...provided the manufacture has actually had the PSU verified correctly.
I recently had three failed PSU on the bench, all were the same manufacturer (once one got into the beasts), all rated at the same "650W" output, but with different efficiency ratings, but all had exactly the same internal layout and components (and all had failed in the same manner - I had hoped to make one good out of the three....) It really is a case of "buyer beware".

Obviously we are talking about high quality, well tested & verified PSU's. Anyway who put a low quality high power PSU on a high cost host? Makes little sense to do that. Provided the PSU is one of the less expensive items on a high cost host you expect it coming from a high quality manufacturer. A bad "cheap" PSU could easily burn your expensive GPU or MB/CPU components. LOL

It makes no sense at all to put in a cheap PSU. About a third of all computer faults are directly related to power problems, and there will be other components that fail because the power supplied was out of spec, even if only for a short while.

With the greatest of respect I would suggest that if just $5 (£3.88) per month makes a significant difference to ones budget, then I would query whether that person can really afford to run computers in the first place.

While you are not wrong, generally those that look after the pennies, will also buy other products based on efficiency and therefore their savings will be significant.

I think the heat output generated by a home computer would be so infinitesimal as to make no difference.

Again, looking at single households you are not wrong, but there are now billions of computer products that were not even available 10, 20 years ago, so on a world wide basis the extra power used is huge.
In winter the heat from computers can reduce the heating required in the room they are in, but electricity is the expensive 'fuel' compared to other heating fuels. And in hot climates the heat from computers will lead to a larger load on cooling systems.

On electrical supplies, I vote for higher voltages. The stresses and stains due to the AC voltage are negligible at the home/office level. But the current is a problem, heating in badly installed/maintained cables, and switching contacts are current specified above voltage. In many switching devices the current rating is constant across the whole range of AC and DC voltages.


At one stage in the US they couldn't buy high output power supplies, but some got round the problem by getting european models and connecting them phase to phase. The voltage phase to phase in a star connected system is sq root of 3 (1.732) * "line to neutral" voltage.

@ Chris S

I think the heat output generated by a home computer would be so infinitesimal as to make no difference. Global warming comes mainly from Burning fossil fuels which release CO2 pollution into the atmosphere.

Remember that much of the electricity generated in the world comes from fossil fuel burning. The less heat generated by the computer, the less fuel that is burned.

If I boil a standard 3Kw electric kettle for a cup of tea, at 240V that is a current of about 12.5 amps through a standard 13A plug and wall socket. At 110V that would be 27amps. It seems that the USA original distribution system was 110V DC when they changed to AC they kept the voltage the same.

The U.K. secondary (home) distribution is 230V 50Hz single phase. The U.S. secondary (home) distribution is 240V 60Hz from the distribution line with two phases. Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_distribution#240_volt_systems_and_120_volt_outlets

My electric kettle is 1800W which is too much for U.S. branch circuits, but here in Vietnam where they use 230V 50Hz single phase, it works fine.

Modern U.S. homes actually use a split-phase to get their usual 120V outlets, but high usage devices (electric ranges, clothes dryers, house heaters, electric car chargers, and some power tools) use both sides (phases which are 180 degrees apart) of the supply. 120V is safer than Vietnam where you can easily get electrocuted from a faulty outlet.

The UK uses 110v building site transformers which are centre tapped, this means that they are essentially dual phase, meaning that 110v is actually reduced to 2 x 55v. This lower voltage and current is much safer to use, and it is unlikely to have the punch to cause you problems if you accidentally stepped on a live wire in your safety boots.

Actually, a center tap from the distribution line and a transformer in the UK would give 115V 50 Hz and still be single phase. I agree this is much safer for people when around the power outlets and uses.

I agree that the U.S. National Electrical Code would only allow two of the computers on a standard branch circuit.

However, using the split-phase technique, a special outlet could be fed from both side of the supply and a total of four computers could then be connected.

@ Chris S

I think the heat output generated by a home computer would be so infinitesimal as to make no difference. Global warming comes mainly from Burning fossil fuels which release CO2 pollution into the atmosphere.

Remember that much of the electricity generated in the world comes from fossil fuel burning. The less heat generated by the computer, the less fuel that is burned.

If I boil a standard 3Kw electric kettle for a cup of tea, at 240V that is a current of about 12.5 amps through a standard 13A plug and wall socket. At 110V that would be 27amps. It seems that the USA original distribution system was 110V DC when they changed to AC they kept the voltage the same.

