The heat... The smell...
this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
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Nostalgia
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nostalgia noun nos·tal·gia nä-ˈstal-jə nə-, also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl- 1: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition also : something that evokes nostalgia
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Can you imagine the power bill after running all those CRTs? Damn.
Googling around it seems a 21" draws around 100W, which isn't as much as I thought; it's kinda a florescent light with more steps. A florescent backlit LCD doesn't use a whole lot less, and a modern 30-something inch LED backlit uses, as far as in an tell, about 1/3 that. So, for typical sized monitors, only ~70W more for CRT.
In contrast, the GPU wars mean that (I think?) power consumption in gaming desktops has gone up somewhat substantially
a 500W PSU was fairly beefy in 2003 (I think), whereas 1000W or more is pretty standard for a gaming computer now (obviously it's not drawing rated power, but assuming headroom % is roughly the same...).
My completely unsubstantiated guess would be that a LAN party setup as pictured would draw more power at idle, but a modern LAN party would draw more under load.
I know enough about power systems to know that we're going to hit a hard limit on how much max power we're going to be able to plumb into a computer soon.
A single North American power circuit is approximately 120v and limited to 15A. The numbers wiggle a little from place to place, I've seen many that are running 115v or even closer to 110v. The 15A limit is not quite accurate either, since it's not recommended to load a circuit more than 80% for any continuous load, so your realistic maximum continual draw would be around 12A.
Some newer homes are being built with 20A, but most homes are still generally using 15A breakers.
At 120v, on a 15A circuit, you shouldn't consistently pull more than 12A, or 1440W. The line will max out at 1800W when the breaker/fuse will start to trigger.
So as power supplies hit 1200 to 1400 watts, you'll need to ensure that nothing else on the circuit will draw any significant power. A few displays and whatnot are fine, but with a 1200w PSU, you can't exceed 240w of additional draw while operating within the recommendations.
There are a few solutions to this, the obvious one is move to 20A, which can draw 1920W within the recommended power draw for the circuit, so you could have an 1800w system and about 120w of additional items before hitting the recommended limits, and 480w of total overhead before the breaker goes. The downside is that such circuits require thicker cables in-wall (12awg when 14awg is far more common in homes).
One option I'm aware of that nobody seems to consider is that in NA, the power delivered to the home is approximately 240v split-phase. 240v is generally only used for things like stovetops and ranges, electric dryers, water heaters, resistive heating in forced air furnaces, and air conditioning/heat pump systems. Though, it is entirely possible to convert a simple outlet to 240v. To be safe, you will need to get new receptacles, but you can reuse the wires already in the wall for 240v. I believe the NEMA 6-15R is the one that's rated for 240v operation in NA, and it's not dissimilar to the standard NEMA 5-15R that is the typical "North American" receptacle. However, a standard plug (aka a NEMA 5-15P) will not fit into the 240v receptacle. Any outlets on the same circuit would need to be changed so a 120v only device does not get plugged into the 240v receptacle. You can wire it for 240v at 15A which can provide up to 2880W of power without rewiring the house.
The trick will be to find a NEMA 6-15P to C13 connection for the PC and peripherals, and double checking that they will accept 240v power (all monitors and whatnot need to be set up to accept 240v power). On older power supplies, this is a simple switch on the outside of the PSU, though newer units will be switched, so they will detect the input power automatically.
I'm not recommending anyone does that, but if you do, talk to an electrician to ensure you're complying will all local ordinances.
Despite that, it is an option that most don't seem to consider.
Personally, I need to have some rewiring done in my residence and I'm going to see if I can get a dedicated 240v 20A single receptacle circuit installed for my computer, with the appropriate receptacles and everything.
To note: most 240v connections also have a neutral line (like what you would find with an oven or dryer), which the NEMA 6 receptacles do not have, they are 240v only. This, along with the fact that most 240v receptacles are rated for 30A+, makes them generally very large. The NEMA 6-15R and NEMA 6-20R are the 15/20A versions of 240v AFAIK, and they're not really any larger than a standard receptacle.
One option I’m aware of that nobody seems to consider is that in NA, the power delivered to the home is approximately 240v split-phase
Or component makers could...y'know focus a bit more on efficiency again so we aren't talking about shifting electrical standards just to play Crisis in a decade?
On a related note, there's still tons of homes with electrical circuits that are only 2 prong and don't have a dedicated ground wire. Better to encourage those to get replaced long before trying to get people to add multiple 240V circuits anywhere they think there might be a computer plugged in.
I agree. I'm kind of, outside the normal use case. I run several computer lab type things at my residence. My "main" home lab is all virtual, I have several systems doing virtual machines. I also normally have a physical lab set up around my workstation, including a lot of network equipment. So I tend to need more power than the average user.
I've heard, but I have no idea if this is correct, that idle consumption for PSUs is lower on higher supply voltage. Eg, the same PSU running a 60w computer load on a 120v supply will draw more relative amps than the same on a 240v supply. The numbers should scale to double the amps on the 120v, compared to the 240v, but apparently it's a bit more than that?
I dunno. Just something I heard. It's not why I'm thinking of doing it. Sometimes I just need to fire up a few kW of equipment to run some lab testing...
Homelabbers absolutely are a strange edgecase where a 240v circuit or two start making a ton of sense, but we're far from the norm. Heck the average American doesn't even own a desktop or laptop computer anymore, let alone the 1-2 dozen computers IT types and homelabbers might have on hand. It's all about perspective really...
Edit: Yikes that was a reading comprehension fail. You already said its an unusual usecase
wonder what that smelled like
i can smell that room through my monitor, and 22 years later
What's with all the shirtless people? We mostly kept our clothes on at our LAN parties.
I can imagine it's just really hot in there with the computers and monitors going.
I feel like aircon wasn't as common back then, especially strong enough to cool all of that
It's more likely it wouldn't be able to handle the number of people + PCs. They are sized for use, and they may be hitting the limit with just the people in there, then add the BTUs coming off all that hardware, and you've got yourself a sauna.
Is it just me or does it kind of look like the same shirtless guy in different poses?
It looks like the same 4 or 5 people in different poses on repeat?
Yup, the topless guy in the beige trousers is very noticeably everywhere.
Look at this nerd sietch
I recognise almost all of those tower cases and had a couple myself.
So I see an Alienware case?
Right side, about four rows up?
Had MIDI parties in the 90s cuz we didn't have network cards yet. Just one big ring of machines all daisy chained together with MIDI cables. And it was awesome.
Only person with a top is a woman haha
AC system prolly couldn't handle all that heat!
There are at least twenty other people in view with shirts on...
Fuck yeah.
Everybody making the same grade school comments and jokes. I'm sure you all came to these ideas on your own, like convergent evolution before our very eyes. I'm sure, as well, it has nothing to do with having been primed to expect it to smell bad by abusive and exploitative ads, and hackneyed sitcom scripts, that raised you when your parents had something else they'd rather have been doing. No, you all say the same fucking thing because it's just such a good joke (you all independently came up with) that we need to hear it a thousand fucking times every time the opportunity comes up.
I think the reality is, several of us have been to these events and there is a reason for the jokes. The last MTG tournament i went to had a literal sign on the door that they could refuse service if you smelled like a week old cum sock.. Just because you haven't experienced it, doesn't mean it's not a real thing.