how much power does 500w psu will draw from outlet?

[victor1197]

i have currently 280w psu i want 500w psu. will it draw more power from power outlet. or i need to change the power cables?

 

[Suztera]

A PSU will draw as much as your pc needs. A 500W psu just means it can draw up to around approx 500W. If you swapping a psu, then yes, you will need to disconnect any cables from your old psu to swap it.

 

[HEXiT]

what every the computer needs plus 15-20% depending on how efficient it is over 80+
so if the computer is drawing 100w from the psu, the psu will have to draw 115-120w from the wall.
if its drawing 300w then the psu will need to draw 345-360w from the wall.
if your replacing an old psu the new 1 will likely run more efficiently so should cost slightly less to run. even if its a bigger overall unit...
the computer wont draw any more power than it already does unless you chance something like the cpu/motherboard or gpu.

 

[Mr5oh]

A PSU will draw as much as your pc needs. A 500W psu just means it can draw up to around approx 500W. If you swapping a psu, then yes, you will need to disconnect any cables from your old psu to swap it.

Actually depends on the efficiency of the PSU. Assuming a quality power supply rated to supply the PC with 500 watts, will draw just over that as some of the power is lost as the PSU is not 100% efficient.

However as you said, it will only draw what it needs, which will be much less than 500. Heck my last machine topped out at 317 watts overclocked at full load (3570K / GTX 570 HD). My current build tops out at 249 watts at full load (4690K / GTX 760). My media PC (G3258 / GTX 750 TI) only draws 114 watts at full load. Note my measurements are from the wall, so the PC is actually using less than those figures.

 

[victor1197]

i asked that because the electric current coming in my home is 220w. do an stabilizer?

 

[Paperdoc]

No, the power supply into your home is not 220W.

If you live in North America it is almost surely a dual 120 / 240 VAC supply system with Grounded Neutral. This means that most wall outlets are 120 VAC, but the higher 240 VAC is available for heavy loads like a stove or an electric clothes dryer.

In many countries in Europe and elsewhere the supply to your house is 220 VAC, and you Do get 220 VAC from the wall outlets. BUT that is VOLTS supplied, not WATTS. Watts (which is power consumed) it the product of the supply voltage times the amperage (current) being drawn by the device plugged in.

In your case, OP, replacing your PSU unit with NO other changes will make almost no difference to how much power your computer uses. The power actually consumed from the wall outlet will be the power actually used by the components of the computer, divided by the efficiency (as a fraction) of the PSU. So, for example, if the internal components were consuming 200 W before the change, that part will not change. The SMALL difference in what actually is consumed from the wall will be because the efficiency of your new PSU may be BETTER (higher) that the old one, so it will draw just a little bit LESS than the old PSU.

Now, that all is based on assuming you are NOT changing anything else in your computer. If you do change something (say, a new video card with much more power and hence consuming more electrical power), then the overall system will use more power from the wall. But not a h8uge amount more. For example, if a new component consumed 10 amps more power from the 12 VDC rail (and that is a big increase), the draw from the wall would increase by 0.7 amps.

Let's put a few limits on this to ease your anxiety. A 500 W PSU with a good 80% efficiency rating would consume from the wall at MAXIMUM 500/0.8 = 625 Watts. At 220 VAC supply voltage, that would be 2.84 amps. You should check the fuse or breaker rating for the wall outlet circuit in the room, but I expect it is rated for 10 to 15 amps. Unless you already have a LOT of heavy electrical devices connected to this circuit, the change in your PSU will make virtually NO difference at all.

 

[holyprof]

Paperdoc wrote an excellent solution. Just a small correction, in Europe, the voltage was increased from 220 to 230V (and my multimeter says it really is: 230.15V). Anyway that doesn't change anything and your answer is very good.

TL,DR: if victor1197 only changes the power supply, no other parts/cords need to be replaced because of the power drawn from the wall socket.