New build, can anymore power be dropped?

footfukinmasta · Post by **footfukinmasta** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:51 am

I just built a new media server and wanted to share with you guys my end power result and see if I can get it lower.

parts

case- Antec Solo
Mobo-Intel BOXD945GCLF2 Atom 330
CORSAIR 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667
maxtor SATA 160 gig hd
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB
Memorex DL Dvd burner
SeaSonic super tornado 350

With this setup it idles at 48-49 watts on the kill a watt meter.

The power supply is kind of old. I had it in my old rig and figured I could still use it.

The only thing I might buy for this computer is a blu-ray drive so I can rip my movies, but I don't know when I'm going to do that.

If I were to go with a newer power supply would it drop much?

thanks

bozar · Post by **bozar** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:22 am

A highly efficient pico-psu would drop power consumption a bit.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:31 am

No. your power usage is pretty low as it is, so if you go down to like a PICO 90W, which is what I have, your Off/Standby usage may rise, as the brick will draw power regardless of the computers power state, it being plugged in is going to make it suck juice (it's a power vampire, you're leaving it with it's teeth in the wall, and they're greedy bastards).

My PICO 90W is running with a 40W brick, but i'm around 60-80% utilization, as the brick is toasty warm 100% of the time within 5 minutes of turning the rig on. I'm running a VIA C7-D, 1.5ghz with 2gb of RAM and a 3.5" mechanical based HDD, which I'm working on replacing with a CF card in a CF to SATA adapter. But even with that change, I don't really expect much of a difference in power usage.

if you move down to 2.5" drives, you'll see a little power drop, but i don't think that system is going to break lower than ~45W.

I have yet to really test it, but i think it's a fair assumption to say that running the power brick within 15% of your actual power need will start to hit peak efficiency, between the brick utilizing all the power it's taking in, while keeping the heat to a minimum. My example is how I started off running a 102W adapter, which I'm continuing to use long-term, so I don't worry about killing the 40W adapter, but the 40W is maybe 6W of headroom over the system at full load, that leaves little headroom, and almost certain death to that power adapter if there's a spike, or sudden increase in power draw.

The old power supply may give you huge amounts of headroom, but at the same time, it probably has a very lower power usage in standby state. maybe there could be a power switch on a bricks input to curb this? that's a whole different topic though.

Post by **MikeC** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:33 am

Another viable option is
http://www.silentpcreview.com/Winmate_DD-24AX -- with an efficient 80~120W 19~28VDC adapter.

With the picoPSU, you might get as much as 10W lower -- if you have a very high efficiency adapter. With the Winmate DD-24AX, it will be a bit less -- maybe 5~7W, depending on adapter.

The savings could be more if the PSU has aged badly. It's got to be at least 5yrs old, right? Capacitors do lose their capacity over time.

footfukinmasta · Post by **footfukinmasta** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:31 pm

I kind of figured that changing a PSU wouldn't make a great difference. 48-49 isn't all that bad either.

I will have to look into the pico PSU's.

thanks

Post by **CA_Steve** » Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:56 pm

You could replace the 160GB drive with an SSD. That would lower your idle by 5 to 8W. Be a test subject for the upcoming Kingston branded 40GB Intel drive. $100 range.

footfukinmasta · Post by **footfukinmasta** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 8:44 am

Not a bad idea, but right now I am unemployed so even $100.00 is hard to spend.

Is it worth running Win 7 off a USB thumb?

lm · Post by lm » Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:36 am

There is no point to use any money to go lower than what you already have, unless you are off the grid.

The upgrade would never pay itself back!

You can get better savings from replacing any incandescent or halogen lights you may have with fluorescent.

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:32 pm

footfukinmasta wrote:I kind of figured that changing a PSU wouldn't make a great difference. 48-49 isn't all that bad either.

I will have to look into the pico PSU's.

thanks

Do take a look at the Pico PSU (or the like). 48-49W looks bad from my perspective. My system idles lower than that with far more powerful hardware.

But if money is a deciding factor.. I'd say a Pico PSU is worth it if low power consumption is your thing, or if you don't have the space for a normal PSU. But I don't think many Pico PSUs pay for themselves by affecting the power bill.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 2:45 pm

a PICO can't pay for itself, because the brick is where efficiency has massive losses. The computer might be off, and a conventional PSU might use 1.5, or less W, however the power brick you use with a PICO may still draw several times that, like 12 or 15w, in some cases higher. Efficiency only kicks in when you're using more than the brick is pulling, but less than a conventional PSU could use.

no reason to change if you have a solid low number that's consistent...regardless, that's where the computer stands...if you're strapped for cash (and i know the feeling) it's not worth upgrading anything.

lm · Post by lm » Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:08 pm

Well even if you had money, what is the point of that "upgrade"...

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:10 pm

bonestonne wrote:a PICO can't pay for itself, because the brick is where efficiency has massive losses. The computer might be off, and a conventional PSU might use 1.5, or less W, however the power brick you use with a PICO may still draw several times that, like 12 or 15w, in some cases higher. Efficiency only kicks in when you're using more than the brick is pulling, but less than a conventional PSU could use.

Where does this information come from? A power brick drawing up to 15W just by being connected? I find that a little hard to believe.

My Dell DA-2 with my system connected but turned off draws 2W at the wall, according to my power meter. And even that is eliminated since I use a power strip to turn off other stuff like my router when the system is down.

footfukinmasta · Post by **footfukinmasta** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:13 pm

lm wrote:There is no point to use any money to go lower than what you already have, unless you are off the grid.

The upgrade would never pay itself back!

You can get better savings from replacing any incandescent or halogen lights you may have with fluorescent.

I have all but 2 bulbs in my house CFL's.

In the end its drawing half the power my old server used and I'm not a power Nazi so I guess I can live with it.

thanks for the help guys.