Is there a way to get the power consome of a GPU without external devices?

[brunoshady]

it's possible?

check how much power the GPU is using, without any external devices, aka kill-a-watt..

[AngelusWebDesign]

If you don't have a UPS or a Kill-A-Watt, there is no way.

[Yanz]

Or a clamp multimeter

[grod]

Walk outside your house.  Look at a power meter.  Make notes of how much you use per week while mining.  That'll give you a rough idea how much your system uses.  Divide that by 7 and again by 24 to get kW/hr.

Then remove the GPU, and idle your machine for a week.  Take same measurement, and try to keep other power usage constant.  Once again divide by 7 and 24 to get kW/hr.

The difference between the two will be a fairly good estimate of how much your GPU pulls from the wall.  You'll have to adjust that by your PSU's efficiency at the guestimated whole machine consumption (you can derive it from the second figure and a test with NO machine turned on as well for a week) to get a more accurate picture of your GPU's power consumption.

Or you could just look for reviews.

[Xephan]

it's possible?

check how much power the GPU is using, without any external devices, aka kill-a-watt..

Not possible. You will need some kind of external device even if it's as simple as a voltmeter, some wires and resisters.

[trentzb]

It is possible for some cards.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=10228.0

[bcpokey]

It is possible for some cards.

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=10228.0

That only displays power draw for the core I believe. The total power draw of the entire card will be much higher.

[SgtSpike]

You need an amprobe multimeter.
http://www.amazon.com/Amprobe-ACDC-100-Digital-Clamp-Multimeter/dp/B001C6P38U

Basically, you just pass the yellow wire through that clasp, and it will tell you how much amperage is being used.  Multiply that amperage result by 12v to get wattage.

But the card will also draw some electricity through the PCIe slot, and you can't measure that with an amprobe.

Another possibility would be to cut the outer insulation from the three-wire PSU cable, then pass the amprobe through one of those wires.  That'll give you power consumption for the whole rig.

[trentzb]

Right, I missed that. I wouldn't think they would use readable VRMs for the other parts so getting an accurate number would not be possible.