In these days of high gas prices, rolling
blackouts and increasing energy costs, how does a
techie measure power consumption accurately?
Well, the Seasonic Power Angel is just the right
device for the job. It comes neatly packed in
a blister package:
As you can see
from the specs below, it is a compact little unit
with a high power capacity, up to 1875W at 125VAC.
| Features |
Item |
Explanation |
| V |
AC Voltage |
The actual voltage at the AC outlet. |
| A |
Amperes |
The current drawn by the device
measured. |
| W |
Watts |
The power consumed. |
| VA |
VA |
The volt-amperes consumed. |
| Hz |
Hertz |
The frequency of the AC voltage. |
| PF |
Power Factor |
A measure of the device's environmental
friendliness. |
| KWH |
Kilowatt Hour |
Power consumption over time as measured
by your utility. |
| Hr |
Hour |
The total expired time. |
Testing
Okay, so we test the PowerAngel with a
high-powered system: Tyan K8WE, 2x AMD Opteron 250,
4x WD740GD Raptors, and an Asus X1600 ATI video
card. We also installed the AMD Power
Management driver in XP, allowing the OS to throttle
the CPU clock speed all the way down to 1GHz.
When the CPUs were in full clock speed, the Power
Angel neatly displayed the power consumption, a nice
220W:
Once the system went
idle, the AMD and XP power management throttled down
the Opterons to about 1GHz, greatly reducing power
consumption to 142W. Very cool!
We also performed a few
other tests to confirm the reliability of the
PowerAngel:
| |
Claimed Current Draw / Power |
PowerAngel Measured Current / Power |
| Vacuum Cleaner |
12A |
11.8A |
| Hair dryer |
1875W |
1775W |
| Night light |
2W |
1W |
| Laptop power supply |
1.5A |
1.5A |
| PC, STR standby mode |
? |
7W |
Conclusion
Once in a while, you come across a product you
didn't think you needed, until you start using it.
That sentiment is especially true for the Seasonic
Power Angel. We first thought that the Power
Angel is just a gimmicky device that displays power
consumption, whoop-dee-friggin-doo. But ever
since we started using it in the lab during tests
and reviews, we find ourselves constantly looking at
its wattage display. Yes, it has become an
indispensable part of our lab, and should be
standard in any hobbyist's test bench. We now
know which parts are power sippers, and which ones
are power hogs.
Treadlayers.com declares the Seasonic PowerAngel
as:
