I built a PC out of some spare parts recently, and was marveling at not having to plug a power cable into the graphics card (a 1050 Ti). The sacrifices we make for graphics quality...
Can't speak for the most modern ones which I know are worse, but I was pretty surprised when I recently got a smart plug with power monitoring recently to find that my system with a 3080 (though, undervolted slightly), 16-core cpu, way too many peripherals, eight various drives, several small screens and dual monitors, only pulls 600-650W under full load.
I got the plugs to help me choose an appropriate UPS, and I don't need one as powerful as I'd thought I would.
I need to get one of those. I have 5 spinning disks + 1 SSD, though not much else high powered - it's a file server, CPU is at least 8 years old, and GPU (if you can even call it that) is passively cooled... I just replaced my 500W power supply because its fan had died (explains why occasionally I'd come home and find it powered off) and nothing under 650W had enough SATA power connectors, so that's what I ended up with. Curious how overkill it is...
I don't mind RGB as long as it's easy to turn off and it stays off forever.
What I do mind is that my desktop turned on the RGB is off, but as soon as I shut it down it turns on. And guess what's at the perfect angle to get blasted with the light? My bed. I eventually found the SEPARATE TOGGLE FOR RGB IN S5 STATE, but guess what constantly gets turned back on with every bios update?
My fucking RGB is hardwired, meaning I can't turn it off because it doesn't communicate with the motherboard. I did not ask for nor pay for this, it was an "add on" that Cyber Power tossed in for free...I hate it so much.
One of the fans went wonky and the wiring is a nightmare. RMA’d the unit, bought a bunch of black high-end 120mm fans, black d15 cooler, black (faster) RAM, and a 1000w PSU. The wiring is SO MUCH CLEANER in the back, the machine is completely silent, and no more wonky flashing fan. I can’t even tell when it’s on. I love it.
The only RGB I have is a tiny module in my mouse's scroll wheel, and that's it. I didnt realise the mouse had that module when I bought it and I was quite irritated because of that but I've grown to actually like it.
On another note, I'm using an old keyboard that's basically at death's door because it seems like it's literally IMPOSSIBLE to find a good keyboard without RGB in it. It's insane.
Preach. I don't even have a window on mine. I want my machine to blend into the room. All the showy stuff feels like you need to show off to justify the price.
I just realized that my PC doesn't have any RGB. My previous one had it on basically everything but the RAM. Now it's just my keyboard which is set to white.
Had one back when it was the hype, but its just annoying. Nowadays my case is a huge (enormous, but much space for cable management and airflow) black box. No panels, no light. Feels better
You know you don't have to have it dancing in rainbow patterns right? You can choose any color you like and even have it be static. I have most of my keys in blue, with the function and numpad in a soft white. This is a relaxing layout for me that helps me focus. But if you hate it so much, simply turn the lights off, that was always an option. Plus I think you are overreacting a bit, there are plenty of good keyboards out there without rgb that don't cost much.
Same. I bought a prefab desktop last year and it came with RGB and there was no way to disable it though the software. I just ended up removing the jumper for it.
I think it only looks cool as an accent or whenever it has a proper diffuser to highlight a key spot like certain RGB fans with a case that has a clear front or side.
Then you can go set the color and brightness to make a theme.
I love when it’s well integrated with a game and I feel it adds to the experience. I don’t see a problem as long as it can be turned off for the people who care.
In 2021 I replaced my old PC power and cooling 750w PSU that I bought in like 2009. When I pulling it out I found a build date from 2006 on it. That thing was a great PSU.
PSUs are waaaaay more efficient when operating closer to their rated capacity. Pulling 200W through a 1kW power supply is like making a marathon runner breathe through a straw.
But it doesn't make that much of a difference. The efficiency swing is maybe 10%. Like an bronze 80 rated PSU will have a minimum efficiency of 80%, but even if you're at the 50% load mark it won't be over 90% efficient.
The main point (to me anyways) is that its dumb to pay more for a power supply just so you can pay "more* on your power bill. If your idle load is 100W and your gaming load is 300W, you've got no reason running more than a 600W PSU
While true. How much would it actually save you in electricity? If you upgrade every year wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy the bigger psu outright and pay the extra cost in electricity so you don’t have to buy another PSU when you get more power hungry components.
The device needing more power won't get it, simple. Depending on what device it is, it will automatically throttle down so it needs less power, but obviously it will also deliver less performance while so throttled. And if the power is missing during a very sensitive part of a process so there's no time to throttle down, your PC could blue screen or restart.
It's very unlikely to suffer any long-term damage from this.
Joke if you want but that's actually a really good idea if you want device longevity. And their in-house brand has been rock solid in every build I've made for a reasonable price
Yep. The max wattage on a PSU goes down over time, so you want to overshoot somewhat to keep it useful for longer. Power requirements also typically go up over time with new hardware, but I think that's been slowing down.
The closest Microcenter to me is about a fourteen hour drive, so, no. Unfortunately, the closest equivalent in the Pacific Northwest went under several years ago and nobody has picked up the slack.
What? The leds that go in the bulb sockets take 3W so the RGB ones going into the case probably take like 1.5 to 2W. RGB led strips seem to take 8W per meter. We're talking about 5m of led strips and 25 individual lights and still not hitting 100W.
I don't put RGB in my cases so I don't know what the trend is. If it's to turn your PC into a Christmas tree then I can understand 100W not being enough.
I once had a PSU fail catastrophically- arcing, visible from around a corner and down a hall, and quite loud. I didn't want to go near it, circuit breakers were closer anyway, but I didn't know which one so I just hit them all. Once replaced, I fired up the machine and... I think the cmos was cleared, but other than that, no ill effects.
Also RGB doesn't use anywhere near 250w. Given that LED spotlights are usually around 25-75w, at 250w your PC would be too bright to look at. I have 9 RGB fans, along with a GPU and motherboard with RGB LEDs; the difference between RGB off and RGB on at full brightness is ~10w, measured from the wall.
LED lighting. Usually can adjust to whatever color lighting you like. Pure aesthetic value, no actual benefit to the performance of the machine itself.