| Archive for NEEPS North East Eco-friendly People's Site |
| Richie_asg1 |
Home PC. ultra-low power PC'sI'm running an old PC that's been upgraded to the hilt, so am now considering what is out there.I know laptops use batteries, so are designed to be power efficient, but what of home PC's / workstations? Is there a choice of ultra-clever low power machines out there, and if there are, can anyone recommend any? It seems that even the LCD monitors use 48 watts (so I've read) - surely there's something better? |
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| Richie_asg1 |
I've found a PC that runs on 21 watt - http://www.tranquilpc-shop.co.uk/acatalog/T7_SO_Low_Power.html
So they do exist 
This site shows a comparison energy consumption between some models - obviously biased to theiir own, but the figures are ok. http://www.yourpcholmfirth.co.uk/...g/Low_power_consumption_PC_s.html |
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| niceguyrichy |
just build a system around a mATX mobo, something like the pentium M 740, a moderately sized HDD, the smallest PSU you can get away with and using on-board gfx and you'll hardly be using any power at all 
oh yeah, and ditch that resource hog Windows and use linux. |
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| BikeOnBye |
And in no time at all you will need to upgrade the power supply when you add more boards!
Sorry, but it is a fact that as soon as you buy a PC you want it to do more. Get a wind and water powered generator and become carbon neutral 
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| niceguyrichy |
the millions of computers companies like Dell sell to peeps who don't even know how to pop the side of the case off tell otherwise. and dare i mention.. Apple Mac (?) yes, there's always going to be enthusiasts who can't help themselves, but there's really no reason why the average user can't self build a low power PC that lasts the course
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| Richie_asg1 |
I just thought it would be an increasing market, as consumers start to turn green :smt003 so, theoretically supply will follow.
Fancy starting building low power pc's ?? |
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| niceguyrichy |
if all you use a computer for is surfing the interweb and occasional word processing/spreadsheet etc , then it's possible. but for me, no. couldn't work. the processing / GPU and mem power I need for the things I use my comp for, not to mention the vast amount of HDD space required, means it won't happen anytime soon. Things have improved of late; the huge difference in power consumption between the C2D and the ole P4's is a good example, but everything else just seems to get more powerfull and more thirsty. I have a high quality 580W psu in my comp atm, it just does the job (and I use a low power server series athlon chip). when I get around to upgrading the gfx and adding yet more hdd space I'll probably have to look at upgrading it to something even more hungry. and I'm not exactly alone. lots will have to change in the computer industry before proper , low power PC's are a viable solution for most. |
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| scotsman |
G-day,
Just a note that i am going to run all solar when i move and am looking at a marine pc runs on 19volts as most yachts run on 12 or 24 volts. If you have a laptop have a look at the transformer and see what the output is normally about 12 to 24 volts with input 240volts just a thought. Doug |
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| Martin |
"Asus eee" - from just over £200.........
Runs on 18 watts or less........and is absolutely brilliant! Bought one of the first batch available back in February, and love it to bits.
It's absolutely tiny (possibly the only downside), but works incredibly well - boots up in seconds (it's running Linux), and does absolutely everything most people need with point and click simplicity.
Will you miss Windoze? - not at all, you've got Open Office built-in that will happily open and save "docs" and other Microsoft files......(I won't go into my "loathing of Vista" rant, but this is a real breath of fresh air in comparison!)
My tip is NOT to be seduced by the salesman trying to flog you the expensive added option of Windoze XP for it - it negates the whole point of the thing- running Linux, it's really fast, and a pleasure to use - with Windoze it'll slow to a crawl, and be no fun at all! 8) http://tinyurl.com/64z7zd |
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| cmiddleton |
eee laptop is a good idea.
In the corporate world virtual server and windows terminals is where it is going. If your after a fast PC for Browsing, DVDs etc, but are not to bothered about the games, try buying a dell laptop with a good processor, £400ish. I purchased the full power P4 (3 years ago) and it has served me well. It uses less power than the desktop equivalent, uses less space and has the added benefit of not powering off in the middle of a document. You can always take it with you on rare occassions, which you can't do with a desktop. Oh, contrary to wide belief, TFT-LCD screens are no more efficient than the old CRTs, (even less so in some cases), due to the relatively inefficient backlighting required. They are a lot thiner and lighter though! |
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| Stonehead |
A friend has a MacBook Air, which uses 16-18 Watts when surfing the net. Obviously it goes higher when he's running more demanding applications or doing a download, but that's pretty good. The official figure is 13 watts when "idle", ie with the OS loaded, screen set to bright, but no software running.
I'd love one, but would have to sell the OH and children first. Hmm, tempting... |