Hey,
I'm currently considering upgrading my main workstation with the intention to increase it's energy effeciency and of course make it as near silent as possible for it's usage profile (a bit of games, surfing and photo editing).
HybridPower would really influence my choice of build (either Intel/ATI or AMD/nVidia) as the potential to turn off the graphics card would go a long way to reducing the energy profile.
I've seen some successful reviews (legit reviews) and some not so (the SPCR look at the 8300 & 280 for example). So my question is, does anyone out there have HybridPower working for them?
Cheers,
P.S. I've searched the forums here and whilst lots of folks are interested there doesn't seem to have been anyone stating that they have it working.
HybridPower - Has anyone got it working?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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daniel.pool
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:39 am
- Location: London, UK
I've posted about AMD Hybrid in this thread :
viewtopic.php?t=46828&postdays=0&postor ... f7525a0de2
That was using a 780g and matching ATI video card. In summary it wasn't worth it imo. You gained very little and since then video cards have moved on. I've replaced my hybrid crossfire with a Radeon HD 4350. It uses very little power, it silent, it plays CoD4 much better than my old setup
4350 uses less than 10 watts when idle I read, it doesn't get that hot in my setup. I've not run 3dmark to get a comparative score but CoD4 just about ran as per the setup in the posting above. Now I have a higher resolution, more features turned on and it runs smooth as. The 4350 is still a very low end card, it cost me less that £30 and for me is a good balance as I don't play games that often.
viewtopic.php?t=46828&postdays=0&postor ... f7525a0de2
That was using a 780g and matching ATI video card. In summary it wasn't worth it imo. You gained very little and since then video cards have moved on. I've replaced my hybrid crossfire with a Radeon HD 4350. It uses very little power, it silent, it plays CoD4 much better than my old setup
4350 uses less than 10 watts when idle I read, it doesn't get that hot in my setup. I've not run 3dmark to get a comparative score but CoD4 just about ran as per the setup in the posting above. Now I have a higher resolution, more features turned on and it runs smooth as. The 4350 is still a very low end card, it cost me less that £30 and for me is a good balance as I don't play games that often.
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daniel.pool
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2008 8:39 am
- Location: London, UK
Hey NX3,
Thanks for the reply, I hadn't thought AMD/ATI had gotten their version of hybrid working and I guess your findings confirms that.
I was actually more focussed on nVidia's HybridPower, basically turning off the discreet GPU when the system is idling. It sounds great as I can use something like the 9800GT and have it powered down when I'm not up to much. However, the general suggestion is that nVidia have dropped support for this already as the 40W idle (or there abouts) on the new 290 is "good enough".
Basically my choice is an AMD proc (45W) with Nvidia GPU/Mobo combination for HybridPower, or look at an intel build, probably with an ATI card as they are far more efficient in idle.
It's just occurred to me though, that if I'm running a power supply with enough juice to drive a 9800GT or 9800GTX and the computer's power consumption suddenly drops to ~50W I'm going to get a really inefficient supply at that point ... which might not save me all that much at all in terms of power draw. Hmm, might have to play with some numbers there. Anyone got a method for working out the minimum size you need for a PSU when using a descreet GPU.
*runs off to PSU forum*
Thanks for the reply, I hadn't thought AMD/ATI had gotten their version of hybrid working and I guess your findings confirms that.
I was actually more focussed on nVidia's HybridPower, basically turning off the discreet GPU when the system is idling. It sounds great as I can use something like the 9800GT and have it powered down when I'm not up to much. However, the general suggestion is that nVidia have dropped support for this already as the 40W idle (or there abouts) on the new 290 is "good enough".
Basically my choice is an AMD proc (45W) with Nvidia GPU/Mobo combination for HybridPower, or look at an intel build, probably with an ATI card as they are far more efficient in idle.
It's just occurred to me though, that if I'm running a power supply with enough juice to drive a 9800GT or 9800GTX and the computer's power consumption suddenly drops to ~50W I'm going to get a really inefficient supply at that point ... which might not save me all that much at all in terms of power draw. Hmm, might have to play with some numbers there. Anyone got a method for working out the minimum size you need for a PSU when using a descreet GPU.
*runs off to PSU forum*