Spec me a downgrade! ;o)

broona

broona

broona

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Following on from my thread here I'm wondering what I can get for my money if I decide to downgrade to something more energy efficient.

Not sure on budget, but obviously would like things to be reasonably cheap, or that negates any savings made on electricity!

After a little googling, I've a couple of things in mind, but would like some help with everything please. :)

Looking at :-

Intel D945GCLF2 motherboard
1 X 2gb stick of DDR2
Noah Mini-itx case or Venus 669 or similar, size isn't an issue, but I'd like room for a DVD-RW and 3.5" HDD, and preferably quiet cooling too.
2 X 500gb or 1X 1000gb energy efficient SATA HDD, or possibly a 2.5" and a 3.5" drive

I've already got monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc, but I'm not really sure what else I need.

Any input much appreciated. :)
 
Huh? I suspect the money you spend downgrading will be more than the cost of the electricity you save (over years!)...?

If you're that concerned turn off a couple of lights in your house and make sure things are not on standby...
 
I'm looking at getting some new HDD's anyway as I seem to quickly run out of room, and I'll have a full system to sell on too, just trying to spec some components that allow me to downgrade without spending much extra money really, should be possible? I'd have the following to sell, hopefully they should offset any new purchases :-

Black Lian Li PC-7B Plus
Stock Intel E8400 with Scythe Ninja + 120mm fan
EVGA 650i Ultra
Corsair 550W VX PSU
Stock Radeon 3850, volt-modded by previous owner
4gb (4X1gb) Crucial Ballistix PC5300
2X 320gb Seagate 7200.10's
 
broona said:
I assume nobody thinks this is a good idea then? Would I be best off posting in SFF section instead? :confused:
Click to expand...

I think the idea of doing it to be green and save power is not worth considering.

I think you should construct/build the system that best meets your needs/requirements...
 
NeilFawcett said:
I think the idea of doing it to be green and save power is not worth considering.

I think you should construct/build the system that best meets your needs/requirements...
Click to expand...

I no longer need a PC capable of playing games, so my current setup is massive overkill for surfing and downloading, hence I want a new machine to suit my new requirements - efficient, quiet, reasonably priced, plenty of storage space, etc, so that's what I'm hoping to get some help with in this thread.
 
Bradley8988 said:
why not buy a cheap dell with a big external Hdd that you can turn on when you need it to save money?
Click to expand...

I often leave my PC on downloading for long periods of time, which is one of the reasons I'm looking for efficiency, so a cheap Dell using similar architecture to my current PC probably wouldn't make a huge difference I don't think, although I may be wrong.
 
Zap said:
When you're talking about moden tvs etc they consume around 0.2 watts in standby :p
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I've just gone through and changed the setup at the back of my TV, I now have everything I don't need when the TV's off plugged into a remote wall socket, so nothing on standby any more, save for Sky+, DECT phone, and universal remote charger. ;)
 
Would I be anywhere near with the spec I posted, or is there anything else I'd need to add/change?

Should I go for an Atom, or a m-atx setup?

Still unsure on green HDD's, which would be best?

Any case recommendations? Cheers. :)
 
broona, your PC will only draw power for the components that require it for example, if your GPU isn`t full on gaming, it won`t draw any power. What if you see a PC only game in the future that you "must have" and couldn`t have it?

You mentioned you wanted quiet. Is your rig a tad noisy if it`s on all the time? Get a fan controller. They`re absolutely brilliant ... I have 6 80mm fans and CPU fan going (plus 2 on PSU) and when I`m just surfing, writing, playing music etc, they`re whopped down to barely on and I whop them up when gaming :)
 
I'd just swap to a G33 chipset mATX motherboard and use onboard graphics, and perhaps remove 2 sticks of memory but I doubt they use much power. That way you can always add your 3850 if you decide you want to start playing PC games again and dont have to fork out lots of money for a new PC ;) Total cost would be £60 odd, less if you sold your old motherboard.
 
fobose said:
I'd just swap to a G33 chipset mATX motherboard and use onboard graphics, and perhaps remove 2 sticks of memory but I doubt they use much power. That way you can always add your 3850 if you decide you want to start playing PC games again and dont have to fork out lots of money for a new PC ;) Total cost would be £60 odd, less if you sold your old motherboard.
Click to expand...

Why specifically a G33? Been looking at m-atx chipsets, and there's loads of them, confused?!

Trunks9486 said:
I recommend a 780G amd based system, with a 45w Athlon X2.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but looking to stay with Intel for now. :)
 
I have always found intel chipsets to be very reliable, the G33 seems to be the cheapest one available, with lesser features such as no onboard RAID support (atleast none that I have seen but I could be wrong) and not so good onboard graphics.

The Asus G43 (newer) chipset that ocuk stock looks quite nice though "Asus P5QL-CM" and for only £4 more. The IGP should help nicely with HD playback as well (but not as good as the G45 with its X4500HD intergrated graphics).
 
Been having a play with some configurations, and have come up with a couple of different specs, any comments?

Spec 1:-
Motherboard - Nforce 730i/9300 £80.00
CPU - Intel E2200 £50.00
GPU - Integrated £0.00
Memory - 2X2GB £40.00
PSU - 380W EarthWatts £35.00
HDD - 1TB Samsung £70.00
Case - Lian Li PC7 £0.00
Total - £275.00

Spec 2:-
Motherboard - Intel G45 £90.00
CPU - Intel E2200 £50.00
GPU - Integrated £0.00
Memory - 2X2GB £40.00
PSU - 380W Earthwatts £35.00
HDD - 1TB Samsung £70.00
Case - Lian Li PC7 £0.00
Total - £285.00

Spec 3:-
Motherboard - Intel Atom 330 £65.00
CPU - Integrated £0.00
GPU - Integrated £0.00
Memory - 1X2GB £20.00
PSU - Integrated £0.00
HDD - 1TB Samsung £70.00
Case - Mini ITX £50.00
Total - £205.00

Any of the above specs would be offset by selling my current components, so I hopefully wouldn't end up spending too much, if anything at all.

Another option would be to keep my E8400, and use that in one of the first 2 specs instead. Any opinions please (other than telling me I'm stupid :p)?
 
Anyone got anything to add? I think I'll probably go with option 1 but keep my CPU if I can get buyers for everything else, but would welcome any input too. ;)
 
Hi,
Your 45nm E8400 should consume less lecky than a 65nm E2200 (If clocked the same) and TBH I cant see any difference between option 1 and your current system (minus gfx)

An Atom based system will be much better.
________
MARIJUANA DISPENSARY
 
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Buy an EEPC 901, with an atom cpu and and external hd, or get a Asus PQ45 mobo with the EPU thing that saves tons of energy in max power saving mode.
 
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