Why are you here ( SPCR )? Silence or Low power?

WARDOZER9 · Post by **WARDOZER9** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:17 pm

I'm just curious how we all ended up here, for silencing our rigs or cutting those precious few watts of excess power.

1kbyte · Post by **1kbyte** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:44 pm

Silent rig is my first priority and low power consumption is my second concern ... both are my reasons

Silence:Low Power = 55:45

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 11:40 pm

Both, and they usually go hand in hand.

BlackWhizz · Post by **BlackWhizz** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 2:35 am

Hmm, for me its the challenge to have quiet build that performs. So power usage is not my main point.

They go hand in hand but i mainly want performing components.

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 2:52 am

Quietness first and foremost. Reduced power consumption is a nice bonus but a few watts saved here and there by a computer has a negligible effect on my electricity bill; given my wife's aversion to switching lights off.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 3:22 am

BlackWhizz wrote:Hmm, for me its the challenge to have quiet build that performs. So power usage is not my main point.

They go hand in hand but i mainly want performing components.

I find that unless you have very specific needs, for example if you're a hardcore gamer, it's very easy to combine adequate performance and silence.

As long as one is not too restricted in terms of space. That's where the frontier is today I think - being able to squeeze power and silence into a small enclosure.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:00 am

Silence, obviously.

A higher power consumption is bearable, noise is not.

tim851 · Post by **tim851** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 12:26 pm

Silence, at first.

Rigs been silent for a couple of years now. Now I'm looking primarily at power consumption.

I'm paying 22 Eurocent per kWh here (~30 US Cents). So when I recently retired my old 21" CRT (150W) in favor of a 24" LED TFT (20W) and replaced an older System (Conroe 2.2 Ghz, P965, Radeon 4850) that idled at around 100W with a newer one (Clarksdale 2.8 Ghz, P55, Radeon 5750) that idles at 50W, it will save me about 170 Euro (230 US$) a year.

But I'm not a hairsplitter who looks to save 3 watts.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 10:59 pm

Silence... I try to keep my power consumption down when I can, but at CAD$0.0655 per kWh it's not exactly a priority.

Actually I got started trying to quiet down my high powered gaming rig so I could leave it on at night in my bedroom.

nightmorph · Post by **nightmorph** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:39 pm

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:58 pm

Silence, though if I can get low power too I'll take it, and of course lower power makes for easier silence.

colm · Post by **colm** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:56 pm

WARDOZER9 wrote:I'm just curious how we all ended up here, for silencing our rigs or cutting those precious few watts of excess power.

I approched pc like a mechanic. I want max power for the max silence.. like a 14 to 1 stoich to an engine on 87 octane...

it can get very large,and stay nonchalant/silent..no need for midgety retreats.

cordis · Post by **cordis** » Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:22 pm

Yeah, I'm more in it for the quiet, I used to have a dual athlon board, and one of the cpu fans on that board was super loud, and I also used to have a little shuttle box with a noisy as hell. I do like to have systems that are a little more powerful, but they're all quiet now.

aristide1 · Post by **aristide1** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:55 pm

I'm here for the women

Redzo · Post by **Redzo** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 2:35 pm

am here for both. and "both" should be an option too, kinda logical right ?

greenfrank · Post by **greenfrank** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:43 pm

Both. They has to go in hand: less power consumption and less noise.
My actual rig is quite power efficient and almost silent.

For the high cost of electricity and the global warming, I would say that power consumption is a concern. Saving some watts does matter, for financial (bill) and moral (ecology) reasons.

WARDOZER9 · Post by **WARDOZER9** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:04 pm

Redzo wrote:am here for both. and "both" should be an option too, kinda logical right ?

Ahh, but one is more important to you than the other

Even if only by a little. I would like both as less power means less heat and thus longer life but but if I honestly had to choose, silence would win if it meant being able to sleep without knowing my PC was even on.

I know a low power PC allows for quietter operation but like my rig, I want to be able to play the latest games at enjoyable settings and seeing as it is now my only PC, it stays running 24/7 and I'd rather not hear it.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:16 am

yeah... i wouldnt care if I was drawing 300 watts, just as long as it was silent and within tolerance of temperatures. I dont like wasting electricity though. I go for low power in terms of idling and web/school use. So, for me, if a gfx card has 180 watts draw, but only 15 watts idle, it isnt bad. It is hard to cool quietly anything that hits over 100 watts as a component, which normallly limits me to things like ati 5770's vs a 5850.

I wonder what the idle draw on the top end amd 6 core is going to be. I know that my e8400 setup idles very low.

flapane · Post by **flapane** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:08 am

Both.
Mostly I love saving energy (especially in idling) while building a pc faster than the previous one I had.
I'm following this philosophy since the 1400mhz AMD Thunderbird ol' days.

Some months ago I had to change my lcd, so why not going toward a LED monitor and saving 30w over a traditional LCD? And why don't buying a 5400rpm HDD for storage?

Go green, your wallet, your ears and your moral will approve.

ilovejedd · Post by **ilovejedd** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:34 am

I originally came across this site for lowering power consumption. With a build that currently has 9 hard drives (expandable to 17), while needing to maintain easy access to drives (hot-swap) and keeping temps manageable, there's really not much that can be done by way of noise reduction.

However, it's become a very valuable resource for building relatively quiet HTPC's and quieting current builds. The smallish LGA-775 shoot-out, in particular, has been very helpful.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:20 am

It started with quieting down my PC...and then it evolved into quiet + smaller power footprint with every tweak/add.

m1st · Post by **m1st** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 2:42 pm

Why am I here?

Grif: It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it. Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of... some cosmic coincidence or, is there really a God... watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night.

Simmons: ...

Grif: ...

Simmons: What? I meant why are we out here, in this canyon?

Grif: Oh, uh... yeah.

Simmons: What was all that stuff about God?

Grif: Uh... hm? Nothing.

Simmons: You wanna talk about it?

Grif: No

Simmons: You sure?

Grif: Yeah.

-----

Silence, for me. Being on this site, however, has made me more aware of my computers' power consumption. Even bought a Kill-A-Watt

Why are you here ( SPCR )? Silence or Low power?

Are you here more for Silence or Low power?

Why are you here ( SPCR )? Silence or Low power?

Re: Why are you here ( SPCR )? Silence or Low power?

silence