The U.K. secondary (home) distribution is 230V 50Hz single phase. The U.S. secondary (home) distribution is 240V 60Hz from the distribution line with two phases. Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_distribution#240_volt_systems_and_120_volt_outlets

My electric kettle is 1800W which is too much for U.S. branch circuits, but here in Vietnam where they use 230V 50Hz single phase, it works fine.

Modern U.S. homes actually use a split-phase to get their usual 120V outlets, but high usage devices (electric ranges, clothes dryers, house heaters, electric car chargers, and some power tools) use both sides (phases which are 180 degrees apart) of the supply. 120V is safer than Vietnam where you can easily get electrocuted from a faulty outlet.

The UK uses 110v building site transformers which are centre tapped, this means that they are essentially dual phase, meaning that 110v is actually reduced to 2 x 55v. This lower voltage and current is much safer to use, and it is unlikely to have the punch to cause you problems if you accidentally stepped on a live wire in your safety boots.

Actually, a center tap from the distribution line and a transformer in the UK would give 115V 50 Hz and still be single phase. I agree this is much safer for people when around the power outlets and uses.

I agree that the U.S. National Electrical Code would only allow two of the computers on a standard branch circuit.

However, using the split-phase technique, a special outlet could be fed from both side of the supply and a total of four computers could then be connected.

There is a 30 Amp 120v single pole breaker that I could get since it's compatible with My Eaton Breaker Box, though not this second. I'd have to get a different outlet and a 3 way adapter, but it would work. Half My circuits here are either 15Amp or 20Amp, all are 120v, I don't have any "240v" circuits for the moment, if I did it would be at 100Amps for charging a BEV at Level2 charging(19.2KW max for Level2) and this would be hardwired to a AC charger, I'd need to upgrade My main breaker to at least 125Amps as well as the Stub and the Submeter, provided the underground cable can handle 125 Amps, otherwise I'd be limited to 60Amp breaker for charging and I could then use a NEMA 14-60 plug as shown here. The cost of charging, depends on what one is paying per KWh, for some it could be $6, but YMMV. And no I have no intention of having this work done, not unless I got a BEV would I need to do so, I'm just saying what is possible to do. A BEV is a Chevy Bolt EV, a Tesla model 3(or S or X or Y(Y is a Pickup)), a FORD F-150 EV, a FORD Mach1 CUV/SUV, a Rivian R1T Electric Pickup, a Hyundai KONA EV, a Nissan Leaf/E+, etc, etc, etc, a PHEV has a battery and a gasoline motor(VOLT and almost any Hybrid), an HEV is at the moment an older Prius or some vehicle like that. PHEV =Plug in Hybrid. A Tesla X is powerful enough to tow a Chevy-Silverado-1500 pickup out of a charging spot with the pickup's parking brake engaged if equipped for towing and with a tow strap.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

There is a 30 Amp 120v single pole breaker that I could get since it's compatible with My Eaton Breaker Box, ... <snip>

Sorry to stick my nose in where it probably doesn't belong, but having learned a couple of things recently due to a couple of electrical issues in my old house, I have a maybe useful comment. Most household 15/20 amp circuits can't handle 30 amps safely due to the existing wiring. For 15 amps you need minimum 14ga. wire, for 20 amp it's 12ga., for 30 amps it's 10ga. While it's not uncommon to find 12ga. in a 15 amp circuit, 10ga. is very uncommon. For safety's sake, please make sure the infrastructure can handle what you might throw at it.

For safety's sake, please make sure the infrastructure can handle what you might throw at it.

+1, you took the words out of my mouth, Wires in the wall catching on fire is bad.

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Seti@home classic: 1,456 results, 1.613 years CPU time

Thank you for the welcome, and all points duly noted. At least they make heavy duty extension cords.

Ah yes, the joys of owning an old house. I still have some barely post war wiring in a couple of rooms, can't afford to re-do it soon. The wiring is in walls with additions tacked on that would require some demolition and rebuild to get at them. They were checked for insulation resistance a few years ago and were OK, but it's something I need to address eventually.

