my server currently idles at 50w . i wold like it bellow 30 idealy, but thats not realistic.

my current specs:

Asus P5KPL-AM iG31
E5200 @ stock * i did have it underclocked, but because my motherboard doesnt let me change the vcore i cant reduce consumption by more then about 5w
4gb ddr2 800
2 * Samsung F2 1.5TB
GeForce 7300 GS

i think the motherboard or the gpu are where i can save power?

i wana do this as cheap as possible, so any matx motherboards you would recommend with decent underclocking options? or any cheap nvidia pcie cards that are light on power (i need direct rendering to use moovida)


thanks Markp1989

I am waiting on the new Intel D510 Atom motherboards. A build with these should hit your 30W target. For me, this will sit on a shelf in a closet, so I have no issues with the integrated graphics in console mode. I will SSH in to manage it. With 2GB RAM, there should be no issue in being a file server, email server, proxy server, web server, and providing a couple of other services that I need.

This will let me configure my Desktop PC (which I currently use for these services) to hibernate after xx minutes of user inactivity, and the power savings should make up for the cost of the Atom server in ~1.5 years. Cost aside, I will be going from my Desktop PC @ ~100W idle to < 30W, and I will be "greener" and feel better about leaving something on 24/7. And it will be fanless! So quiet, too.

FYI...There are new higher-end NAS units coming out using this new Atom CPU...so there should be no issues even if your goal is a higher performance file server.

Any reason you are not using the integrated graphics? That should be some easy savings right there.

Glancing at the D510MO specs, it still only has 2x SATA. Are there going to be boards D510 boards with more? If not, why not just use a D945GSEJT and cut your power usage in half again?

I still don't see the value of an atom with a non-mobile chipset.

Edit: Just answered my own question, by seeing the Super Micro X7SPA-H, but this guy is in the ~$200 range it seems.

The first board only has two SATA ports, but it also (I think) has a PCI slot. If not, follow-on versions should have PCI or PCI-Express. You can get half-height SATA controllers with extra ports that can fit in tighter mini-ITX cases.

I was originally looking at an Atom + ION board for my use. The ION chipset is supposed to consume less power vs. the current Intel Atom chipset, and the newest Intel chipset with the D510 will be better than ION.

Anandtech.com has a review of the new D510 vs. the ION and old Intel chipset, including power consumption numbers.

The Intel chipset solution will be cheaper vs. ION, and I don't need more than a couple of SATA ports, so this is probably the route I will take.

i have 2 screens running from this machine 1 is a 32" tv and the other is a 15" photo frame.

also i need to have direct rendering enabled to run moovida (htpc software)

i have swaped the gpu with one out of my desktop, hoping i can use the gpu to decode videos to use less cpu power.

only problem is that this gpu (nvidia 8400) detects the EDID of my display completly wrong, so i cannot enable the GPU scaling or any other tools.

if i could get a decent motherboard with built in Nvidia graphics + decent underclocking options, i could get rid of the gpu, and undervolt the cpu saving me alot of power (+ giving me a spare slot for future upgrades)

mfeller:
Only need 2 SATA drives or are looking at a PCI controller, I would check out the D945GSEJT. It is on the 945GSE chipset, which is what they put in netbooks, instead of the 945GC chipset which most Atom motherboards use (and which is a power hog in comparison).

My D945GSEJT idles under 10W with a minimalist setup (1 8GB USB flash and 1x1GB notebook RAM), which the D510 setups will never match. The D510 has slightly better performance, but nothing to effect a simple server/backend/NAS.

Also it has all kinds of sweet cases designed specifically for it! See the SPCR review.

i wish they would release a case for these with enough room for 2 3.5" drives, that way they would be perfect for a file server .

Buying new parts only for power saving is pointless as your system already has reasonable idle and if your parts are otherwise still good. It won't offset the energy spent in manufacturing.

Why not one of the Atom + Ion MB's? No reason to undervolt/clock an Atom. Plus you get Nvida 9400(Ion) graphics. I know it is available in mini-ITX, likely microATX too.

But using only the integrated GPU you will save a lot of power and you can get dual monitor output using a Silicon Image Orion ADD2 this only take less than 0.5W and you get a DVI output that is independent from the VGA output you have on this board. I use the same on my computer.

hey, im giving running of off the intergraded gpu ago, gives me idle of 35w

i cannot run my media player software because it requires glx (gona remove the nvidia drivers)


Does the Silicon Image Orion ADD2 have glx when used with linux?

if it does it will be perfect

edit: i got moovida running on the intergraded gpu , the menus are really slow