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What's the most energy efficient CPU?

tophee

tophee

tophee

Associate
Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
460
Location
Cambridge, or somewhere else in the world
Hi,
I'm looking to upgrade my media centre PC with a new mobo and cpu to reduce power consumption. I'm currently running a dual core Pentium D, which I don't think is particularly energy efficient.
Which is the best chip for energy efficiency? I'm running Linux on this system but I do want enough grunt to do HD decoding. I may dual boot with windows for BluRay playback...
Anyone got any pointers?
Ta
 
what processor speed is it your looking for? 2Ghz Dual-Core? 2.5Ghz? 1.8Ghz? it has to be more specific. as once you find out that then you can work out whats the best intel/amd or equivalent cpu with good efficiency at that range
 
Fair point. I was imagining the fact that I wanted to decode HD would determine the speed somewhat. Last time I actually spent any effort looking into system requirements for HD was approximately when everyone was saying "You'll need at least 3Ghz dual core to decode H.264. -sigh- Must be getting old, that seems like five minutes, probably was a couple of years ago now.
I suppose it would have to be dual core, but speed... How much grunt does 1080p take to decode?
Having a glance at the processors in stock on OCUK, I really have no idea where to start.
 
Fair point. I was imagining the fact that I wanted to decode HD would determine the speed somewhat. Last time I actually spent any effort looking into system requirements for HD was approximately when everyone was saying "You'll need at least 3Ghz dual core to decode H.264. -sigh- Must be getting old, that seems like five minutes, probably was a couple of years ago now.
I suppose it would have to be dual core, but speed... How much grunt does 1080p take to decode?
Having a glance at the processors in stock on OCUK, I really have no idea where to start.
Click to expand...

my laptop with its p8400 is very very efficiant - 45w consuption for the entire laptop playing a bluray and that includes having the screen on.
 
Jimbo,
I didn't read that article in detail, as I'm distracting myself from editing an
essay. (The time consuming bit.) However it looked like an interesting read and certainly gives some food for thought.
Chris
 
Unfortunately a laptop isn't really suitable for my needs - I've already got 2 harddrives with a fair old amount of content. I'm using Samsung Spinpoint drives (500Gb and 1Tb respectively) and I want to reuse my graphics card, memory.
 
tophee said:
Unfortunately a laptop isn't really suitable for my needs - I've already got 2 harddrives with a fair old amount of content. I'm using Samsung Spinpoint drives (500Gb and 1Tb respectively) and I want to reuse my graphics card, memory.
Click to expand...

just saying;) any 45nm c2d will be very efficiant indeed.


i wanted to reuse my two 500gb drives as well. so i stuck them in a nas enclosure :p
 
Thanks for the reply. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
The p8400 might be the answer. Will do some follow up research.
Thanks James.
 
I run a laptop moblie c2d, they are always dirt cheap from the bay as people break them down as spares... trouble is getting a mobo that plays nice with them.
 
tophee said:
Hi,
I'm looking to upgrade my media centre PC with a new mobo and cpu to reduce power consumption
Click to expand...
Hi tophee,

This area is my specialist subject at least from an Intel® perspective. You should be looking at a Wolfdale Dual-Core running on an Intel® P45/G45/G43 Express Chipset (preferably an ASUS board featuring an EPU), using either intergrated graphics or one of the low powered PCI-E cards floating about (eg Radeon HD3450), you also should be looking at selling on your 3.5" hard disks and replacing them with either SSD or 2.5" Sata hard disks according to budget!

What form factor is your build (ATX or microATX), what tasks will it perform and also will it be a perpetual machine or powered off now and then?
 
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