Now you've got me thinking, and next week I'll move the computer with the GTX-1060 and the 650 watt power supply to the other part of the house. See how I moved it back on topic? :-)

There is a 30 Amp 120v single pole breaker that I could get since it's compatible with My Eaton Breaker Box, ... <snip>

Sorry to stick my nose in where it probably doesn't belong, but having learned a couple of things recently due to a couple of electrical issues in my old house, I have a maybe useful comment. Most household 15/20 amp circuits can't handle 30 amps safely due to the existing wiring. For 15 amps you need minimum 14ga. wire, for 20 amp it's 12ga., for 30 amps it's 10ga. While it's not uncommon to find 12ga. in a 15 amp circuit, 10ga. is very uncommon. For safety's sake, please make sure the infrastructure can handle what you might throw at it.

Yeah the 30Amp breaker would need a 10 gauge cable and an electrician that I know of, plus a special RV outlet and an adapter, but it would power up a few more devices than a 15 or 20 circuit would and so far is just an idea that I'll probably not pursue beyond speculation like I'm doing now.

I have a 10ga cable which used to be part of a malfunctioning 240v clothes dryer circuit, I went to gas instead, now that cable powers two 20Amp circuits and this was done by an electrician, I also have a large aluminum cable about as big as ones fist feeding power from the stub to My home and it's the only aluminum electrical cable that I have here, copper would have been better, but at the time I was running out of money from My small inheritance and the aluminum cable was free and has worked perfectly since late 2006.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Yeah the 30Amp breaker would need a 10 gauge cable and an electrician that I know of, plus a special RV outlet and an adapter ...

Glad to know you're a step ahead of me. I just wanted to make sure since the outcome of not knowing something like that could be very bad.

I also have a large aluminum cable about as big as ones fist feeding power from the stub to My home and it's the only aluminum electrical cable that I have here, copper would have been better ...

While copper is better, there's nothing wrong with aluminum wiring if properly installed. It got a bad reputation a long time ago when people were using it in equipment specifically made for copper only. The expansion rates are different, causing a loosening of the connection resulting in arcing.

...also aluminium isn't as good a conductor as copper, so one has to keep an eye on loads and runs to reduce cable losses (heating). I'm not sure how relevant that is in a domestic situation , but for high current industrial it is always a consideration.
These days the main advantage is its weight - being so much lighter it can make a big difference in some applications.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

... There were benefits to ground floors being timber joists and floorboards, unlike the concrete slab design these days. The depth under the ground floor floorboards is 2' 6" enough space for a man to crawl under ...

Lucky you. Down here it's almost all slab on grade and very shallow pitched roofs. Not really enough attic space to get anywhere near the outside walls :-(

Sorry to stick my nose in where it probably doesn't belong, but having learned a couple of things recently due to a couple of electrical issues in my old house, I have a maybe useful comment. Most household 15/20 amp circuits can't handle 30 amps safely due to the existing wiring. For 15 amps you need minimum 14ga. wire, for 20 amp it's 12ga., for 30 amps it's 10ga. While it's not uncommon to find 12ga. in a 15 amp circuit, 10ga. is very uncommon. For safety's sake, please make sure the infrastructure can handle what you might throw at it.

Not at all, as the OP here you are welcome, and fresh views are always useful. But there are also certain facts that you are maybe not aware of that have been posted before on these boards and are in the public domain.

The person that made the 30 amp comment lives in a 35 year old mobile home whose wiring is of the same age because it has never been replaced, and likely of a minimum standard. An external breaker box leaks when it rains. Already a large number of socket outlets (receptacles) need replacing, so much so that they have a number of 30 feet extension leads to get power to where they want it. It is fairly clear that the wring in that place is likely dangerous and needs to be replaced and uprated. Even considering 30 amp circuits is a folly of great magnitude.

We are also told that the person is in the process of building another 5 computers in addition to their daily use one. Plugging that lot in will likely result in the the whole place going up in flames. However experience has taught us that any advice, even safety related, is not welcome and will likely be flatly rejected. However I agree with both Bill and Halfempty that the infrastructure is of prime importance in electrical safety matters.

+2

My mobile home is a 14'x60' 1987 Fleetwood Westfield, your math is off Chris S, it's 32yrs old, at least it's paid off and last I looked this is 2019, not 2022.
I am not doing anything of the sort Chris S******* as I have only one 25' 14ga extension cord coiled on a shelf on My desk, not a number of 30 foot of cables, you have no idea what you are talking about...
I am building 5 extra PCs, but I at least know what I'm doing...
Just exaggeration and innuendo as usual, heck I could go on, but why? When you'll do that all by yourself.

