Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 96540 2009-01-14 01:44:00 Power usage of a computer Chilling_Silence (9) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
738466 2009-01-14 01:44:00 Hi all,

So Im a little rusty with the math, not to mention the cost of power these days.

If Im running one of these:
www.linuxdevices.com

With no PCI device, 24/7, 365 days ... what kind of cost am I likely to incur in power? The CPU runs at full-speed at all times while operational ..
Does it matter if I use either an 80w or 120w PSU?
Using a CompactFlash card instead of a HDD, if it makes a difference .. :confused:

Cheers


Chill.
Chilling_Silence (9)
738467 2009-01-14 01:46:00 Don't know how to calculate it, but I reckon using CF instead of a HDD will make a huge difference, especially over such a long period of time.

What are u gonna use it for?

A server box? NAS?
Blam (54)
738468 2009-01-14 01:52:00 Why do you need to run it 24/7 and for 365 days of the year? memphis (2869)
738469 2009-01-14 01:55:00 I dont *need* it to run that long, but hypothetically IF I did ... ;)

Ive actually got myself a couple of those for varying possibilities.
Wouldnt waste all that on a NAS server, I'd go for an Alix board any day of the week :D

I do however have the D945GCLF2 which Im using as a Media Center. Does HD movies with CoreAVC quite well, still trying to get the GPU to assist with h.264 decoding.
Chilling_Silence (9)
738470 2009-01-14 02:02:00 The Atom 230 supposedly only uses 4W during load. Not sure about motherboards but I doubt it will go beyond 30W.

My guess is around 30W for the whole system.
qazwsxokmijn (102)
738471 2009-01-14 03:31:00 Hi all,

So Im a little rusty with the math, not to mention the cost of power these days.

If Im running one of these:
www.linuxdevices.com

With no PCI device, 24/7, 365 days ... what kind of cost am I likely to incur in power? The CPU runs at full-speed at all times while operational ..
Does it matter if I use either an 80w or 120w PSU?
Using a CompactFlash card instead of a HDD, if it makes a difference .. :confused:

Cheers


Chill.

I would expect to see power usage of about $25 per month.

my server is three hard drives and draws about $40 per month.
robsonde (120)
738472 2009-01-14 04:43:00 Well if your worried about power usage then you might be able to save money and power by doing other cost cutting and power saving things that would be better for you and then you can have a better computer.:D

search.yahoo.com
memphis (2869)
738473 2009-01-14 06:50:00 The PSU rating doesnt count/matter at all a 350watt psu will use the same as a500watt on the same PC. What matters is the efficiently of the PSU at idle and high power draw thats where good PSU's usually are far better than the cheap PSU's but it depends from model to model.

Theres this item (www.pmb.co.nz) which you can buy to measure the usage through one wall socket :) certainly cheaper than killawatt and similar devices.
razzarphenix (2626)
738474 2009-01-14 06:53:00 While ITX boards etc.. are good when you assemble it all together it can be more costly NAS units are easy to source and the ones that allow you to throw a proper linux distro have great usage. My NAS running freelink debian doesnt use more than 15watts! NAS are great low power servers because the ARM achitecture is well suited to low power consumption compared to say x86. razzarphenix (2626)
738475 2009-01-14 08:17:00 Have been using the Geode-based x86 Alix boards for NAS quite successfully :) Chilling_Silence (9)
1 2