Have you every wondered how many AA batteries would be required to run a PC? One YouTube creator did more than wonder. “ScuffedBits” managed to get a PC to run on nothing but AA batteries, though the sessions did not last very long.
I’ll cover how ScuffedBits managed to get a PC to run on AA batteries below. But first, I want to explore a new type of speedrun I believe they invented, or at least refined.
ScuffedBits went through a few iterations of a setup before being able to run a PC on AA batteries. They first tried carbon batteries but were unable to make things work. Alkaline batteries yielded better results, though even the longest session only last around 5 minutes.
Since PCs do not have slots for AA batteries, ScuffedBits removed the 450-watt power supply and replaced it with an ATX connection. That allowed the creator to connect 12V cables to batteries.
The wires between the batteries and the PC appeared to be the problem because they could not handle the voltage spikes caused by the PC. Two capacitors and additional wires were used to mitigate the issue.
A total of 56 alkaline batteries powered the PC when things finally worked, though an external power supply was used to boot the PC. ScuffedBits swapped to the batteries after booting the PC.
As you would expect, launching Steam or running other modern programs drew too much power to leave the PC running for long. Playing Minesweeper was the most ScuffedBits managed to do.
When playing Minesweeper, the PC lasted just under 5 minutes, which was enough for a full game on easy mode. With some practice, ScuffedBits could reduce that time or raise the skill level to set records in the newly created AA-battery speedrun competitions.
💬 What do you think about my speedrun idea??
The AA battery experiement reminded me of the days before save files and when a console could freeze or crash at any moment. I’d like to bring that chaos back with some AA-battery speedruns.
Would you be willing to risk your save file for the thrill of a five-minute battery race, or is this a “speedrun” category better left to the YouTubers? Let us know in the comments!
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