power supply question, also, general electric

[maddangerous]

hey all;

ive a pc with a rosewill (550?) watt ps, and i have a room with a 15a breaker. so far everything i have added up pulls 11.58 amps from that breaker, and this power supply pulls 10 amps. which according to a discussion with a friend isnt correct. yet im under the impression that i cant put my rig in this room.

so, my questions:

1) do computer power supplies pull a variable amount of amps depending on the load the components are putting on it?

2) i have an older 680 watt ps, and that pulls 6a. whats the deal here?

a little background, im trying to figure out where to put everything electronic wise in a new apartment i just moved into, and id rather do it right the first time.

mods, feel free to move this, since the main question is power supply related, i felt it should go here instead of OT or anywhere else.

 

[maddangerous]

Yet.. It is a 15 amp breaker, and im already pulling 11.58 from the tv, cable modem, router, cable box, xbox 360, and the kinect.

 

[patonb]

Where'd you get your 10amp rosewill from?

 

[PP Mguire]

The current being pulled from your PC is only equivalent to the load your parts are pulling. It's not a constant, unless you're at full load. Most rooms (or even combined shared rooms in some homes) are on a single 15 or 20a circuit. You'll be fine as long as you don't try running a vacuum cleaner, space heater, or hair dryer at the same time you have everything else on. I'm sharing a circuit with a 32" TV, 360, HR44 DirecTV DVR, my PC (which takes about 600w full load), and my projector which on eco mode takes about 150w, plus two LCDs which I don't know the wattage off the top of my head. Haven't popped the break yet, and the majority of these components are on 24/7.

BTW, if I'm right a 550w PSU will only take a max of 5a on a 110 circuit.