power saving pc

BobBrainy

BobBrainy

BobBrainy

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23 Mar 2007
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Hi all, I'm after changing my pc around into a more power saving pc. I don't really game on it much anymore, but certain games such as starcraft 2 and when it arrives, diablo 3 will see some serious play time. (Other rts/ rpg that you can't get on consoles will also see some playtime)

So at this current moment in time my rig is this,

e8400 stock
4x1gb crucial ballistix 8500
asus p5k deluxe
8800gtx
320gb samsung hdd
xfire gamer soundcard
750w thermaltake toughpower
cm stacker 831

had it for a good few years now, has served me well.

I've been racking my brains on what to change and what not to change, essentially I've thought of every possibility from changing a few pieces from this to getting rid of it all and starting again.

Essentially whatever I do, I don't want to spend too much money.

I understand that the 8800gtx and psu will probably eat too much so they should go, so one idea is,

idea #1
keep main pc
8800gtx out - ati 5750/5770/4850/4770 in
psu out - corsair 430cx in
smaller case (need a smaller one anyway)

idea #2
mini-itx board zotac 9300 ddr3
e8400
mini-itx case w/ psu
4gb ddr3 ram

idea #3
ddr3 775 board
e8400
corsair 430cx
ati 5750 etc
3x2gb corsair ddr3
smaller case

idea #4
amd x4 955 cpu
880g mainboard
psu, ram, case, gcard from above

idea #5
intel celeron ulv + ion2 build
mini itx etc.

think thats pretty much it. Basically the pc will 80% be used for doing my work on, browsing the web and streaming stuff. The other 20% will be sc2 and diablo 3 (when diablo 3 is released, probably 50/50 time!)

Hence an idea of perhaps onbaord graphics now - upgrade later did come to mind, however. I really would like to get 6gb or more of ddr3 ram, and I saw some at the mo for a really good price but its 3x2gb hence I need 4 slots...

Soz for the confusion guys, but I've spent a good week thinking about this and really I just need some comments to help me across the line.

THanks.
 
A gtx 460 1gb destroys SC2. Or get a new 68** series of graphics card very good power consumption: output.

the 3x 2 ddr 3 kit is for i7 so would get either 4 or 8 gb of ram.
 
I would not go for a 430cx, they are not as good as the old 400s, efficiency wise.

Your system will use under 300w if you get rid of that 8800gtx and replace it with a 5750/70. This could allow you to get a high efficiency lower wattage PSU than your current one, something around 400W, OcUK don't do many around that wattage.

As before I would wait for the 6 series to come out before you make a graphic decision.

You could also try under volting your CPU to save some energy,

Do you really need more RAM? What would it be used for.
 
Your PSU is already a pretty efficient model - more efficient than a Corsair CX430. Changing it is never going to pay for itself. May as well keep it. Just change the GPU, and if you're really keen to save the pennies (cos that's all it'll really be) look into undervolting/underclocking.
 
Since the primary objective here is to save money and I have been down this road of thought as well given how much elec I pay per month (obseen amount) I think I should be able to offer some fairly good advice.... Calculate it.

i.e.

How much do you currently use your PC and how much power consumption does it use? Get yourself down to an electronics store or an online one, and purchase a cheap £10 power meter. These plug into your socket and tell you how much wattage you are using. As a result of purchasing one, I could see how much power my rig was using, and I think you might be suirprised how LITTLE it actually uses compared to what people often make out or get into their heads.

The point I am trying to make is this. Say you swap about your PC, whichever way you do it this is going to generate costs through new components even if you sell your older stuff. This cost, I would bet money on being significantly more than simply living with the cost of running your current rig, possibly even for a few years.

I run an overclocked q6600 rig with modest spec, and mine only pulls 80watts or so when idling, and never above 200watts even when running benchmarks. It has a 500watt PSU. I think often people over spec on the PSU, but I understand you don't just pay for the watts, you pay for the solid rails and stability.

As a quick WORST CASE example. Say your PC pulls 300watts ALL THE TIME and you run it 24/7 for 365 days a year. Say the cost for electricity is 12 pence per KWh (a fairly standard sort of amount) then this would cost:

£0.12 x 0.3KW = £0.036 per KWh
£0.036 x 24hours = 86 pence per day
£0.86 x 365days = £315 per year


Ok so you could probably swap components about for less than £315 but could you swap it all out for less than the below more realistic calculation:


PC pulls on average 150watts throughout a day and is on for an average of 6 hours per day.

