TuskenTower on 25 Jan 2008 07:59:36 -0800


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Re: [PLUG] Odd hardware problem


Eric,
You're welcome.  A 10 Watt difference with just a new PSU is pretty
nice.  Check out SPCR's recommended list and articles.  If you are
planning on getting a beefy video card, be sure to read
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article798-page1.html .  The after
market video cooler makes a big difference.

Amul

On Jan 24, 2008 11:42 AM, Eric <eric@lucii.org> wrote:
> Amul:
>
> Good point.  My UPS has the capability of displaying the power being supplied so
> I powered the Windows workstation off (the workstations share the UPS) and shut
> down the monitor (about 35 watts).  The previous load for this workstation was
> 85 Watts.  Now, it's 75 watts.  I attribute that to the new supply being more
> efficient (even at such a "light" load) than the old one.
>
> I chose a more powerful (and expensive) supply because:
>
> 1. Athlon chips are supposedly picky about power so I wanted to be well above
>     any limit - whatever that might be - that would annoy the processor.
>
> 2. I plan on adding peripherals to the system (more drives and a more power-
>     hungry video card are on the list).
>
> 3. This is my main work computer.  I use it about 10 hours a day and when it's
>     down I'm cryin'.  I wanted the most capability and reliability(*) that I
>     could get for a "reasonable" cost. I did not go for the $200+ power supplies
>     because I did not perceve the value/$ ratio was high enough to warrant the
>     much increased cost.
>
> Thanks for the thoughts.  I'll check out the review link you reference.
> "Greener" is good in my opinion and I'm glad that you prompted me to test the
> new power demand.  Nice to know that it's actually lower! :-)
>
> Eric
>
>   (*) For example, I use ECC RAM and a motherboard that supports ECC despite the
> added cost and (small) performance penalty because of the reliability.
>
>
>
> > On Jan 23, 2008 11:45 AM, Eric<eric@lucii.org>  wrote:
> >> I now am writing you from the recently revived Linux workstation!  I replaced
> >> the dead 400W Antec supply with a 650 Watt Antec "truepower trio".  It set me
> >> back $160 +tax at Best Buy.  As a bonus it's very quiet.  Now I just need to
> >> quiet down the Zalman CPU cooler fan and my ears will get a well deserved rest.
> >
> > Eric,
> > Getting on my green soap box.
> >
> > Buying a PSU with higher capacity might be bad.  The long story short
> > is that most people only need a 400W PSU, because 1 their systems peak
> > at a low wattage (about 200W) and 2 because the sweet spot for most
> > PSUs is close to their PSU capacity.  Check out Silent PC Review's
> > recommended PSUs list
> > (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article699-page1.html).  They go into
> > great detail about choosing the best silent PSU.  As an added benefit,
> > your hummer PSU is not sucking down more energy because its not in its
> > optimal efficiency range.
> >
> > I bought the Antec EarthWatts 380 for my MythTV machine.  It peaks at
> > 120W (measured with a Kill-A-Watt), idles at 85W and under load at
> > 115W.  Obviously, I could have bought a lower capacity PSU, but my
> > previous PSU died before I could test the system's power consumption.
> > Assuming a desktop CPU only consumes ~65W + supports power reduction
> > and does not have a power hungry video card, the whole machine's power
> > consumption is a lot lower than most people realize.
> >
> > Ok, off my soap box.
> >
> > Amul
>
>
>
>
> --
> #  Eric Lucas
> #
> #                "Oh, I have slipped the surly bond of earth
> #                 And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings...
> #                                        -- John Gillespie Magee Jr
> ___________________________________________________________________________
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