A question for those with high-spec PCs, and/or triple monitors, and/or home cockpits: What is your power draw?
Does a high end PC (eg AMD 9800X3D, RTX 4090) and a large screen draw near to, or more than, 15 Amps?
And if you then build out to 3 screens, and maybe add force feedback yoke, pedals, joystick, throttles… at what point do you start needing one or more dedicated power circuits?
Amps = Watts / volts
So, if your PC PSU draws 1000 watts and your Monitor draws 200 watts, then the Amp draw is only 10 Amps, assuming your AC line voltage is 120 volts.
Don’t forget to plug all your stuff into a properly sized quality UPS because public utility AC is not very clean and it fluctuates in voltage often and drops out when you least expect it.
I have an wattage meter in a wall plug that my UPS (and nothing esle besides some LED lighting) plugs into. The UPS has the entire cockpit plugged into it.
7950X3D, 3090 Ti, 11 case fans, two monitors, two iPads, HC Alpha/Bravo, STECS Throttle, two Streamdecks, and a few other miscellaneous things.
Flying now and I’m seeing about 800W, which equates to around 6.7A.
No danger of overloading that 15A circuit. Power draw was 400-700W during startup.
OK very cool.
With new high-end GPUs wanting 600W, plus triple screens, yoke, pedals, throttles, etc, I am starting to try to estimate the expected draw, and make sure there is enough headroom for those high-load times (like booting, take off, landing).
I think I’m safe up to 1500 W total (12.5 Amps) I won’t have to run a dedicated circuit, or a 2nd circuit and split the usage… I won’t have all the force feedback stuff right away so I’ll be able to get a better idea once I’ve got the PC in place.
You’re being smart, calculating those numbers.
My 3090 Ti has a TDP of 450W, and I thought THAT was pretty crazy!
FYI, the wattmeter cost me about $20.00. I think it’s a great tool - except for the part where it calculates kWh, and how much money I’m spending. 
Remember that a 15 Amp circuit breaker will not trip the very microsecond it sees >15 Amp draw. It will take a few seconds to trip. This is by design to prevent tripping during short spikes.
Yes, but I want to avoid even going near the limit on a single 15A circuit and I have to check what else is on that branch. Significant investment so I want to make sure I understand the electrical stuff and do it properly.
I understand. Better safe than sorry. There is no better advice (so many people do not follow it though) than to have all your equipment protected by a good Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).
A few hundred dollars spent can save you thousands.
Good luck and happy flying.
Yes, I agree. For many years I’ve used an APC battery UPS system for home network and a few small things (to stay connected when power goes out, keep phones charged, etc). Every now and then I hear it click in response to minor voltage variations during storms etc.
I’ll have to decide on that once I know the total power draw.
Not only do people not follow it, but I’ve been flat out laughed at here for suggesting it as a ‘must have.’
Not generally a concern if you are not in the US and any other countries using 110/120v.
I have a full cockpit (Open Hornet design) and it isn’t close to 15A from the wall. I have 8 screens, hundreds of LEDs, some servo motors, etc… Need to remember that a lot of the devices run on 5V-12V. So for example, 1000 RGB LEDs at full white bright are like 12mA each at 5V is only 60W. Not even a bright old school light bulb.
The supplied voltage from the public utility has nothing to do with the quality or reliability of the transmission. All countries should use a UPS, but follow your own path.
Yes but when you have newer GPUs drawing 600 Watts alone, plus a high end CPU drawing 90 to 100 Watts, plus each screen can draw 70+ Watts each, plus everything else, I wanted to check the rough total Amperage to be safe.
Having never built a “gaming PC”, I’m finding each aspect to be a learning curve, including the power handling.
For anyone interested, I came across the various ratings for PSUs. If building a new PC it’s worth paying attention to the new ATX v3.1 standard (from Intel) which specifies how PSUs are to handle newer 600W GPUs with PCIe 5, and provide the appropriate ports and power handling (eg, the 12V 2x6 port, which is an updated version of the 12VHPWR).
I’ve learned 2 things:
Hardware Buster’s Cybenetics:
80plus:
A recent update of the “PSU Tier List”:
I just have one large curved 50" monitor. The other screens are USB powered so only 5V and low current. With any endeavor like a full cockpit build you will need to pay attention to your situation’s physical limits. I’m just telling you that It’s possible to do and have other stuff in the room (I actually have a 2nd PC and monitor, etc…) and still not hit 15A.
I wasn’t even talking about the UPS actually. Was on topic and talking about the current draw which has everything to do with the supply voltage.
Not very sure about the situation of blueline308 but since he’s on a 120V line I guess he lives in the US.
I live in the Netherlands and our grid runs pretty stable on 230-240V.
No need for a UPS, other then keep my server up after a unforseen power outage so an automated script can bring the server down in a controlled way.
I guess we’ll just agree to disagree.
Every desktop computer I own (and manage in our company) has a Sine Wave Conditioning UPS. Wouldn’t own one without it.
I’ve always thought of UPS (uninterruptible power supply) like insurance - most people never need it, but in the rare event of a power spike or surge, it can be nice to have the protection. I also like to be able to shut down more gracefully in a full outage, if you happen to be flying at the time.
Edit - Airplanes have batteries, so to justify the cost I will say that the UPS is part of the immersive experience. 
