Ultra "Green" PC?

[Ensamvarg]

With the parents complaining about the electricity bills and my savings somewhat building up (not too much mind), I thought I should look into getting a much less power consuming PC. On this I do the odd game every now and then but to be honest it's hardly ever. If it was higher specced then I'd be gaming alot more but there we are. The main problems are that I use this for downloading as well and watching dvds blah blah. So what I'm after is a fairly low cost, very low power consuming computer. This will just be the pc, obviously I've already got a monitor/mouse etc. I'll be using it for net browsing, video streaming, downloading, movie watching and that kinda general stuff. It won't be on all the time, but still a fair amount. What can you guys cook up? Wireless internet is a must because my room is very far away from the router (its in the baking hot conservatory of all places) so I can't run a wire from there to my bedroom. If it's possible to get a TV card in there somewhere, that'd be awesome (Terratec one, PCI-E x1). Oh and a DVD drive too. Cos it's in my room, quietness would be a huge bonus.

TL;DR - Quiet low power pc, general use, no gaming, wireless needed with DVD drive and PCI-E x 1 slot a bonus.

Budget around.. £300? Can stretch if needed but the lower the cost, the better.

[perkam]

I'm assuming you'll be keeping the same HDD, CD Drives ?

Because the best thing is for you to get the following:

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 240, Regor Core, Socket AM3, 2.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 65W, Retail - £43.11
Motherboard: Asus M4A785D-M PRO, AMD 785G, AM3/2+/2, PCI-E (x16) - £63.24
Video Card: Don't Need (Onboard 785G = More Than Enough)
Memory: Already Have
HDD: Already Have
Power Supply: 350W Silverstone ST35F Silent PSU 120mm Fan Dual +12V, PCI-E, SATA, 80%+ Eff' - £32.14
CD/DVD: Already Have
Case: Lian Li PC-A01B Aluminium Black Desktop Case Without PSU - £61.09

Total: £199.58

If you have a full mid tower now, the small Lian Li mATX Desktop Case will show your parents in a physical manner that you're taking up less resources with your PC

Perkam

[Ensamvarg]

Wow awesome suggestion perkam, thanks! Do you know roughly how much juice this thing will use? Significantly less than my current rig? And does the power supply have anything to do with the power I use? I've got a 600w in this one so does that mean I'm using 600w constantly?

[v0dka]

First I suggest you at least try undervolting your CPU to 1.0v or less, and keep as close to 2000Mhz as possible. But I think that with CnQ enabled this thing should already be very power efficent. There is not much that can be done for your system to make it consume less imo. Maybe get a slightly fater single core instead, as you are not doing any dualcore work by the looks of it.

Changing the motherboard and losing the GPU would be worth it though, an onboard graphics solution is ideal for you. I suggest the Asus M3A78-EM. Cheap and small.

PSU is worth looking into as well, as a no name 600w is inefficient. Maybe the Earthwatts 380w to replace it. Another thing worth considering is replacing the two hardives by one newer model, like the Samsung Ecogreen or WD Caviar Green. Get more storage at less power draw.

Monitors can draw a lot of power too, so make sure to set agressive power saving options. And no fans, lights and bling obviously.

edit: extreme PSU calculator predicts around 150w at load for this system with the underclocked CPU and these suggestions. with the CPU Perkam posted it predicts 180w, but you get higher clockspeed for that.

[perkam]

Wow awesome suggestion perkam, thanks! Do you know roughly how much juice this thing will use? Significantly less than my current rig? And does the power supply have anything to do with the power I use? I've got a 600w in this one so does that mean I'm using 600w constantly?

Ty. All prices were from www.scan.co.uk . (I don't trust any other UK retailer)

The PSU I listed is MORE than enough even if you decide to add an HD 4670 later on. Your no name PSU probably isn't 80+, which is why its wasting electricity.

Now if you REALLY wanted to reduce power inefficiency, you can go for this PSU: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/385W-...uard-SafeGuard for around £20 more. It has 88%+ efficiency which is crazy, and will probably reduce your electricity usage even more.

