Energy Wise PC, worth the extra?

[HangOver]

I was asked today to spec our next batch of PC's to be purchased to be as green/energy efficient as possible.

I spent a (long) while looking at Watts used and CPU cooling
and ........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(oops did I doze off there?)

Anyhow bottom line was energy efficient PC $800 MORE than the standard PC specified but it would save about 60%, (average) on energy.
Sound good hey !

Then I looked into actual running costs per year and looks like it would save about $50 per year in electricity. hmmmmm $800 to save $50 a year?

I was then asked to specify a more "cost effective" combination of the two :D

What this boils down to is when you are looking for a new fridge/washing machine etc and you read 40-50-60% more energy efficient have a good look at what the actual running cost is first or maybe you'll be spending $800 to save $50 !

[JDNSW]

I haven't looked at the cost of energy savings in PCs, although I suspect that the majority of the saving can be made without a big premium, but the last little bit gets very expensive.

However I have looked at refrigerators specifically in recent times (looking at reducing my power consumption as an alternative to upgrading the solar system), and in this case, the power consumption is not particularly related to price. What is very noticeable is that the easiest way of reducing the power consumption (and the cost) is to not get a refrigerator bigger than necessary. Similarly, in the case of computers, the lower performance computer will (everything else being equal) use less power and cost less - do you really need bleeding edge technology? (Do you really need to run Vista?)

John

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I'd be interested in your first solution---

most tier one manufacturers are now pretty good at saying how green they are,, mainly it seems thru recycling and not using bad stuff like lead anymore,, I suppose if the cpu, monitor and PSU all go into a sleep mode,, you dont overspec the power requirements(can anyone say compaq?:p)
it should all be good.


and John,, we all knew you were good(one less o ? )

but upgrading the solar system?!?!

I'm impressed!:o:p

[Captain_Rightfoot]

We measured the power draw on our lcd monitors at work. When switched off, they all drew between 9 and 12 watts. That meant either in standby or switched off (it made no difference). It doesn't sound much, but there would be 100 screens on each floor. Then there are 14 floors in our building. 1400*10 = 14000 watts. So, thats 14KW every hour even when no one is in the building.....

[markyc]

and John,, we all knew you were good(one less o ? )

but upgrading the solar system?!?!

I'm impressed!:o:p
:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:
So that's what happened to Pluto :angel:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:
So that's what happened to Pluto :angel:


makes you wonder what Pluto did to **** John off:D:D

[HangOver]

they all drew between 9 and 12 watts. That meant either in standby or switched off

That's a lot have a look at the LG L1919SSF 19" LCD

It's stats quoted are 37W active and <= 1watt when asleep very cheap too about $250-$280-ish

[JDNSW]

:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:
So that's what happened to Pluto :angel:

Oh Dear - I'll have to watch how I say things won't I.

John

[markyc]

Sir, if you can do that to Pluto, who are we to criticise?:D

[markyc]

But I did wonder about the driving in high heels comment (admission?):wasntme:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I was asked today to spec our next batch of PC's to be purchased to be as green/energy efficient as possible.

I spent a (long) while looking at Watts used and CPU cooling
and ........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(oops did I doze off there?)

Anyhow bottom line was energy efficient PC $800 MORE than the standard PC specified but it would save about 60%, (average) on energy.
Sound good hey !

Then I looked into actual running costs per year and looks like it would save about $50 per year in electricity. hmmmmm $800 to save $50 a year?

I was then asked to specify a more "cost effective" combination of the two :D

What this boils down to is when you are looking for a new fridge/washing machine etc and you read 40-50-60% more energy efficient have a good look at what the actual running cost is first or maybe you'll be spending $800 to save $50 !



Did we get an outcome here?
would be interested in final specs:D

[HangOver]

Did we get an outcome here?
would be interested in final specs:D

This is the system spec for best energy saving:

CORE2QUAD Q6600/2.40GHz 150
Asus P5E3 Intel X38 DDR3 3GbHDD 58
2Gb(2x1GB) DDR3 1066MHz 30
Western Digital Green RE2-GP 500GB SATA 40
Earth Watts 430 Watt ATX12V v2.2 PSU 21
DVR-K06 Internal DVD/RW + Case mount 315
LGE L1919SSF 19" LCD 12
NX86T256H 0
SlimStar 820 Solargizer pack 30
SlimStar 820 Solargizer pack 30
80mm Fans 50
None - Supply USB drive 10

The column of figures is the energy saved on a component level as a percentage over the system I was going to order based purely on price/performance.



This is the actual spec I have submitted for quotes and was a bit of a compromise between energy saving, purchase price and performance.
Please bear in mind that this is not a gaming machine it's for business.

CORE2 DUO E8400 3.00GHz/ 6MB/ 1333FSB/
GA-P35C-DS3R
1x2GB DDR2 800Mhz
Gigabyte NX86T256H DDR3 256MB
Western Digital Green RE2-GP 500GB SATA
Earth Watts 430 Watt ATX12V PSU
LGE GSA-H55NBBK 20x +- Dual Layer
LGE L1919SP-SE 19" LCD
MS Basic Keyboard & Optical Wheel Mouse
Case with 50mm fans if possible
No FDD

[Pedro_The_Swift]

this might be worth a read too
AnandTech: Gigabyte goes "Green" with DES software (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3206)

[HangOver]

this might be worth a read too
AnandTech: Gigabyte goes "Green" with DES software (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3206)


Like the article said a good effort by Gigabyte but the savings where small,
but some saving is better than none
(summary....not a quote)

7w saved hmmmm

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I wonder if Gigabyte will retrofit it to older S series boards?
according to my 'boards overclocking software my core2 duo often sits around 2 ghz instead of its rated 2.66.

though I think if I wanted to go green I would have to dump the vid card that pulls over 100 watts,,,






naw,,,,,:cool:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Do I want to be green?
or do I want to run this?
Press Release (http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_39921.html)

















:twisted::cool::cool:

try that on your P3:p

[HangOver]

Green is fine, sometimes.
That PC spec was for work computers but I woldn't run it for a home PC.
For a start the green costs too much to begin with and I wouldn't spend a few hundered more on a pc than I need to.
I would consider the green PSU it's not much more $$$ and save a fair bit of energy.

As for the 8800, $600-ish for a video card !!! I'd want half a PC for that !