Testing (continued):
The next phase of testing involved using a Seasonic Power Angel monitoring device to compare various aspects of the AC power going into the power supplies being tested.
The two step chart below (split to allow for a readable scale on the various data) compares the Power Factor (PF), Amperage (A), Wattage (W), and apparent Wattage (VA). We see the same two power supplies under the same three test conditions, this time looking to see how things differed on the AC side of the device.
The first thing shown is that the PF was about 0.99 across the board, but the Silencer 750 did seem to need a bit of load to get there (it was 0.98 while idle). What is also revealed is that the Enermax Liberty 500W unit draws more Amperage than the Silencer 750 whether the system is at idle or under a load.
If you spend some more time to compare the values in the chart above, it will be seen that despite upgrading from a 500W unit to a 750W unit, the idea that more power will be used is obviously wrong. The Enermax Liberty is probably one of the more efficient units I have used, but there is apparently still room for improvement. Taking the Wattage values from the chart above shows that under the load this system generally sees 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 actually draws 13 fewer Watts, and as the load increases, so does the efficiency. Taking a look at the actual values for my particular situation, the savings over just one year can be calculated.
The basic equation is: [KW saved] x [price per KW] x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year
Using my data this becomes: .013KW x $0.123210/KW x 24 x 365
Or an annual savings of: $14.03
While $14.03 isn't much, as I said, the Enermax Liberty isn't an el cheapo unit and had some pretty good specifications of its own. What this should confirm to those with doubts is that higher Wattage units don't have to draw more power.
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