Search found 331 matches

by scdr
Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:46 pm
Forum: Notebook Systems
Topic: low power netbook/notebook to use as server?
Replies: 21
Views: 23996

Re: low power netbook/notebook to use as server?

It would be more energy efficient to run it from AC, not using the battery. It is highly unlikely that the battery would be efficient enough to make up the difference in cost between night and day costs. (If significant savings were possible that way, then the power company would install big batteri...
by scdr
Sun Feb 13, 2011 6:00 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: DIY air purifier?
Replies: 4
Views: 8454

Re: DIY air purifier?

To my experience as a seasonal allergic and relatively mild asthmatic it's the ionizing that makes the most difference in a typical air purifier. Get a vacuum cleaner with a good hepa filter since in that application the filter is really abused, but make sure whatever air purifier you buy has ioniz...
by scdr
Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:25 am
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: DIY air purifier?
Replies: 4
Views: 8454

Re: DIY air purifier?

The SPCR approach to noise is where possible avoid creating heat to start with, so you don't have to use fans/etc. to get rid of it. Have you fully explored applying that approach to your problem? i.e. before dealing with filters & fans - start by removing source(s) of dust. Somebody I know who has ...
by scdr
Sun Jan 30, 2011 12:22 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: Question about improving AC/DC efficiency
Replies: 10
Views: 4914

Re: Question about improving AC/DC efficiency

Consider the economics - The IBM PC had a 65watt power supply. I don't know the efficiency of it, but just suppose it was 50% efficient (wasted up to 30watts maximum). Times the number of IBM PCs, times the cost of electricity. For a $2000 machine (in 198x dollars) . (There were an estimated 2 milli...
by scdr
Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:48 pm
Forum: Cases and Damping
Topic: Quiet case for dusty area
Replies: 12
Views: 5526

Re: Quiet case for dusty area

A notion I have wondered about is using an air cleaner for a case. Don't know how quiet it would be (air cleaners are generally annoyingly noisy), but seemed like it might be a start at a case for really dusty environments. (Would need to use a small motherboard, and lots of cables might be a proble...
by scdr
Sun Dec 19, 2010 12:25 am
Forum: Off Topic
Topic: Looking for an interesting 5.25 bay device
Replies: 7
Views: 6908

Re: Looking for an interesting 5.25 bay device

I haven't seen it, but what I thought somebody should devise is a drive bay charger/dock for PDAs, MP3 players, etc. (maybe compact cameras) i.e. one provide socket to insert the device(s) where they could be stored (out of dust), charged, and be connected to the computer. Each device might have its...
by scdr
Fri Dec 17, 2010 1:43 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?
Replies: 10
Views: 11444

Re: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?

I was thinking a bit more about this - seems like a simple test would be to take a whole computer, run it in a room with low ambient temperature (e.g. unheated room at night in winter). Measure power draw a few times. Run same task inside heated room (maybe run temperature up a bit). Measure power d...
by scdr
Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:57 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?
Replies: 10
Views: 11444

Re: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?

If we assume that an additional 4W can be saved at the CPU by reducing the CPU and CPU VRM temps by 10C then we're looking at almost 10W saving - pretty good. About £9 a year for a 24.7 system at present UK electricity prices, lol The next question (assuming the above holds) is does this saving con...
by scdr
Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:25 am
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?
Replies: 10
Views: 11444

Re: Reducing power consumption thru cooling?

Another area where you might look for data is power supply (PSU) reviews. In particular, the 80 PLUS certification has been criticized (both here and elsewhere) for using a fixed low ambient temperature for testing PSU efficiency. See for example: 80 Plus expands podium for Bronze, Silver & Gold htt...
by scdr
Sun Dec 05, 2010 1:54 am
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zalman CPU & VGA Power Consumption Meter
Replies: 9
Views: 10872

