How many AA batteries do you need to run a computer? Quite a lot
How many batteries does your PC need?
In the past, AA batteries (popularly known as batteries) powered portable gaming devices such as Nintendo Gameboy, Sega Game Gear or Atari Lynx. The first one needed it 4 AA batteries and they lasted for about 15 hours of playwhile Game Gear or Lynx required up to 6 “sticks” and they were just enough 3-5 hours. Well, if that was a bad result back then, let’s take a look at how many AA batteries a modern PC would need and how long it would last. Perhaps no one needed such information, but it must be admitted that the latest experiment of the ScuffedBits channel on YouTube shows that we deserve such information.
ScuffedBits found a cable on AliExpress that accepts power 12V DCso he came up with the idea that if he used eight 1.5V batteries – then he would be able to start the computer. However, with eight AA batteries, the voltage was insufficient to keep the computer running. The same situation occurred when testing with 16 and 24 batteries. Then the idea to use it came up alkaline batteriesbecause they produce electricity better. ScuffedBits ended up having to use a set of up 56 alkaline batteriesto start the PC and keep it on. Capacitors were also used to avoid sudden spikes in energy demand.
If you think that the YouTuber spent much longer figuring out and experimenting how to run the computer on AA batteries than it actually did, you’re not wrong. How long did a set of 56 AA alkaline batteries last? To start Windows and play a round of minesweeper. Literally 2 minutes and 15 seconds. However, starting the system and running a game requiring a graphics card resulted only in: a few seconds of work.
What’s the conclusion? It’s actually good that we have power supplies in their current form, because ultimately it’s cheaper and more ecological to buy one power supply than 56 AA batteries.