Perkam

[RoadconeTuning]

if you're really concerned about power usage then why not do one of those new ion based ITX systems... supposedly they'll play HD video back smoothly. full power draw is like 25 watts too.

[Ensamvarg]

if you're really concerned about power usage then why not do one of those new ion based ITX systems... supposedly they'll play HD video back smoothly. full power draw is like 25 watts too.

This guy has a point, would it be practical to use one of those systems or is it too low of a spec for what I want? Otherwise what you suggested perkam is spot on for my needs.

[perkam]

This guy has a point, would it be practical to use one of those systems or is it too low of a spec for what I want? Otherwise what you suggested perkam is spot on for my needs.

Roadcone has a point. However, the ION system will do things slower than your current system and the system I posted, AND the mobo will cost twice as much.

Perkam

[yngndrw]

does that mean I'm using 600w constantly?

No, it only uses what it needs as well as whatever it wastes from inefficiency.

In your OP you mentioned that your parents are complaining that you have money saved up. Slap them for me, please.

[B.E.E.F.]

With the parents complaining about the electricity bills and my savings somewhat building up (not too much mind).

to the crazy ass parents club.

Your new PC won't consume that much less than what you have. No, your PC is not using 600W. More like 300W max. Your power supply is overkill for that 4800 X2 and the 8400GS. Unless... are you overclocking?

[Ensamvarg]

to the crazy ass parents club.

Your new PC won't consume that much less than what you have. No, your PC is not using 600W. More like 300W max. Your power supply is overkill for that 4800 X2 and the 8400GS. Unless... are you overclocking?

I tried but I couldn't find anything in the BIOS that would let me, even after going through everything. Still, a smaller lower powered but better dual core and onboard graphics is fine for me. It's either that or a laptop which I HATE but I'll need for uni. Handwriting is for chumps

[chinaguy]

I am building 'GREEN' PCs from now on. Not because I want to save the earth from "Global Warming", I just want to save money. At times I can have 5 PCs and 3 laptops ON, so that can hit my electricty bill.

The best saving is in the PSU, look for the 80+ sign and there are Bronze, Silver and Gold versions to show how much more efficient they are. Also down size your PSU from 650W to 300-450W. 400W will run most peoples PC, even with a bit of OC. Two of my PCs now use the Antac 380W PSU.

Do you need to run a big graphics card that requires its own power! Get the smallest that meets your needs.

You can also set all the power saving options in the BIOS and OS to save you money. Have the monitor switch off if you dont use it for a short time instead of having the screen saver come on. Set the PC to go into stand-by if not in use. Have the HD stop again after a short time.

[Kumakichi]

How long do you normally leave your pc on? 24/7 or just a few hours while you watch video's and download stuff?

[Duniek]

check my threads and pics with ITX PC


board zotac 630i itx/wifi or 9300 itx wifi
2gb ram
e5200 cpu
pico PSU with 80/120W adapter
2,5" hdd

all takes 25-30W idle almost 24/7, when I am watching full HD movies then about 50-60W (at orhtos 100% loaded 65-68W)

[largon]

One just cannot beat a laptop when trying to minimize power consumption.

[3Z3VH]

Yup.. .just can't beat a notebook when it comes to power usage...

[Ensamvarg]

check my threads and pics with ITX PC

Yeah I looked at those, your work is so awesome I've seen some systems that are pre-made ITX PCs, like the EeeBox and some others, they seem like good deals to me too. I usually have my PC on from when I get back from work at say 11.30 PM til around 4 am when I get my pc to turn itself off. I do that so I can watch a dvd in bed and not have to wake up and move to turn it off. I'm usually out with my friends in the day or in term time i'll be in classes so it's off then too. I leave it on to download a few days a week. I think really I should go for perkams recommendation. A good compromise seeing as how my PC isn't actually on that much unless I download, in which case the lowered consumption should be enough to lower the bills. My monitor is an LG Flatron W1942T, is it a power hungry thing?

Yup.. .just can't beat a notebook when it comes to power usage...

Haha yeah seen that, I think that's a bit OTT for a laptop, the battery life must be horrible