power consumption: E7xxx vs E8xxx

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shleepy
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power consumption: E7xxx vs E8xxx

Post by shleepy » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:37 am

Quickly browsing through a few threads here, I've seen people mention that the E8xxx's use around 30-40W, while the E7xxx's use up to around 25W. I really haven't found very reliable results in benchmarks... some show the E8xxx series to be VERY close to the E7xxx's.

And I know that this is very little practical difference, either way, but I'm going for as powerful yet as power-efficient mini-ITX system as possible, and it will be on a power brick. I need to save as much as possible on components other than the video card, but the E8xxx series would be nice. I would be happy to undervolt it, too, but I'm mainly worried about peak power usage, when the video card would also be used to its max potential (i.e., during gaming).

Anyone have links to some good benchmarks, regarding this?

Also, one option I have is to get an MSI GME965 or its IBase equivalent, strap on a P9600, and use a PCI or mini-PCI SATA card for a couple more SATA slots (since I need them and these boards only have 2), etc. Am I correct in assuming that this will be too big of a hassle and may have bad cooling options?

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Post by nutball » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:02 pm

You don't mention what graphics card you're thinking of using.

Even lacking that info I'd wonder whether that if you're that worried about the 10W or so difference between the various CPUs being make or break to your ability to power the system might mean that your plans are somewhat flawed?!

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Re: power consumption: E7xxx vs E8xxx

Post by burebista » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:33 pm

shleepy wrote:Anyone have links to some good benchmarks, regarding this?
E7x00 vs. E8200.

E8x00 power consumption.

My E8400 power consumption
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shleepy
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Post by shleepy » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:41 pm

I'm thinking HD4850. Completely minimizing the power of the other components (2x SSD's, 1x notebook HDD, slim optical drive), that should give me just a little headroom, unless I'm mistaken. But the more power saved in my case, the better. DFI has a nice mini-DTX motherboard (CA230-BF) with Penryn support, but I have no idea where to buy it. The mini-ITX penryn + PCIe motherboards are probably not for me.

EDIT: By the way, it looks like E8xxx's with E0 stepping are more power efficient than their C0 counterparts... correct?

yuu
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Post by yuu » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:48 pm

I give you the E8400 E0 3600Mhz with normal 1.25 VID Intelburn

42Watts

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and the E8400 E0 3200 Mhz minimum 1.1 VID Orthos

23Watts

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shleepy
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Post by shleepy » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:52 pm

That's some good info, yuu!

Does anyone who has a very minimalistic setup with a E8x00 have a power meter, perchance? :) I'd like to get an approximate estimate of the total system load... it obviously doesn't have to be too close to what I'm planning, besides the CPU.

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Post by Kaleid » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:11 pm

shleepy wrote: EDIT: By the way, it looks like E8xxx's with E0 stepping are more power efficient than their C0 counterparts... correct?
Somewhat:
http://www.nordichardware.com/Articles/ ... ivelse=547
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Post by ntavlas » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:52 pm

What kind of dc-dc psu and power brick do you have in mind? Is it the pw200 and dell brick combo? I think that even undervolted, this system will run too close to the limits of such devices in warm California. The 4850 is quite a power hog at full load, a 4830 would be slightly better but would still require you to run the aircon whenever the computer is on. With a 4670 this setup could certainly run reliably though this would be a big compromise in gaming performance.

I know I`m not answering your question about core duo`s power consumption, but with such systems consuming close to 200 watts at full load, 20 to 30 watts saved thanks to a mini itx board and 7500 cpu are not going to allow your 200 watt psu run at it`s maximum efficiency range..

shleepy
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Post by shleepy » Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:54 pm

I'm thinking of doing something that's virtually the same as the Dell brick + PW-200, which is the Shuttle PC62 (I bet its parts are virtually identical - both the brick and the internal component). Yes, I realize there's a possibility of getting close to the 200W limit with the HD4850.

The HD4830 was my first choice. The HD4670 got ruled out because I have a 2560x1600 monitor, and it cannot possibly handle any recent games well at that resolution. However, after looking at a lot of reviews, it seems that the HD4830 heats up and uses up virtually the same power as the 4850. Its main advantage, it seems to me, is the slightly lower price tag. Possibly a much more effective solution would be an underclocked and undervolted HD4850. But in any case, before I probably even buy a power brick combo, I'll probably do some testing with an ATX PSU.

As for "warm California," I live near San Francisco, where it's moderately cold for the vast majority of the year (especially in my city), and slightly warm in late summer and early Fall. ;) I have never been worried about ambient temperatures, hehe.

PS: I've already pulled the (eBay) trigger on a passive HD4850, which reviews showed is an especially power-efficient one.

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Post by line » Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:34 pm

shleepy wrote:Does anyone who has a very minimalistic setup with a E8x00 have a power meter, perchance? :) I'd like to get an approximate estimate of the total system load... it obviously doesn't have to be too close to what I'm planning, besides the CPU.
Yeah I do and can confirm the E8400 E0 is a 40W part. I'm afraid the high VID of 1.25v which seems to be common to many E8400 E0 parts and also applies to mine offsets the efficiency gains of the new stepping under load. Browsing through this thread for example you can see that the C0 stepping parts typically have a much lower VID.

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