£0.12 x 0.15KW = £0.018 per KWh
£0.018 x 6hours = 11 pence per day
£0.11 x 365days = £39 per year


The above is the lower end user for sure, but it's just an example. If you factor in that you will probably change your hardware again in the future as hardware evolves, it might just be worth waiting till your rig does not have the power you require and when you woul dhave upgraded anyway, and then think about buying the latest tech with power saving in mind. This would go hand in hand with newer tech anyway, since manufacturers have power consumption right at the top of their objectives when building new tech now.

Hope this helps.
 
thanks for the replies,

my pc pulls about 200w idle (based on one of those elec monitors the above poster spoke about) and 320w when playing a game.

I think most of this is due to the gcard, but I did read that due to my psus wattage that it won't really be running that efficiently?
 
Most PSUs are typically most efficient somewhere around 50% load, and wont be far down at a slighty lower load, so you shouldn't really worry.
 
If you're determined to reduce you rig's power demands, go with a 460. It's got the muscle for games but otherwise it'll automatically underclock when idle.

It's probably more economical to look at how much power you're using elsewhere at home though - things like using the tumble drier less and turning off tv/lights etc when there's nobody in room are no brainers.
 
Just changing the graphics card will make a huge difference. However if the 8800GTX works with everything then any cost savings on leccy will be insignificant next to the cost of buying the new card.

It'll take years to make up the difference in cost between a 460/5770 etc and what you have at the moment. 8800GTX uses about 150W load and maybe 50W idle. The 5770 has a low power usage of 18W and uses about 120W at load ( I think).

30W per hour = 360W per day (12hrs per day) = 131KWh or £15.72 per year.

A 5770 will set you back about £100. You could sell your 8800GTX to offset the cost but I'd imagine you might get £50 for it. So based on 12 hours use per day it would take 3 1/2 years to recoup your investment.

How well does the 8800GTX underclock at idle? I was able to underclock my HD4890 quite drastically for idle usage and save over 40W without spending a penny by using third party software.
 
Tealc said:
Just changing the graphics card will make a huge difference. However if the 8800GTX works with everything then any cost savings on leccy will be insignificant next to the cost of buying the new card.

It'll take years to make up the difference in cost between a 460/5770 etc and what you have at the moment. 8800GTX uses about 150W load and maybe 50W idle. The 5770 has a low power usage of 18W and uses about 120W at load ( I think).

30W per hour = 360W per day (12hrs per day) = 131KWh or £15.72 per year.

A 5770 will set you back about £100. You could sell your 8800GTX to offset the cost but I'd imagine you might get £50 for it. So based on 12 hours use per day it would take 3 1/2 years to recoup your investment.

How well does the 8800GTX underclock at idle? I was able to underclock my HD4890 quite drastically for idle usage and save over 40W without spending a penny by using third party software.
Click to expand...

good point - how would i underclock the 8800gtx? rivatuner?

Also - I don't really understand why its pulling about 200w from the plug at idle?
 
BobBrainy said:
Also - I don't really understand why its pulling about 200w from the plug at idle?
Click to expand...
1. 8800GTX doesn't idle at default but is NetBurst class power sink sucking electricity for doing nothing:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gf8800gts320MB-roundup_8.html#sect0
2. Do you have power saving settings enabled in BIOS?
(although won't make much difference with that CPU: full load draw around 30W)
3. Oversized PSU. At/around 20% load efficiency of PSUs is in clear decrease and even few percent less load can drop PSU's efficiency good five percents.
(that's because of how they operate, Seasonic X-serie platform is only one which can retain top end efficiency down to 10% load)
 
So maybe the 8800 draws a little more at idle.

Anyway I use ati tray tools to underclock my card. Not sure if the software works with Nvidia cards though. Msi afterburner also works but is limited on the amount you can underclock and I found it a little rubbish at falsely jumping into 3d mode when opening ms office programs and a few others.

I got my clocks down to 25% of their 3d values which saves power and produces a lot less heat as a result.

Seems that there are several people who have underclocked their 8800gtx for power saving if you search google.
 
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