- Case: Antec Fusion V2 (with VFD on)
Power Supply: Corsair HX520
CPU: AMD BE-2400 (stock)
MB: Abit AN-M2 HD
RAM: 2GB Geil Esoteria (stock)
HDD:- Hitachi 200GB 7K200 laptop drive
Wester Digital 500GB AAKS
Sound: SB X-Fi XtremeGamer
TV Tuner: Hauppauge HVR-1600
DVD: Samsung SH-203B
Fans/Cooling:- Scythe Mini Ninja with 80mm Nexus
2x120mm Nexus (exhaust)
Zalman VF1000
- Hitachi 200GB 7K200 laptop drive
High Idle Power Consumption?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
High Idle Power Consumption?
I was wondering (for any of the power consumption gurus out here) if my power consumption at idle seems on the high side.
Not sure whether it's too high or not, but it doesn't seem over the top to me. Some thoughts: Your tuner probably pulls ~10W - and the WD HD about the same. No idea about the X-Fi. How efficient is the Corsair at low wattage? I had a noticeable increase in efficiency when I swapped from a Seasonic s12 430W to a pico-psu, so you're probably losing a bit there too.
If you want to experiment, pulling out components one at a time is definitely the way to go. But I'd count my numbers at idle on the Windows desktop. That way CnQ is enabled, and everything is over its initial bootup power spike.
If you want to experiment, pulling out components one at a time is definitely the way to go. But I'd count my numbers at idle on the Windows desktop. That way CnQ is enabled, and everything is over its initial bootup power spike.
Tom's Hardware just did a recap on AMD power consumption and had the following results.
The system had a HD3850 (little difference to 3870), AMD 790FX board, one 500GB WD HDD (you have an additional laptop drive which shouldn't affect much) and a 850W power supply which takes a hit in efficiency compared to yours, but not significantly. Additionally you have some fans, dvd-drive, tv-tuner, x-fi but I don't see them taking that much more while idle.
It does seem a bit high, maybe CnQ isn't working properly on your motherboard? People have reported that sometimes systems have drawn the same amount of power from the wall even when C1E and EIST were in effect and working according to CPU-Z.
The system had a HD3850 (little difference to 3870), AMD 790FX board, one 500GB WD HDD (you have an additional laptop drive which shouldn't affect much) and a 850W power supply which takes a hit in efficiency compared to yours, but not significantly. Additionally you have some fans, dvd-drive, tv-tuner, x-fi but I don't see them taking that much more while idle.
It does seem a bit high, maybe CnQ isn't working properly on your motherboard? People have reported that sometimes systems have drawn the same amount of power from the wall even when C1E and EIST were in effect and working according to CPU-Z.
I saw the same article on TomsHardware and that got me thinking 
I think I read somewhere that the 38x0 cards might lower their clock speeds at idle? Is that how the idle speed gets so low?
[edit] I found ATI PowerPlay, but I haven't seen how to turn it on or what not. I'm thinking this probably contributes to the higher idle. Anyone know? I only installed drivers and no catalyst control center.
Isn't a lower clock speed indicative of CnQ working properly?
I think I read somewhere that the 38x0 cards might lower their clock speeds at idle? Is that how the idle speed gets so low?
[edit] I found ATI PowerPlay, but I haven't seen how to turn it on or what not. I'm thinking this probably contributes to the higher idle. Anyone know? I only installed drivers and no catalyst control center.
Isn't a lower clock speed indicative of CnQ working properly?
I feel retarded. Somewhere within the Catalyst Control Center is PowerPlay, which is what makes the 38x0 idle low. Kinda silly that AMD has a processor driver that includes the power management stuff and "ATI" requires CCC on top of it's driver to do it.
My idle is down to 84 now. Much better than 131.
My idle is down to 84 now. Much better than 131.
Hi,
finally I found someone that has used a vf1000 with an antec fusion/2400 case !!
I have a 8800 GT that I want to silence and I am wondering if this heatsink will fit in the case.
I have a pci slot taken also by my sound card (the one on the left side), a free pci slot and then the VGA PCI express slot for the 8800 GT, so very little room between the cards. (vent is on the left of the graphic card today, no heating problem, just noise).
I was wondering if this two slot heatsink would fit in the free pci slot space, and if vertically it fits and you still can close the case.
Very interested by your comments please !
Sebmex
finally I found someone that has used a vf1000 with an antec fusion/2400 case !!
I have a 8800 GT that I want to silence and I am wondering if this heatsink will fit in the case.
I have a pci slot taken also by my sound card (the one on the left side), a free pci slot and then the VGA PCI express slot for the 8800 GT, so very little room between the cards. (vent is on the left of the graphic card today, no heating problem, just noise).
I was wondering if this two slot heatsink would fit in the free pci slot space, and if vertically it fits and you still can close the case.
Very interested by your comments please !
Sebmex
motherboard/ram/cpu probably idles around 50watts
3870 around 20w
TV tuner is likely around 10w
Sound card another 10w
HDD's are around 10w
100w idle.
You specified 131w AC.
You have an 80+ 520w PSU, which means it will do 80% down to 20% load. 20% load of 520 is 104w.
80% * 131w ac = 105w
Seems right to me.
If this is an HTPC, you could get a better motherboard, and drop the 3870 all together along with the sound card and use onboard video and onboard sound. Would probably drop you down to around 70w idle, which would show up as around 90w AC on the killowatt.
If you use a digital SPDIF output for your sound, then the onboard codec wont matter much, but if you use the analog ports, look for one with a Realtek ALC889A codec. Its one of the best DAC's on the market for onboard sound.
As for onboard video, the new geforce 9300/9400 chipset does very well for HTPC purposes.
Id recommend this motherboard for your needs: Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H
You could get the board and a 2.5ghz 45nm wolfdale for $220, and use all your other existing parts.
3870 around 20w
TV tuner is likely around 10w
Sound card another 10w
HDD's are around 10w
100w idle.
You specified 131w AC.
You have an 80+ 520w PSU, which means it will do 80% down to 20% load. 20% load of 520 is 104w.
80% * 131w ac = 105w
Seems right to me.
If this is an HTPC, you could get a better motherboard, and drop the 3870 all together along with the sound card and use onboard video and onboard sound. Would probably drop you down to around 70w idle, which would show up as around 90w AC on the killowatt.
If you use a digital SPDIF output for your sound, then the onboard codec wont matter much, but if you use the analog ports, look for one with a Realtek ALC889A codec. Its one of the best DAC's on the market for onboard sound.
As for onboard video, the new geforce 9300/9400 chipset does very well for HTPC purposes.
Id recommend this motherboard for your needs: Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H
You could get the board and a 2.5ghz 45nm wolfdale for $220, and use all your other existing parts.