Ultra low power consumption pc spec

meem · 29 Sep 2008 at 23:54

Looking for a spec to meet the following requirements

Linux based: with enough power (ram) to run vmware / different OS's
Power consumption (just base unit) has to be below 50W

Any suggestions? Thanks

jak731 · 29 Sep 2008 at 23:57

budget?

meem · 29 Sep 2008 at 23:57

budget isnt the most important thing. it has to absolutely meet those 2 requirements regardless of price. but obviously the cheaper the better, budget is bare minimum to achieve those 2 goals

decto · 30 Sep 2008 at 00:07

Any reason you want below 50W?

I have an opteron x2 matx built in vid etc and that comes in at approx 60w idle with a single HDD in XP. I'm sure it would rum VMware but peaks at 100w

If you're looking at <50W peak you need laptop hard drives and a board that will take mobile CPU's ... or just buy a laptop, it might actually be simpler in the long run.

Atom is a different option but will suck with vmware

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semi-pro waster · 30 Sep 2008 at 00:15

I'd be strongly considering a laptop given the requirements for the low power consumption, it is one of the things they are very good at.

//edit, you will of course need to make sure that the chipset(s) used is reasonably well supported in Linux but that is a fairly minor issue normally I think.

p4radox · 30 Sep 2008 at 01:09

As above, a laptop would probably be the best option. If not, perhaps look into mini-ITX systems.

EsaT · 30 Sep 2008 at 08:40

If you're after 50W idle consumption that would be possible
45nm Wolfdales would be much more power efficient than 65nm Conroe used in this:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article869-page5.html

But for 50W load consumption that would require laptop or some of those purpose made low power CPUs like Via Nano or Intel Atom:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTUzNSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

meem · 1 Oct 2008 at 11:53

The reason for the ultra low power requirement is that he lives on a boat!

And yes the 50W is peak. Is it even worth trying to spec up a machine to do this, or just forget the whole idea and get a laptop. What kind of drain do the big beefy laptops pull? (He would disable the screen (somehow))

semi-pro waster · 1 Oct 2008 at 12:10

Just a quick Google search brought me to this page that you might find interesting, it seems that the battery charging is when it is most likely to go over 50w or running pretty intensive tasks. Don't pick a desktop CPU in the laptop to attempt to save money, don't get a more powerful graphics card than is necessary and if the brightness is kept lowish then that should help.

Mick-1965 · 1 Oct 2008 at 12:18

Ive just built a machine to work as a 24/7 server and internet router/ filter that I hope is pretty close to 40-60 w based around a celeron 430 ( TDP 35w -16w when speed step kicks in) 500Gb IDE Hard disc and 1x1gb stick ddr 2 ram

go to psu http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine which is a PSU calc it gives you an idea of what a system uses even at various load level. also bear in mind that the recommended PSU will be slightly overrated

reflux · 1 Oct 2008 at 12:27

My laptop has a 2.2ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, a 250gb hard disk, and a GeForce 8600M GT, so it's quite a meaty machine. The PSU is rated for 65w.

I think a laptop is the best option really.

Phatzy · 1 Oct 2008 at 13:52

if you want a low power desktop pc this is proberly near your needs
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2850

or the VIA nano proc

Skeeter · 1 Oct 2008 at 14:04

Ive looked into a similar thing recently. Pico ITX machines in tiny custom chassis with 60W PSU's look really nice for this...

Untill you realise your paying £200 - £300 for a tiny not overly powerfull PC....

Energize · 1 Oct 2008 at 14:09

If you undervolt the cpu to a much lower clockspeed, 50W max may be possible.

Seriously though, what kind of boat is he on, a rowing boat with handcrank generator?

gt_junkie · 1 Oct 2008 at 14:12

I have 3 low power machines.

Two are via chipsets and one is 45nm intel.

First is a EDEN 5000 system. 512mb of DDR, 533mhz, 120gb laptop drive and dvdrw.

Idles around 29w and pulls 35w while doing general windows stuff and installing stuff.

Second is a Via Epia CN700 chipsetted system with a 1.5ghz C7 cpu. It has 512mb of DDR2, full sized 80gb sata drive and a dvdrw.

If i remember correctly it also idles around 30w and pulls no more than 50w at full load.

Lastly i have a system comprising of an e7200, 4gb ddr2, full sized 250gb sata hdd and a dvd writer.

This is basically a full desktop system in a mitx Hoojum Cubit3 case. It compares very well to my system in sig when running vista64.

Idles at 60w and runs up to 90 watts at full load.

gt

EsaT · 1 Oct 2008 at 17:58

gt_junkie said:
If i remember correctly it also idles around 30w and pulls no more than 50w at full load.

Cheap power meters often understate consumption of non-PFC corrected appliances.

Energize · 1 Oct 2008 at 19:24

I've pretty sure all psu's have active pfc, hence their ability to switch between 100/240v. Also all switched mode power supplies above 75W in the EU must have pfc.

platinum87 · 1 Oct 2008 at 19:46

why do you need it to be below 50w?

Energize · 1 Oct 2008 at 19:47

platinum87 said:
why do you need it to be below 50w?

meem said:
The reason for the ultra low power requirement is that he lives on a boat!

gt_junkie · 1 Oct 2008 at 19:50

EsaT said:
Cheap power meters often understate consumption of non-PFC corrected appliances.

Going by all the tests done with this item on idling monitors, various pcs and even simple checks like trying different wattage light bulbs it would seem the power meter is calculating correctly.

The VIA stuff is very low power - the 1.5ghz C7 board i mentioned (Jetway J7F2WE1G5) is rated at a 12w TDP so it's entirely feasible that the PC uses around 50w at full tilt.

gt