Powerful PC Power Consumption

[Leaf]

After switching to using a Powerbook rather than the PC for everyday use, I'm amazed at the giant drop in my electric bill. Since these crooked power companies are run by folks from the dark side and are robbing us each month by selling (gouging) us cheap electricity at ridiculous prices that should be a crime, i think the time has come for the chip and board makers as well as MS and Apple to prioritize reduction of power consumption for computers. It is great that technology is marching on, ever faster and more powerful, but in my opinion the first of these giants to sell off their energy sector shares and prioritize saving us from this predatory beast will reap a greater gain than those share were worth.

My 2 cents, (all i have left every month)
David

[cmdratz]

Leaf,
I'm sure you have noticed as I have (including the drafts) the latest energystar requirement set for computers. I kept an eye on this standard as much as on fancy new graphics cards and the like, and I think it is quite reasonable in its wattage targets.

[Haydn]

The biggest drain on power is usually the graphics card these days. The Core 2 Duo processors definitely consume less power and don't give off the heat like my older P4 2.8 GHz chips plus they are about 4x as powerful. I'm actually just using the onboard graphics in my DAW which has been working just fine except in the Arturia MiniMoog plugin which gets pops and clicks when I'm in it's GUI editing. As long as it's minimized, no problems.

I've been getting rid of all the CRT monitors in the house and changing them to LCD's which is definitely a big power saver as well as saving on space.

Jim

[Leaf]

Thanks for the tips. Yes that is probably one of my problems, aside from the crooks overcharging for electricity, I have a very hot P4 3.Ghz with an aftermarket cooling fan on it to make it run cool, in a big case so it has three other big fans, and it has a GeForce 6600. Guess my savings from using an LCD was lost on all the fans. I may install this in a much smaller old eMachine case and see what temps it gets with those little fans in a little case.
... but if i end up frying the thing i won't care.

[khiun]

May I add two other suggestions? First place, some comparison. On the matter about CRT/TFT monitors: a 17" CRT spends as much as 100-120W, instead of the 50-60W of a 19" TFT. So, by moving to a TFT there is an obvious gain. As for fans, sometimes one thinks "the faster, the better!"....not quite, as "faster" seldom means "hotter" and "louder"! I got this problem first hand when I bought a pair of 2500rpm/0.18A (not-that-silent) fans, which made my computer go hotter! Why? Because this pair of fans made the power supply drain more power (ergo, heat up!) Then i tried a pair of 1000rpm/0.08A (silent) fans, and the computer got cooler again!So, my first suggestion, check your fans!

The second suggestion, get an Active PFC power supply! With actual tecnology, power losses by heat are a huge problem, which is seldom underestimated by many of us, computer-users. And things only tend to get worst, as chips get smaller and faster! With a Passive PFC or NO PFC power supply, one can loose as much as 25-35% of energy directly form heat-up of the power supply. With an Active PFC power supply, this value goes down to about 10-15%, which means these power supplies have an efficiency rate of 85-90%! Although this may not seem as much an improvement, the fact is that over one year this alone can make the power bills go down a few hundred bucks. Beleave me, it got my power bill down!!

Best fo lucks!

[Leaf]

May I add two other suggestions? First place, some comparison. On the matter about CRT/TFT monitors: a 17" CRT spends as much as 100-120W, instead of the 50-60W of a 19" TFT. So, by moving to a TFT there is an obvious gain. As for fans, sometimes one thinks "the faster, the better!"....not quite, as "faster" seldom means "hotter" and "louder"! I got this problem first hand when I bought a pair of 2500rpm/0.18A (not-that-silent) fans, which made my computer go hotter! Why? Because this pair of fans made the power supply drain more power (ergo, heat up!) Then i tried a pair of 1000rpm/0.08A (silent) fans, and the computer got cooler again!So, my first suggestion, check your fans!

The second suggestion, get an Active PFC power supply! With actual tecnology, power losses by heat are a huge problem, which is seldom underestimated by many of us, computer-users. And things only tend to get worst, as chips get smaller and faster! With a Passive PFC or NO PFC power supply, one can loose as much as 25-35% of energy directly form heat-up of the power supply. With an Active PFC power supply, this value goes down to about 10-15%, which means these power supplies have an efficiency rate of 85-90%! Although this may not seem as much an improvement, the fact is that over one year this alone can make the power bills go down a few hundred bucks. Beleave me, it got my power bill down!!

Best fo lucks!

Thanks for the info. I was unaware of the different types of power supplies. I'll look for my paperwork to see which it is and to see what rpm/ma the fans are if i still have the packaging for those.

David