX 1080, EVGA 750ti , AX760 PSU, Mint 18.2 OS

Not currently folding
Asus Z9PE- D8 WS, 2 E5-2665@2.3 Ghz, 16Gb 1.35v Ram, Ubuntu (Fold only)
Asus Z9PA, 2 Ivy 12 core, 16gb Ram, H folding appliance (fold only)
Location: Jersey, Channel islands

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by Nathan_P »

Here's mine

2 x 8800gt - 1 stock, 1 factory OC to 650/1800/900
1 x GTS 250 9stock
athlon II X4 620 @ stock
asus M3A32 deluxe, 2 gb ram, 40gb HDD

20k PPD @ 440 watts gives 45.45 PPD/watt and costs £39 a month. electric where i am is £.12 per Kwh
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edhere
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:12 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by edhere »

Anyone know how much better the PS3 Slim is on power usage? Articles I've seen suggest it doesn't exceed 100 Watts with high usage, so I have it running 24/7. Anyone have PS3 Slim and a "Kill-a-Watt" / ammeter?

I just installed the SMP client on my PC but I haven't decided if I'm gonna run it 24/7 or go back to the standard Windows client. It's an HP with a Q9300 running Vista 64. Worried that it will use double the energy of the PS3 Slim or more.
Zagen30
Posts: 823
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:45 am
Hardware configuration: Core i7 3770K @3.5 GHz (not folding), 8 GB DDR3 @2133 MHz, 2xGTX 780 @1215 MHz, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit running 7.3.6 w/ 1xSMP, 2xGPU

4P E5-4650 @3.1 GHz, 64 GB DDR3 @1333MHz, Ubuntu Desktop 13.10 64-bit

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by Zagen30 »

Posts here say around 80 W for the PS3 slim, 100 at the most if you don't have it on screensaver mode. You might want to consider that your desktop would gain far more PPD than your PS3, and it would probably do better on a PPD/W basis. Also, do you normally leave your computer on all the time? If so, then you'd only really need to look at how much more power the CPU would draw when running full blast than at idle, and since the TDP of a Q9300 is 95 W, it wouldn't be that much.
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spazzychalk
Posts: 174
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:41 am

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by spazzychalk »

why would you want anyone to consider running one instead of the other that doesnt even start to make sense. everyone should be encouraged to run everything they have
P5-133XL
Posts: 2948
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:36 am
Hardware configuration: Machine #1:

Intel Q9450; 2x2GB=8GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460; Windows Server 2008 X64 (SP1).

Machine #2:

Intel Q6600; 2x2GB=4GB Ram; Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 Motherboard; PC Power and Cooling Q750 PS; 2x GTX 460 video card; Windows 7 X64.

Machine 3:

Dell Dimension 8400, 3.2GHz P4 4x512GB Ram, Video card GTX 460, Windows 7 X32

I am currently folding just on the 5x GTX 460's for aprox. 70K PPD
Location: Salem. OR USA

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by P5-133XL »

spazzychalk wrote:why would you want anyone to consider running one instead of the other that doesnt even start to make sense. everyone should be encouraged to run everything they have
In a world where money doesn't matter that may work. Some people, with limited disposable income, actually have to make monetary choices.
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spazzychalk
Posts: 174
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:41 am

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by spazzychalk »

P5-133XL wrote:In a world where money doesn't matter that may work. Some people, with limited disposable income, actually have to make monetary choices.
what does 60 watts cost again? thats what you guys are saying his ps3 slim uses. you can find that kind of change on the ground at the fast food drivethrough window. i played this game already. shut down folding for 2 months, thats an old 60 gig ps3, a dual core system, and 4 other single core systems. no difference in the electric bill
PlayLoud
Posts: 61
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:29 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by PlayLoud »

spazzychalk wrote:why would you want anyone to consider running one instead of the other that doesnt even start to make sense. everyone should be encouraged to run everything they have
Ideally yes, but the reality is electricity costs money. I live in Southern California, and I can assure you the electricity cost is noticeable. Given that I live in a house that already uses a lot of electricity (we love our computers), any folding I do is already in the highest priced tier for electricity usage. I forget exactly how much that is, but I think it is near 40 cents per kilowatt hour at that tier. That's about $70-$80 per month extra for just my dedicated folding rig (Q6600@3.2, integrated video), and my PS3. If you start throwing in big multi GPU systems in the mix, it can REALLY start adding up fast.

I love to contribute, but electricity costs are real, and it sometimes forces me to limit my contributions. If electricity was free, I would probably have another dedicated machine by now.
Folding@home: 24/7
- RTX 4070 Ti

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edhere
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 9:12 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by edhere »

Thanks for the information Zagen30's. SpazzyChalk, I would like to run everything all the time but I would like to make that decision with good information. I also have to convince my wife. :)

Points are an important factor in making the decision because Folding@Home uses points to identify value to the project. At the same time, they value all the platforms for different reasons since they can do different kinds of work on each platform.

On the first tier on my last electric bill (the first 1000 KWHs) I paid 11.164 cents/KWH. At 80 Watts, my PS3 costs me 21 cents per day. Without rounding errors it works out to $6.52 per month or $78.24 per year. Not bad.

I didn't run the PC 24/7 until I got the SMP client working yesterday. Still not sure how much it will cost to do so but I wouldn't be surprised if it's 3 or 4 times as much as the PS3. Might need to get something to measure the Watts. Amazon had several different Kill-a-Watts and I wasn't sure which to get. Recomendations?

Zagen30, I don't know how to use the TDP figure. I have read that the Q9300 is relatively efficient but I don't have a high-end graphics card so my PS3 Slim might actually get me more ppd/W than my PC. Not sure.
Orion602
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:24 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by Orion602 »


Ideally yes, but the reality is electricity costs money. I live in Southern California, and I can assure you the electricity cost is noticeable. ...
did you think about buying couple of solar pannels? Southern California.. just some five 200Watt pannels on the roof and you could run powerful folding rig with very small electricity cost.

i know it can't be done everywhere, but for some it can be good option.
Slash_2CPU
Posts: 57
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 5:15 pm

Re: Electrical Costs

Post by Slash_2CPU »

Cheaper idea than solar panels:

If you run a large farm, run a 240v/20A line. PSU efficiencies increase when running 240v since the amperage(and thus losses) in the primary windings drops by half. 500W draw at the wall will drop by 10-30W. The line losses(yes, your meter sees that power use as well) from the higher amperages in the 14 awg wire you're on now will also drop.

If you're in the US, look at NEMA 6-20 (aka 6-20P) outlets.

It's easier to never use the power in the first place than to go the solar route.

Yes, I have done this, and yes, it works. Caveat is that the 80-plus supplies are already so good, they will be on the lower end of that gain figure. My cheapo folding-only budget box with a no-name PSU saw the biggest power drop.
ASRock X99 WS i7-5930K @ 4.4GHz /2x GTX 970 @ 1.46GHz /4x4GB DDR4-2666
Phenom II X6 @ 3.7GHz /2x2GB DDR3-1680 /GTX 970 @ 1.40GHz
450-600K PPD @ ~850W
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