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lurkynumber5 t1_j41wecj wrote

At what point will i require a dedicated socket for my gaming pc....

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namesarenotus t1_j41z1ol wrote

Fun fact: if you are in the US on a 15 amp circuit which is most common. You can start tripping circuit breakers at 1400+ watts at 120 volts.

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Komikaze06 t1_j4239fc wrote

That's for 1 breaker though, an entire room is usually on 1 breaker, so better hope you've only got 1 pc in there

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Free_hugs_for_3fiddy t1_j43c3rp wrote

1 pc and absolutely nothing else. Can't turn the lights on, cant turn the fan on, can't have a charger, etc.

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lammatthew725 t1_j44zl21 wrote

Lights now are usually at the 5-10W range

Speaker, depending on size, usually range from 10-150W

Air conditioner ~700 - 1500W

Laser printer is at the 500W range when active (inkjet uses way less)

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ledow t1_j42rj74 wrote

As an IT guy in the UK, that makes me laugh.

We regularly plug in servers with 1400W dual-PSUs, multiple of them, on an ordinary test bench in an ordinary workplace, no special provisions required, or a rack running off a couple of ordinary wall plugs and a PDU (which is basically just a giant extension lead).

Hell, on my workbench at the moment is some 3.8KW of servers, just plugged into the same sockets we would plug our USB chargers or laptops into.

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throwaway1point1 t1_j42vvh3 wrote

Yeah UK 220 circuits are better, and the plug is far superior too.

Safer and more robust.

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uiucengineer t1_j43myqv wrote

There are tradeoffs, "more" isn't inherently "better". I'm in the US and I can't remember the last time I tripped a breaker, though I remember quite vividly the last time I got a shock.

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second_time_again t1_j44dn2e wrote

I’d like to know why you’re being downvoted

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uiucengineer t1_j44odqh wrote

A knee-jerk reaction to perceived American exceptionalism? I didn't even say our way was better, but most people don't understand nuance if it isn't spoon-fed to them.

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throwaway1point1 t1_j49oc1k wrote

The new safer breakers are less tolerant. They trip all the time if you run any kind of load at all (space heater in our basement office, for instance)

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throwaway1point1 t1_j49othv wrote

Common appliances are too much for a standard US/Can circuit tho.

Treadmill? Boop.

Space heater? Boop.

Dehumidifier? Boop.

The safety factor of the UK plugs is the biggest thing tho, and the fact that almost all outlets have a hardware switch cut off right on them (tho with kids that could become a pain)

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namesarenotus t1_j42tm54 wrote

Curious to know, what’s the load rating for each server under normal conditions? Even though the PSU is rated at 1400 watts I assume they are not running at full capacity. Crazy to think that home Computers can possibly run at the same draw rating as a household microwave.

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ledow t1_j42vjo3 wrote

A blade server I had used to pull 3KW under average load. Full load required 4 separate 13A 220V mains plugs. It would literally "dial down" if you only had 2 or 3 plugged in.

But even that just ran off four normal 13A sockets in two double-sockets that were installed in an office ring main.

Generally you don't have servers unless they're pulling power... or entirely idle. Even a redundant server is churning along doing everything the same, ready to take over at a second's notice if it needs to. 800-1000W draw isn't unusual for a single server, 1400W if it's being stressed (and all servers get old enough to be stressed, when you then start trying to pitch for upgrades).

Hell, I have network switches that individually pull 700W during operation (usually PoE switches powering phones, cameras and wireless points).

A small rack of basic networking equipment can easily max out two 13A 220V plugs (don't forget, you'll have a UPS on that, so it's only 90% efficient before you even start).

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namesarenotus t1_j42ws46 wrote

Well shit that’s a lot of power. I knew Xeons were not that efficient but I had no idea they drew that much consistently. Gotta get those I and O requests completed.

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ledow t1_j42y9rd wrote

The chip might be one part... but now consider a dual-processor setup, plus fans, plus cards (RAID, multiple 10Gb/40Gb networking, GPUs for some loads, etc.), plus storage (e.g. a server with 12+ drives in it is pretty standard, nowadays NVMe is pretty standard but the internal storage is often still 12 x 15K spinning disks), plus a TON of RAM (the last servers I bought have 32 DDR5 RAM slots - 16 per CPU - and can take several Tbytes of RAM).

Plus PSU losses, redundant PSUs (again... never completely idle), etc.

Dual NVMe boot drives + multiple 10GbE SFP ports + internal RAIDs on the order of 10Tb is pretty much standard "small school / office" hardware for servers nowadays.

And then you have multiple of them, usually in multiple locations, and that's just your on-premise stuff.

The small school I work for has 10Gb leased lines.

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cardcomm t1_j42zo84 wrote

> in the UK

don't y'all have 220v power over there?

We're on 110v in the US

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D00m3dHitm4n t1_j4390gj wrote

You might be surprised to know that 220v is pumped into houses in the US but is split at the breaker box into 110v for each breaker.

