Comments on: Low Power – They Just Don’t get it http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/ Linux, politics, and other interesting things Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:09:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Vincent Bernat http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11652 Vincent Bernat Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:44:25 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11652 etbe: if I remember correctly, T40 uses ATI graphic card. Mine is using I855GM and Intel put a lot of efforts to reduce the power consumption of this chipset (with new intel driver in xorg). I think that powertop, through ACPI, reports the whole consumption, except the power supply part. Unfortunately, I don't own a wattmeter to test the real consumption from the wall. Maybe you could check with powertop the difference from the reported value and the value you get with a wattmeter. etbe: if I remember correctly, T40 uses ATI graphic card. Mine is using I855GM and Intel put a lot of efforts to reduce the power consumption of this chipset (with new intel driver in xorg). I think that powertop, through ACPI, reports the whole consumption, except the power supply part. Unfortunately, I don’t own a wattmeter to test the real consumption from the wall.

Maybe you could check with powertop the difference from the reported value and the value you get with a wattmeter.

]]> By: etbe http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11643 etbe Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:30:24 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11643 alex: I expect that depends on what the lifetime is. The lifetime of a PC can vary a lot, from a couple of years of a few hours a day to 6+ years of 24*7. The incidence of running PCs 24*7 is steadily increasing... Coven: The earlier 486 CPUs did not have fans. As far as I recall it was only the 66MHz and faster 486 class CPUs (most of which were not made by Intel who concentrated on the Pentium) that had fans. As far as I recall the Pentium-60 was the first PC CPU that had a fan, but there was only a matter of months between those CPUs, so I may be mistaken on the exact order. alex: I expect that depends on what the lifetime is. The lifetime of a PC can vary a lot, from a couple of years of a few hours a day to 6+ years of 24*7. The incidence of running PCs 24*7 is steadily increasing…

Coven: The earlier 486 CPUs did not have fans. As far as I recall it was only the 66MHz and faster 486 class CPUs (most of which were not made by Intel who concentrated on the Pentium) that had fans. As far as I recall the Pentium-60 was the first PC CPU that had a fan, but there was only a matter of months between those CPUs, so I may be mistaken on the exact order.

]]> By: Coven http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11637 Coven Wed, 02 Jan 2008 21:19:39 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11637 "before the Pentium was released no system which an individual could afford had anything other than a simple heat-sink to cool it’s CPU" No, that's not really true. My 486 did have a huge heatsink AND a fan and it really needed it. “before the Pentium was released no system which an individual could afford had anything other than a simple heat-sink to cool it’s CPU”

No, that’s not really true. My 486 did have a huge heatsink AND a fan and it really needed it.

]]> By: alex http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11635 alex Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:52:56 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11635 Actually, I once read that the ecological costs of manufacturing a PC are massive compared to the power that the PC actually draws on its lifetime- so even factoring in that the new CPUs consume a lot more power, their claim of greenest PC ever might not be incorrect. Actually, I once read that the ecological costs of manufacturing a PC are massive compared to the power that the PC actually draws on its lifetime- so even factoring in that the new CPUs consume a lot more power, their claim of greenest PC ever might not be incorrect.

]]> By: etbe http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11632 etbe Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:38:48 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11632 Vincent: Given that my entire system (running a 1.7GHz Pentium-M) idles at 23W (drawn from the wall - the power supply wastes some energy as heat) it seems quite reasonable that your CPU might take between 8W and 12W (while still using about the same as my 23W from the wall). Vincent: Given that my entire system (running a 1.7GHz Pentium-M) idles at 23W (drawn from the wall – the power supply wastes some energy as heat) it seems quite reasonable that your CPU might take between 8W and 12W (while still using about the same as my 23W from the wall).

]]> By: Vincent Bernat http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/comment-page-1/#comment-11623 Vincent Bernat Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:08:42 +0000 http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/02/low-power-they-just-dont-get-it/#comment-11623 I own a Pentium-M 1.6 GHz laptop and it draws between 8 W and 12 W (from powertop, I don't know if it is reliable). It is one of those ultra tiny laptop with 12" screen, I855GM graphic card, etc. I don't know if a recent laptop of the same factor with a Core 2 Duo gets the same figures. But definitely, Intel knows how to build low consumption laptops. I own a Pentium-M 1.6 GHz laptop and it draws between 8 W and 12 W (from powertop, I don’t know if it is reliable). It is one of those ultra tiny laptop with 12″ screen, I855GM graphic card, etc. I don’t know if a recent laptop of the same factor with a Core 2 Duo gets the same figures. But definitely, Intel knows how to build low consumption laptops.

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