It's not a wiring problem, the wiring here conforms to the National Electric Code and is not multi strand wiring like is used in a lamp cord, the wiring here is solid core wire with plastic insulation called Romex, it's 20 bad electrical outlets that Fleetwood installed back in 1987, the electrician said the wiring is ok. I've replaced one outlet and one light switch, someone else installed a GFCI outlet, the two 20Amp circuits with 1 outlet each near Me I'd paid to have installed by an electrician, and an electrician that I hired in 2018 replaced 3 more outlets and I had all the breakers but the main breaker replaced by said electrician in 2018, the 20 outlets are not being used for the most part and will be replaced asap.

If I could snap My fingers I'd have it all done plus have installed 4 new 20 Amp circuits but the guy charges $150 for a trip charge to come out here plus parts and labor, at least I have the replacement outlets and breakers, want it done sooner?

If my knees, hips, and right shoulder didn't all hurt, I'd replace the 20 outlets Myself, since I do know how to do that and I know what the color codes are, Black and Red are Hot wires, White is Neutral, Green or Bare copper wire is with current wiring Ground, romex cables that are marked 14/2 or 12/2 indicate ground wires that are surrounded with paper insulation and the other two wires have plastic insulation around each wire, while 14/3 and 12/3 romex cables have all wires covered in plastic insulation around each wire. I also know what pigtails and wire nuts are too.

And I do have the parts, since most outlets don't get used it's not a top priority, they will get taken care of when I have the money to do so.
The window a/c is on a new outlet and the other items on that circuit are smaller devices.
Most of the kitchen is two 20Amp circuits.

The house has a litterbox, 2 fans in the bathrooms where the outlets have already been replaced in the bathrooms,
the front bedroom has only a low wattage light,
the rear bedroom has a 12w LED light and a 16" floor fan,
so except for the living room circuit everything else has next to nothing on it or is on new outlets already,
the kitchen has a refrig, microwave oven, garbage disposal, nimh battery charger, a dishwasher, and a 2 slot toaster, no not a Seti toaster.

The devices on the living room circuit with the a/c(the a/c alone is close to 10amps in usage), is a TV, an Xbox1, a dvd/vhs player/recorder, a modem, a PC router, a table lamp, aquarium lights which are almost never on, and a 16" remote controlled floor fan that is about 8' away from Me.

My entire PC is on a 20Amp circuit that was installed back around 2008 by an electrician and is not in need of a new outlet.

Though before summer comes I want to put the floor fan on an outlet here in the kitchen where it used to be at instead of on the living room circuit, which means I need to find a short extension cord for it since the fan cord does not reach all that far, which is why I wanted to get the a/c on its own circuit since the a/c is hogging the living room circuit, literally.

My vacuum cleaner is a relatively new device and not one from 40 years ago and I can plug it into the kitchen and get all or nearly all the home done from there in spurts, hours instead of days, and the newer vac puts out a lot less heat than My old vac did too.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

... There were benefits to ground floors being timber joists and floorboards, unlike the concrete slab design these days. The depth under the ground floor floorboards is 2' 6" enough space for a man to crawl under ...

Lucky you. Down here it's almost all slab on grade and very shallow pitched roofs. Not really enough attic space to get anywhere near the outside walls :-(

My home is on an earthquake resistant foundation, which has a steel girder support system, then floor joists and could travel down a fwy at 55mph, a stick built house if moved can barely do 5mph without falling apart, though mine is not going anywhere most likely, it is still capable even at 32 years old, I have 2"x6" exterior walls on 16" centers and 2"x4" interior walls on a mix of 16" and 24" centers and I have roof trusses and a metal roof. All the electrical outlets have gaskets behind the faceplates like new construction is required to have by code and baby plugs in any unused outlet inside the home on an exterior wall to stop drafts and a curious kitty, most of the cabinets here have baby locks just to keep Grace My cat from opening them, yeah She will do that, some doors in the kitchen cabinet don't need the locks of course.

I'm going to try and do some more work on a PC on Monday or Tuesday as energy and time allows as I might be called away in an emergency to help a friend.

In the PC I'll be installing 3 fans and a fan hub, a data cable to the SSD, and connecting an 850w Corsair psu to the motherboard and to other devices in that PC, I did some work on it today.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's