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draftstone t1_j43n2xr wrote

I assume that the US is like Canada, you have some 240v outlets (with different shapes) for things like clothes dryer, oven, possible welder in the garage, but outside of that everything is 120?

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Cindexxx t1_j43qw8g wrote

Yep. The plugs are kind of random though. My old dryer, my new (used) dryer, and my stove are all 240v and every one is a different socket. It's weird. I think my RV hookup is the same as the new dryer though, which matches my little generator.

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draftstone t1_j43rxnf wrote

The plugs being different is for a purpose I think. In most houses the oven and the dryer use different wiring size because they pull different amount of power and you don't want to plug an oven in a dryer outlet.

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Cindexxx t1_j45q6zj wrote

I thought that too. But it turns out, no.....

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ShesMyPublicist t1_j476ahl wrote

But actually, yes - https://makezine.com/article/workshop/metalworking/understanding-240v-ac-power-heavy-duty-power-tools/

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Cindexxx t1_j4e7kmw wrote

Still, only kind of. My oven and dryer are different plugs with the same amperage rating. They're actually wired into the same breaker..... I don't really like that but I don't have the space for a new breaker to fix it, and that's how it was when I moved in. So I can't run my dryer and stove full blast at the same time lol.

The different plugs do have different uses, but they're not strict and they can be interchangeable. I found out mine were wired together because my old dryer outlet was different than the new one, but the wiring met the amp requirements so I just took the old socket off and put the right one on. 30A/240v but different plugs for the stove and dryer. It's kind of nonsense.

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ShesMyPublicist t1_j4ed63p wrote

Ah the fun of old homes, years and years of DIY hack jobs with wildly varying quality lol. In a similar boat with my home, slowly trying to improve things as they come. I just replaced all the outlets in one room and found just 1 was on a totally different breaker - luckily I was checking them individually instead of assuming the breaker took care of everything.

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[deleted] t1_j43dr2m wrote

[deleted]

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SteveThePurpleCat t1_j43fup3 wrote

>I've never understood where 220 and 110 came from.

Those are the nominal or 'average' voltages. Nowhere has 100% consistent voltage supply. The UK goes from about 216v to 250v. If you were to plot the AC sine wave, the peaks would be nearer 330v RMS. But that variance is of no damn use to anyone who makes devices, or the consumers shopping for something compatible.

So a nominal is used, a nice easy number for everyone to read and go 'oh yeah, that works in my wall socket'.

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The-Protomolecule t1_j42ez4f wrote

Yeah, running above that 1440w 80% level consistently starts warming up wires.

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greatgoogelymoogely t1_j44ieay wrote

A functioning 120v breaker will start tripping at 1800 watts.

Amps x volts = watts. 15 amps x 120v= 1800 watts.

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namesarenotus t1_j44mxsg wrote

While you are inherently correct circuits are engineered to run at 80% capacity. Check out the 80% rated breaker rule.

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[deleted] t1_j46clxd wrote

The circuit is designed with that spec in mind but the actual breakers you find in use don't trip until 15-20% over their rating. No they do not trip at 80% unless the breaker is fucked.

-source me, EE, work with this shit quite literally every day and trust me, you are not tripping at 1400w and no one is assuming that we only have 1400w available when designing products. And yes I do work on things that pull that much or more power continuously and we are using residential breakers for testing. The reason a device might trip a breaker when it's continuous rating is 1400W is if it pulls an instantaneous load over ~2-2.5kW. but under normal operation a 15A breaker will never even sneeze at a 1400w continuous load.

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Pooshonmyhazeer t1_j44rt91 wrote

15A * 120v = 1800 watts bubba. You ain’t trippin shit at “1400+”

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semibiquitous t1_j44212g wrote

Can confirm. Hungry gaming laptop + 2 monitors + 1200W space heater + 3d printer + peak 300watt speakers = occasional trip. Which isn't fun to get out in the cold to reset.

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[deleted] t1_j46c1rx wrote

Uh no this is completely wrong. Not unless the breakers are really old and need replaced. Breakers typically won't trip until about 15-20% ABOVE their rating. So a 15A breaker wouldn't trip until you start pulling over 2Kw continuous/2.5kW instantaneous. Most modern houses are using 20A breakers and 12ga Romex now anyway so there's very very little chance of someone tripping a breaker at 80% of a 15A rating.

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qutaaa666 t1_j43gazy wrote

Depends on where you’re from. In Europe it’s not likely

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lammatthew725 t1_j44zb1z wrote

Depends on where you are

If you are in the 220V world, with a 13A socket, you should be fine with anything drawing less than 2860W.

In case you have no high school science background... The equation is P=IV. Power = current* voltage

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Rapid_Sausage t1_j45ncou wrote

I think, generally speaking, you wouldn't want a valuable appliance on anything but a dedicated socket.

Honestly it'd be even better if you bought a UPS for your PC, the added cost is negligible for the peace of mind you get to safeguard from electrical mishaps.

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