The AA powered PC

[Axlegear]

My attempts at designing a solar PC were a huge success, thanks to VIA. Sadly, I don't have the money to build it!


But now I wanna go further.

Specs:
CPU: Via Eden-N 533 MHz
RAM: 1 GB (2x512) MB 133 MHz 3CAS SDRAM
Mobo: EPIA-5000G
Video: Onboard
Sound: Onboard AC97
Case: LANBOX Lite VF6000BNS
HDD: Samsung 16 GB SSD


Now, that's not the lowest-watt SSD out there. I'm trying to find THE lowest power-draw SSD on the market.
Also, there are NO fans whatsoever in this build. No fans no lights not a single luxury. Even LEDs have been minimized.

So, any suggestions on cutting the power even further? My goal is 7 watts or less max draw.

[Kayin]

Get a board that has a CF Type II slot and use a big CF card. Cheaper and less power.

[zanzabar]

using 1 stick of ram will cut down on power

[Kayin]

That too. Moving to DDR2 like the newest boards will also, as the operating voltage is so much lower.

[STEvil]

or just use a livecd of some nix distro and run with no pagefile (take out the hdd) plus a usb drive

[Kayin]

That would work as well, but I support no optical and a USB drive only when needed, as it takes even less.

I remember having a sub-100w AMD64 build, and that's how I did a fair bit. Many drives when they spin up spike over 8-10W of usage.

That was sub-100W BEFORE the EEs, mind you... ATi board was involved in doing that...

[Real Genius]

I'm curious about what application you have in mind for this machine, Axlegear.

[Exahertz]

I'm curious about what application you have in mind for this machine, Axlegear.

Maybe it’s some kind of autonomous solar powered aircraft? Now that would be Xtreme!
I know something like this would be good for some kind of long term exploration satellite package like what they used in the New Horizons project.

Question:

This just kind of came to me a second ago. Would it be more power efficient to use RAM with a lower CAS value? I'm wondering if using less clock cycles of the CPU to transfer data would use less power as opposed to a higher frequency?

[cegras]

Maybe it’s some kind of autonomous solar powered aircraft? Now that would be Xtreme!
I know something like this would be good for some kind of long term exploration satellite package like what they used in the New Horizons project.

Question:

This just kind of came to me a second ago. Would it be more power efficient to use RAM with a lower CAS value? I'm wondering if using less clock cycles of the CPU to transfer data would use less power as opposed to a higher frequency?

Aren't memory timings directly related to voltage though?

[Kayin]

Not directly. They're related to SPD programming, for one, but it's a general rule (there are exceptions) that higher voltage will give better timings.

However, I have some D9 stuff whose programmed SPD is 3-3-3-12. That's at 1.8v. Happens to be DDR2 400, but at the same time, it clocks to 1100. More volts, LITTLE looser SPD.

[STEvil]

Do you need 1gb ram? Are the sticks you're using double sided or single? Limit the number of chips to 4 or 8 per stick if you can, saves quite a bit. Loosening timings will help as well if its more bandwidth intensive tasks rather than latency oriented.

[Kayin]

good advice as well.

Try laptop RAM, it should be just what you need, and some of the formats use it. I'll try and find a pic of what I've been suggesting...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?CurImage=13-181-012-04.jpg&Image=13-181-012-02.jpg%2c13-181-012-03.jpg%2c13-181-012-04.jpg%2c13-181-012-05.jpg%2c13-181-012-06.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&Depa=99&Description=VIA+EPIA-MII12000+VIA+C3+1.2GHz+Processor+Mini+ITX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813181012R

That would let you host a CF card onboard for storage, and cut out cables, etc for HDD. Use a USB flash drive for adding any files necessary, or attach and remove an optical for initial loading. Single RAM slot, and at 1.2 GHz it's worth working with for some things...

Add one of these and you're in business...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211244