Evergreen

So it is true then- the PSU pulls a certain amount of power, regardless of how much of that power you actually use. Then, when you overclock your computer, the CPU draws some extra power from the amount that was already being wasted...resulting no extra electric being used other than what the PSU delivers initially.

Let me know if I have the right idea.

pheoxs

Well my thoughts would be, the PSU can draw upto the max wattage, so whether your idling stock or overclocked there shouldn't be a difference, but if your running it at load 24/7 (whether stock or o/c) then yes, the power bill would go up a bit, but i can't see it being a huge amount.

dhrandy

Kind of like when you have other things that have dc converters (which are most things) are still using power, even when not on. Unplug them when not used and save a few $.

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DuckieHo

The PSU is able to provide up to spec power... however, your system draws only what power is needed. If you upgrade from a 80% efficent 400w PSU to a 80% efficent 1kW PSU, you will see absolutely no difference in your power bill since you are using exactly the same amount of power.

As for the original question... yes, overclocking uses more power. Voltage increase obviously since you are using more power for signalling. Increase your clockspeed will increase power as well though. Your processor is doing more per second... more work means more power consumption.

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TheNix

and if you arent folding, all those stability tests you run and games you play to test your new rig out after overclocking could raise the bill a bit