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Power consumption of a PC in sleep mode?
The_Spaniard
It's never lupinesIrvine, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
It's never lupinesIrvine, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
Simple question prefaced with a short story.
I leave on my computer 24/7, when I'm not home it automatically goes into sleep mode where it stays and the monitor sleeps as well. I have a 650watt power supply and 3 case fans, 2 of them are 250mm ones with knobs that let me turn them up down or even off. And the monitor is a 22 inch LCD.
Now I work in the tech industry and always need instant access to my computer, for some reason it can take upwards of minutes before it turns on (not start up, and I believe that it has something to do with the powersupply) from an off state, and I always check it first thing in the morning minutes before I go to work, and immediately upon returning home from work. I also remote connect to my PC from time to time at work to get at important work documents that I happen to have been working on at home and whatnot. I also leave it on for important messages that might be sent via IM so that I don't miss them. I can't just sign into my IM at work because I have a work IM and a home IM.
So, you can understand that it is important that I keep my PC on. Now my mother has this idea that my PC in sleep mode is taking up extravagant amounts of electricity and we would save a bundle if I had it off when I was at work. My question is if anybody knows roughly what a sleeping PC with the basic specs I gave (I can give more if needed) consumes power/money wise in a month so that I can get an idea. Also would turning the monitor, printer, speakers, and turning down the fans significantly help?
I leave on my computer 24/7, when I'm not home it automatically goes into sleep mode where it stays and the monitor sleeps as well. I have a 650watt power supply and 3 case fans, 2 of them are 250mm ones with knobs that let me turn them up down or even off. And the monitor is a 22 inch LCD.
Now I work in the tech industry and always need instant access to my computer, for some reason it can take upwards of minutes before it turns on (not start up, and I believe that it has something to do with the powersupply) from an off state, and I always check it first thing in the morning minutes before I go to work, and immediately upon returning home from work. I also remote connect to my PC from time to time at work to get at important work documents that I happen to have been working on at home and whatnot. I also leave it on for important messages that might be sent via IM so that I don't miss them. I can't just sign into my IM at work because I have a work IM and a home IM.
So, you can understand that it is important that I keep my PC on. Now my mother has this idea that my PC in sleep mode is taking up extravagant amounts of electricity and we would save a bundle if I had it off when I was at work. My question is if anybody knows roughly what a sleeping PC with the basic specs I gave (I can give more if needed) consumes power/money wise in a month so that I can get an idea. Also would turning the monitor, printer, speakers, and turning down the fans significantly help?
Playstation/Origin/GoG: Span_Wolf Xbox/uPlay/Bnet: SpanWolf Nintendo: Span_Wolf SW-7097-4917-9392 Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/id/Span_Wolf/
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I'd turn off everything except the computer itself (monitor, etc.), but that's just me.
He's confusing sleep with hibernate.
Technically speaking, hibernate should consume no power, while sleep can still use a significant amount. I think it's dependent on your hardware as to how much power you'll use while in sleep mode.
Does your hardware support a hibernate mode? It's pretty slick, mine can go from fully hibernated to login screen in a matter of ~3 seconds.
EDIT: You'd definitely see some good power savings by turning your peripherals (monitor, speaker, etc) off.
Did a quick search, and came across a guide that might be useful (the "How do I enable this S3 Sleep State" section, at least. The configuration for a always-on computer bit looks like it's for if you want the system to be able to wake from LAN.)
EDIT: It might help to link the actual thing.
2nd EDIT: Just remembered; you can check which sleep state your computer can currently support by opening up a command line, and running powercfg -a
Your power supply is a switching power supply. It never draws 650 watts from the wall, unless it is only 50% efficient. If you really want to know what it costs, invest 20$ into a kill-o-watt or other consumer grade power meter to figure out what you are consuming each month. I can pretty much guarantee your fridge draws more power than your computer does in 24 hours.
I work in the tech industry too, but I've taken to shutting down my machine when I'm not home. Between myself and my dad making a conscious decision to do this, the power bill at our house has gone down an average of $40/month.
There are ways around the things you've mentioned as reasons why you keep it on. For documents, keep them on a thumb drive or upload them to a file storage space(I have a paid web host I use, or you could use a free service like Windows Live Skydrive). For people IM'ing you, get them to send an e-mail. If things are truly that important, I would never trust IM anyway. "Important" messages should always come through e-mail, because(in general), e-mail is a bit slower, but more reliable(again, in general).
There are also other things to do as well. When you get up from the computer, just turn the monitor off. I do that all the time. That will save power. Turn off speakers when you don't need them, same with printers. Dont' leave USB devices plugged in when you don't need them. Those little things might not seem like much, but they do all add up, especially the monitor.
You put more money in your gas tank in a week than your computer will suck up in electricity in a month. Unless money really is THAT tight, I wouldn't say it was a factor in your monthly budget. I grew up with an electricity/heat miser for a Dad, and so I can relate. But the bottom line is, electricity is pretty cheap compared to lots of other monthly utilities depending on where you live. I can leave my computer on 24/7 and cool my apartment with 3 air conditioners, and it's still less than what I pay for internet or cable. Leaving lights on in a room uses more electricity than your computer (if you haven't yet switched to CFLs).
Ninja edit: If your work requires you to leave your computer on, it's part of the cost of doing business, same as paying for gas to get to work.
Numbers vary too much to be accurately guessed without a full list of computer specs; the best way is to take the suggestion above of getting a $20 Kill-A-Watt or something similar and checking yourself.
That said, if you need instant access to IM and simple programs, how about a WiFi-enabled PDA or smartphone?
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But it takes a while for USB to come back on.
Also, CPU frequency/voltage scaling really helps. I personally use CrystalCPUID for that, but that's only because I overclock. Vista has it built in, if you are not overclocking. My computer goes from 100W@3Ghz to 75W@1Ghz (both idle).
You weren't doing this before? Well shit son, that will make a difference. Why keep a printer on 24/7 if you don't print 24/7. That's just waste. Same with the monitor.