Re: Zalman CPU & VGA Power Consumption Meter

Wonder how much power the meter uses itself. Not enough to be significant. Typically such devices pull at max maybe a watt. Reading the specs at Zalman I see that it only measures down to 10 watts, so I guess it isn't much use for measuring idle power on the more efficient CPUs. http://www.lostcirc...
by scdr
Fri Dec 03, 2010 11:02 pm
Forum: SPCR Article Discussion
Topic: Zalman CPU & VGA Power Consumption Meter
Replies: 9
Views: 10872

Re: Zalman CPU & VGA Power Consumption Meter

Wonder how much power the meter uses itself.
by scdr
Tue Nov 30, 2010 1:16 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Opinions and recommendations on two potential builds
Replies: 7
Views: 7708

Re: Opinions and recommendations on two potential builds

Consider using machines that don't have to be idle so much. Get ones that will operate with wake on LAN (for server, if usage is sporadic) or wake on timer (for PVR). i.e. turn it off rather than idling. Why do you need two always on machines? (One web server and one DVR). Could be more efficient to...
by scdr
Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:55 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Could you fill in this questionnaire please.
Replies: 1
Views: 4798

Re: Could you fill in this questionnaire please.

Your questionnaire is over-restrictive in the responses. Consider that many people have more than one machine (especially likely among readers of a computer interest board like SPCR). So Intel vs AMD should allow multiple responses. This question is another one with over-restrictive answers: If you ...
by scdr
Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:29 pm
Forum: Fans and Control
Topic: Is there a SpeedFan compatible fan controller (not mobo)?
Replies: 3
Views: 2886

Re: Is there a SpeedFan compatible fan controller (not mobo)

Have you tried asking the author of Speedfan? It seems like one should be able to add a fan controller to the SMBus (some motherboards even used to have headers for connecting to the SMBus). Then the problem would be getting speedfan to recognize your controller (since it wouldn't be what is expecte...
by scdr
Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:59 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Low idle power motherboards and CPUs?
Replies: 9
Views: 7863

Re: Low idle power motherboards and CPUs?

Obvious contenders for low idle power: Mac Mini (<10W idle) - a laptop in desktop clothing (Core2Duo) http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=59331 OLPC XO-1 (laptop) - idle about 7-8 W, but if you shut off things like the screen backlight and the radio you can trim that by a watt ...
by scdr
Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:48 pm
Forum: Site Feedback
Topic: Ooooooh, shiny new forum!
Replies: 59
Views: 38990

Re: Ooooooh, shiny new forum!

The new layout is mostly a step backwards. Please: 1) Go back to the higher contrast color scheme - all the gray backgrounds and muted colored text make material harder to read. Especially for those with aging eyes or eyesight problems. Or perhaps give people a few color schemes to chose from - use ...
by scdr
Thu Oct 21, 2010 11:48 am
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 90TB home server
Replies: 0
Views: 1737

90TB home server

Given the recent article on SPCR for a quiet home server, I thought it might be apropos to mention this DIY approach with slightly more storage.

http://hackaday.com/2010/10/21/90-tb-dr ... age-needs/

Fans running at 9v to keep it quiet.

Wonder how they handle backup?
by scdr
Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:52 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Performance per watt (W)
Replies: 15
Views: 16508

I found these references interesting on the relative efficiency of Atom vs ARM vs Lynfield (core2) http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/11/basics-of-physicalization.ars/3 http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/06/server-based-on-512-atom-cpus-to-take-on-xeon-in-datacenters.ars Which suggest ...
by scdr
Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:43 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: iFixit the free repair manual
Replies: 3
Views: 12959

In a similar area, I have found

http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/

handy on several occasions for keeping printers operating.
by scdr
Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:40 am
Forum: System Advice / Troubleshooting
Topic: Spec me the cheapest PC for web-browsing
Replies: 9
Views: 4592

Whatever you can find second hand, or in a dumpster. (Then replace fans or components as necessary to make it quieter.) If want something new - could consider Celeron E3300 and motherboard based on Intel G31 or G41 (Many Gigabyte motherboards have reasonable undervolting potential). Circa $80 on sal...
by scdr
Sat Sep 11, 2010 1:16 am
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Performance per watt (W)
Replies: 15
Views: 16508

To find the "greenest" CPU, first determine what you need to do. Then, find the processors capable of doing that task. Take the one that is capable of performing that task and that consumes the least power. It's wasteful to buy more CPU than you need, and it's wasteful to buy a CPU that can't do wh...
by scdr
Wed Sep 08, 2010 4:44 pm
Forum: Notebook Systems
Topic: Conductive material to put under laptop?
Replies: 6
Views: 7219

Long time ago I just stuck some stick-on feet on a laptop. Just having some air space under it (rather than sitting directly on table) helped with temperatures. (Of course that was a 486, but it didn't have a fan.) Laptops may be hotter now. If that wasn't enough, I would be tempted to use one of th...
by scdr
Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:12 pm
Forum: CPUs and Motherboards
Topic: Power effient Desktop/Workstation for Virtualization
Replies: 5
Views: 3841

If you figure to upgrade more often - why the particular concern about energy efficiency? (Much of the energy use in a computer is in production/recycling, as compared to actual use.) Seems like so far the energy efficiency benchmarks are mainly aimed at server CPUs (Opterons, Xeon's). Harder to fin...
by scdr
Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:12 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Performance per watt (W)
Replies: 15
Views: 16508

Thanks for all the info. So let's start the seek of green CPU. With everything above in mind I try this one next, waiting for opinions / challengers: Intel® Core™ i7 Mobile Processor i7-660UM Arrandale 1.33 GHz (Turbo 2.4 GHz) 2 cores, 4 threads. 64-bit cache 4 MB, 2.5 GT/s DMI bus TBT,VT-x,VT-d...
by scdr
Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:59 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Performance per watt (W)
Replies: 15
Views: 16508

Hope my previous post wasn't unduely negative. I don't mean to discourage seeking efficiency. Performance per watt is interesting, and I would like to have some better information readily available to compare consumer grade computers. Just haven't found much in the lines of a simple metric that is r...
by scdr
Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:19 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Performance per watt (W)
Replies: 15
Views: 16508

[quote name=maalitehdas]Calculated clock speed (MHz) per TDP (W) for max 10W processors[/quote] The ratio of two almost meaningless numbers - the perfect benchmark. ;-) (The clock speed is primarily useful for comparing processors within one architecture. Have to be sure that things like number of c...
by scdr
Wed Sep 01, 2010 12:45 pm
Forum: Silent Storage
Topic: 5,25" docking station for a 3,5" hard disk: any si
Replies: 2
Views: 2456

No experience with the device in question. There are a lot of PATA 5 1/4" removable hard disk bays around. One might take a look at them to see if one could adapt them for use with your (presumably SATA drive). If there was enough space inside, one might be able to shoehorn in a PATA to SATA convert...
by scdr
Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:47 am
Forum: Power Supplies
Topic: 80Plus Platinum (115v) finally exists
Replies: 20
Views: 12030

Of course the big impediment to getting higher efficiencies is not engineering, but naming. :wink: As seen so often before, they started out naming these versions without a clear extension path. What comes after Platinum? Rhodium? (Circa $2,000/oz) Plutonium? (Said to be about $4,000/oz, but hard to...
by scdr
Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:45 pm
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Best energy efficient monitor?
Replies: 28
Views: 43205

I bought an Acer 18.5" LED-backlit display for my laptop this year and was astonished it claims to only use about 10 watts in normal usage. Very cool and quiet too. This is almost as big an improvement as LCD was compared to CRT. http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=59923 (I know no...
by scdr
Mon Aug 30, 2010 11:47 am
Forum: Green Computing
Topic: Hard drive enclosure power consumption for backups
Replies: 4
Views: 6471

Would using an enclosure for 2.5" drives be an option? 2.5" drives use less power than 3.5" (but lower capacity, more expensive) Some of them are powered from USB (so they can't draw more than 2.5 to 5 watts). (Doesn't help with the turning it off when idle, but idle power on 2.5" might be less). Co...